The Rebound Agreement ✔

one

December 31st; 11:44 p.m.

I couldn't give you one good reason as to why I was here. Katie the boring goody-goody at a college New Year's Eve party complete with beer bottles on the floor and people drunk dancing to trashy pop music? Not likely, and way out of character at the least, but yet I somehow still managed to get dragged here by my roommates.

Supposedly I needed to "live a little" and have "some fun". But I had a hard time seeing how anyone could enjoy these parties. Everyone acted stupid and made fools of themselves. Plus it was incredibly loud to the point I thought my head might explode any second.

I considered getting a drink of punch, but at this point I had a hard time believing that even the tap water wasn't spiked with something so I decided against it.

I glanced at my roommate Hannah who I found with her hand on an random boy's arm as she flirted shamelessly with him. Undoubtedly she was drunk, and I was nearly certain that she would be locking lips with him by the time midnight rolled around.

Convinced that I wouldn't be missed if I snuck out, I quickly grab my coat and dart towards the staircase that I suspect leads to the roof. Fortunately I'm not disappointed.

A cold gust of wind slaps me and whips my hair all over the place as I open the door and shut it behind me. Snow litters the ground and glides down from the sky sparsely.

I walk over to the railing and sit down on a bench before looking down on the night city. From below on the sidewalk, I can hear a group of people laughing animatedly as they chat and a pang of longing hits me.

When was the last time I'd laughed like that? When was the last time I'd even had fun like that?

When did I turn into boring Katie, the one that only cared about getting her degree fast?

"They're right," I whispered out loud to the still of the night as I realized it.

"Who's right?" a deep voice from behind asks me and I immediately jump, startled.

I turn around to find a guy standing behind me, his hands casually in his pockets. His brown hair peeked out from under the beanie he wore and his brown eyes lit up as he laughed at my expression.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he says good-naturedly as he sits down besides me on the bench.

"Who's right?" he asked me again.

"My friends."

"And what are they right about?" he questions me.

I glance over at him, surprised to find that he seems genuinely interested in what I have to say and somehow find myself answering. "That I don't know how to have any fun and that I-." A little too late I catch myself. "Wait, why am I telling this to you? I don't even know you. You're a complete stranger."

He smiles at me. "I'm Liam Michael Jensen. My birthday's May 12th, I'm 21 and I was a ten pound baby. I'm 5'11, wear size eleven shoes and have a tendency towards action movies and make an effort to avoid the goopy, romantic Hallmark ones."

Liam stuck his hand for me to shake, and I couldn't help the smile that snuck up on me as I shook it back. "Now you can't say you don't know me."