New Year’s Day. The worst day of the year

The night before, you sat at a table scrolling through TikTok, stuck at some party Ward Cameron threw. Your parents had made you go, so you didn’t have a choice

Suddenly, a voice broke through the noise behind you

“Bored? Yeah, me too.”

You turned around and saw him—JJ Maybank, your best friend

“You snuck in again, didn’t you?” you said, raising an eyebrow

“Maybe.” He smirked, then leaned closer “Hey, I’m here now, so… how about we ditch this and watch the fireworks from the roof? You in?”

You hesitated for half a second before grinning “Fine. But only because you’re here.”