【77】Never Better

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Although it was comfortable, our apartment wasn't particularly large

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Although it was comfortable, our apartment wasn't particularly large. But to my surprise, twenty-four people celebrating New Year's Eve in it was still very acceptable. We'd limited the access to the living area, closing the doors of our bedrooms, and it turned out to be very much enough.

Because nearly everyone here was part of game night, our evening of celebration turned into a very good time of games, mingling, and having fun. We had music on and there was a huge mimes game happening in the living room. Some people were chilling in the kitchen area, having conversations and eating snacks displayed on the counter.

Sitting on the couch, squeezed amongst others, I was trying to guess what the hell was Brian miming. We'd guessed turtle, but this part was more complicated. Everyone in my team was throwing their guesses. It was entirely chaotic.

"A painting!"

"A portrait!"

"Painting a turtle!"

"A turtle painting a portrait!"

"A turtle's portrait!"

Exasperated, Brian rolled his eyes and showed himself, while still pretending to paint something mid-air. "Oh! A painter!" I shouted.

He nodded, waiting for us to make the connection. "An artistic turtle?" someone ventured. Brian gestured with his hand that we should look deeper, and Mason was the first one to click.

"Are you miming a turtle that's got a painter's name?" Brian nodded, happy to have finally been understood. "Bro, why aren't you miming a ninja if this is about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?!"

Realizing his mistake, Brian grimaced. But we didn't have time for this. We all threw at him the names of the turtles, our time almost up. It turned out to be Donatello, which we found, and we all fell back in our seats, the last grain of sand falling down the small plastic hourglass. Two more points were added to our score on the board. The next team had its turn, and they did much better than us.

Once the miming was done, a few people started a game of Cards Against Humanity. Although I loved this game and was pretty good at it, I left them to go spend some time with other guests. I spotted Oli leaning on a wall, kind of isolated from the rest.

Worried about him, I went to him. My arrival shook him out of his thoughts, and his murky expression changed into something more festive. "Hello there, Oliver Garden," I teased.

"Hi, Dora Márquez."

"Is that her full name?"

"Yeah, I Googled it after I turned it into a nickname for you."

I nodded awkwardly, not sure what to add to that. Even though we were okay with what had happened with Lex, I wasn't sure if his feelings for me were gone or if some lingered. Maybe I should give him a little more space in case he needed more time. But right now, I was too worried about him to take my distances. If he was in trouble, I wanted to be there to support him.

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