New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve marks the occasion on which Katherine Danziger and Michael Wagner first meet. At Sybil Davison's party, the turn of the year becomes more than a festive backdrop: Katherine is caught between an unwanted advance and the sight of Michael with someone else, while her attention begins to settle on him.

The Invitation and the Party

Katherine and Erica Small decide at the last minute to attend Sybil Davison's New Year's party. Sybil lives in Summit, New Jersey, while Katherine and Erica are from Westfield, New Jersey; they go because Sybil has invited them and they have no better plans. The gathering is a fondue party, with about twenty people seated on the floor around a low table in Sybil's family room. Pots of steaming Swiss cheese, baskets of bread, and long two-pronged forks make the celebration intimate and informal rather than grand.

Midnight and First Impressions

At midnight, Sybil flashes the lights on and off to mark the New Year. Fred wishes Katherine a Happy New Year and tries to kiss her; she keeps her lips firmly shut. As he kisses her, Katherine watches Michael Wagner kiss Elizabeth, a pale, dark-haired girl sitting beside him. The moment places unwanted attention and emerging interest side by side: Katherine is physically present in Fred's kiss but mentally fixed on Michael. She notices that Michael is taller and thinner than she had first thought.

The Night's Aftermath

After the party, the guests help Sybil and her parents clean up. Around three in the morning, Katherine and Erica go upstairs to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor. Sybil falls asleep immediately and snores loudly; Katherine and Erica, by contrast, have trouble settling down. Erica asks whether Michael seems nice. Katherine answers by remarking on his height, joking that Erica would reach only to his belly button. Her response keeps the conversation light, but Michael has already become the person whose presence gives the evening its charge.

Significance

New Year's Eve supplies the threshold for Katherine and Michael's story: their first meeting takes place at midnight, a conventional moment of transition that here coincides with Katherine's shift of attention toward him. The scene is not a simple romantic pairing. Katherine's first experience of the new year includes Fred's unwelcome attempt to kiss her and Michael kissing Elizabeth, so attraction begins amid misalignment rather than immediate mutual intimacy. The party establishes the occasion and circumstances of their meeting, while the late-night conversation with Erica shows that Katherine is already considering Michael beyond the fleeting encounter.