New Year 2020

James Cooper is 21, Carla Dallas is 23.
(Summer is 25, Jeff is 29, Micah is 26, Andrew is 26, Claudia is 23, Cody is 25, Lucy is 25.)

James doesn't really know what he's doing at this party. He only knows a few people, including his roommate Andrew who is actually the one to have persuaded him into coming.

“Come on, James. It'll be fun. Besides, you don't have anything better to do, do you?”

No, he didn't. That was the only reason why he hadn't just stayed home – he didn't want to seem pathetic.

Everyone at this party seems to be married, engaged or in a steady relationship. James doesn't belong to any of those categories. He's single, and almost feels like he's being punished for it. He's only 21, but he feels 40. Most of the people he used to go to school with are now in college, go to college parties and spend time with their college friends. James, on the other hand, goes to work, attends some lame adult parties and spends time with his very grown-up friends.

He grabs a beer and sits down on a chair.

“Listen, you guys”, Micah says enthusiastically. His voice sounds a little unstable, as though he had already drunk a few beers. “You can get married, do whatever you like, but there's one thing you should never forget about.”
“Oh my God, Micah”, Summer, one of the owners of the apartment, says. “You're so drunk. I can't believe you're the same person I used to date back in high school!”
“What?” a blonde girl with lots of freckles on her face shrieks. “You guys used to date?”
“Oh yeah, I remember that”, the guy sitting next to her says with excitement.

“I can't believe you all used to go to high school together”, the blonde girl continues. “It's not fair!” She crosses her arms dramatically.
“Trust me, you didn't miss out on anything”, Summer laughs. “For example, Cody and I didn't even speak to each other until... When was that?”
“I think it was our junior year”, the guy says.
“Of college”, Summer adds.

“It was probably around then when Summer stopped talking to me”, Micah says. “Did you have something to do with that, Cody?”
“He didn't”, Summer says with a laugh.
“Gosh, there are so many things I know nothing about!” the blonde girl says. “You must fill me in with all the details.”

“Micah was devastated”, Andrew says. “Good thing he found Celeste.”
“Poor guy”, Claudia giggles.
“I was okay”, Micah insists. “But my wife's a real catch, isn't she?”
“She is.”
“Where is she, by the way?”
“She's spending the holidays with her family”, Micah answers.
“And she didn't want you to meet them.”
“She did”, Micah says. “And I've already met them, you moron. We're married. But, you know – they didn't have much space so we just thought-”
“-that you're an alcoholic”, Andrew finishes the sentence.
“No, man, that's not what I was going to say.”

James stays still, listening to the conversation go by and thinking about every word he hears. He turns his head a little, and sees a guy with long hair sitting there right next to him.
“You're not married, are you?” he asks him.
“Nah”, the guy says. “Too young.”
“How old are you?”
“27.”
“You know you're older than most of these people.”
“I guess I am.”

“You know them?” James asks.
“Not really”, the guy says.
“Then what are you doing here?”
“That's a good question.”

“I guess I'm just here for the free beer”, he says finally. James raises an eyebrow, but then smiles a little.
“Me too. I mean – I was invited, but it's not like I'm part of this group or anything.”
“Yeah”, the guy says. “Something like that.”

“I'm actually a DJ”, he soon continues. “And I have invitations to the best New Year's eve parties in the country. And here I am.”
“Why's that?” James asks.
“I sort of”, he starts, but then hesitates for a while. “Messed up.”

“And this is your punishment?”
“I guess”, the guy says.
“Aren't you being a little too hard on yourself?”
“Nah, not really.”

“You see”, he says, “I messed up really bad. There was this girl, and I loved her. I did, and I now know that.”
“You broke up with her”, James says.
“No, I didn't”, he says quickly. “We're technically still together, I guess. The only thing is that she won't return my calls and it's been like that for three months.”
“That's a break-up.”
“You think?” He sighs. “Man, I wish she'd just listen.”
“Tell me about it.” James takes a huge sip of his beer. “I mean, there was this one girl, and she left me. Then, I tried calling her to ask what I'd done wrong, but she didn't even want to hear from me anymore. It was all fucked up, you now, since I hadn't even done anything.”
“She's a bitch.”
“Yeah, maybe”, James says. “But I'm starting to get over her.”
“That's great man. I wish I could do that.”

They both stand up, and the long haired guy goes to grab another beer.
“I guess I'm just gonna drink myself to death.”
“Nah, don't”, James says to him, but before he can say anything else, he sees someone at the door. “Look, man- I gotta go. It was nice talking to you.”


~~~~~

Carla doesn't really know what she's doing at this party. She doesn't know the owners of this place, she just presumes they're friends of Claudia, since she's the one who invited her.

“You should come. I bet there will be lots of guys for you to meet.”
“But I don't want to meet any guys.”
“Well, I'll be there.”

It's New Year's eve, and Carla's got no-one to kiss. She's gained about 10 pounds during the holidays. How sad is that?

“He's here.”

She sees her best friend, as thin as ever, running out to her with a worried expression on her face.

“I swear, I didn't know he was going to come-”, Claudia starts to explain alarmedly, but Carla interrupts her immediately:
“That's okay, I know you didn't.” She looks towards the living room, searching for any familiar faces. “Did he bring someone?”
“No, he didn't”, Claudia answers quickly. “But actually, he was just talking to-”
“Okay”, Carla says. She doesn't want to know. “I just need to use the bathroom.”

She doesn't really go to the bathroom. She looks for a little quieter place to sit, just to clear her thoughts and calm down.

She knew this was a bad idea. She should have just stayed home, listened to some really sad songs and maybe talked to Jessica. She and Jessica are friends now, sort of. Technically, they're sisters, since their parents are married now, but she reckons it's already too late for that. You kind of have to know someone since the minute they're born to call them your little sister.

She can hear someone getting closer, even though the people in the living room are talking very loudly and the music is playing almost non-stop.

Please just go and use the bathroom, she prays in her mind. Don't come here.

But he does.

“Oh”, she says, surprised. “It's you.”
“Yeah, it's me”, James says.

There is about a minute of silence. Then, Carla finally breaks the ice.
“So”, she starts slowly. “I had no idea you were going to be at this party.”
“Me neither”, James says. “But you know – Andrew.”
Carla nods. “Claudia”, she says.

They don't say anything for a while, just listen to the calm music coming from the other side of the apartment. James clears his throat.

“You want to go grab some fresh air?” he asks then.
“Sure”, she answers.

It's kind of cold outside, but they sit down on the icy steps anyway. She looks at him, only for a second, and then just lets her thoughts run.

“I met someone”, he suddenly says. “A girl.”
“You did?” She gets a little uncomfortable. “What is she like?”
“Amazing”, he says. “I haven't slept with her yet.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” she asks him.
“I guess it's a good thing”, he says. “Usually when I meet someone, I just like to get it over with as soon as possible, and then, I pretty much lose interest.”
Carla looks away, but still listens.
“I just really want to get to know her, you know.”

“You should”, Carla finally says. “You'll never know when they'll break your heart.”
“Yeah.” He sighs. “Tell me about it.”
She now turns to look at him, and sees him there, with his heart broken, devastated, just like she is. “Gosh, James”, she then says. “When did you grow up?”

“What do you mean?” he asks her. She smiles, but only a little.
“I mean”, she starts, “that you're not that silly teenager anymore. I wish you were, though.”
He frowns. “Why?”
“I just hate to see you like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you've had your heart broken.”

He looks at her. “So?”
She takes his hand. “So I guess that makes you a real grown-up now. Welcome to the club.”
“But you had your heart broken just a few months ago”, he says. “I've had mine for over two years.”
Carla gives a cold laugh. “Believe me, this wasn't the first time a guy has made me cry. I've been dumped before, I've even been cheated on before.”

“Seriously?” His whole being is full of concern. Carla looks at him, smiling, but fighting back tears at the same time.
“Yeah. And here I am. Alive, still.”

They stay quiet for a while. Carla swallows back her tears, and tries to remain calm.
“You kind of broke my heart, too”, James suddenly says.
“What?” Carla shrieks. She looks at him skeptically.
“You did”, he says. “Don't you remember? The first time you and your mom came to our house for dinner. You kissed me.”
Carla closes her eyes in attempt to recall what had happened that night. Suddenly, she gasps.
“Oh my God!!!!” she screams. “I did!”

“How could you forget?” he demands. “You were 16!”
“I don't know”, she says, with horror. “I mean, I knew I had a crush on you, but-”
“You had a crush on me?” he interrupts.
“Um, yeah – I did.” She lets out a nervous laugh. She is only a shadow of her old, confident self. “But I knew it was wrong. I mean, our parents were getting married.”
“You know that doesn't mean anything”, James says quickly. “We're not real siblings.”
“I know”, Carla says. “But still, just the thought of it... I don't know, it was just crazy. And your sister was being very protective of you.”

“What?” James exclaims. “Jess? Protective? What are you, kidding?”
“She was!” Carla insists. “She hated me from the second she saw the two us talking.”
“Well, we weren't exactly talking-”
“Shut up”, she laughs. “She never knew that. Unless you told her, of course.”
“I didn't”, he says.

She takes a quick look at him.
“She did see the two of us dancing at our parents' wedding, though”, he suddenly says.
“She did.” Carla smiles, but quickly becomes more serious. “But then you went with -”, she doesn't say the name out loud, but they both know exactly who she's referring to, “and left me alone on the dance floor.”
“You've never been alone. There has always been a bunch of guys drooling after you”, James says, trying to take her mind off Coco.
“Was she a better kisser than me?”
“Wait. What?” He can't believe his ears. She looks at him shyly.
“So many guys seem to prefer her over me, so I just thought...” She gulps. “Maybe she really is better than me.”
“She's not”, James says quickly. “Besides, you were 16 back at the time. I'm sure you've gained a lot of experience after that.”
She bites her lip and looks at him desperately.

The countdown starts.

10, 9, 8...

The people at the party start pairing up, looking for their loved ones, or their cell phones to call the ones that mean the most to them.

“Do you remember what happened exactly two years ago?”
“I do.”
“I'm so glad we're doing this.”
“Me too.”

7, 6...

“Don't go anywhere.”
“I won't.”

5, 4...

Some manage to steal a little kiss even before it's actually the time.

“We should get home soon. We promised the nanny.”

3, 2...

Soon the sky is going to turn into the playground of all the different colors... People wait for the fireworks...

1, 0...

Everyone is looking for someone, they're waiting for something new, hoping that this new year will bring them something good, something better...

It's a new chance. To start all over again.

“I should probably call Whitney.” He smiles at her, the most friendly and encouraging smile he knows, and then gets up.
“Yeah.” She smiles back at him. “And I should end things with Alec. For good.”

It's a new start.


~~~~~

• Okay, first of all, just a quick reminder – James and Carla aren't really brother and sister. James' (and Jessica's) mom died when they were little and their dad Arnaud was alone for a very long time. When the twins were about 14, Arnaud met Carla's mother Gwen and soon after they got married. So nothing strange going on here ;)

• James had the want for making out, Carla had the want for a date, but basically it was just pure ACR. These two have huge chemistry, 150 ACR or something like that... After the kiss, James rolled the want for woohoo in bed but also for calling Whitney, whereas Carla just wanted to buy some new clothes and play some pool (seriously, wtf sims?) So yeah, it was just a kiss.

• Also, I suppose you all recognized the red-haired dude James was talking to. If you didn't, you should read the last college update :)

• I'm currently staying at my parents' house which just basically means that I have nothing more to do than just play the game and write. This will all change next week when I'm going on a little trip with my friends, and I'm also moving! Yaiks!