After Midnight - Zoey

“...5, 4, 3, 2, 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Zoey hugged everyone around her, gave her best friend Lyla a celebratory squeeze with a kiss on the cheek and then finished her only flute of champagne. She walked through the living room, ducked just inside the kitchen to toss the plastic flute into the recycle bin, turned out into the hallway and then ran smack into Adam’s chest. He had been looking back over his shoulder and never saw her coming, “I’m so sorry, Zo! Are you OK?” He asked, flustered. She rubbed her nose gently, “Yeah, I’m good. I’ll be all right.” He held her by her shoulders and looked carefully at her face, checking for blood or bruising, “No signs of trauma," he reported sheepishly, and then released her shoulders to give her a hug, “Happy New Year, Zo! It’s gonna be a great one!” Zoey hugged him back, and then after another quick glance over his shoulder, he was gone. Zoey shook her head and then continued towards the stairs, hoping for a quick escape to the second floor of Adam and Kevin’s condo. When Zoey reached the bottom of the stairs, Dahlia was sitting there, lost in thought, with a tiny smile on her face and a finger pressed gently to her bottom lip. She jumped up, “Happy New Year Sweetie!” she exclaimed and hugged Zoey, “Can you believe it? Graduation year!” “I can’t believe it,” Zoey replied, “I seriously can’t. It’s going to be amazing!” Zoey broke their hug and looked at Dahlia, “Everything OK?”

“Yeah! yeah! Of course! I was just thinking about how everything’s about to change. We’ve all been friends for so long.”

“We’ll still be friends, Silly, just in different places,” Zoey replied, “plus we’ll all stay in touch and visit one another as much as possible.”

“I know. It just won’t be the same...wait, where're you headed?”

“To bed.”

“To bed? Already?” Dahlia pouted. Zoey was usually one of the last to turn in and was always a lot of fun to be around.

“Yeah. Unfortunately. I gotta get ready and leave by six to make it home in time.”

Dahlia hugged her again, saying “I’m gonna miss the shit outta you. After we all graduate and get jobs, someone had better have a place big enough for all of us to visit...”

“...and not have to sleep on the frikkin' floor anymore!” Zoey finished Dahlia’s sentence with a laugh. They had all been friends through college, and some even back through high school, so crashing all over the place at each other’s apartments and condos didn’t always make for comfortable sleeping.

“I’m heading up,” Zoey yawned, “I claimed Kevin’s room as soon as I got here so I’d have someplace comfy to sleep before having to drive all day tomorrow. Night hon,” Zoey said as she reached out her hand.

“Night Zo. Drive safe,” Dahlia said and squeezed Zoey’s hand goodbye. “Hopefully see you for Spring Break.”

Dahlia let go of Zoey’s hand and then turned towards the kitchen with that look on her face again. What the hell was up with her? Zoey thought, spinning around to follow her and ask what the hell was going on, but then she stopped short, whatever it is will have to wait, Zoey thought, turning back towards the stairs. She had a very long day ahead of her.

She felt as if she had just put her head on the pillow when her alarm woke her - she actually looked at the time on her phone and expected to see that she had mistakenly set her alarm for one minute after she had gone to bed. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Zoey shut the alarm off and groaned. Thankfully, she stuck to her plan last night and only had the one flute of champagne to celebrate the New Year as it happened; although she was thankful that she was not hungover, she was still extremely tired. She forced herself to whip off the cozy covers and sit up. As she slowly turned to sit on the edge of the bed, she shivered in the chill of the early morning. She took a very deep breath, released it, reached down to pull on her fuzzy socks and then begrudgingly willed herself to stand. With a wistful glance back at the warm bed, she grabbed her toiletry bag and padded out the door towards the bathroom.

After she brushed her teeth, she took a quick shower, patted herself dry and wrapped herself in the towel. Then Zoey quietly slipped out of the bathroom and ducked back into Kevin's room. She got dressed and hurriedly made his bed, then shoved her sweats and toiletry bag into her overnight bag. After she picked up her shoes, she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out into the hallway. She then tiptoed past Adam's closed door, crept down the stairs and headed towards the front door. Zoey was carefully weaving around the couches and chairs where everyone else had landed last night and then realized that she didn't see Dahlia anywhere. She stopped in her tracks and made a very small, very slow and very silent circle in place, peering intently at all of the sleeping faces that surrounded her. No Dahlia. Huh. She didn't mention having to leave early when they spoke last, but maybe something had come up and she had to take off? Zoey shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the front door where she slipped her shoes on and unlocked the door as quietly as she could. Then she opened it, snuck out silently and then very carefully closed the door behind her.

As Zoey shivered in the wintry New England dawn, she wrapped her arms around herself and walked briskly towards towards her car, thinking for the millionth time that she should start looking for a job maybe even just a little south of home. She dug her keys out of her pocket as she walked, pushed the little picture of the car's tailgate on her key fob and then stopped in her tracks. Dahlia's car was still parked behind hers. Frozen with indecision, she was rooted next to her car. She really, really had to get on the road to home, but she desperately wanted to run back inside and figure out what was going on. Dahlia obviously hadn't had to leave unexpectedly after all, but where the hell was she? After a few seconds, Zoey knew that she couldn't just leave until she knew that Dahlia was OK. She tossed her overnight bag into the back of her car, pushed the button again to close the tailgate and turned around to run back inside. Just as quietly as she had exited, she re-entered the house and slowly wound her way back around the den. No Dahlia. Zoey quietly went back through the living room, studying all of the faces on the bodies strewn about. Still no Dahlia. Completely baffled and frustrated, she wanted to stomp her feet in a temper tantrum right there on the spot. Dahlia, where the fuck are you? And then, a light bulb almost exploded in her brain - Adam acting so weirdly, Dahlia with that dreamy look on her face - no! No frikkin way! She flew out of the room, past the kitchen (and the spot where Adam had just about run her down), and then ran up the stairs remembering the way that Dahlia had been touching her bottom lip. Zoey stopped at the top of the stairs, quietly laughing to herself and shaking her head. She stood there and quickly caught her breath, silently let it go, and then tiptoed to Adam's door. Zoey slowly turned the knob and peeked into the room - bingo! Dahlia! And Adam! She quietly re-closed the door, spun around with a huge smile on her face and dashed back down the stairs. I am going to be so so so late, she thought, but that was totally worth it.