On the day of New Years Eve the Merrill's decided to repay the Lowe's by having them over to celebrate. Helen, Ned, Janice, Harry and Grandmother Hawthorne arrived early in the morning, griping about the cold and informing Grace and Joe what they had done for Christmas.
"Where is that lovely girl John?" Helen asked when she greeted her nephew.
"She's away," he said shortly, which was true. He did know she was spending the holidays out of town. Ace tried to avoid his family as best he could as he ate his breakfast and returned to his room.
"He's sulking," Grace said, not realising that her son was now a grown man and hardly likely to be sulking anywhere.
Ace reached under his bed for his bottle of bourbon only to find it was empty. Throwing it back down again he lay down and stared at his roof. He would have to try and raid his Pop's liquor cabinet later when he wasn't paying attention.
"What's wrong with you?" Janice said as she opened the door and invited herself in.
"Fuck off," he said rolling over to ignore her.
"Come on," she said sitting down on his chair, "you're the only half interesting person in this house, I'm not going to spend the day trying to explain to Grandma where she is."
"I said get out," he said in the same annoyed tone.
"No you said fuck off," she corrected him.
"You kiss your mother with that mouth," he snorted.
"Oh please," she said rolling her eyes, "stop being pissed at me because I was rude to your girlfriend."
"Yeah about that," he said, "fuck off."
"Give us a cigarette?" she said sweetly.
"Fine," he said, hoping she would leave. He pulled a pack off his tabletop and lit two.
"Thanks," she said and started puffing away.
"How old are you anyway?" he asked.
"Nearly sixteen," she replied, "just a few more days...Where is she anyway?"
"Who," he asked, knowing exactly who she meant.
"Your wet rag of a girlfriend."
"So that's why you were a bitch to her?" he said smirking, "you think she's boring."
"Well no, I was mad at her because I wanted to go see Tommy but Ma said no, but you're allowed to bring your girlfriend to goddamn dinner. What the hell is that about?"
"You're definitely a bitch," Ace said but he couldn't help being a little amused.
"I bet you don't find her boring," Janice said knowingly.
"Yeah, how's that?"
"You've had sex haven't you," she said almost accusingly.
"What do you think," he said rolling his eyes, not too concerned with protecting Laura's reputation.
"I can see why you like her I guess. She's pretty cute."
"She's a complete doll," Ace said, almost offended that anyone would think she was anything less.
"A lot of guys like her huh?" Janice asked.
"Unfortunately," he said, crushing the butt of his cigarette in the same glass as before. "Why so much interest in Laura all a sudden."
"I dunno," she said scuffing the front of her shoe, "I feel bad about bringing up her dad, how could I know he was dead?"
"You're less annoying than I remember," Ace said laying back down on his bed, "must be the new vocabulary."
"Do you still want me to fuck off?" she asked cheekily.
"Don't push your luck," he said.
"Are you hungover?" she asked curiously.
"No," he lied, "why would you think that?"
"You keep lying down," she said as though this proved it, "you got any booze."
"Jesus Christ what have you turned into?"
"Like you can talk," she scoffed.
Laura and Caroline had been invited by some locals to join them for some New Year's festivities by the lake that the town had been named after. By the time they found their way there the party was well under way. There was a hall that was built right next to the lake and it had been filled. A band was playing and people of all ages had hit the dance floor.
Caroline started talking to a group of women who had introduced themselves and so Laura went to get some air outside. The air was so warm here that the lake hadn't completely frozen over so large chunks of ice swirled around in the water, as if they were dancing too.
"You're not from around here are you?" a voice said behind her. Laura turned to see a small group of teenagers staring at her.
"No, I'm from further north," she said, "a place called Castle Rock."
"That's a strange name," one of the girls said, "my name's Denise," she extended her hand.
Laura shook it and soon everyone had introduced themselves. There was Denise, Polly, Suzanne, Bobby and Lawrence.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Polly asked after they had been talking a while.
"Yes," she said, "his name is John." She didn't think that they would appreciate his nickname.
"Why do you sound so sad," Suzanne said, "you miss him huh?"
"Yes I do," she said. More then they were thinking.
"Ask her to dance Lawrence," Denise demanded, "cheer the poor girl up."
"Uh okay," the boy said, "wanna dance?" he asked he reaching for her hand.
"Okay," she said not wanting to contradict the forceful girl.
So that was how Laura spent New Year's Eve, literally in another man's arms.
"It's a shame you're from out of town," he said, "and you have a boyfriend. You're really pretty."
"Thank you," she said, she seemed to feel even more awkward every time a stranger complimented her looks.
"He's a lucky guy," Lawrence said, spinning her around.
She smiled sadly. She was missing him so much it was making her feel sick. The song ended and Laura started to walk away but Lawrence caught her shoulder and pulled her back.
"Hey where are you going?" he asked.
"I thought we'd finished," Laura said.
"I do actually want to dance with you," Lawrence said, "I wasn't just doing it because Denise told me to. Do you actually want to dance with me?"
"Sure," she said and moved her hands into dancing position.
"Don't sound so enthusiastic," he said which made her smile.
And so they danced, song after song until it was time for the count down.
"I have to go find my mother," Laura said waving goodbye.
"It was a pleasure Laura," Lawrence said kissing her hand before watching her walk away.