"So," Seth says, greeting Ryan as he joins his foster brother at the counter, "last breakfast of the year."

"Yep."

"Any resolutions you've got for the New Year?"

Ryan thinks for a moment. "I've decided I'm going to change from Maxwell House to Folgers for breakfast." He takes a sip from his mug for emphasis.

"That's it? No, 'I'll quit sleeping with my girlfriend where my parents can catch me,' or 'I'm going to try and figure out why my aunt suddenly disappeared?'"

"I'm…going to start…taking a multi-vitamin?"

Seth just shakes his head in response. "So, what did happen to Lindsey? I mean, she was here one moment, then gone the next. All The Kirsten said was that she was with your grandpa, but that she wouldn't be back for a while. What the hell does that mean?"

Ryan shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. Mom didn't tell me any more than she told you. It bothers me, though. It's like she just disappeared off the face of the map. I tried calling her and the automated message says that her number has been disconnected. Grandpa has been stonewalling me. I'm really not sure what else to do."

"What about your other aunt? Do you think Hailey would know anything?"

"Who knows? Hailey has been acting kind of weird ever since Thanksgiving when she went after Jimmy Cooper. Ever since that, she hasn't really been around here."

"Yeah, I think she's a little scared of your girlfriend's mom. I'm a little scared of your girlfriend's mom. You'd be stupid not to be, but I think Hailey is scared of bodily harm being inflicted. Either that, or she's banging Jimmy Cooper."

Ryan chokes on his coffee and glares at Seth. "Unnecessary."

"Sorry. What do you think Veronica would do if she found out that was happening?"

"If she found out what was happening," Kirsten asks as she walks into the kitchen. She stops to grab a mug and fill it with coffee. She sees the red tub filled with Folgers next to the coffee machine and turns to her son. "Folgers? I thought you drank Maxwell House?"

"New Year's resolution," Ryan answers and tips his mug at her.

Kirsten shakes her head at her son and smiles. "So what would my friend do if she found out what," she asks her other son.

Seth looks at Ryan, who shakes his head, then back at Kirsten. "Oh, just what she would do if she found out Ryan was having sex with Taylor in her bed. I think that she'd probably be pretty upset with it. What do you think, Ryan?"

Ryan is a peculiar shade of purple, his coffee mug frozen halfway to his mouth. He starts to stutter. "Um…well…you know, I…"

"Ryan Cohen! You are not having sex with Taylor in Veronica's bed are you?"

Ryan opens his mouth to answer but pauses, instead seeming to think better of it, and lifts his mug to his mouth to take a drink of coffee.

"You know what? I don't want to know." Kirsten takes a large drink of her coffee as well. "This may come back to bite me in the butt for asking this, but what do you boys have planned for tonight?"

Ryan looks at Seth, who just looks back at him with a blank look on his face. Ryan turns back to his mom and shrugs. "I'm sure we'll be doing something with our girls, but we don't have any definitive plans yet."

"Well, you both know the usual rules apply: No drinking, no drugs, no…" she looks at Ryan over the rim of her coffee mug, "other stuff, or just don't tell me about it. Your father and I will be going to The Arches, just like every year." She turns as Sandy walks in. "Isn't that right, sweetie?"

"You'd better believe it. I talked to them last night and they have a table for six reserved for you, me, Julie and Neil, and Jimmy and Veronica." He, too, grabs a mug for coffee and notices the red tub of coffee sitting by the pot. "Folgers? I thought you-"

Ryan opens his mouth to say something, but Seth interrupts him. "Yeah, yeah, we get it. New Year's resolution."

"Aww, it's okay sweetie." Kirsten walks over and puts her arm around her son as Sandy smiles. "We know changing your coffee is a big thing for you. What else do you have?"

Seth smiles. "Well there was this other thing. See, Ryan was going to stop-"

"-screwing around," Ryan says, cutting Seth off, "and take a multivitamin. You know, gotta get healthy."

"Well, that's…" Kirsten trails off and looks at her husband for help.

"Healthy?" Sandy looks confused. "Anything else, kiddo?"

"I think that's gonna be good for me. Seth?" Ryan looks at Seth, who is biting into a bagel. After a pause for swallowing, Seth answers.

"I'm only making one New Year's resolution. I'm resolving to stop retching when I clean the toilets at The Bait Shop." Seth takes another bite of bagel.

"Wow, you two are well on your way to making a change for the better in your lives," Sandy says, snorting. "Nothing like a change in coffee and eliminating vomit noises to get the year started off right."

"Well, Mr. Perfect, what are your resolutions this year? Do you have one you'd like to share with us?" Kirsten takes the bagel from her husband and takes a bite before she gives it back to them.

"I'm resolving to…" he says, pausing as he opens an envelope addressed to him, "…screw your father," he finishes, softly whistling.

"EXCUSE ME," Kirsten asks, a shocked look on her face.

"I'm sorry honey, I just got surprised with what was in this envelope. Apparently, your father commissioned a survey of the Balboa Heights and neglected to get a copy to our office. Why we didn't have a survey of our own done, I have no idea, but that doesn't matter. The Heights are worthless."

"What do you mean, Dad," Ryan asks. "I thought you said Grandpa wanted a ton of money to sell the Heights to you so he wouldn't build there?"

"They're seismologically unsound. Nobody will ever get a permit to build there." Sandy turns to his wife. "Did you know about this?"

"No, of course not," she replies. "I stopped working with Dad on that project long ago." She picks the envelope up in her hand. "I wonder who sent this to you. If you didn't have a survey of your own commissioned, this has to be Dad's. But he would keep something this important very hush-hush."

"Who cares where it came from," Sandy declares. "This little paper means that I've actually beaten your father at something. Now the Land Trust will get the Heights for pennies on the dollar and they'll be able to keep it as a protected area. What a way to end the year!"

Therapist's Office

Marissa opens the door of her therapist's office and steps out, a smile on her face. She has just had a very good talk with Dr. Wallerstein, with whom she had discussed her holiday with her family. She told her about Lindsey leaving and how that made her feel. They also talked about her relationship with her mother and father and how their relationships were affecting her. She told her that she was actually glad to see that they had stayed friendly with each other and not separated with the anger that so many parents have. All in all, she was excited about her prospects for the New Year. That is, until her gaze drifted across the room's only other occupant: Oliver Trask.

"Oliver," Marissa droned, "what a surprise to see you here."

"Hey Marissa! What are you up to? You have a good Christmas?" Oliver scooted over and patted the seat on the couch next to him. As it was, Marissa still had to wait for Luke to pick her up, so she sat down. Not on the couch occupied by Oliver, but at another, across the floor.

"Pretty good. You know, food and presents and relatives. You?"

Oliver shrugs his shoulders. "Eh. My folks are in Switzerland, checking on one of their hotels. I celebrated Christmas in my penthouse, by myself. Although, my parents did leave my gifts, which included that baby out there." He points out the window at a brand new, black BMW.

Marissa nods. "Nice. Your parents must really love you. It sucks that they were gone though."

Oliver shrugs again. "I guess." He nods his head in the direction of the door Marissa just exited from. "So what did the doc have to say about your New Year's resolutions? You gonna quit lying, smoking, speeding, anything?"

Marissa feels a little pity for the boy, as he spent the holidays on his own, so she decides to humor him while she waits for Luke. "Oh, I don't know. Just the usual, I guess. Try and reduce my stress, maybe start eating a little healthier, add in some vegetables. Nothing special."

"Sounds good. No grains or fruits?"

"Nope, I actually feel pretty good about the grains," she says, smiling.

"So, tonight, New Year's Eve, you're Social Chair, I'm sure you've got some event all planned out involving Ferris wheels and cotton candy?"

"Nope, I already did all that. I'm taking it easy tonight." She doesn't like where this conversation is heading so she sneaks a peek out the window, looking for Luke's truck. No luck.

"We can't have that, now. Allow me to cordially invite you to my party at my penthouse in The Four Seasons." Oliver hands her an invitation that Marissa sees he has been hiding in his jacket pocket.

"Oh, well, Oliver. You see…I really can't. I, uh, have this…thing…" Marissa trails off, looking away.

"Please? It would be nice to have a real friend there. My parents invited a bunch of their friend's kids, thinking it would help me make friends. I don't really care for any of them." Marissa looks back at the boy and sees the most pathetic look on his face. Internally, she slaps herself for being such a pushover.

"Can I bring some friends of mine," she says, resignedly. "We were supposed to hang out together tonight, so I don't want to leave them high and dry."

Oliver perks up immediately. "Of course, of course! Bring your friends; we'll have a great time. See you tonight!"

Marissa looks outside and sees that Luke's truck has just pulled up. "Okay Oliver. Luke's here so I've got to go. I'll see you at your place." She stands to leave and walks out of the office, leaving behind a very happy Oliver Trask.

Jimmy's apartment

Jimmy carefully adds some pepper to the sauce he has cooking on the stovetop and takes a small taste. Satisfied with the flavor of the marinara sauce, he lowers the temperature to keep the sauce simmering in anticipation of Veronica's arrival and heads back to the couch. It's New Year's Eve, and his beloved University of Southern California Trojans are playing in a bowl game later. Ever since he found out that Veronica was a USC grad just like him, they had made a point to get together and watch the game on Saturdays. They had even made it up to see a couple games in person. He sees that early game is still on and sits down just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

"You're a little early, V," he calls as he heads to the door. "I haven't even boiled the noodles yet and the Trojans game hasn't started either." He opens the door and doesn't see his girlfriend's brunette hair but a curtain of red. "Hailey," he says, "what a surprise. Can I help you with something?"

"Hey neighbor," Hailey says, and scoots past Jimmy and into his apartment. She sniffs in the direction of the pot of sauce. "Whatcha cookin'?"

"Spaghetti. Veronica and I are going to have some lunch while we watch the USC game." He looks down at his wrist. "Speaking of, she's going to be here in a bit and she's probably going to be pretty upset if you are here when she arrives. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Actually," she takes a small taste of the marinara sauce, "I was wondering what you were doing tonight? New Year's Eve, big party, fresh start." Hailey walks over to Jimmy. "What do you say, Jimmy? Want to ring in the New Year with me?" She starts to run her hand up and down his chest.

Jimmy grabs her hand and removes it from his chest. "Oh, geez Hale, I'd love to but, uh, we've got dinner with your sister and Sandy and Julie and Neil at The Arches tonight."

Hailey steps back and pulls her hand away from him. "Oh, I get it. So you guys are boring now that you're all old. So you're gonna go eat, then be back at the house for the ball dropping, in bed by 12:30? Can't be up too late."

"It's not like that, Hailey. Sandy and Kirsten do it every year and this year, they invited us along. We think we might like to make it a tradition."

"Well, that sounds like a total drag. I was going to suggest that you guys go to this party where you might have a good time, but it's okay. I get it. You don't do fun anymore. You guys are all old and boring now."

"I am not boring, Hailey. I'm not even that old. I haven't hit 40 yet. My hair hasn't started falling out. It's not graying. And Veronica and I still have fun. We still go out…occasionally." The hesitation in Jimmy's last comment is evident, as if even he isn't sure of that fact.

"Alright, Jimmy. No need to get defensive. If you change your mind," she waves a piece of paper in front of his face, "I've got the address right here. And if you decide to ditch the group altogether," Haley moves closer and her voice becomes a husky whisper, "I'll be having a private party for two in my apartment."

Jimmy swallows nervously. "Th-thanks, Hale. I'll keep that in mind. The address, I mean!"

Hailey smiles at his stammering and, making sure that Jimmy can see, tucks the paper with the address of the party on it into her cleavage. "Bye, Jimmy. Enjoy your noodles." She walks out of the apartment.

Jimmy falls back down on his sofa and takes a deep breath. Sensing that Veronica's arrival is imminent, he gets back up to start the noodles, Hailey's comments about his age still weighing heavily on his mind.

Cohen Household, Pool house, Later

"Wait, so we're gonna do what for New Year's Eve?" Luke shakes his head in confusion.

"Babe," Marissa says, "I thought I explained it to you. We're going to a party at The Four Seasons penthouse. Apparently, Oliver's family is really rich and they own the hotel."

"Is this the same Oliver that you said was stalking you," Seth asks.

"Yeah, but I think he just needed a friend. The poor kid spent Christmas all by himself."

Seth nods his head. "Ah, yes. I feel for him. Not only did he have to spend the holidays on his own, but he also had to spend them without the magic of Chrismukkah to grace his days. It sounds like a terrible holiday."

"Don't you think it's a little early to be calling your holiday 'magical'," Summer asks. "I mean, nothing magical really happened, unless you count Lindsey disappearing."

Seth wiggles his fingers at her, as if casting a spell. "Oh, it was magic, milady. Dark magic." He starts to tickle her and she begins to laugh and wiggle around.

"She didn't disappear," Taylor points out from Ryan's lap, "Ryan's grandpa just sent her away to boarding school. Which was a totally terrible thing to do, if you ask me."

"He did what," Ryan asks, startled. "My mom never said anything about that!"

Taylor sits up, off of Ryan's lap. "I just overheard Kirsten talking about it a second ago. I guess Lindsey called to let her know that she's settled in and everything. I'm sure she was going to tell you."

Ryan and Taylor continue to discuss Lindsey's disappearance, while Seth takes the opportunity to mutilate Ryan's ninja. Nobody notices as Luke scoots away from the bed, where the other four are laying, and closer to Marissa

"Hey," he says softly, "you sure you're okay with this? I mean, we don't have to go if you don't want to."

"No, I think it will be okay. Plus, I already told him I was coming. I don't want to just not show up. That would hurt his feelings."

"I thought this guy bothered you, Riss. I thought you were scared of him, that he was going to do something creepy when he was stalking you?"

"He still creeps me out a little, but I do feel a little sorry for him. Besides, I'll have you, Ryan, and Seth there. What could go wrong?" Luke stares at her. "Right. You and Ryan. As long as you two are there, I'll be okay."

Elsewhere in the house

Sandy finally digs the ringing phone out of a pile of papers on his desk. He'd finally gotten in touch with Rachel and faxed over the survey an hour ago. She was going to formally notify Caleb's attorney on Monday and then they'd be home free. "Hello?"

Hey Sandy. It's Jimmy.

"Jimbo! What's going on? You ready for dinner tonight?"

We sure are. What are we planning on doing afterward?

"Not much Jimmy. We're probably going to come back home to watch the ball drop and then we're off to bed, probably by 12:15, 12:30 at the latest." Sandy is met with silence on the other end. "Jimmy? You still there?"

Sandy, are we getting old?

"Huh?"

Seriously, are we getting old?

"Hell no! I'm not even 40 yet. Why?"

I don't know. I just feel like we're stuck in a…rut. Like we're getting boring. Or predictable.

"I don't know Jimmy. I like predictable. Predictable means I know what my day is going to be like. No surprises. Now, boring? No way. We're all kinds of fun. Didn't we go golfing the other week?"

Sandy, we go golfing every weekend.

"Yeah, well that's kind of fun, isn't it?"

I guess. Why don't we take a chance tonight, do something really fun?

"What do you have in mind, Jimmy?"

Later, Jimmy's apartment

"Well, let's do it then Neil. Alright I'll see you there. Bye." Jimmy hangs up his cell and knocks on the door of the apartment. It is soon opened and Hailey Nichol greets him.

"Hey Jimmy. Are you having second thoughts about tonight?"

"Uhm, I was actually wondering if you still had that address? The one for the party," Jimmy asks hopefully.

"Not quite the change in plans I was hoping for, Jimmy," she says, reaching into her cleavage. She reproduces the note and hands it to Jimmy. "Have fun tonight," Hailey teases and softly shuts the door.

Jimmy slips the note into his pocket and walks back toward his apartment.

Later, Cohen Household

Ryan ties his tie, straightening it as he looks at himself in the mirror. Smiling, he turns and grabs his jacket from the hanger. His mother walks in just as he puts his arms through the sleeves. She walks up behind him and smoothes out some invisible wrinkles on his jacket.

"Hey, sweetie," Kirsten says as she fixes his collar for him. "You look so handsome. You're growing up so fast these days, it seems like just the other day that we brought you home from the hospital."

Ryan says nothing, but grins at his mother's reflection.

"You guys have fun tonight and be safe, okay? Remember what I said about not drinking, keep your cell phone on all night, and be home by two at the latest." She kisses him on the back of the head and walks in the direction of his door, only to be stopped when her son calls out to her.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yes?"

"How long were you going to wait to tell me that Lindsey was in boarding school?"

Kirsten sighs and retreats back to Ryan's bed. Sitting down, she motions for her son to do the same. "Forever, if I could have. It's not that I didn't want you to find out, it's just that I wasn't sure how to tell you that your aunt is paying the price for my stupidity and your grandfather's selfishness."

"Well, is she going to be back?"

"I don't know, Ryan. Maybe for the summer, maybe not until she graduates. It depends on your grandfather. I'll give you her number so that you can call and talk to her." They both turn as they hear Seth call for Ryan from downstairs. Kirsten smiles. "Now you'd better get going." She hands Ryan a set of keys. "Here are the keys to the Rover so that you can all ride together."

"Actually, Luke and Marissa are going to meet us there, but thanks." He pockets the keys and stands up. "Have fun tonight at dinner and Happy New Year," Ryan says, kissing his mother on the cheek.

"You too. And be safe!"

The Penthouse

"Marissa! I'm so glad you could make it!" Oliver walks up and hugs Marissa, who awkwardly returns the hug. "So this must be the guy I keep hearing so much about. Luke, right?" Oliver turns to Luke and shakes his hand.

"That's right." Luke gives the other boy an extra hard squeeze on his hand and smiles inwardly as Oliver winces in pain.

Marissa catches this and shakes her head sharply at Luke, a warning for him not to try and intimidate the boy. "These are my other friends I was telling you about," she says, pointing to each of her friends as she introduces them. "This is Summer and Seth and Ryan and Taylor." The four nod at Oliver as he waves at the group. She looks around at the large gathering in the penthouse. "There's a ton of people here, Oliver. It looks like you had a pretty good turnout."

Oliver shrugs. "I don't know any of them. These are the kids of my parents' friends, the ones my folks invited so that I wouldn't have to spend New Year's Eve by myself. Looks like I don't have to worry about that now. So," he says, rubbing his palms together, "is anybody ready for a drink?"

Everyone looks to Ryan, who is inspecting the penthouse. He looks at the group when he gradually realizes that everyone is staring at him. "Why is everyone looking at me? I don't care if you drink."

"Thanks, sweetie," Taylor says and kisses him. Whispering in his ear, she continues, "I'll watch out for her. Maybe you can reward me for a job well done later?" She pinches his butt and walks away, following Summer, Marissa, Luke and Oliver to the bar.

"You know," Seth says, turning to Ryan as everyone walks away, "I can drive if you want me to. You don't have to be the designated driver."

Ryan smiles and claps his brother on the back. "Thanks man, but I'm good. I don't drink a whole lot. I don't like losing control of myself like that."

"Alright. Have some fun tonight. Loosen up a little. There aren't any parents around, maybe you and Taylor can find somewhere new to get freaky at? Have you ever done it fifty stories up before?"

"Seth," a feminine voice yells from the bar.

"Aww, that's a shame. I was really looking forward to discussing my sex life with you," Ryan says, rolling his eyes. "Go enjoy the night. I'll be around." Seth throws him a wave as he answers the call of his girlfriend and walks towards the bar.

The Arches

"Sandy, I really have to thank you for inviting Julie and I to join in on your New Year's Eve celebration," Neil says as he places his napkin on his empty plate. "I hope that we might be able to continue this tradition in the coming years." He smiles at the redheaded woman seated next to him as he says this, and then takes her hand in his.

"James and I enjoyed joining you as well, Sandy. This little tradition definitely sounds like something all of us could enjoy getting together and celebrating every year." Veronica takes another sip from her wine glass and kisses Jimmy on the cheek.

"Who says we can't do this more often than once a year," Kirsten asks. "I think all of us should get together for dinner at least once every couple of weeks. I'm sure we would all enjoy a night with just us adults, just as much as the kids would enjoy a night without us around." The other five chuckle knowingly, and nod their assent to Kirsten's idea.

"So are we about ready to get out of here? I'm looking forward to getting home and changing into something comfortable and watching Dick Clark and the ball drop. Eww." Julie covers her mouth for a moment. "I'm sorry, those two things do not belong in the same sentence. They gave me a nasty little picture in my head." She shakes her head, apparently trying to get the offensive scene out of her mind.

"Actually Jules," Jimmy says, tentatively, "Sandy, Neil, and I talked earlier and we thought we might extend the night a little bit. I heard about a party that sounded like a good time and we thought it would be fun to, I don't know, check it out. What do you think?"

Veronica looks at Kirsten, who looks at Julie, who looks back at Veronica. She decides to take charge. "You want to go to a party?"

"Well, I think it would be fun," Sandy offers, trying to help out his friend.

Veronica gives him a look, daring him to speak again and incur her wrath. He doesn't, and she continues. "Why would you want to go to a party? I thought we were going back to my house to watch the ball drop and then we were…well, we were going to…you know…" She trails off, and looks at Jimmy with expectation in her eyes.

Jimmy, as well as the other adults, quickly catches on and his eyes open wide. "Oh, well, we can still do…that afterwards. I just want to do something different. I don't think any of us have gone to a real party since…well, probably since our kids were born." He looks around and can see the female members of their group considering the thought. "It won't be like we won't know anybody there. It's in Newport and, between the six of us, we know almost everybody in this city. Come on, V," he says, taking her hands, "let's do something exciting again."

"Okay, James. Let's do something crazy."

The Penthouse

Luke grabs the glass off of the counter and, being careful not to spill it, carries it to his girlfriend who is currently talking to their host for the evening, Oliver Trask. "Here you go, babe," he says, and hands her the vodka-heavy drink.

She takes a sip and smiles approvingly at her boyfriend. "Thanks. So Oliver and I were just talking about his place up in Palm Springs. Apparently, he's got a place right next to the golf course."

"And I was just trying to convince Marissa that all of you guys should come out and chill for a weekend. The girls could get some time in at the spa and us guys could get out and hit the links. What do you think, man," Oliver asks Luke.

"We'll see bro. Marissa, can I talk to you for a second?" Luke gestures to a spot a few feet away from Oliver.

"Sure, babe. I'll be back in a minute," she says to Oliver.

"No problem. Actually," he says, taking Marissa's glass, "I'll just touch this drink up for you. Vodka and tonic, right?"

Marissa nods her head at Oliver's question and follows her boyfriend off to the side. "So what's up," she asks when they are out of earshot of Oliver.

"Nothin'. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. You've been spending almost the entire time here with Oliver. Is he being creepy or anything?"

"No, everything's okay. He's actually being really nice. You know, I think I might have been wrong about him. Maybe he just was always around me because he needed somebody to talk to. A friend, I guess."

"So everything's good," Luke asks, not entirely convinced that Oliver is as harmless as he has led Marissa to believe.

"Everything's fine, I promise. You can hang out with us and talk to him if you want, so you'll know that he's harmless."

"No, it's okay. You guys do your thing. I'm going to go see who Corona and Summer are talking to." He points towards Seth and Summer who are talking to an unfamiliar blonde.

"Have fun," Marissa says, and kisses him on the cheek.

Luke walks towards Summer and Seth, who are laughing and talking with the mystery girl. "Yo, Corona. What's goin' on?"

"Luke, what's up man?" Seth tries to high five him, but misses badly. "Sorry man, I'm a little buzzed. Oh, so you totally have to meet my new friend. She's totally cool!" He turns and motions towards the pixie-haired blonde. "Luke, this is-"

"I think I can introduce myself, Seth," the girl says, an impish grin on her face. "I'm Anna Stern."

Oliver looks over to see that Luke has gone back to talking with his friends and finishes his preparations with Marissa's drink. Crushing the ecstasy pill, he pours the powder into the mostly-tonic drink and mixes it thoroughly. Can't have my date getting too plastered, he thinks to himself, as he plasters a smile on his face and carries the drink back to Marissa. "Okay," he says, handing her the glass, "here's your drink. You let me know if you start running out. I can't have any of my guests running around with an empty glass."

The Party

"Well, who wants to do the honors," Jimmy asks, smiling. Nobody moves forward. "I guess I'll have the pleasure, then." He knocks on the door and waits for someone to come and let them in. The door is soon opened and a familiar face greets them.

"Kirsten, Julie, Veronica," Taryn Baker exclaims. "Oh my God, I can't believe you guys are here. I had no idea you were all so much…fun."

"Yeah, uh, hi Taryn," Kirsten stammers. "You know our other halves, Sandy, Neil, and Jimmy." She points to the three men, who wave at Taryn as she welcomes them into her home.

"Well if I don't now, I might at midnight." Taryn laughs and winks at the three men. Go ahead, gentlemen. Put your watches in the bowl." Sandy, Neil, and Jimmy slowly take off their watches, giving their significant others confused looks. As they drop the three timepieces into the bowl, Taryn leans toward the three women. "Whichever women end up with those three are going to be extremely lucky," she whispers. "Maybe you six will even end up swapping partners!" The men look up at this comment and Taryn walks away with the bowl of watches.

"Did I just hear her say 'swapping'," Sandy asks.

Julie covers her mouth. "Oh my God."

"What kind of party did you bring us to, Jimmy," Kirsten hisses. "I think all of these people are swingers!"

"I think it best if we go now. We might still be able to make it back home in time to see the ball drop," Neil says. "Let me just get my watch and we'll leave."

"Hold on, Neil," Sandy says, causing the older man to turn, "I'm coming with you. We'll go together. Come on Jimmy." He motions to the youngest of the three and, when he doesn't follow, looks back at him. "What's the problem?"

"I think, uh, Veronica and I are going to stay," he stutters, rubbing his forehead.

"Jimmy," Julie scolds, while Kirsten simultaneously admonishes Veronica.

"What, Kiki? Jimmy isn't forcing me to do it. I think it would be fun and something different. We both agree that we've been a little, well, boring lately and we need something to spice it up a little. This could be the perfect opportunity."

"We're not going to hurt each other's feelings, Jules," Jimmy says. "We're both adults, and we know what we're doing."

"I'm not your wife anymore, Jimmy, so I'm not going to tell you what to do. Just don't do anything stupid."

"And make sure you use…protection," Kirsten says, looking like the word gave her a bad taste in her mouth.

"Thanks for the advice, Mom," Veronica jokes. "We'll be fine. Go home and have a lovely evening. Jimmy and I will be fine here."

The six say their good-byes, Sandy and Neil retrieve their watches (giving Jimmy a wink as they leave), and Jimmy and Veronica enter the living room, intent on getting to know their prospective partners for the evening.

The Penthouse

"You've got to be kidding me? I've been hooked on comics since Corona started drawing me in them! I can't believe that you read comic books."

"What is that supposed to mean," Anna asks, interrupting him. "And I call them graphic novels. In fact, if more people did maybe the form wouldn't be so marginalized." She takes a drink of her Dr. Pepper.

Luke shakes his head. "I don't think I've ever met someone as opinionated as you before. So what are your plans for the New Year? Got anything big planned in Pittsburg?"

"Actually, I'm moving out here this year. Or, I already have. My New Year's resolution this year is to make some friends at my new school. It's called Harbor. Have you ever heard of it?"

"Of course I've heard of it! That's the school I go to. It looks like your resolution is going to come true." He smiles at Anna, who returns his with one of her own. They are interrupted by Ryan, who claps the taller boy on the shoulder. "Hey man, what's goin' on?"

"Not much. I think we're going to head out. Taylor and Seth decided to have a drinking contest. Neither won. They're passed out, so Summer and I are going to take them home to sleep it off. Are you and Marissa going to be okay?"

"I guess we'll be good, although I haven't seen her for a bit. Maybe I should go check up on her." He starts looking around the room for signs of his girlfriend, but doesn't see her. "Happy New Year, bro." He points to Seth, who has his arm around Summer's shoulder, and Taylor, whose arm is similarly slung around Ryan. "Take care of those two."

"Will do. Nice meeting you, Anna," Ryan calls to the short blonde.

"Same to you, Ryan."

"I don't want any Anna-biotics," Luke hears Taylor mumble as Ryan leads her away. "They taste bad and they'll make my birth control un-hic-ineffective." Ryan shakes his head and drags his girlfriend out of the penthouse.

"So I really should go find my girlfriend," Luke says awkwardly, and rubs his head. "I haven't seen her around for a bit."

"That's okay, why don't I help," Anna offers. "Truthfully, you're the only person I've really enjoyed talking to tonight so I don't want to try and talk to any of these people again."

"Sounds like a plan."

Master Bedroom

Oliver quickly loses his shirt as Marissa continues to make out with him. He couldn't believe that all it took to get this sex machine out of her shell was one hit of Ecstasy, and a couple drinks. He knew that she'd be raring to go after that pill and, after using the excuse of a 'tour' of his room, she hadn't so much as fought when he started furiously kissing her. As he tossed his shirt and began to work on hers, she stopped kissing him and began to rub her head.

"Wait, Oliver," Marissa moaned. "I can't do this. Luke is right out there. What if he found out?"

"Yeah, he is right out there. Talking to some cute, little blonde girl. Do you think he cares about you? He just wants to get in that other girl's pants. Here," he says, holding out his drink, "why don't you have a drink? It'll make you feel a lot better." It was a good thing he had spiked his drink in anticipation of this second-guessing. A couple minutes and she'd be his all over again.

Marissa takes the offered drink and takes a very large gulp. "You don't think he cares about me," she asks the dark haired boy.

Oliver smiles inwardly. She's mine, he thinks. "No, I don't. I think he just uses you for sex and that's it."

"But he said he loves me," she quietly wails.

"Sometimes guys lie about that stuff, just to get into girls' pants." Oliver begins to softly touch her face as he says this and Marissa starts to moan a little. "Now, let's not worry about that. There's so many better things we can do in here, away from cheating boyfriends." He has managed to work Marissa's blouse off while he said that and, seeing that she has gone without a bra tonight, he sticks his tongue out and delicately licks Marissa's left nipple, causing her to moan in pleasure.

At that exact moment, Luke and Anna open the door to Oliver's bedroom and see the boy, his mouth clamped around an unidentifiable girl's nipple. "Oh, shit, Oliver," Luke says, caught by surprise, " I didn't mean to interrupt…" He trails off as the light catches the face of the girl whose body was being licked by their host for the evening: his girlfriend. "Marissa? What the fuck?!"

"Luke," she asks, looking dazed. Her eyes focus and she sees the blonde with him. "Oh, you're done screwing around with her, so now you come to find me?"

"Screwing around," Anna asks. "I was just talking to him! That's it. We came to look for you, since Luke was worried."

"Well, maybe he should've talked to me, his girlfriend, more than some stupid hussy that he's known for all of five minutes!"

"It was more like an hour, Marissa, and that doesn't mean that it's fucking okay to go and get freaky with some nutcase you met in therapy! What the fuck! We're so fucking done!" He storms out of the penthouse.

"You're pathetic, you know that," Anna spits out. "All he did the entire time we talked was tell me how much he cared for you, but you had to ruin that, didn't you?" She follows Luke out of the penthouse, leaving behind a very high Marissa and an overjoyed Oliver.

Outside

"Wait," Anna yells to Luke, as she chases him out of the hotel. "Stop walking so fast! I have long heels, short legs and an even shorter skirt. I can't run very fast."

"Look, Anna," Luke says, turning to face the much shorter blonde, "I had a good time talking to you tonight, but I'm not really in the mood to hang around here, if you get my drift."

Anna nods. "I completely understand. But," she says, cocking her head and hearing the tune of 'Auld Lang Syne' starting up, "it's the New Year. They say that the way you start the New Year is indicative of the way you're going to spend the rest of the year."

"Great. So now I'm going to have my girlfriend cheat on me for the rest of the year, and I'll be pissed the entire time. Sounds like an awesome year to me. Maybe I'll move to Portland."

"I've got a better idea," Anna says and, standing on her tiptoes, takes the boy's head in her hands and kisses him full on the lips. Breaking the kiss after a few seconds, she gives Luke a second to recover. "Have a Happy New Year, Luke. I'll see you at school." She gives him a smile and strides back to the elevator.

Despite all that had happened to him in the past five minutes, Luke still couldn't keep the grin from forming on his face as he watched the elevator doors close on the little, blond spitfire. He lifted his hand in a daze, waving goodbye even as the elevator had begun its ascent back to the penthouse suite.


Well, I know it's been awhile, but I've been struggling to finish this story for about three or four weeks. I've had most of it written, except for the party scene since a few days after I put out the last chapter. I guess I just wanted to make sure I did the party right. This is the beginning of a lot of things, good and bad, for our Super Six. After all, the way you start the New Year is the way you're going to spend the rest of it. Random fact of the chapter: The ball that is dropped at Times Square in New York City every New Year's Eve is a 1,070 pound, six foot diameter ball, made from Waterford crystal. It starts its descent at 23:59:00 (11:59 pm) and reaches the bottom at exactly 00:00:00 (midnight). Enjoy the chapter and please read and review. Thanks! AZ