Days went by, and the planned sleepover was in full swing. Three of my long-time friends were with me and I couldn't be happier. At least I felt that way since my good friends were around, watching movies with me and talking about all the stupid things that came into our minds.
"So," Evelyn started without looking up from her phone screen, where she was watching some TikTok videos, "what's the plan for tonight?"
"There'll be fireworks by the London Eye," I announced from where I stood by my vinyl player. That was all we did all day—we were on our phones, listening to music, and watching movies.
"Sounds nice."
"Yeah. Let's go there then," Delilah agreed, getting up from her spot on my bed.
I left the player then, the first notes of High Hopes starting to play. There were a few hours left until nightfall, and we had no plans until then—well, we had just made only one plan for today's Eve. Not that there was much to do in the city when the whole previous day was rainy.
Lying back down on my bed, I looked around the room. We always ended up like this. Was it a problem in today's society? Probably. Or maybe we just became bored with everything.
"What's for dinner?" Evelyn asked suddenly, this time glancing at us from her phone. We hadn't discussed that yet, so that was a good question.
"Yeah… what 'bout your mum?" Delilah turned the question to me.
"She won't be back until tomorrow," I shrugged. "Got a date or something."
Amy sighed dramatically, which made the three of us turn to look at her to see what was going on. She had this mischievous smirk on her face.
"So," she started, "we could have pizza, right? I'm sure none of us wants to cook."
She was right. Well, at least I didn't want to cook. I wasn't in the mood for it and didn't even want to decide what to cook—that part was the most annoying. And Evelyn wasn't the cooking type, as she would rather have others do it for her.
I glanced at Delilah, who seemed to be thinking about Amy's proposal. If she wanted to make something, I wasn't going to stop her. Instead, I would gladly sit in the kitchen and watch someone cook for me—that would be fun.
"What toppings are we gettin' then?" Delilah asked in the end, opening her phone as she was probably planning on being the one to call.
At that moment, our discussion about possible pizza toppings started. Even though every time we had pizza, we got, in fact, the same ones. And still, we had to talk about it like we didn't know each other's taste buds enough already.
In the end, we decided—like always—to get quattro formaggi, fungi, and Hawaiian one. Delilah was the caller she always used to be while the rest of us got back to our previous activities—which was still nothing special.
"Ah, shit, I don't want new year," Evelyn groaned, falling onto my bed right after. She then mumbled something more, but I couldn't understand her words as she laid with her face down at that moment. "Like who came up with this study bullshit?"
"Men."
"Great point, Amy."
Shaking my head, I looked at my phone. There were no new messages. It was understandable, as today was the last day of the year. All my London friends were probably planning out their evening or something, and the rest of my home town crew most likely did too. And the last things in the chat with Ava were the ones from before we saw each other on Wednesday.
When the doorbell finally rang, our reaction was like the Mexican wave. We all got up, leaving my room behind, before getting to the front door as we had to let the pizza guy—or woman—into the building. Nevertheless, Delilah and Amy went out to meet the person on their way. Such nice souls. Hungry people would be a better definition for sure, though.
"Not sure if I'm more excited about the fireworks or that pizza," Evelyn chuckled, getting herself comfortable on the couch after the girls vanished in the outside corridor.
"I feel that."
I stood by the door, waiting for our friends to get back. Thankfully, we didn't live on one of the highest floors in the building, more like in the middle, so the girls were back pretty soon with the pizza boxes.
"Finally! I almost died from hunger," Evelyn groaned before she was in the hallway quicker than light.
Shaking my head, I closed the door behind Delilah and Amy, who said something incoherent back to Evelyn while I did my job. The three of my friends then made their way into our kitchen with me tailing behind them.
I sat down on a black bar stool and watched as my friends started to excitedly open the pizza boxes to see their contents. Amy then started to go through our cabinets and cupboards to find some plates. She used to do that in each of our friends' houses, too. After all, we had known each other almost since diapers and knew each other's houses like our own, thanks to that. Except for this one.
"Wait, I'll get them," I smiled before getting up and walking to the cupboard where we had some smaller plates, to which I took out four glasses from a cupboard next to the previous one. "What do y'all wanna drink?"
"Juice," Delilah shrugged, opening the greyish fridge so she could get an apple juice before putting it down next to everything else that was already on the kitchen island—our little New Year's Eve feast.
"Well, I'll go put on something… hm… what 'bout Deathly Hallows?" Evelyn asked as she went back to her previous spot on the couch.
I glanced at the others as I took the pizza boxes to the coffee table. Delilah and Amy only shrugged as they brought the drinks and plates. It seemed like our supper film was decided.
We all then made ourselves comfortable whilst the Harry Potter movie started. This was almost the same as the previous evenings, with the only difference being that we were planning to go out afterwards. But I couldn't complain as I was happy enough to have my friends over, because sitting down together with the girls while watching Harry Potter and eating pizza was a great way to spend the rest of the holidays. I just hoped that all of us wouldn't accidentally fall asleep. I got excited to see the fireworks, after all.
Later that evening—or more like night—we started to get ready to go out. Well, with half of us ready to go to sleep. I was part of that half, and I probably looked like I just woke up while changing into more appropriate clothes for the outside, even though I was awake through the whole movie. That TV screen was surely tiring.
"We'll get there in time, right?"
I glanced at Delilah, who was just adjusting her light brown scarf, to which I chuckled, "No worries."
"Don't tell me Ev fell asleep," I heard Amy say from behind me, to which I turned to look at her with raised eyebrows. "It's been ages since she went to pee."
Sighing, I went to the white bathroom door before knocking, "Ev? You alive in there?"
"Hm…?"
"We're leavin' soon!"
There were some noises resounding from there, so I assumed she was going to get out soon after. And so I went to put on my winter boots, coat, and scarf while hoping that Evelyn was already dressed up like the rest of us.
"You good?" Amy asked, looking skeptical at Evelyn, who had just come into the hallway. Thankfully, all dressed up.
"Yeah, I just got my period," she said, sighing as she took her cream-coloured coat.
"Do y'all have everything?" I asked, checking my pockets to make sure I had my ID, keys, and phone. The girls all nodded, and the four of us left the flat for the night.
There weren't many people in the streets as we made our way to the Tube. It was nice. Nice and cold. I always liked it—walking through a city at night with whoever. The city lights, the night, the vibe. It was somehow relaxing at night.
We soon reached our destination, where the enlightened London Eye caught my eye. I heard my friends talking about something, but I was paying more attention to our lit surroundings. It felt like a dream—a dream I didn't want to wake up from. Although, unfortunately… we always woke up from nice dreams.
There were many people around—some families, couples, groups of friends like us. And I was glad for us because not long ago, Evelyn was complaining that we would be there like some single weirdos.
"Let's go near the water," Amy said, dragging us along with her.
Laughing, I shoved my hands even further into my coat pockets as I followed her to the metal railing. The view was nice there even in the middle of the night. Nice and comforting.
I took out my phone to check the time and saw a message from my mum, asking if we were alright. I totally forgot to text her about us going out to see the fireworks. And so I did it now, forgetting my original intention immediately.
"What's the time?" Delilah asked, glancing at my hand that was shoving the device back into my coat pocket.
"Oh," I looked at her, dumbfounded, to which I took my phone out once again. "Eleven forty-six."
Delilah nodded, getting back to watching the dark water right after. I didn't know what she was looking at there, but it was probably one of the few things to do at the time. Waiting for midnight on a cold night wasn't getting quicker, unfortunately.
I leaned onto the railing, too. There was indeed nothing to see in the river or on it. However, it still did its work as my eyes went from the surface to the other side of the river, where some people in the crowd could be seen too. The light of the buildings also certainly felt comforting to look at.
I felt like the time went by too slowly as my legs started to hurt a little by the time I heard more noise. People had started to move to have a better view while the four of us stayed in our place. We had a good one already, no problem seeing anything in the night sky.
"I just hope next year will be better," Evelyn mumbled, to which I sighed.
"Yeah."
"Feel ya, girl, but with these college applications…" Amy shrugged, making Evelyn groan. Hoping was all we could do—well, hoping and working for it.
Delilah nudged me, making me look at her while her gaze was on the other side of the river. It was starting—or ending? I watched this nothing yet happening while people started to count, and then I joined them.
"Happy New Year!" we all screamed, synchronised, among the hundreds of people, who were celebrating the first moments of the new year together here.
"Happy New Year, bitches!" Evelyn yelled at us, hugging each of us afterwards.
I laughed, shifting my gaze to the fireworks right after. The ornaments brightened the sky a little each time. They were beautiful, and the view was stunning. A great start for a new year, indeed. Well, I was not so sure about the great part, but at least the fireworks were really nice to look at.
Smiling, I took out my phone and sent a message to the group chats I had with my new friends and the old ones where the girls had been in too, but the boys weren't here with us at the moment. I also hadn't forgotten to text Mum and Dad.
"Now I really need to sleep," Evelyn announced, trying to yell over the noise around. I nodded, agreeing, as I felt the tiredness that was getting right back to me. This all was worth it, though.