Dave doesn't hear from Nick again until around two o'clock on New Year's Eve. "Are you going to the party tonight at the Braddocks?" Nick asks over the phone. "Their parents are out of town for the night, and said that they could have an overnight party if there was no drinking."
Dave sighs. He doesn't really want to go, because Nick will spend the whole night with Becca, and he'll end up stuck playing video games with Matt and Linny. Not that he dislikes video games or Matt and Linny, but he'd rather spend time with Nick, alone.
"You're in, right?" Nick says after a brief silence. "Bring Karen, too. I think that James Hobart likes her."
"Ew, she's only thirteen" Dave says, picturing his scrawny blonde stepsister with James the Australian stud.
"Young and fresh, just the way he likes them" Nicky says, and Dave gags a little.
Dave doesn't want to tell Karen about the party, but she'd been listening in on his call from the kitchen extension.
"Daddy!" Dave cringes when he hears Karen call out to her father, Watson. "Daddy, there's going to be an all night New Year's party at Haley and Matt's! I can go, right? Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Pretty pretty pretty please?" Her voice sounds like a chorus of a hundred dolphins holding a sing-a-long.
"All right," Watson sighs, obviously wishing that Karen could be at her mother's house for the holidays.
Watson drives Dave and Karen across town to the Braddock home, and as he drops them in the driveway he reminds Karen, "Elizabeth and I are going out to a party in Stamford tonight, so we won't be home until late. Kristy is looking after Emily Michelle, so she'll come pick you up at around one, okay sweetie?"
"Daddy!" Karen cries indignantly. "Nobody else is going to be leaving at one!"
"Nobody else is only thirteen" Watson says grimly.
"Claire Pike is only twelve" Karen says, hoping to gain the upper hand.
Dave likes to see Karen squirm a little. As a child, she was always petted and precious, the little princess of the Brewer-Thomas family. Her childish tricks don't work any more, mostly because Dave won't let them. He closes the argument by saying, "Mrs. Pike will probably make Claire go home at around twelve thirty."
"See, Karen" says Watson, firmly. "You won't be the first to leave the party."
She shoots him her most winning smile. "Dave will be coming with me, right?"
"Dave is fifteen, and he's responsible, so he can stay all night if he likes" says Watson. "When you're fifteen, we'll see about situations like this."
Karen is still pouting as they walk up to the front door. "You owe me one for not throwing a fit and having Daddy make you come home with me," she tells Dave.
Dave tries not to laugh. Karen can be so ridiculous and self-righteous sometimes.
She continues. "You're going to let me set you up with Charlotte Johanssen, so I can tell everyone what a great matchmaker I am. I heard from somewhere…" Karen gulps a little, because that somewhere was in her kitchen, listening to a phone call between Andrew and Claire Pike, where Claire mentioned that Dave kissed Charlotte at the high school dance. "It doesn't matter where I heard it, but I heard that you kissed Charlotte. So it will be easy, because you already like her. So you just need to give me credit for it, okay?"
Horrified, Dave can do nothing but agree. They go into the house, and Dave is suddenly too warm. He can't tell if it's from being embarrassed by Karen, or just the heat of too many people inside. Matt slaps him on the back, and Dave signs to him asking if there are any cold drinks downstairs in the fridge. Dave's sign language isn't too good though, and he's accidentally said "lesbian" instead of "drink." Matt laughs the hoarse bark that he uses when amused, and leads Karen and Dave down into the rec room. A few of the Pikes are there, as well as Jeff Schafer and James Hobart. Charlotte is sitting on the floor and holding a lively conversation with Becca, who is sitting in Nick's lap. Matt indicates that the others are watching a movie in the living room. Dave closes his eyes for a second, and gathers enough enthusiasm to call out a cheerful hello.
"Dave!" Becca squeals. She bounces up and down a little in Nick's lap. "Come over here!"
Dave flops onto the couch in between Nick and James. His leg brushes against Nick's and he casts his eyes downward. He doesn't have any time to think about it though, because Becca is bombarding him with questions.
"You helped Nick pick out my Kwanzaa gift, right?" Becca says in her infectiously bubbly voice. "I know that it's your taste in music, because Nick only listens to techno. Did you hear the hidden track on that album? It's amazing. I tried to get Jessi to listen to it, but she only listens to music by black artists. Something about staying true to her roots…I don't know. Hey, Dave? Do you know any good black artists I could recommend to her?" Becca takes a breath after talking so much, and Nick looks at her affectionately. Dave likes that soft look in Nick's eyes, and wants Becca to keep talking so that he can admire how Nick looks while he listens to her.
"I don't know, really" Dave says, trying to sound modest. Truthfully, he does know, and he does love talking about music. Sometimes he can be a bit of a snob that way. "If she likes world beats there's nobody better than Tree Mbauguay. For hip hop, I highly recommend Monroe Martinez, or Organik."
A soft, quiet voice pipes up from the floor. "Bec," says Charlotte, "if you're going to get Organik, get his first album, with the B-side remixed by Havana Versus Dirty Souf. It's the best hip hop out there. Very rare, but worth the search."
Dave is very impressed that someone else in Stoneybrook has even heard of Organik, let alone listened to the rare first album. He's a bit jealous of Char stealing his coveted spot as music expert, so he decides to bait her a little.
"What did you think of the new Black Spots album?" he asks her.
"Honestly, I liked them better before they sold out to a major record label" Char says. "Stacey McGill took me to see them in New York last year. They were playing a little hole in the wall, and I had to use her friend Mary Anne's ID to get in. They were so much better than when they played an all ages show at the stadium in Stamford. You have to listen to the Black Spots in an intimate setting or the sound is completely lost."
Nick winks at Becca as Char and Dave continue to talk. "Please tell me that you don't like Days Until Jersey," she says to him after he admits to liking some emo music. "All of their lyrics just scream of misogyny. I'll have to hate you forever." Char scowls a little, but her eyes dance flirtatiously.
Dave isn't sure how to respond. Charlotte is smart. He's not used to girls being clever when flirt with him. He's used to Nancy Dawes telling him how strong he is when he really isn't, or the time that Margo Pike cornered him and scared him away by saying, "You've been a bad boy. Go to my room." Dave's mind explodes with possible things to say, and he finally blurts out, "I'll have to hate you forever, because you listen to ska. I'm not the one who owns the entire discography of the Ska-munist Republic." He surreptitiously crosses his fingers, hoping it was the right thing to say, hoping that he isn't totally hopeless at making lighthearted jokes.
Char groans. "You win." Dave can't believe what he just heard. Charlotte Johanssen, the most ruthless member of the SHS debate team, let someone else have the last word.
She likes me, he thinks. He doesn't have much time to ponder this though, because Haley enters the room and announces that it's five minutes to midnight, and everyone better get into the living room for the countdown or she'll start kicking asses and taking names. With her muscular cheerleader's legs, Dave doesn't doubt that she could.
Everyone crowds around the TV to watch the lighted ball descend on Times Square. The room full of teenagers counts down the final ten seconds of the year.
"Five…" Dave calls out with the others. All the voices sound the same, except for Char's beside him. "Four…Three…Two…One! Happy New Year!"
Couples begin to exchange kisses. He can see James Hobart planting a kiss on Karen's bunnyish nose as she giggles. Claire Pike is madly blowing kisses in all directions, and Linny yells out that she's spreading cooties. Dave's eyes land on Nick and Becca, probably the only couple kissing with tongue. His heart sinks, and he looks down at his shoes. Someone tall kisses him on top of his head.
"Happy New Year, Dave" Char says gently.
Dave looks up. Charlotte smiles at him. "Don't worry, I don't think they'll last long. Nick's too brash for Becca. She needs someone more sensitive, you know?"
Shit, is Char trying to set me up with Becca? Dave asks himself. At least she doesn't think I was looking at Nick.
Thankfully, Nick and Becca's relationship isn't a topic that really interests Char. "Come on, let's go into the kitchen and have a soda. What do you think of Haley's taste in music? Did you get a chance to look at her collection? Let's just say that it's a good thing that Matt is deaf."
Char keeps Dave in stitches, giving commentary on the bubblegum Top-40 pop Haley likes. Dave recognizes a few of the bands from the crap that Karen bops to in the family room. He remembers how she had fits of ecstasy when her favourite singer released a single called "Let's All Come In."
"Do you remember our game, David Michael?" she had squealed.
How could he forget Karen's insistence to play a scripted game when he'd rather just sit by himself with his Ninja Turtles? "Play that song again, and I'll fucking smash the CD."
Karen had fled from the room, screaming, "Daddy! David Michael used a swear!"
"Where's Karen?" a stern voice asks.
Had he been talking about Karen out loud? "Somewhere with James" Dave says, annoyed that his conversation with Char was interrupted. "Go ask Margo or someone."
"Look, I've been waiting in the car for half an hour, and you know that I can't stand tardiness." Oh, no. It's Kristy. Dave snaps around, and faces his angry sister. Their height difference makes it so that sitting on a stool, Dave is still taller than her. Even though she's short, Kristy is a force to be reckoned with.
"I'll help you look for her," Dave says, not wishing to incur the wrath of Kristy. He excuses himself to Charlotte, and leaves the kitchen.
Neither Kristy nor Dave can find Karen. She's not in the living room watching black and white movies with Jordan Pike and the Arnold twins, or painting her toenails in Haley's room with Haley, Margo, and Kerry. They think they see her in the rec room dancing with some of the guys, but its just Adam being a jackass in a blonde wig. Dave spots Jeff doing a little two-step outside the downstairs bathroom.
"I've been waiting forever to get in, but someone's been in there for nearly an hour," Jeff explains. "I'd use the upstairs one, but someone plugged the toilet."
Kristy starts to pound on the bathroom door. "Karen? Are you in there?"
There's a pause before a timid voice answers, "Yes."
Kristy uses an unnecessarily loud voice to ask if Karen is all right. There's no answer. She asks if Karen has diarrhea. Dave almost feels sorry for Karen, because Kristy's booming voice can be quite an embarrassment. There's a pause again. Karen slinks from the bathroom, with James Hobart behind her. Kristy looks a little surprised, but the look turns to horror when James leans over to pick something up off the tile floor.
He hands Karen her training bra and says, "Thanks, love. I'll see you around."
Kristy grabs Karen by the sleeve of her sweater and starts to drag her toward the door. Dave follows, because he knows that any punishment Kristy is going to give would be worse than anything Watson could ever think of. As much as he'd like to stay at the party, and even though he wishes the equivalent of military duty on Karen, he knows that he should go along to keep Kristy from getting too carried away.
As Dave is pulled out of the house with his sisters, he thinks he can hear Charlotte shout out, "Call me sometime, okay?"