December 31st, 2014. I was sitting at my vanity getting ready for the night. The lights were bright and vibrant surrounding the mirror so I could see my face very clearly. My curling iron was to my right heating up radiating that classic burnt hair smell, and I started applying my make up. I did the same routine I always did.  First, I would put on my foundation, then my concealer, next I couldn't forget the bronzer. It then went to the eye makeup, mascara upon mascara, then the eyeliner if I was feeling crazy and to end it all, some eyeshadow. The kind that would sparkle in the light, but wasn't too dramatic. While I was doing this, I was anxious at what the night would bring and debated what Ava and I would do. Music was blaring in the background, probably some Iggy Izalea or Kendrick Lamar, to keep me company until Ava came over.

     Ava ended up showing up at my house at about 8:30 pm, and it seemed like it took centuries. We caught up about the last week because she was in Florida for Christmas vacation. We were talking a hundred miles per minute.  It was great to see her, and I couldn't wait to go out and have some fun. Our next mission was to pick out outfits for the big night. I swore we tore through my closet trying to decide what to wear. My room was torn to pieces with clothing items everywhere. It looked like a natural disaster had just hit my room. Everything was either too tight or too loose or not right;  it seemed impossible to find the perfect outfit. I decided to wear a new Christmas present.  It was a red and black flannel that I was obsessed  with and paired it with skinny jeans. Ava went with a lilac purple long sleeve and boot cut jeans. We were dressed to the tens ready for the night. We heard of a couple parties that were happening, but didn't know for sure what we wanted to do. That also took another century, deciding what we wanted to do.
     After about another hour or so, we decided to go to a party that our friend Shelby told us about. We went with it because it was relatively close to my house, and we knew a couple of people attending it. We went with an open mind and didn't really have any expectations at what the night would bring.
   We left my house, and it was colder than cold. A few random flurries licked my face, but it wasn't anything out of the normal northern Minnesota winters. The car ride there was like any other car ride with Ava and me. We played our favorite tunes, which included “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” and “Yeah!”, singing at the top of our lungs. We then were getting closer to the house where the party was taking place; we both looked at each other and smiled. “Here goes nothing,” I had thought. We exited the car and walked up what seemed like a million stairs.
       We opened the door without knocking and entered the party. It was a large house, with an open floor plan. The hardwood floors caught my eye, and the large granite island in the center of the kitchen looked like a perfect area to entertain guests. Music was blaring from the moment we got there.
     People were everywhere in the house, and we couldn't find anyone we knew. Conversations flowed from all directions as if everyone knew everyone. At this point I felt all sorts of nervous, but decided to roll with it because we went to meet people and had no expectations of what the night would bring. We made our way to the living room where girls were dancing to the loud music pounding through the speakers. Oddly enough it reminded me of my mom and me having a dance off in the living room at my own house and made me feel at ease. We took a seat on the couch and took in our surroundings. Ava and I were eyeing everyone in the distant areas, seeing if we knew anyone, or if there were any cute guys in the vicinity.  It was then I spotted an attractive guy, but he disappeared too quickly for me to get a good look at him.
      I then spotted my friend Shelby and couldn't have been happier. She introduced us to some new people. None that I can remember the names of or any that had stuck out to me. At least we weren't the awkward ones against the wall anymore. While all of this was happening, our friends Riley and Morgan texted us asking what we were doing or if anything was going on. We then sent our locations to them and in no time they joined us which then completed our group. We started walking through the kitchen now feeling more confident and a guy that looked familiar, wearing nice jeans and a baseball  hat, and I have to mention was very attractive  yelled, “Maya Johnson is that you??”
     All of the sudden it hit me. It was Stetson Burkman. I had recognized him from social media, but had never formally met him in person. So I yelled back across the kitchen kind of flustered, “Yes it is, Stetson Burkman.” He had looked so surprised that I knew who he was it made me chuckle on the inside,  and from then on I couldn't wait to talk to him again, that is if I would get the chance.
     My friends and I had reached our next desired destination, the basement. We wanted to check out what was happening down there, but in the back of my mind I had wondered where that Stetson guy was. We mingled with people and caught up with old friends we hadn't seen in awhile. Morgan and Ava had a deep talk about their friendship and figured out where they stood. They had previously not talked all summer and fall/winter until that night because of a fight we all had. It was a big deal, and it made my heart smile that we all were once again on good terms. And when girls get on good terms once again, what do they do? Take a bunch of stereotypical girl group pictures, of course. We had some random homely looking guy take them. They didn't turn out too well, but we didn't care. A good Instagram filter could fix at least one of them.
      There was a break in the action between all of us girls and I had spotted Stetson heading towards the stairs to go back up to the kitchen area.  Then Shelby stumbled into the situation passing him, and she saw me. She pretty much grabbed him and brought him over to me, and I must add I didn't even ask her to do so. She then said a crazy comment that I will never forget.  “Oh my God, Stetson!! Kiss Maya at midnight. She's hot and single!” She yelled so loudly I swear everyone in the basement heard. My face instantly went beet red and I didn't know how to react; heck I had just formally met this guy, but it did make me smile and made me feel some type of way.
     He then replied with a smug look on his face, “We’ll see where I am at 12.” When he had said that, my whole body felt electric. I probably sprinted over to the girls to tell them the exciting news and how I couldn't wait for it to be midnight.

      11:56 PM.

     My friends and I were all up in the kitchen with so many people surrounding us. My eyes were like a hawk’s looking for that darn Stetson guy. It's just a kiss right? And it was New Years, so why not? I couldn't see him anywhere, and I started to get flustered and hot. I was worried that people could see these nervous signs on my face so I tried to act extra cool and calm about life when in the back of my mind, so many scenarios were racing through my head. My friends asked me where he was, and they helped me search the big room for him. I couldn't find him to save my life.

     11:59 PM.

     Well, he was nowhere to be found. A bitter, shameful taste arose in my mouth.  The clock struck midnight and so many people kissed their significant others, and I ended up kissing my best friend Ava. I mean that wasn't totally bad, but I wanted to kiss Stetson. He pretty much told me he would with his eyes and facial expressions. My friends and I shortly after decided to leave the party and head our separate ways. Ava and I headed back to my house. On the way home, we discussed the night. We were both pleasantly surprised and thought it was a good New Year’s Eve. It met all of her standards, and almost all of mine besides the fact that Stetson had disappeared.
     My parents never raised me as a quitter, so I searched him on all social media sites. It probably looked very creepy, but I friend requested him on Facebook, followed him on Twitter and Instagram within ten minutes of me being home from the party. I thought it was a logical way to show him I was interested.
    I was clearly right with doing all of those things. The next day I had received a notification that he had messaged me on Twitter saying, “Were you the one Shelby tried making me give a New Year's kiss to?” And it went from there. I then was informed that he was not in the house at midnight, but he was talking about snowmobiles with a group of guys. They were outside the shed examining who’s was better or faster.
  
     Two weeks later we went on our first date. We went to see Taken 3 in Bemidji. I was so nervous, but it was a great time. We didn’t stop talking, and the conversations flowed naturally. After the movie, we were driving home, and he wanted to show me where he played ammauter baseball. We pulled into the field area and parked the car. We sat and talked for a good hour. Music was playing in the background and a song I loved came on. “Lonely Tonight,” by Blake Shelton. I was feeling confident and started singing loudly to the music making a fool of myself. Stetson was smiling and I was laughing. It was so nice to just be goofy and have fun with someone. There was a lull in the conversation and he asked if I was ticklish. I mistakenly told him I was ticklish everywhere. Before I knew it we were in the middle of a tickle war. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard.
      Our eyes locked in and I got insane butterflies. I thought in my head, "Oh boy, oh boy, ahhhhhh, I know what's going to happen, eeeee!!!!" He started to lean in. Our lips met, and we shared our first kiss. It was a great kiss, it wasn't too long or too short, it was just right. Even though we didn’t kiss on New Year’s Eve, the wait was worth it.