The Spectacular Midnight

The gang and I were walking along the sidewalk of Long Beach, CA smelling the fresh air. We all were excited for the new year to arrive. It had been hard at first but now we were excited for what this new year was going to reveal. 

“Hey, Mark what are you excited about this year?” Aaron asked me as I shrugged.

“I don’t know Aaron, I just want this year to be exciting and memorable,” I said as Laura chimed in.

“We made lots of memories over the years don’t you remember?” Laura asked as Michael nodded. “Yeah, I remember we went to Six Flags remember?” Michael said as I nodded.

“Yeah I remember you screamed like a girl during the ride,” I said as everyone erupted in laughter. “Hey, it was scary,” he defended himself as I snickered.

“Mark, you too were scared,” Aaron said as I shook my head.

“No, I was not!” I said as we were all laughing. “Man, isn’t it weird how many memories we made?” Aaron said as we all nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, isn’t it nice?” I said as Laura started to call for us.

“Hey, guys look!” She pointed at the lighthouse in Long Beach.

“Hey, that’s beautiful!” Michael commented as I took out my phone to take a picture. 

“Michael, didn’t you go to the Queen Mary?” Aaron asked him as he shook his head. “No, I think it was Mark,” he replied as I nodded.

“Yeah, I did,” I confirmed as Aaron nodded.

“How was it?” Aaron asked me.

“Well, it was nice, it was beautiful and we saw the Princess Diana exhibition, and I got to see her tiaras!” I told them as Laura was surprised.

“Really, I should go there sometime this year!” Laura said as we all stopped.

“Hey, dude what time is it?” Aaron asked Michael as Michael checked his watch. “11:45” he replied as Aaron turned around. "Really? Man, it's almost time for the new year," Aaron said as I nodded. "What should we do?" Laura asked as I suddenly caught their attention.

"Guys look!" I said pointing to a crowd of people in the distance.

"Let's go!" Aaron said as we all ran toward the crowd. There were booths and one of them had face paintings and one had kettle corn and other food. There was also a singer singing some songs in front of the audience.

“Hey what is this?” Michael asked as someone in the crowd came to them. 

“Hello, would you like a face painting?” an old lady asked as Aaron shook his head.

“No thank you,” he said as I came in. “Oh I would like one,” I said as Aaron looked at me.

“You want one?” he asked me like I was kidding.

“Aaron it’s New Year's Eve, we should do something fun,” I said as the old lady motioned me towards the booth.

“Mark, I didn’t you had that inner child of yours,” Laura commented as I chuckled. “I just want to get a face painting is it a crime?” I asked as they all shook their head.

"No, it's not," Laura said as I told them," Guys come on, let's do something fun for a while."

Everyone nodded as we all walked near the booths. "Hey, guys I am going go to the food booth," Michael said to us as Aaron nodded.

"I'll go with him too," Aaron said as they both walked to the food booth.

"Laura how about you?" I asked her as she looked at the painting booth.

"I'll go with you," she said as I nodded. We both went to the booth and I chose one that was a tiger. The person at the booth painted me the tiger look I wanted. When he was finished, I looked at Laura.

"How do I look like?" I asked her as she snickered.

"You look funny with that tiger painting,” Laura said laughing now.

“Hey don’t make fun of me!” I exclaimed at her as she nodded.

"You know I wonder what you would look like with that leopard one!” I said pointing to the leopard painting when she shook her head.

“No, I am not getting that painting!” she exclaimed as I shook my head.

“Now now, come on, I want to make fun of you too!” I said to her as she shook her head vigorously.

"But Laura, can you choose a face painting for yourself, I really want to see you with one?" I asked her as Laura gave in.

"Okay I will," she said as she went toward the display of animal paintings.

"Um, I will choose the zebra one."

The painter nodded and Laura sat in the chair facing the painter. The painter painted her face and when she was done Laura turned to me.

"Is it bad?" she asked me as I shook my head.

"No," I said stifling a laugh.

"It is!" she said hitting me.

"Man, Laura you look funny!" I said as we both went out of the booth.

"Now cut it out, I did it because you wanted to!" she said as I nodded.

"Okay now, where should we go next?" I asked her as she shrugged.

"How about we go with Aaron and Michael?" I proposed as she nodded.

"Sure," she said as we both walked along the pavement.

When we reached the food booth, we both saw Aaron who was eating a funnel cake, and Michael who was eating a corn dog.

"Hey, guys, you should try this!" Michael said with his mouth full.

"Is it good?" Laura asked as he nodded.

"Yes, it's good!" he replied as I laughed.

Laura looked at Aaron who was eating a funnel cake topped with powdered sugar and strawberries.

"Hey, can I have some?" she asked him as he shook his head.

"Get your hands away from my cake!" he hissed as she went back.

"Excuse me your majesty for not getting a piece of cake!" she said mockingly as Aaron shook his head.

"And what's with that face painting of yours?" Aaron asked Laura as she shook her head.

"Now, we will not talk about this, Mark pressured me into getting one," she said as Aaron looked at me.

"And you! You also look like a clown!" he said as he laughed.

Michael and Laura also laughed.

"You guys are unbelievable!" I said as I started to grin out of laughter.

"Okay, Mark we will stop," Aaron said as he offered Laura a piece of funnel cake. "Thank you!" Laura said as she tried it.

"Oh, it's good!" she commented as Aaron nodded.

"It is huh?" he said as he offered me a piece. I got a piece of funnel cake and shoved it in my mouth.

"Mmm! It's good!" I remarked when suddenly Michael touched my shoulder.

"Hey, um, Mark what time is it?" Michael asked me as I turned my wrist over to see my watch.

"Oh, it's 11:58," I said as we were all excited.

"Guys it's almost time!" Michael said when we suddenly heard the singer clear his throat.

"Now guys, it is almost time for a brand new year to begin, so I am going to count down the seconds and I want you guys to count with me! Got it!"

"Got it!" the whole crowd said in unison.

"Okay, guys let's start counting!" the singer said as he counted the seconds. The whole crowd chanted the numbers with him.

"Guys, let's count!" Aaron exclaimed as we all nodded.

"But first I have to say something," I said as the whole gang looked at me.

"I know it may sound cheesy, but it's wonderful to survive this year with you guys because there were some ups and downs along the way but thanks to you guys I am happy that I got to spend this night with you thank you! And I know that this year will be as good or better than last year!"

The whole gang smiled as Aaron patted my shoulder.

"Mark, I know it is going to be a good year, right guys!" Aaron shouted as everyone nodded.

"So come on, guys let's count down the seconds!"

"10. . .9. . .8. . .7 . . .6. . .5. . .4. . .3. . .2. . . .1! Happy New Year!" we all yelled as the fireworks crackled in the air.