Pillow Party

My brother had invited me to one of his yearly New Year’s Eve parties.  I was skeptical about going, since last year’s fiasco. He, for some reason I’m still not sure of, had lit one of the couch pillows on fire and we had to call the fire department to put it out, but not before the majority of the living room was destroyed.  I only agreed to come this year to make sure nothing like that happened again.  

I arrived around 9pm.  As I walked up to the front of the house, I could already hear the loud music.  At least my brother had a decent taste in music. The front door was ajar, and through it I could see lots of people and I could smell the alcohol already in their red solo cups.  I searched the house for my brother and I finally found him in the kitchen with some of his friends attempting to decorate a cake, of all things. I didn’t want to interrupt him so I just grabbed a drink(non-alcoholic of course) and left the kitchen.  

I was a pretty awkward person and I wasn’t exactly excited to demonstrate that tonight, so I stepped out onto the back porch and sipped my apple juice.  I thought I was the only one out there, but I was startled by a guy who was out there too.  

“Whoa, sorry.  Didn’t mean to scare you,” the guy said.  He seemed surprised that he startled me, probably since he was the least intimidating guy I’d ever met.  He was only about 5’7” in height and was really skinny.  

“Nah, you’re good.  I just didn’t realize anybody was out here.  Anyways, I’m Spencer,” I replied. He seemed like a nice person, and it’s not like I’ve got anyone else to talk to.”

“Levi.  I’ve never seen you around here.”

“Well I am from around here, but right now I’m up in New York for college.”

“Which college?”

“NYU.”

“NYU? Wow that’s impressive.  I just go to a community college upstate.”

“Well then, what brings you here?”

“Someone sent me an invite online and I didn’t have any other plans.  I think the guy’s username was-”

“Brainless_zack509” we said in unison.  

“How’d you know that?” He sounded puzzled. 

“That’s my brother.  Anyways, you drove all this way to go to a stupid New Year’s Party?” I questioned.

“I...it’s very...I don’t have much of a social life.” He sounded sad and a bit embarrassed.  

“I don’t either.  The only reason I’m here it to prevent a fire.” He looked kind of confused.  “Long story.” I continued.  

“Well, it’s only 9:42, and that leaves us two hours and eighteen minutes for you to tell me this story.”  So I told him the story. And he told me a story. We talked for a while, and we even danced a little bit.  I’m glad we shared the same taste in music. After a while, we both got tired of the harsh, loud noise of the party and we stepped into my brother’s spare bedroom.  Thankfully, there was a TV in there, so we put on the news channel that was covering the ball drop. Levi was able to grab some champagne and a pair of glasses. We sipped our drinks as we continued to talk.

“So what are you majoring in?” I ask.  I know it’s such a typical, boring question, but I was curious.  

“Okay, promise you won’t laugh?” I nodded, obviously.  “I know it’s a little weird or cheesy, but I’m majoring in marine biology.”

“It’s not that weird, at least not as weird as mine.”

“What can be worse than marine biology?”

“Try food science.”

“Well that sounds cool...what is it exactly?”

“Well, it’s the study of food and how...I’m not gonna get into it.  You can either be a nutritionist and help people lose weight or a person who makes recipes for frozen food companies.  Both areas interest me, for some reason.”

“That’s not weird at all.” Levi says reassuringly.

“You’re lying,” I reply.

“No I’m not.  In a couple years I could be microwaving a breakfast burrito created by you.”

“Oh, shut up,” I protest as I punch him lightly in the arm.  He pulls me next to him on the bed and points at the TV. 

“It’s almost midnight,” he states.  The timer was at around forty seconds until midnight.  He leaned into me closer until our foreheads were touching.  I could practically feel his heart beating. And it was getting faster and faster with each passing second.  We could hear the countdown from the TV getting closer to zero as it reached the final ten seconds.

“Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four-” And just like that he met his lips with mine and we kissed.  We didn’t bother waiting until 0. I could feel his hands holding my face and slowly sliding down my back to my waist, where our lips broke apart.  We just stared into each other’s eyes for awhile before either of us could speak. The first thing he did was he wrapped his arm around me and we watched the confetti fall in New York City on TV.  It was beautiful. All the colors just floated down above thousands of people kissing and cheering. However, I was glad I was here, right where I was with Levi. My Levi and I could go to New York together next year.  He could visit me on campus, even.  

With all these thoughts, I soon fell asleep.  I could feel Levi lay me down and tuck me in with a blanket.  He kissed my forehead and left. I woke up the next morning a little dazed, but I still remember what happened the night before.  I get up out of bed and walk out of the guest room to see my brother in the kitchen making pancakes.  

“Hey Zack, do you know a Levi?” I ask him, hoping to find a way to get in contact with Levi.

“No ‘good morning’? No ‘thank you for breakfast’?” he responded sarcastically.  I give him a glare of what could only be described as a stare from a terrifying demon.  “Okay, okay, but I’m pretty sure I don’t know a Levi. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just someone I met at the party last night.”

“Oh, that dude.  Yeah...yeah, he left you a note.”  He gestured towards the table. I pick up the note.  It was pretty brief. It read:

Sorry I had to leave so soon.  My dad called and said that my little sister was sick and that he needed help.  I apologize for not mentioning this earlier, but I will be traveling to Australia for a few years to study marine biology.  I didn’t want to start up something that would sacrifice so much. I truly hope that I didn’t hurt you. I hope you have a great life!

-Levi

PS. I’m really bad at letters, please forgive me. 

“I guess I will never see him again.  My one shot at romance, gone.” I muttered to myself.

“Oh, stop being so over dramatic!” my brother said as he threw a pillow at me.