Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, etc., there were so many colors lit up in the sky in an intricate portrait of explosions. However, rather than enjoying the moment like the families on their lawns shouting for the new year to come, I was here, at the Jones' lakehouse, my lips against his in a kiss that felt like those colorful explosions in the sky. As we pulled away, a silly smile was on my face. But something was wrong. Dawson wasn't looking at me like how you would after kissing your best friend, no, Dawson was looking at me like I had just killed every last chance he had with the girl he really wanted to be here with. Just like that, all of what I had craved for came crashing down on me like beams of false hope after an earthquake. That earthquake being Dawson Jones. "Daws-" "Don't." It was spoken with such finality that my whole body tensed with fear because I knew what that meant. As I stared at our hands that were still entertwined, I knew that my time with Dawson Jones was over. "Just like that?" "Just like that." I bit my lip and nodded my head. All those times I had promised myself it would never get this far seemed like time wasted. Here I was, kissing and holding hands with a boy who was never mine or will never be mine, hoping that when I wake up tomorrow we'll get into his red ford mustang like we always. But I knew all that hoping would be time wasted as well. So instead of begging and crying for him to not make our time spent together be all for naught, I let go. "I know Cassie will say yes." He didn't reply. "She's my best friend, I just know she will." Silence. "Don't break her heart, promise me?" "I promise." And Dawson Jones never did break Cassie Miller's heart.