Short story of a new year!

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The four friends were currently inside Conor's room because they wanted to. Meilin and Rollan were currently in a middle of an argument, fighting about who knows what, Abeke was just silently talking to Uraza, shooting amused glances at the arguing couple, while Conor looked out the window.

It was night time and tonight was special. They were all waiting for the new year to start but all they had was just watching the moon and waiting for the familiar fireworks to show up. Every new year, there would always be people from Zhong, that the Greencloaks hired, who made fireworks. They would shoot them to the sky at the start of the new year. They have this device that they use to tell when it was completely midnight.

There was a knock on the door which interrupted Rollan from speaking. Abeke got up and opened the door, only to gasp in surprise to see who was outside.

"Griffin?" Abeke exclaimed and everyone's gazes snapped to the door.

He grinned and wave, "Hey guys."

"What are you doing here?" Meilin asked, curious, "I thought you left."

"Obviously not cause i'm still here," he said, "Anyways, I thought i'd give you something before i'm gone for good for the year."

"You're not coming back?" Conor asked, sounding quite sad.

Griffin chuckled, "You could say this is the last time you'll see me this year, considering the start of a new year tonight."

"Oh," was Conor's reply.

"When are you coming back?" Rollan asked.

He shrugged, "Don't know. Hopefully soon. Anyways, here's my...new year's gift for you guys."

"Hopefully not a camera," Conor muttered, still not liking the weird device. Abeke let out a small laugh.

Griffin took out what looked like four bracelets with a circle at the top. On the circle, there were numbers written all around with three arrows, one moving constantly around. Each 'bracelet' was a different color: blue, gold, silver, and purple. Conor thought the colors seemed familiar somehow.

"Cool bracelets," Rollan said, sounding a bit flat, "Just what we needed." Meilin shot him a glare and was about to scold him for being rude.

Griffin only smiled, "They're not bracelets. It's called a watch."

"What does it do? Watch things?" Conor asked, glancing at it wearily, expecting to see two huge eyes popping out the 'watch.'

"It tells time," Griffin explained patiently, pointing to the circle, "The arrow that's currently ticking is the second-hand. Every tick is a second that has passed. Once it reaches a full circle, that's one minute."

"Nice," Meilin murmured, clearly fascinated.

"The long hand is the minute-hand," Griffin went on, "It moves slightly once the second-hand turns a full circle. Once the minute-hand turns a full circle, that's one hour."

"And i'm guessing the small arrow is the hour-hand?" Abeke said.

"You got that right," Griffin nodded, "It's like a clock. Just a smaller version which you can carry around with."

Griffin then handed the blue one to Conor, the gold one to Rollan, the silver one to Meilin, and the purple one to Abeke. Conor glanced at Abeke's purple watch then glanced at Uraza, her purple eyes flashing as always.

"They're the colors of our Spirit Animal's eyes," Conor said.

"Hey, you figured it out," Griffin said, "Anyways, I gotta go run. Wear it on any wrist, most likely your right wrist unless you're left-handed. Poke the metal thingy in one of the holes when you've put it around your wrist. Oh, and that watch is a bit more...you could say advance. Enjoy your new year's gift."

Without another word, Griffin was already out the door. They then did as they were told, putting it around their wrists.

"So, what exactly are we supposed to do with this watch?" Rollan asked, "Other than the fact that we wouldn't be late for training."

Meilin was studying her watch when suddenly a bright light exploded from the circular part. The same thing happened to their watches and Conor jumped, crashing into his small desk. Meilin's eyes widened when she realized that the bright light was showing numbers.

10...9...8...

"It's counting down," Meilin spoke.

...7...6...

"Counting down what?" Rollan asked, mystified.

Meilin glanced at the other arrows and realized that the minute-hand was almost at the 12 and so was the hour-hand.

...5...4...

"It's counting down the minutes till the new year," Meilin replied, rushing to the window. Everyone quickly followed her, watching the numbers.

...3...2...1

As soon as it reached one, there was a loud 'boom' and bright lights immediately filled the sky, exploding with many colors. It looked like a flower, exploding with different colors.

"It's the new year," Abeke gasped, gazing at the fireworks in awe.

Rollan glanced at his watch, "It was a new year's gift after all."

Meilin then glanced at him who looked up at the same time. Their eyes met and she slowly smiled. Rollan smiled back, the fireworks booming in the distance.

She was happy. She was happy that they've lived through another year. She was happy that they had fought through another year. She was happy that they were still together through another year.

And she wanted it to stay that way for a long time.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!