first-foot
noun
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the first person to cross the threshold of a house on New Year's Day.
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the first person met after starting out on the day of an important occasion.
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Becky stood, shivering in the cold. She should be in the car or the house, but Will insisted they wait. She would be mad, but he was right there with her. That was something, at least.
“So, why can’t we go inside?” She asked. Again. She had asked that same question at least three times and had not received a satisfying answer.
“Because some things are just better when done at the right time.” He replied.
He was looking at his phone, checking the time. Becky could tell he was probably waiting for midnight to roll around. New Years and all that. But this area did not have fireworks. Or any other method of celebration. At least, not publicly.
“Seriously, Will. We bought this house to stay inside. You know, inside, where it’s warm. Not freezing our butts off in the middle of the night.”
Sure, the place was a mess. Or at least, she assumed it was. She had not been in there since the movers arrived. Since they had picked up the keys from the realtor’s office. She knew it would be nothing but boxes and maybe a mattress for tonight. But that was no reason to not go in.
“We’ll go inside at the appropriate time.”
Becky huffed. “And when is the appropriate time?”
Will checked his phone again. The glow lit up an almost manic grin. “About ten more minutes.”
She blinked a few times in surprise. She had not been expecting a concrete answer. She quickly checked the time. It showed 11:50 pm. She groaned.
“Really? Are we seriously doing this?”
“It’s important, Becky! We have a once in a lifetime opportunity here. It’d be dumb to waste it.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me this is what you wanted to do?”
“Because if I had, you would’ve said no.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but he was right. She would have said no to this whole thing. If he had told her, they would be inside right now, probably watching the ball drop on one of their phones.
“Okay, fine. But which of us actually goes through at midnight?”
“Both of us. The door is just big enough if we squeeze. I checked.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“It’ll be a tight fit, and we’ll have to go back-to-back, but we can do it.”
Becky looked at the door. It seemed fairly normal to her. But then again, neither of them was particularly big. It might be possible if they did it right. Maybe. The benefits of being on the shorter and slimmer side of things, she supposed.
“Oh, it’s almost time, let’s get ready!” Will said, clearly getting excited. “Should we record this? I feel like we should record this. You know what? I’m doing it.”
He strode up to the door without opening it. He messed around with his camera, setting it up for a video. Becky sighed and joined him at the threshold of their new home. Will put his hand on the knob, ready to turn it the moment the clock changed dates.
“Here we go.” He said, “New year, new home, new life. Come on, let’s get ready.”
He turned towards her, moving as close to the edge of the door as he could while still being able to enter. Becky felt her lips twitch upwards at his enthusiasm. She knew it was stupid, but it was infectious. She pressed herself as close as she could, showing that he had been correct. They could just barely fit.
“Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven.” He counted. At five, he turned the knob and opened the door. “Four. Three. Two. One.”
Both of them stepped into the newly bought home at the same time, right as the clock hit midnight.
“Happy New Year!”
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Happy New Year indeed.
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