New Year, New Me.

This was my first New Years Eve party in 4 years that I have been single. My ex-boyfriend and I had broken up in August, and I had been taking the past few months working on myself, and healing from the end of a long-term relationship, that I truly believed would never end. I completely have stayed away from boys, knowing I needed the time to myself. In fact, I stayed completely to myself most of the time and wanted it to be like that tonight, but my friends had other plans for me. 

“Come on Sara! It’s time, you are coming tonight. You’ve been cooped up for months now!” My college friend Marie looked at me disappointingly, as I sat in my bed in my PJ’s still as the clock counted down, 5 hours until the New Year. I rolled my eyes at her but got out of bed and started to look for something to wear. Marie was gleaming, already dressed and ready for our night at a house party at Jacobs house. 

Just over an hour later, we arrived at the party. Marie’s boyfriend, Tom, came over to us and kissed her. As this was happening, I looked around at who was here tonight. I had no idea how many people were going to be here, but now I see the number was much larger than what I anticipated. The more people I saw, the more I wanted my ex to be there with me. I wanted to feel his arm around my waist, but instead, I was a third-wheel. 

“I need a drink,” I say to Marie while taking my bottle of vodka and orange juice into the kitchen to mix myself the heartbreak medication I would be downing for the rest of the evening, and on into the New Year. When I come back by the entrance where I left Marie, I see her and Tom with their arms around each other, smiling, love in their eyes. I miss that, I miss him. Coming here tonight was a bad idea. I looked away from Marie and Tom, needing to get away and be on my own. I walked away with my head down, walking faster than I should have been in this crowded area. The next thing I know, I feel my body hit something and liquid splashing me. My blood starts to boil, this is the last thing I need right now. I look up, going to give the person in front of me a piece of my mind but when I saw his face, I couldn’t. 

“I am so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going, let me help you clean up!” This guy speaks to me while grabbing my hand and leading me towards the kitchen sink. I had no time to think, I was stunned at the event that had just unfolded. I wanted to be mad, tonight was not how I thought it would go until I looked into his eyes. The concerned look on his face relaxed the tangles in my stomach, I couldn’t help but stare. He looked back at me and broke out in a charming smile and I could not help but to grin back at him. 

“I’m Braeden,” he says to me, and I introduce myself as well. The rest of the evening went by so fast, but I will never forget it. We spent the rest of the evening together, talking on the couch, doing shots, dancing. Something just clicked between us that night, something I have not felt with another person in months. It’s like he lit up something inside me I had thought was dead, thought my ex took with him when he had left. 

“5...4...3...2...1… HAPPY NEW YEARS!” The room erupts into cheering after this countdown, couples kissing, friends hugging. Braeden looks at me and wraps his arms around me and whispers to me that I made his night so much better than he thought it was going to turn out. Shortly after the countdown, Tom came up to me and told me Marie had a few too many drinks, and we should probably take her home. 

“Thank you for the perfect start to the New Year, Braeden. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.” I told him, kissing him on the cheek. And just like that, it was over. Tom, Marie and I got into the Uber that Tom had called, and we drove away from the house. I smiled the whole way home, slightly buzzed from alcohol but high on the feelings I felt that evening. We got to Marie’s apartment, where I helped Tom get her into bed and then went to the couch. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I drifted off into blissful sleep. 

I woke up with memories popping into my head of the events of the night before. I went to the kitchen to start making breakfast before Tom and Marie woke up, but they came out of the bedroom before I was done. They sat at the table as I cooked, thinking about the night before. 

“This is the first time you have woken up before me in months, let alone got out of bed. And that goofy smile on your face… What happened last night?” Marie said to me. But at that point, I didn’t know what to even say, because something changed in me because of him. Something that has been missing for months came back to me. That spark for living life had come back and although Braeden guided me there, I knew I just needed one experience like that to show me life was worth making the most of. Even though I knew I would never see him again and had no way of contacting him, I felt okay. I didn’t feel so broken, I felt whole. I guess you know what they say, new year, new me.