with closely cropped brown hair and shiny brown eyes. He also looked bombed.
“Hey, Lance, how you doing, buddy?” Henry and Lance did a slap hands/half hug sort of move, where Lance was a little too enthusiastic and ended up pouring beer down Henry’s back.
“Aw, dude, I’m so sowry!” Lance slurred, trying to wipe the beer off Henry’s shirt but really just soaking it in further. I didn’t know how to help so I just stood back and watched, cringing. My first impression of Lance was that he was a hot mess. More accurately ––a drunk mess.
“That’s okay, man, that’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Henry tried to get Lance to stop touching his shirt, and finally just took a step away from him. “Anyway, thanks for having us tonight. I wanted you to meet someone. This is my girlfriend, Alex.”
Girlfriend? I looked at Henry with raised eyebrows. We hadn’t called ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend yet. Henry just grinned back at me, winking.
“Well, hello, Alex,” Lance said to me, holding out one hand. I stuck mine out thinking we were going to shake, but instead he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. Sweet yet creepy. “The pleasure is all mine.”
“Nice to meet you, Lance,” I said, trying not to laugh.
“You take care of this fella here. He’s a good fish,” Lance continued, looking at me through squinted eyes. Was this guy going to make it till midnight? Something was telling me no.
“I’ll do my best. Thanks for having us, and it was nice to meet you,” I said, biting down on my lower lip so I wouldn’t laugh in his face.
Henry put his arm around my waist and led me away from Lance, who went back to his iPod and sang along with the music. “Sorry about that. Lance is our soak.”
“Soak?” I asked.
“Alcoholic. Lush. Drunk. Soak.” We were about halfway across the room, heading in the direction of two tables that were being used for a massive flippy cup game. I stopped Henry before we could reach the group and join in.
“Gotcha. But bigger question. Girlfriend?” I asked, staring into his blue eyes.
“Beautiful. Special. Alex. Girlfriend,” Henry answered, before finding my mouth and placing the most romantic kiss on my lips. I positively melted into him, feeling euphoric. Henry was officially my boyfriend.
The rest of the party passed quickly, too quickly for my liking. We played multiple games of flippy cup, beer pong, darts, and pool. I danced with my girlfriends to the tunes Lance cranked out. I did jello shots, drank too much beer and snacked on chips, chips and more chips the owners had been thoughtful enough to provide. I didn’t think about Blissful or Kevin or the text message on my phone. I just partied like the twenty-year old college student I was, surrounded by my best friends and new boyfriend.
“It’s starting!” A girl wearing hot pants, fishnets, and a hot pink jersey shirt called for everyone’s attention at exactly 11:59. She turned up the volume on the TV, and we saw a shot of New York City and Times Square, overflowing with people as they watched the ball drop.
Henry slipped behind me and placed both hands on my waist and I leaned into him. Lila was to my right, and I wondered if she was going to kiss anyone. She and Joel had finally called it quits a few weeks ago. Hannah was on my left, holding onto Peter’s hand. I could see Carmen and Emma across the room, and raised my cup in salute to them. They raised their cups back and continued to chat with Max.
“Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight!” More people in the room started to chant, watching the TV screen and pairing up. I glanced again at Lila, wondering if she was okay. She seemed to take her breakup with Joel fine, but New Years’ Eve could bring up some sour feelings. She caught me looking at her and winked at me.
“I’m happy, Alex,” she told me, without me even asking her. I winked back, relieved.
“Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen!”
“Quick! What was your favorite part of this year?” Henry asked me.
I turned to face him, already knowing my answer. “Meeting you,” I said, smiling up at my boyfriend.
“You stole my answer,” he smiled back.
“Ten, nine, eight!” the crowd roared, eagerly anticipating the final seconds.
“Happy New Year, Alex,” Henry whispered, his face coming close to mine.
“Happy New Year, Henry,” I said.
“Three, two, one. Happy New Year!” everyone shouted as someone threw confetti, poppers