Excerpt: You'll Believe in Anything

"It's morning."

And it was morning, for him; for the people around him, and even for the people not around him. It was morning because it was New Year's Eve, and he lived by the theory that New Year's Eve was not just the evening before New Year's where everyone experienced it at a different time, but an actual event that spanned over a specific set of hours. Everyone celebrated it at the same time, and it lasted for so long that New Year's Eve ended up just being New Year's Day for some people. These people called it New Year's day. For him it was still New Year's Eve.

It was the morning after New Year's Eve, though, typically New Year's Day. Still, he insisted it was New Year's Eve.

The boy next to him, who was taller and more muscular but still not particularly impressive, nodded weakly and muttered acknowledgement. "Yeah." The boy was named something that left a bitter taste in the first boy's mouth, so he did not say it when addressing him.

"They dropped the ball in Manhattan, already." This was the first boy again, trying to continue conversation. It was 12:01 a.m. where they lived. Manhattan, New York was on the east coast. It was already 1:01 a.m. there, and they were not considerate and thought it was New Year's Day.

"Of course they did. They're on EST," is what the second boy said. When he said EST, he said it bitterly and angrily. The first boy knew that was because time left a bitter taste in his acquaintance's mouth, much like his acquaintance's name left a bitter taste in his.

Fireworks still flew over Buckingham fountain, which the first boy took as a sign that the fireworks also thought it was still New Year's Eve. The explosions in the sky continued for a minute, maybe two, before they were stopped abruptly with no finale. The crowd dispersed in disappointment.

The two boys still stood. The first felt great sadness in knowing that the fireworks were forced to stop believing it was New Year's Eve. The second felt nothing and believed nothing, so he could not apply himself to the situation.

Instead, he demanded they leave. He did not speak; he simply left.

Upon realizing his acquaintance had left him, the first boy yelled for him, even though it left a bitter taste in his mouth. When that yielded no results, he took off in the direction he thought his partner had gone off in, forgetting about the silenced fireworks and the misconception that it was now officially 'new year's day'.