"Oh! There she is! Jasmine! Over here!"

Jasmine looked around the crowded house and immediately spotted the person who had called her. She smiled and re-adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she walked over to the lady who called her.

"Hey, mummy Nemeth! Hey, daddy Nemeth!" Jasmine said, giving the 50-odd year old couple a hug.

They broke the hug after a while and the couple smiled at Jasmine.

"You look great, Jasmine!" Mrs Nemeth said
"Thank you. You look great too!" Jasmine said
"How's Hawaii?" Mr Nemeth asked
"Good. I love Hawaii." Jasmine replied
"Well, I'm so glad you could come for this New Year's Eve party. Nick would be happy you're here." Mrs Nemeth said

Jasmine merely nodded when she heard his name mentioned. She didn't come for the party to see him. She just came out of courtesy to his parents who were practically like her parents since they were family friends.

"Speaking of which, there he is now." Mr Nemeth said

Jasmine turned and saw Nicholas walk towards them. She had to get out of there before he approached. Lucky for her, Nicholas' younger brother, Ryan, came in to her rescue.

"Hey, Jas! I've got someone to introduce to you!" Ryan said
"Really? Okay. I'll see you later!" Jasmine said, to the couple.

Ryan walked over to the balcony of the huge house and Jasmine followed after him. They opened the glass door and stepped out onto the balcony as Jasmine let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Ryan." Jasmine said
"No problem. But, you do know mum and dad are going to wonder why you're always being excused by me whenever Nick comes over." Ryan said
"I know. But this is going to be your only save for the party tonight. I have to leave soon." Jasmine said
"Aren't you going to stay for the countdown?" Ryan asked
"Nope. I gotta head back to the hotel in Hawaii." Jasmine replied

Ryan smiled, "You've grown up, Jas. Nick's going to be so bummed he can't corner you again."

"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked
"Well… Nick's been wanting to talk to you for a while. I mean, you've practically avoided him at almost all the parties we've had." Ryan replied
"And I plan to keep it that way." Jasmine said

Ryan chuckled and shook his head, "What happened to the two of you? You two were once such best friends. And all of a sudden, after he joins the WWE, you practically become enemies with him. To be honest, I don't think Nick knows the reason either."

Jasmine looked down at the dense forest below and turned to Ryan, "It's complicated. But, Ry, your brother definitely knows the reason."

She looked at her watch and realized that her taxi will be arriving soon.

"Ry, I've got to go now. My taxi's about to arrive." Jasmine said
"Well… It's nice seeing you again." Ryan said

Jasmine nodded and hugged Ryan, "You can come by to Hawaii to visit me or you can call me."

"Don't blame me if I call you every night then." Ryan said

Jasmine laughed as she gave Ryan another squeeze before opening the glass door to the balcony. She waved before she walked back into the house. Jasmine made her way back to Mr and Mrs Nemeth, relieved Nicholas isn't there.

"Jasmine! You missed Nick!" Mrs Nemeth said
"That's okay. Uh, mommy Nemeth, I've gotta go now." Jasmine said
"So fast? Midnight is 15 minutes away! Why don't you stay a little longer?" Mr Nemeth asked
"I can't… I've got to hurry back to Hawaii. The hotel might need more help. Besides, my taxi would be here any minute." Jasmine replied
"Oh, alright then. You take care, dear." Mrs Nemeth said, hugging Jasmine.

Jasmine smiled, "I will. Come by to visit me anytime. And if you miss me, just call me, okay?"

Mr and Mrs Nemeth smiled and nodded as she gave them another hug.

"Happy new year!" Mr Nemeth said
"Happy new year!" Jasmine replied

The couple smiled at Jasmine as she waved back at them before turning her attention back to the main doors of the house. As she walked out the door, Nicholas came back to his parents with drinks for them.

He passed the drink to them and said, "Is that Jasmine?"

"Yeah. She's going back to Hawaii." Mrs Nemeth said, sipping her drink.

"So fast? It's going to be midnight in a few minutes." Nicholas said
"That's what we told her but she needs to head back to the hotel to help out." Mr Nemeth said
"But I didn't get to talk to her…" Nicholas said
"Oh, maybe you could still catch her. She's waiting for her taxi outside." Mrs Nemeth said

Nicholas nodded and hurried out the main doors.

Once outside, Nicholas looked around and spotted Jasmine standing by the post box.

"Just going to leave without saying 'hi' to me?" Nicholas said

Jasmine turned around to see where the voice came from before turning back around, when she realized who it belongs to. He walked up to her and stood next to her.

"What do you want, Nicholas?" Jasmine said
"To say 'hi'." Nicholas said
"Well, you said it. So, hi." Jasmine said

Nicholas sighed, "Jas… What happened to us?"

"We grew apart." Jasmine said
"Did we?" Nicholas said

Jasmine didn't say anything so Nicholas moved closer to her, so that they were face to face. Just as he was about to speak, the two of them heard the loud countdown towards the new year from the people inside the house.

"5! 4! 3! 2! 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The two of them looked at each other for a while and was about to say something to one another when Jasmine's taxi pulled up. She walked towards the door to open it and she got into the cab. As she was about to close the door, Nicholas held the door open.

"Hey, happy new year." Nicholas said
"Happy new year." Jasmine said
"I'll see you soon." Nicholas said

Jasmine was about to ask him what he meant when he merely just smiled and closed the door of her cab.