Growing up, Cora had never really “got” New Year’s. It had more or less been a non-event in their house, her Father smoothing a hand over her head and announcing he was going to bed at 10:30 whilst her Mother sat up beside her, Cora’s head lolling every now and again as she fought to stay awake. It wasn’t until she moved away and went to school that she was surrounded by pretty girls, perfuming their skin and dazzling their cheeks with glitter as they prepared to stay out all night. Every year, at every countdown she found herself stifling a yawn, wishing she was curled up in bed with her copy of Tuck Everlasting and a hot chocolate.
Now, a smile stretched across her face as she wound through the crowd, awkwardly squeezing into the smallest gaps between bodies. Her shoulder bumped strangers as she chirped, “Sorry! Lovely dress!” and “Very shiny!” apologetically, trying to make herself as small as possible. It was veering closer and closer to Midnight and people were getting drunker and drunker, and she’d long since lost Luca in the crowd. She hoped wherever he was, he was being smooched by a pretty somebody, perhaps a very pretty ballerina, if he was very lucky.
She made her way into the kitchen, the chill from the tiles seeping through her socks as she edged towards the over-large dining table, littered with cheese plates and flutes of champagne and an overfull fruit bowl. On impulse, Cora reached forward and snatched up the fruit bowl, nestling it into her arms like a baby. She lost an apple as she clambered under the table, the tablecloth quite not long enough to hide the fact there was a small redhead crouched under there in her pink tulle dress.
Plucking a grape free, she pressed it between her thumb and forefinger, as though inspecting its ripeness. Cora let out a hefty sigh, her bangs fluttering around her face with the exhalation.
“Guess it’s you and me at Midnight, friend.” she said, a forced smile quirking up the corner of her lips. Her lips parted, ready to pop the grape between her lips before she spotted a pair of feet sticking out from underneath the table cloth.
Cora squealed, sitting upright so quickly she banged her head off the underside of the table.
“Owww.” she lamented, rubbing the bump atop her head.