As I walked amongst the crowd of people in the small London flat, I couldn’t help but feel alone. I had decided to host a New Years Eve party in a desperate attempt to feel surrounded by people I care about for the holidays, but it just wasn’t the same as being home. Don’t get me wrong, I adored spending a year as a foreign exchange student in London, but it was getting tough around the holidays. Not having any family on your continent can start to get to you sometimes.
It didn’t take me long to notice that this party had ended up being a few more people than were originally invited. And by a few, I mean about 30. Which is saying something, considering the apartment I was staying in comfortably sat not nearly half of that. When my host family agreed to let their daughter and I host a party while they were away for the holiday, this was certainly not what they had in mind. With upwards of 50 people in the tiny flat, the claustrophobia was not helping my homesickness or adding to my holiday cheer. I decided to take a walk.
The crisp December city air felt good. I walked for a block or two and then sat down on a bench, just thinking. I really did miss my family, my parents. My dog. My friends. It must have a couple months since I spoke to them, since I left in August and didn’t make my international calls often. I put it on a mental checklist to call them after the new year. Suddenly, my phone began to ring. It was my roommate, no doubt wondering where I had gone. I honestly was surprised anyone had even noticed with the number of people there. But I never did answer the call. I just sat and listened to my ringtone for a while.
Someday you will find me, caught beneath the landslide,
In a champagne supernova in the sky.
“So, uh, are you gonna answer that?” I heard the most adorable Irish accent question me from the other side of the bench. I turned to see a young blonde boy, about my age, sitting there. He smiled at me and said, “That’s my favorite song. I love Oasis.”
“Me too,” was all I managed to say in response. His attention caught me off-guard. Even after living in Europe for five months, I still hadn’t gotten used to the way strangers talked to each other like childhood friends.
“You’re not doing anything for New Year’s Eve, pretty girl like you? I find that surprising.”
“Actually, I’m kind of hosting a party, but it got to be a little too much, so I left.”
I didn’t comprehend how lame this response was until after I had already said it. I looked around nervously waiting for the boy to reply. I was unsure why I cared about his opinion, seeing as though we were total strangers, but I did nonetheless. Thankfully, he understood the situation and agreed that too many people in a tiny apartment make for an incredibly unpleasant evening. He also took this time to finally introduce himself: Niall.
Niall suggested we go for a walk to get away from everything, so there I was. I didn’t know what was coming over me. Perhaps it was the start of a New Years resolution I hadn’t quite picked out yet, or maybe a better guess was the champagne being served back home, but either way I was embracing the situation as it came. This situation currently came in the form of Niall and I walking casually though the London streets talking about anything and everything. I learned about his family and his home in Ireland, which led to the crushing realization that he was only in London for winter holiday. Niall was easy to talk to and made me laugh. I loved listening to his all his stories, from his adventures with his friends back home to learning to play guitar.
My cell phone ringing brought me back to reality. The beautiful song started to play again, the one that brought Niall into my life. It was my roommate again. I told Niall I had to take her call this time, simply to let her know where I was. The call was not about me at all, though. I answered the phone to hear my roommate screaming at me telling me that a friend of ours was really drunk and fell down the stairs trying to get outside. She told me she might have hit her head. Selfishly, I wondered how this was at all my problem; I had left the party over an hour ago. However, I heard the genuine concern in her voice and decided I needed to help. I hung up the phone and quickly explained to Niall what had happened as we rushed back along our path to the apartment.
When we were only about a block away from the flat, I heard an ambulance, and my breath caught in my throat. This was more serious than I had first thought. I started to run and Niall kept pace with me, but when we reached the outside of the building he told me he would wait outside. I worried that he might leave, but I shoved that thought away when I thought about one of my friends having to be taken away to the hospital.
I entered the flat, and my roommate immediately hugged me and started explaining everything. The party had pretty much cleared out except for a few remaining kids waiting to make sure that their friend was okay. My roommate filled me in that after we had finished speaking on the phone, the girl who fell passed out, and they got scared and called for an ambulance. An EMT carried her down to the ambulance, returning to get a phone number to contact her parents. The entire ordeal was scary and draining, and my roommate was not handling it well. I wanted to help but also needed an excuse to get back outside.
Finally I was able to break away and made my way down the stairs. Part of me couldn’t wait to get back to chatting with Niall, but I had an overwhelming feeling that he had simply left. It wouldn’t have been very surprising; handling my injured friend had taken almost another hour, and midnight was fast approaching. I told myself that I would never want to ring in the new year sitting alone on a bench, so why would Niall want that either? Despite these doubts, when I pushed open the door, there Niall was, sitting and waiting.
“I can’t believe you stayed. I’m sorry, that took way longer than I expected.”
Niall smiled at me and replied, “Don’t apologize. They needed you up there. I asked one of the guys in the ambulance, and they said she would be okay. It’s probably a bad concussion.”
“Well, we still have 15 minutes before it’s midnight, what do you want to do?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood of this conversation. In light of everything that had happened this evening, our banter didn’t seem as playful and lighthearted. Niall, however, took this change of pace in great stride, suggesting that we head toward a more populated area of town. We walked quickly, Niall leading the way, knowing the streets of London surprisingly well for someone who visits once a year. With only a couple minutes remaining, Niall pulled open the door to a small bar and nodded for me to go inside. It was a small space, full of happy people, all staring at the tiny television in the corner of the room waiting for it to strike midnight. I sat down at one of the few free tables, while Niall walked up to the bar. Despite his young look, he returned with two glasses easily.
People all around us started to count down. 10. 9. Niall smiled at me. I was glad he thought to come here. 8. 7. 6. We joined in the counting now, the anticipation and excitement building. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. “Happy New Year!!” we yelled in unison with the entire room. Niall leaned in to kiss me, and suddenly it felt like we were the only people in the room. It wasn’t long, but it was sweet, and I was glad I had decided to leave the party I was supposed to be at that night. After we broke apart a girl came up and handed us both corny looking 2010 glasses. We put them on, and Niall leaned his glass toward me. “Cheers to 2010, may it be the start of amazing things.” I drank to that.
