I'll Be There For You

6

--New Year's Eve - 10:50pm--

The Panic! guys and I are currently sitting around a small bonfire in the center of the park, waiting for fireworks to start going off and the countdown to the new year to begin.

"Why the name bonfire?" Brent wonders aloud.

"It's called a bonfire because they were originally used for burning bones," I say.

"Well that's cheerful," Spencer sarcastically mumbles.

"Yea, it is," I say. Brendon pulls a small open bag of marshmallows out of his jacket pocket. He grabs some sticks off the ground and sharpens them with his pocket knife, then burns the sharpened ends in the fire. Brendon passes the sticks around, one for each of us, then passes around the bag of marshmallows.

Ryan takes more than his share of the marshmallows and shoves them in his mouth before we can make him put them back. He shrugs then passes the bag back to Brendon. We roast our marshmallows, but I burn mine. On purpose.

"Why would you do that?" Brendon asks me.

"They taste better that way," I saw, and chew the burnt sugary glob. Brendon decides to give this method a try, and sets his next marshmallow on fire. When he goes to blow on it to put the fire out, the marshmallow falls off his stick, causing all of us to laugh at him.

When all the marshmallows have been consumed, Brent reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pack of sparklers. He lights them all at the same time (there were five), and almost burns his hand.

"That wasn't very smart. Or safe," I say, and Brent rolls his eyes.

"Whatever little miss safety patrol," He says, and throws a pack to Spencer, who also lights them all at the same time.

"When you burn your hands I'm going to laugh," I say.

--11:59 pm, 30 seconds until 2006--

"30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5," Everybody chants, counting down the seconds until the new year.

"You know, I've never had a new year's kiss," Brendon says to me with a smirk.

"Well niether have I," I reply.

"2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The whole park erupts simultaneously. Fireworks start going off, confetti is thrown in the air and Brendon throws his lips against mine.

Ryan is going around kissing strangers, and more than half of them aren't willing to protest. It even looks like he's getting somebody's number. We stay and watch the fireworks for a while, then I decide to head home. Feeling a bit sleepy, once I'm home I fall asleep almost instantly.

My alarm goes off, waking me up for work in the morning. I roll out of bed and turn the coffee machine on. After showering and getting dressed, I make my coffee and head out the door. I go to the library and get a few books about improving your lifestyle, to give myself ideas for my new year's resolutions.

My first task when I get to work is to put up the ad about the New Year's sale, Whole store 10% off (excludes lessons and repairs) , on the door. Business is pretty slow, due to most people being away for their winter vacation.

Brendon comes in at lunch time and we make a bucket list for the year, not even resolutions.

"Go on a road trip with my beautiful girlfriend," Brendon says as he writes it on the top of the list.

"Learn to play guitar," I say and take the list from Brendon. We go on like this until the page is filled and my lunch break is over.

"Alright, now go away, I have to work," I say, and peck him on the cheek.

"Well I was hoping you'd assist me. I need a new keyboard. I accidentally dropped it and now it's kinda ruined. Plus I heard you were having a sale."

"How on earth did you drop your keyboard?"

"I was rearranging the furniture in my roon and I went to pick up my keyboard but my dog tried to jump on me at the same time so I lost my balance and dropped my keyboard."

"Alright, but you have to let me meet this dog of yours," I say, and lead him to the right section of the store. When work is over, I return the "improve your life" books, and get a dozen books that are just travel guides and stuff like that.