Back To You | Ricky Garcia

Chapter Twenty

Charlene's POV

New Years Eve. The last day of 2016, the day where we leave the past behind us. The day we prepare for a whole new 365 day long chapter of our lives.

It's also the day I feel most like a complete cat obsessed loner, next to Valentines Day, of course. That's right, in about 14 hours every couple is going to suck each others faces off as they watch the ball drop on TV. And then there's me, sitting on my chair, cringing at all the kissy noises around me.

I've literally been laying in my bed for 30 minutes since I've woken up, just imagining everyone tonight. Jon hosts a New Years party every year, and pretty much half the school shows up. Even people who he hasn't talked to the whole year show up. His parties are literally legendary. I honestly love them. I love awkwardly dancing with my friends. I love counting down and watching the ball drop on the big screen. The only part I don't like is when everyone pairs up and kiss each other, whether they're dating or not. The worse part is that I can't even mock everyone with my friends because they're too busy doing it themselves.

Last year, Francesca wandered off to the "bathroom" and disappeared for like 30 minutes (Now I know she was lip locking with Jon the whole time). I wasn't as close with Evan this time last year, since we were all still fighting, but we did catch up at the party and just as the clock hit 12, he grabbed Cathy Anderson and kissed her right on the lips. And then there was Ricky, making out with some random girl way before the clock even struck 12.

Classic Ricky.

My stomach twisted at the thought of all the girls he's kissed at this party all these years. I'm not the jealous type, but the number of cheap kisses he's received infuriates me.

Who am I kidding, I'm just bitter because everyone has someone they enjoy kissing and I'm just here like a potato watching in the corner. I would love to be one of those couples, sharing they're first kiss of the year. But I'm a single pringle, and I'm not a big fan of kissing a random person on the lips. Last year, a blonde kid who didn't even go to our school ended up grabbing me by the waist and pulling me in for a kiss, but I turned my head before he could go for it. He ended up kissing my cheek and we made awkward eye contact for the rest of the night.

I slapped my head in frustration and flicked some hair from my face. My fingers felt damp as I touched my hair and forehead. This is weird. Why is my hair wet?

As a matter of fact, the whole night was weird. I could've sworn I heard someone talking to me last night when I was in bed, but I have no idea who it was. Oh well, it was probably just my Dad coming home from work and giving me a kiss goodnight or something.

I got out of bed and walked towards my window. I climbed up on the seat connected to it, and examined the view outside. I'm guessing it was raining really hard last night. I climbed off the seat, and walked towards the door. I felt my fuzzy socks go cold and wet. I looked at the floor to find a trail of water leading from the door to my bed. Silly Dad, why didn't he take of his soaking wet shoes before he came inside the house?

I opened the door and headed downstairs to get a few paper towels to clean up the water. I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the paper towels off the counter. As I walked around the counter, I saw a note. I walked over to it and snatched it off the granite.

Hi Honey,

Your father decided to be extra romantic today, and took me to Manhattan for a date day. We won't be back until tomorrow morning. Have fun at Jon's New Years party. Go and get a kiss from your special someone (You know who I'm talking about)

Love,

Mom

I couldn't help but smile at the note. Not because she was talking about Ricky, but because of the fact that Dad still takes her out on dates after 20 years of being married. I swear, she still blushes when he's around. It's absolutely adorable. They're literally relationship goals.