"Hey, Jay-Jay! Where are you? I thought you were gonna come out for New Years!" Malory yells over the sound of the party. "We were gonna write our resolutions and party hard and have a good ass time, man! What the hell!" She whines, not actually sounding angry in the slightest.

"Uh, right," Jane mumbles, leaning forward on the couch. Scratching her ankle with her opposite foot, she says, "I don't think I'll go, actually?"

"What? I can't hear you, can you speak up?" Malory gives a loud laugh and a bout of laughter ensues from the background as well. "Hey, sorry, I'll hang up now, okay? I know it was kind of a stretch to get you to come out." She laughs again and Jane shrinks into the couch, a pit in her stomach.

"Right, sorry," She says, although she knows Malory probably can't even hear her.

As she pulls her legs onto the couch and curls into a ball, Malory yells, "Okay, well, happy new year! I'll see you later!"

Jane doesn't get the chance to even mumble a goodbye before the phone beeps and she's left alone again. The light from the TV casts a bright blue light over everything in her dark apartment. Outside, she hears big groups of people cheering and singing and such on the street below. With a sigh, Jane wraps her arms around her legs and buries her face in her knees. "I guess she already knew I wasn't gonna go..."

A long time passes sitting in that same position, not doing anything and merely staring at the fabric of the couch in the dark, the fibers slipping in and out of focus. Sighing, she turns her phone over next to her. An hour had passed since her phone call with Malory.

With a deep frown, she stands from the couch and makes her way to her room, walking past the covered mirror and falling onto the bed with another deep sigh. "I wanna... do something..." Although she says this, she quickly falls asleep with half of her body off the bed.

Another two hours pass before she wakes up on the floor. Standing, she mumbles, "Should I shower?" She lets out a long sigh and drags herself to the bathroom. "Yeah..."

Once she's out of the shower, she walks back into her room and stares warily at the mirror in the corner. She'd covered it with an old sheet nearly four months ago. Frowning deeply at it, she walks over and pulls it off, having it land in a heap next to her. She tilts her head at the mirror and sighs. It's too dark to even make anything out in the mirror.

With a huff, she moves to her closet and grabs a sweater, staring hard at the fabric for a long time. A pit forms in her stomach and she's rooted to the spot. Hastily, she pulls the closet door closed and shoves her head through the neck-hole of the sweater. It's smaller than she remembers it being. Although, maybe it was just her. She hadn't been eating nearly as much in these past few months.

Jane mumbles to herself, "What am I even doing..." As she makes her way back to the bathroom and begins combing through her long, unruly hair. "This is stupid." She adds as she ties all her hair up in a bun that looks more like a bird's nest than hair. Grabbing her glasses off the counter next to her, she mutters, "Seriously..."

She plays with her long bangs for a moment as she stands at the door, staring at her flats. Sighing, she bends down and slips them onto her feet. She makes a move for the door before mumbling, "Right, I should probably grab money..." A moment later and she's out the door, slowly locking the door behind her, hesitant to leave the building. She scratches at her ankle with the opposite foot and sighs before backing away from the door.

For a while, Jane wanders somewhat aimlessly, not even bothering to take in her surroundings as she does. Half an hour passes as she dodges past large groups of people gathered together for the new year. Some make passes at her or invite her along, but she ignores them and keeps walking without any particular destination in mind.

Finally, she looks up to find herself at a tiny restaurant. She's surprised to see it open, considering it's New Years' Eve. With a slight smile, she walks in. "Irasshaimase,"

She gives a slight nod in return and makes her way to the counter. "Excuse me, I'd like some yakisoba, please." With a smile, the man nods and begins cooking quickly. It's quiet here, giving her time to decompress. Her apartment seemed stifling, filled with memories that weighed her down and everything outside felt like it reminded her. But here felt different. It was new. Her's.

The sound of the little bell above the door startles her, making her jump in her seat. Another customer walks in, their face red with a heavy coat on. They lock eyes briefly, but she quickly turns back towards the counter, fixing her gaze on the countertop. "Irasshaimase!" The man making her meal says, briefly turning his head to acknowledge the new customer.

The new customer nods his head politely and takes a seat at the small counter with one seat between the two of them. "God, it's freezing out." He announces, surprising her. With a slight laugh, he asks, "Aren't you cold in that?"

Jane looks over at him and down at her sweater and jeans and back at him quickly. "Oh, uh, no, I'm fine in this. It's not... that bad." She mumbles, shuffling her feet on the stool.

"Hm?" He asks. She's about to repeat herself, slightly louder this time when he moves to the seat next to her.

Feeling even more self-conscious, she repeats, "N-no, I'm okay."

"Wow, really?" He laughs, leaning forward on the counter. "I thought you looked kind of cold though. I guess being in here is a lot warmer though."

Wearing a polite smile, she nods. "Yeah, right."

A short silence follows. As she fidgets with her hands under the counter, he tries to start up a conversation a bit. "So what brings you here? And all by yourself, too." He leans forward, looking interested and eager.

She quickly averts her gaze, feeling her face warm at locking eyes with him. "I just didn't wanna be at home alone, I guess?" Giving a slight laugh, she looks up at him, feeling slightly embarrassed. "It kinda sucks being home alone when everyone else is out partying." Moving her arms in small circles, she says awkwardly, "So instead I'm having my own party. By myself."

He gives a laugh at her response. "Yeah? Then I guess we're in the same boat." Jane turns towards him more, somewhat excited (but mostly nervous) to finally be talking to someone again instead of holed up in her apartment. "I really wasn't in a partying mood or anything." Rocking side to side he adds, "But it sucked just as much being sad at home."

Her plate is placed in front of her and she quickly passes the man behind the counter a smile. Picking up her chopsticks, she replies, "Yeah, right. I haven't been out of the house in ages. It's nice to be... somewhere else."

"Mm, yeah." He says, smiling slightly. "We should combine our little parties, you know? Let's hang out a little."

She laughs, louder than she'd meant to at the way he put it. Finally, with a slight smile of her own, she replies, "I guess that doesn't sound that bad."

"Yay!" He says, doing the same little arm circles she'd been doing before, making her laugh again. Once she stops laughing, he leans forward on the counter again. "See? I knew you'd look better without that mopey look."

With a roll of her eyes, she sighs and says, "I wasn't mopey."

"Yes. Yes, you were."

"Fine, I was mopey." She admits easily before eating some of her food. Finally, after a long moment of silence, she adds, "But this night is definitely starting to look better now that I'm spending it with someone."