His strongest memory is the smell of alcohol, perfume and cologne, sweat, the sound of laugher mixed with the sweet sound of old classics – music most people seemed to have forgotten existed, but no, not they. The night is spent spread over sofas, chairs, the floor, discussing the deeper meaning of the change of a century, how to properly knit a bag without it looking like a deformed kitten (like Angela did this autumn) and Jack’s gaze constantly fixed on the quiet brunette in the corner.
The papers tell them it’s December 31st, 2099.
Then they start dancing. It’s a whirl, everyone’s dancing with each other, people are laughing. The lights are dimmed, he can barely see, doesn’t matter, and doesn’t care. Then she’s in front of him, and the rest of the world just stops mattering. Her eyes are the most beautiful shade of blue, and lights up with her rare, mysterious smiles. They steer away from the masses – he dares asking for her name. She just laughs, buries her head into his chest (she’s the same height as him, he notices then, but her heels make her seem taller), and awkward gesture that only works because they’re both in an alcohol-infected haze, and too drunk to care.
As the clocks starts ticking closer to midnight, he takes her hand, and she squeezes it, lightly.
“I’ll tell you at midnight”, she whispers, her lips barely brushing his earlobe – a simple gesture that sends shivers down his spine, and he would never have thought that he could be this excited for something like knowing this girl’s name (but at the moment it’s the only thing that matters in his world, her name and her chocolate hair).
The people in the room start counting down, and Jack shouts louder than anyone. 3, 2, 1 –
And then everything changes.
The fingers intertwined with his suddenly feel different – there is no longer the mystery, it is as if they’re holding onto their security blanket. People’s expressions change – from smiles to fear, from discussions to laughter, people are hugging. The world is changing right in front of his eyes and there is nothing he can do about it. He feels a big ball form inside of him, he wants to scream out of the bottom of his stomach, but out of his lips comes no sound.
He faintly hears someone mention that this music is crap, everyone in the room agreeing, every single one, and this is when he finally falls down to the ground. Only seconds have passed since midnight, but it already feels like he’s lived his whole life.
“Jacob? Hey, hey, Jacob, you feeling all right? You’re not looking too cool there on the ground”
It takes a moment to process the words – the voice is that of a stranger, but as he looks up, it is the same shade of blue, but all the mystery of his treasure is gone.
“What’s your name?” he manages to stutter.
“Jacob, don’t be silly. It’s Hannah. You know, the girl who lived next door to you your whole life? The girl who ate worms with you when we were 10?”
“My name’s not Jacob”, he gasps, shaking his head. This cannot be happening. Has he gone mad? Before this evening his girls was a stranger, he is so sure of it. He cannot remember having a friend named Hannah – he cannot remember ever eating worms (his parents would never have approved of it, he would never have approved of it).
Then his world blacks out, and the next thing he remembers is the hard surface of a parched bench, and a police officer kindly asking him to find somewhere else to finish his night.
“What day is it?” he asks, his headache telling him that something just slipped into his beer – none of it actually happened.
“Rough party? It’s the first of January, 2099. Next year will be the change of a century!”
