New Year's Eve

"Sarah!"

"What?"

"You didn't!"

"I did, what's wrong with that?"

"This is why you're single. This moment right here. You need me to move back in with you to dictate all your e-mails," scorned Satchel. I called him in Florida to get the scoop, if any, on his friend that he so highly recommended. "Read it to me again."

"David, thanks for the offer for New Year's Eve! I have a few more calls to see what's going on tomorrow and then I'm going to weigh my options. I haven't even settled the debate on which city I'm going to spend it at yet. I'll give you a call tomorrow when I know for sure. Sarah."

"You're awful, you know that?"

I eventually worked out a plan: score an invite to at least two more parties back at school and then accept David's invitation. If David gave me an insincere invite, I would have places to fall back on and I wouldn't have made the drive for nothing.

Poor David's party was lacking. I made 5 people, and I was the only chick. While the others watched 12 Monkeys, David and I stood in the kitchen and gathered all the information that we were too distracted to get last time. There was a definite vibe coming from him that my invite was sincere.

After an hour and a half of standing in his friend's kitchen and drinking beer, my phone began to ring incessantly. The other two parties wanted to know where I was. David drained another beer, "You know of other parties?"

"Yup, the one I went to last year that I had such a good time at is not a mile from here."

"You wanna go?"

"Your friends won't miss you?"

"Naw, it's cool."

We grabbed our coats and made our way to his truck. He opened the door for me, I swooned and kissed him. I made my usual party entrance into Bryan's house: people saw me and screamed my name and cheered (sometimes I have no idea why I left that place).

Bryan, the boy I hooked up with last NYE, meet David, this year's slot. Maybe this is why I left that place. We drank and socialized with my circle of friends and then the door opens. In walks two families. Families. Two middle-aged women and their children. I cannot cannot be drunk around children. I gathered David and a couple of boys and headed to the third party at a bar downtown.

Because of the blue law in the south, only one place was open. State law says no bar can be open on Sundays unless it earns half its revenue from food sales. Even at that, last call is at 11:50. I bought a round of drinks when the band began announcing the time.

I eyed David, "Are you going to be my midnight kiss?"

"I think I can make that happen."

"Because, if not," I pointed to the crowded bar behind me and flashed a sinister smile, "I'm sure I can find it elsewhere."

David wrapped his arms around me, "No, I want to be it."

And just like that people were counting and David and I leaned in to each other and kissed a long slow kiss. I turned and looked at another friend of mine who came out with us. He was sort of standing off to the side, watching everybody celebrate. His glass of champagne was empty and my heart lurched for him. I walked up to him and grabbed his face and kissed him and gave him a hug.

Not five minutes after midnight, they were ushering everyone out of the bar. I can only imagine how many establishments lost money by being forced to be closed. Driving back to Bryan's party, I popped a cork of champagne and took a swig from the bottle and passed it on to David.

We stumbled back to more cheers and thankfully the children had left. Conor was there and his girlfriend was already passed out on the couch, under a comforter. I don't understand why she couldn't have done that a week ago at the Christmas party. The silly antics and socializing really began as I drank the rest of our champagne from a Dixie cup and administered shots of vodka between Conor, David, Bryan, and I.

When I was in conversation with someone else, I heard Bryan turn to David and ask, "So are you with Sarah? Are y'all dating?"

And David gave a pretty emphatic no. It was less than, "Oh god no," but more than "Not really." If I was being honest, it was much closer to "Oh god no," then the latter.

Which is fine, I'm a big girl. He does live an hour away and I only just met him last week, but I was so embarrassed he would say that to my friend. That he would imply with his rather emphatic no that I wasn't someone worth being with. Moreover, to my friend I was very briefly involved with. My feelings weren't hurt; my pride was hurt.

I guess David just answered my question on whether he was being sincere or just a gentleman with me. Since I wasn't a part of the conversation, I didn't react to it. After I was done talking to a friend I sat down on the couch and took some more photos of friends. David collapsed on the couch next to me and put his arm around me.

What the hell. I just heard him say that he wasn't interested in me in pretty much any capacity and then he puts his arm around me. It pissed me off. He would talk to my friends about me like that and then be affectionate towards me-- I don't understand what he's thinking.

He caressed my shoulder with the side of his thumb and I leaned my head against him. It was getting late and I was not a part of the conversation and technically I'm not supposed to know anything. We sat and watched everyone party; the two of us were pretty drunk and tired.

David says quietly, "I guess I should take you back to your car."

Remembering the conversation I had with him before I made the drive, that if I come up to school, I need to spend the night at school. I had finagled Conor's couch, but Conor was drinking 10 feet away, and I was pretty much done with the party as well. "Do you want to get some food?" thinking that food will allow me to drive home.

"No, if I eat, I'll throw up."

Okay then. He picked up my hand in his truck and put it in his lap. I thought back over the night to see if I had said or done anything to make David say what he did. I couldn't come up with anything; I was on good behavior: I didn't talk too much or say anything wildly shocking or inappropriate. "Okay, well have a good night," and I slid out of his truck and into my own.

I stopped at a gas station and refilled my tank and bought a bag of Combos to soak the alcohol before I made the 30 mile drive to my father's house, where the closest bed lay. Leave it to me to bring out the inner asshole of even the nicest of people.