"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!...HAPPY NEW YEAR!", the collective voices of the crowd chanted over the airways. The smooth baritone voice of the radio announcer returned; "So, there you have it folks! We've officially reigned in a new year!" The tune of, Auld Lang Syne, began to fill the room.
The boys still held their sparkling grape juice in their hands, glasses poised in mid-air. "Yay! It's 1936 now!" Carlos cheered. "Drink up!"
They clinked their glasses together as they'd seen done in the movies, and swigged the drinks that Sebastian left for them on the piano. They blew the cardboard horns loudly, then stopped to stare at one another.
"Yay!" Carlos cheered again, this time jumping up and down to keep the excitement going. They stared at him. He flung his arms around James' neck first, since he was the closest, and planted a big kiss on his forehead. "HAPPY NEW YEAR, JAMES!"
"Whoah...uh, happy new year?" James replied.
He went to Kendall. Kendall threw his hand forward quickly for a handshake. Carlos looked hurt. "Oh, what the heck," said Kendall, throwing his arms wide-open, for a hug.
Logan was already leaning in for his hug with a big grin on his face, earning him two big kisses, one on each cheek. "Actually, I'm kind of glad that this year is over," Logan admitted, still blushing over the display of affection.
They stayed up, just to experience an actual midnight celebration, for the first time. Every other year, they woke up the next morning, feeling like they'd missed out on something mysterious and magical. This year, no one was home to tell them to go to bed, except Sebastian, who did not deny them the opportunity to learn what all the fuss was about. He, himself was looking forward to curling up with a good book in his room, for New Year's Eve.
"I trust that I can leave you boys to your fun, and you will keep out of trouble?" he asked, before leaving them alone. They promised him that they could be trusted.
Farmer Slate, Anna, and Helga, were all out at various functions, doing whatever older people did on such an occasion.
"Oh boy! This is great! I can't believe we actually got to stay up for this!" Carlos squealed. "I can't wait to tell everyone about this!" They stood there staring at Carlos and his goofy grin. He waited for something else to happen. When it did not, he said,"Okay, we yelled Happy New Year, blew our horns, toasted our drinks, hugged and kissed,...so now what are we supposed to do?" asked Carlos.
"I'm pretty sure, that this is all there is to it, buddy," said Kendall. "Oh, and by the way, if you do plan on telling everyone about this...please leave out the part about us hugging and kissing, okay?"
Carlos shrugged. "Okay."
"I guess we should just go to bed, now," said Logan, trying to stifle a yawn.
"Bed? How boring!" protested Carlos. "Isn't there anything fun we can do?"
"Let's see...we've eaten a whole pizza, a bucket of popcorn, three dozen chocolate chip cookies, and drank two milkshakes a piece!" James listed off on his fingers. "What else is there?" Just thinking about it made him groan. He plopped back on the sofa, and rubbed his distended belly.
"Don't forget about all of that candy we ate!" Carlos reminded them proudly.
"Oooh..." they groaned in unison.
"I know! Let's play party games!" cried Carlos excitedly.
"Party games at midnight, Carlos?" asked Logan.
"It's five minutes after midnight," corrected Carlos. "And why not? It's 1936, we can play party games after midnight in 1936!"
"I'm too tired for party games," said Kendall, stretching his arms over his head. One of Halloween's kittens, an all black one that they had named Boo, found the movement quite fascinating. He attacked the arm, latching on with his tiny needle-like claws, and swinging.
"OWW!" cried Kendall, pulling the little ball of fur over the back of the sofa, and to his lap. "You little menace, you!"
It playfully batted at him and raced off, returning shortly with the other kittens to engage in an all out assault on the boys. Before they knew it, they were crawling around behind furniture and curtains, in a crazy version of hide-and-seek. The frisky felines always seemed to find the boys before they could find them. Carlos decided that playing with the kittens was better than party games, any day.
Before they knew it, it was approaching two o'clock in the morning, and they staggered up the stairs for bed. They found their second wind when Carlos decided to throw his pillow at the back of Kendall's head, when he leaned over to pull his covers down.
"Not tonight, Carlos," Kendall said innocently, just before turning around and whacking Carlos, knocking him over with his own pillow.
"Hey, you faker!" Carlos cried.
James could not resist a good pillow fight, as long as he was the one in charge of the pillow. He charged at Logan with one. Logan screamed, and held up his hands for protection, as he sailed across the bed with the pillow over his face.
"Oh, you want a taste of some pillow too, do ya'?" Logan asked James, holding James' pillow, as well as his own.
James backed away, seeing the crazed look in Logan's eyes, but trying not to laugh. Before Logan even reached him, he was attacked from behind by both Carlos and Kendall. Carlos was so forceful with his swing, that the feathers broke free from their casing, causing a sea of floating feather 'snow'.
"Uh-oh!" cried Kendall.
"This is bad!" added Logan, but they looked at each other and laughed anyway. Shrugging, Logan plastered James in the face with the pillow.
James grabbed a hold of Logan's shirt, and flipped him on his stomach. He repeatedly blasted him with the pillow, until it also burst into loose feathers. They were squealing with laughter when Carlos noticed headlights reflecting off of the walls.
"They're home! They're home!" Carlos cried.
They rushed to brush the feathers under the beds, and back into the cotton covers. They turned off the light, and jumped into their beds before they could get caught, still laughing.
xxx
New Year's Day came in with a bang. They came down to breakfast looking far worse than Farmer Slate did after coming in from his party at 2:30 A.M. The farmer did not seem hung over, but he was tired and grumpy. He scanned his newspaper, grumbled about something on the front page, and pushed it over toward Kendall, choosing to read the sports page, instead.
Kendall glanced down at the newspaper curiously, wondering what on earth the farmer could be showing him, when he gasped in horror.
"Uhh!", Kendall exclaimed. "No!" He dropped his head down on the newspaper.
James tugged the newspaper out from under his head. The article was titled: ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR GRADY'S DEPARTMENT STORE. Right above it, was a photo of Kendall smirking on Santa's lap.
"Ha! Ha!" laughed James, spitting out a piece of toast.
"What?" asked Carlos.
"Take a look." James giggled, handing him the paper.
Logan leaned over to see. "Ooh...Ouch!" he sympathized.
"Santa!" Carlos exclaimed affectionately, re-envisioning the jolly old guy.
"We have no choice but to forfeit this week's game," said Kendall decisively, "due to total humiliation." James gave him a warning look. There was no way he was missing the last game with Bonnie.
The farmer rarely intervened in the boy's personal conversations, but today he did. "Don't be stupid boy! You can't forfeit a game because you're embarrassed over a photo. Grow up! You're a teenaged boy for crying out loud!"
Kendall heaved a heavy sigh, and buried his face in his hands. "No one will know that from the photo!" he whined.
"I told you it wasn't a good idea," said Logan, in his 'told you so' voice.
Not long after breakfast, the second bomb of the day was dropped. James called Bonnie, and learned that she was in the middle of packing up her personal belongings, before the movers came the following day to finish the job.
"I can't believe it's all happening so fast," he said.
"I know, me neither," she said. "I have to go now, but I'll see you at the game. Tell Kendall that I liked his photo in the paper," she said with a giggle.
The third and final bomb for the day, was a reminder from Farmer Slate, that they would be meeting their new teacher on Monday morning. They dreaded anyone new coming into their lives.
"I want all of you boys prepared for school. I also want you to chop and stack more firewood for the fireplaces, the pathways cleared and shoveled, so that your new teacher has access, and any other loose ends that neglected over the holidays. Understand?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," they answered. They moped down the hallway past Anna.
"Happy New Year, boys," she said sweetly.
"Happy New Year, Anna," they said glumly.
"Oh Anna?" said Carlos. He looked around and whispered, "Can we get some new pillows?"
She winked and nodded.
xxx
To top it off, the boys had to play the team that they anticipated to be the toughest to beat, Winston Academy, and had to travel a good distance by bus to do so. A long bus ride with the likes of Biff, Eric, Jeb and Chandler, was not appealing.
They packed the freshly washed hockey uniforms and gear into their duffel bags, and headed to the school to wait for the team bus. The players huddled in the vestibule at the school to keep warm. It was already starting to get rowdy, with the clash of differant personalities that the players possessed.
Carlos sat on the floor with his back up against a wall, trying to read one of his new comic books. Logan sat next to him with a new book about the human brain. Kendall was impatiently drumming his fingers on the window frame, and James was craning his neck to find Bonnie, among the group of girls gathering to board the cheer bus.
James felt his stomach flutter, as he thought about it being the last time he would see her at a game, and was disappointed when the team bus arrived first. They lined up like cattle and followed one another onto the bus. James turned around one last time, and caught a glimpse of Bonnie's shiny blonde hair. He fought to exit the bus. Biff hooted from the back of the bus.
"Aw, James! That's right, isn't your girlfriend leaving for California?"
James chose to ignore the intrusive voice, as he finally succeeded in making his way back to Bonnie.
The other three boys turned to glare at Biff. "Hey are you wanting us to lose this game?" Kendall yelled to the back of the bus, when he knew that James was safely out of earshot. He knew how painful it was for James, and the last thing he felt his friend needed was this.
"What's the matter Kendall? Didn't you ask Santa for a win against Winston?" Jeb threw back. The bus erupted into laughter. Kendall felt his cheeks heat up, and he gritted his teeth.
"Just give it a rest guys!" Jacob yelled to the taunters.
" Yeah! Leave him alone!" cried Carlos. "Santa was cool!"
They laughed harder. "You're a big baby!" Eric shouted to Carlos.
"This is not going well," whined Logan, feeling a headache coming on, as the bus vibrated with chaos.
The driver climbed aboard and scowled at the unruly crowd. "HEY! QUIET DOWN!" he screamed over the din.
Finally it calmed down to a murmur, just as James re-entered the bus. James looked around uncomfortably when he found all eyes upon him. His cheeks flushed pink and his face had fallen. He did not make eye-contact with anyone as he slid into the seat beside Carlos. Carlos patted his leg in a comforting way. The boys behind him whispered and snickered as the bus rambled on.
xxx
The game was brutal. Neither team was able to score in the first period. The boys willed themselves to focus on the game, and not on their personal issues, as the game heated up in the second period. The opposing team was expending too much energy keeping Prairie Ridge at bay, and had begun to wane. Chandler was able to finish the period with an edge, scoring the only goal of the game thus far, with only seconds remaining.
As soon as they broke for intermission, the coach was all over them. "What was that out there?" he asked. "You saw how they're playing! Take advantage of it! They're practically handing you opportunities!" The players chanted their slogans and went over plays, as the Letter Girls performed behind them.
James was no longer listening when he saw Bonnie dancing and cheering. Coach Rogalski slapped him upside the head. "Pay attention James! There will always be girls! This is a chance of a lifetime!"
James caught his bottom lip between his teeth. "Yes Coach!" he shouted back.
They came into the third period ready to fight. It was still too tight to call which way it would go, but that all changed. That final period was probably the best that Prairie Ridge had ever played hockey. Winston, who had been considered evenly matched with them, was not prepared for the power that they came back with.
Prairie Ridge easily took the game, with Kendall scoring the most goals for the team. The coach was eying him, as he weighed the prospect of Kendall being chosen as the next team captain. He'd done a remarkable job of keeping up morale, and he seemed to know the players strengths and weaknesses even better than he did.
James had pulled through, and kept his mind on the game. Without him, they could not have passed the puck. Logan and Carlos were unstoppable, working their way into tight spots, leaving the taller guys scrambling to find the puck at all. Coach Rogalski could not be prouder of his players.
"This kind of makes up for the lousy start of the year, don't you think?" Kendall asked the boys in the locker room. They smiled their agreement as they pulled off their sweat-soaked gear.
They looked up to see the gang of troublemakers smiling down at them. They wondered if it was because of the great game that they had just played, or because James chosen to go down next. They hoped and prayed that it wasn't the latter.