I look over at my friends, huddled around my couch...5, Caterina winks at me...4. I smile and look back at the TV...3, the people in Time's Square are squashed like sardines...2, the camera pans to the glass ball...1. HAPPY- the cheers are cut short. I looked around to find all my party guests had vanished. My first thought was that it was a clever prank until I checked my phone calendar which reads "January 0th". I left my apartment. No one was on the street outside. I turned the corner and entered the bar next door. There were people sitting at the bar counter. They were all male, the Tvs were off, no one was drinking. One of the men turned around, he was wearing my face but a few years younger. A teenage version of me was holding a baby in the corner. The baby is the same one from my childhood pictures. They all turned to face me. They were all me. The man who turned first looks me up and down,
"A year must've passed" he said with disinterest, "Don't look so shocked," he said, "Ever heard the expression 'a new year, a new you'? Well of course you have," he laughed a little at himself, or rather myself, "This is where the old you goes."
I stared blankly for a second, "No," I whisper, "that doesn't make sense."
The man shrugged, "Well Chase, you're the only one who hasn't accepted it. Look around, we can't make this stuff up."
I scanned the room, it was terrifying, and all too real. I needed air, I rushed outside. My foot caught on a stray banner. I fell, my hands skidded on the concrete, the skin on my hands tearing, but that was by far the least interesting thing that had happened. The banner was printed with the words HAPPY NEW YEAR and underneath that 1983. The year I was born. The world had not changed since my first new year. I pulled out my phone, it was still midnight, still January 0th. Then I noticed something else, my hands were not bleeding, there wasn't even a scratch.
Chase from a few years earlier came out and sat next to me, "Have you figured it out yet?" He asked.
"Figured what out?"
"You can't change anything about yourself here. Not your hair, not your health, not your age. Did you see 1994 with his foot in a cast, from the time we fell out of that tree? He can't heal from that. Only new you can do anything different, it's why the New Year is the time we make resolutions. We feel the change, the only reason no one has figured it out yet is that you keep the memories,"
I must've looked as confused as I felt because old me just shrugged, "You'll catch on eventually. Until then, I hope you will be willing to tell us about your last year. We haven't had much to talk about since 2015 got here."
