My New Year Resolution
Another year gone and wasted.
I sit on the beach, bored out of my mind. Friends and family run around me, celebrating, enjoying the cool weather.
An M-80 firecracker goes off to my left and scares the hell out of me. I glare into the darkness at the general direction of the person who set if off.
I look to the right, past the huge bonfire with a hundred people surrounding it, into the expansive stretch of dark beach towards the ignorant figures that left me at this God-forsaken beach party.
Another M-80 goes off to my left and I almost fall off the stupid cinder block that I’m sitting on.
A lull in the commotion follows, and a fresh wave of sorrow and depression washes over me. I feel tears well in my eyes and I angrily wipe them away.
Last year at this time, I was on the beach doing the exact same thing: sitting alone on New Year’s Eve. I had watched as couples sat together, talking about the New Year and their future plans together.
I slide off the cold cinder block and sit in the damp sand.
A firecracker that was like a strobe light goes off in the fire and makes me dizzy. How strange.
I lay back in the sand, knowing how hard it’s going to be to get the sand out of my curls later.
I look up to study the stars. Out of the corner of my eye I see a shooting star. I laugh quietly to myself. How cliché.
Everyone around me starts to get excited; 12 o’clock is only 10 minutes away. Oh joy.
People start pulling out bags of fireworks and sparkler sticks. I roll my eyes. I’ve done this time and time again, nothing varying, nothing new.
My dad calls me over, and I turn, putting on a fake smile. A charade, the foundation of my life. I shake my head, motioning to my little brother that I don’t want a sparkler.
I sit up, feeling the sand fall from my hair and down my neck as everybody gets ready to start counting down the minutes to midnight.
Another silent tear slides down my cheek. I let it sit there a moment, pondering the early fireworks some teenagers have set off a little way down the beach. People are lighting sparklers, all shouting that the New Year is only 3 minutes away.
I silently shake my head. All this excitement, for what? Just another chance to get heartbroken and back stabbed. Yay.
I close my eyes, lay back into the sand again, and make a wish on the shooting star I saw I few minutes ago, wondering if it was still valid.
I hear something to my left, so I open my eyes. Kale, one of my older brother’s friends, is standing over me. I smile and say hi. I’ve always like him more than my brothers other friends. He always struck me as less of a butt-head than the rest. He sits down beside me. “Happy almost New Year.” He says, smiling. I wish him the same.
I can smell the smoke from the fire on him. I like it.
He leans back into the sand right beside me, resting on his elbows.
He asks me what my New Year resolutions are. I think about it for a moment. I tell him that I want to get taller. We both laugh. I ask him what his resolutions are. He looks at me, pondering something. “My resolution is to tell you something important,” he says mysteriously, half joking. I tell him I’m all ears.
He looks into the sand, studying it intently.
I look down at my hands a little awkwardly. I’m freezing, so I put my hands on the side of my neck in an effort to warm then up.
He stops what he’s doing and moves a little closer to me and takes my hands in his and starts rubbing them to warm me up.
He looks over at me and smiles.
Still holding my hands, he stands up, pulling me up with him.
Everybody around us starts the 15 second count down to midnight.
He pulls me close to him, and fireworks go off all around us. He leans over and whispers in my ear “Happy New Year. I love you”
And with that, he kissed me.
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