Remember to Forget, Revised and Expanded (35 page)
For the upcoming year, I want to be truly, completely happy. I feel like it can happenâhopefully.
Things have already improved so much in the past few months.
“So, who wants to play a game?” Caleb asks.
“No one,” Delilah says.
“Well, okay then.”
“I wanna watch a movie,” Aiden says. Aiden goes over to the TV and starts searching
for a movie.
We all set up pillows and blankets to lie on while we watch a movie. Everyone is
sprawled out on the blankets, just talking about stuff. I'm sitting with Delilah,
both of us huddled underneath some blankets. She's talking about her plans for the
year, and she seems so hopeful and content. She smiles widely while she talks and
moves her hands quickly because she's so excited.
She's telling me all about the colleges she's applying to and how excited she is
for the summer. I could listen to her talk about anything. It's cute to see her so
happy about everything.
She props herself up on her elbow and looks at me. “I was thinking, maybe, this summer
we could go somewhere. Like a little vacation. I know summer is kinda far away and
all, but I don't know. It's just a thought. So both of us can go somewhere.” Even
in the dark, I can see that her cheeks are slightly pink.
“Actually, about that. For Christmas, I got two tickets to Australia for the summer.
And I was kinda hoping you'd wanna go.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, if you want to go, of course.”
“I'd love to go! That'd be so fun!”
“It's a plan, then. You and me take on Straya this summer.”
“Please don't ever say that again,” she says, laughing. She moves closer to me, and
I wrap my arms around her.
“I'll just cuddle over here with myself,” Aiden says, hugging himself.
“You're weird,” Caleb tells him as he tries to figure out how to work the television.
He's trying to get the TV to connect to
the DVD player, but all that's showing up
is static. He mumbles a bunch of stuff while he's figuring it out, and after a few
minutes, it finally works.
Aiden picked out
Elf
, since apparently he hasn't watched it all year, so that's what
we're watching.
The movie starts up, and I quietly hum the beginning song. I've seen the movie so
many times.
Half the time the movie is playing, Delilah and I whisper the lines to each other.
“I'm here, with my dad, and we've never met,” I sing along. Delilah laughs.
“And he wants me to sing him a song. And I was adopted, but you didn't know I was
born,” Delilah responds.
“So I'm here now, I found you, Daddy,” we say in unison.
“Whoa, calm down over there!” Caleb says.
Delilah and I both erupt in laughter. I hide my face under the blanket because I
can't stop laughing.
“We're so embarrassing,” I mumble.
The movie ends a little after nine, so we have a few more hours to go. We decide
to watch the New Year's Eve show in New York. I get bored with it after a while,
as it's not as great as I thought it would be. I don't get why anyone would want
to stand outside with thousands of strangers packed together. It does not seem enjoyable.
“Wanna go for a walk?” I ask Delilah.
“Where?”
I shrug. “I don't know. Anywhere.”
“Um, okay. Sure. As long as we're back before midnight.”
“We will be.”
We tell everyone we'll be back soon, and we walk through the neighborhood with only
the streetlights illuminating the street. It's nice and peaceful. Everyone's probably
at a party or something right now. It feels like Delilah and I are the only ones
in the world. Just her and me.
“Can we walk to the beach?” I ask. “
The
beach. It won't take too long.”
She nods, and I smile.
“Should we see if everyone else wants to come?” she asks after a few minutes.
“If you want to. I'll call Caleb.”
Everyone agrees to meet us at the beach. Aiden says he'll bring the fireworks, and
we can celebrate the new year there.
I'm starting the next year at the place where it all began with the girl who started
it all.
“You know what?” I say as we're walking. I'm swinging Delilah's hand back and forth
as we walk.
“What?”
“I never would have thought that I'd be here with you. It's weird that I hated you
at first since you reminded me of Delia, but now that I've gotten to really know
you, you're a lot different. I wish I'd realized that sooner. I loved Delia, and
I loâ I thought I could never find someone who would make me happy again. I don't
know where I'm going with this, but I hope with this new year we can make more memories.
Oh, and I promise not to throw any more of your coffees on the ground.”
Delilah stops walking and hugs me tightly. “I'm so happy I met you this year,” she
says, her voice muffled as she hugs me. “You've changed me too, and I wouldn't want
to be with anyone else right now but you.”
I open my mouth to say something, but shut it. I don't want to ruin the moment.
We continue walking in a happy silence, still swinging our arms as we walk. We finally
make it to the beach, and we have a few minutes to ourselves while we wait for everyone
else. They're driving, but I told Caleb to wait a little. I wanted some alone time
with Delilah.
“It's colder than it was last time,” Delilah says, wrapping her arms around herself
as we walk along the sand.
I hug her tightly from behind and sway side to side. “Warm now?”
She laughs. “Just a little squished.”
“We should have brought Skittles,” I say.
“For once, I don't have any.”
“What a shame!”
I hear a car pull up, and soon after, everyone is walking down the beach.
“Hey, guys!” Caleb yells, running over to us. They brought blankets, food, and the
fireworks. Aiden is even wearing the sunglasses.
We sit down on the blankets, away from the water so we don't get wet. Thankfully,
the snow has mostly melted on the beach or gotten washed away by the waves. Aiden
starts to line up the fireworks because it's almost midnight.
“H-Have you lit f-fireworks before?” Mitchell asks.
Aiden shakes his head. “There's always a first time for everything. I have ten more
minutes!”
Caleb helps Aiden figure out how to use the fireworks. He reads the instructions,
but both of them struggle to understand the correct way to light them.
“What about the projector your parents set up?” Caleb asks me while they're figuring
out the fireworks.
“Oh, right. I guess we can just go back after midnight and watch it, right? Pretend
it's the real thing.”
Caleb laughs. “Sure, sounds good.”
“Follow me,” I tell Delilah once I realize it's almost midnight. I stand up, and
Delilah follows behind me.
I walk away from everyone, but not too far. I dig my heel into the sand and write
out something.
“Taste the rainbow,” Delilah reads after I'm done.
She puts one arm around me and checks the time on her phone. “One minute,” she whispers.
She smiles and draws a heart in the sand.
I feel my heart start to race as I realize it's almost midnight. I take a deep breath
and try to calm down.
“Twenty seconds!” I hear Aiden yell. I see him start to light the fireworks.
“Hey, what's that?” I ask, quickly pulling something out of my pocket and throwing
it onto the sand.
“Is that mistletoe? Even though it's past Christmas?” Delilah says, giggling quietly.
“Ten seconds!” Aiden screams.
I shrug. “I don't know, but I definitely didn't put that there,” I say, feeling my
cheeks blush.
“It's supposed to be above us,” she whispers, leaning closer to me.
“I had to improvise.”
“Five!” Aiden says.
I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer to me.
“Four!”
I look from her eyes to her lips quickly.
“Three!” they all yell in unison.
Some of the fireworks shoot up and burst, causing Delilah to flinch slightly. I feel
her smile against our almost-touching lips.
“Two!”
“Is this okay?” I whisper.
“One!”
She doesn't respond with words. She places her lips on mine and wraps her arms around
my neck gently. Every single part of me that was nervous turns into happiness in
the few seconds that we're kissing. After more fireworks erupt along with the butterf
lies in my stomach, we pull away from each other for a quick second.
“Happy New Year, Levi,” Delilah whispers before pulling me closer and kissing me
again.
For the first time in a long time, I'm focused on nothing but right now, and yes,
it is a happy New Year.
