the beginning of us

Hey, Kepner

Chapter 2

April's POV

Hey, Kepner." he said.

Exactly the way he called me that day in the fifth grade when I transferred to his school and he saw my name tag.

For my first crush, I guess I was pretty bold at that time. I called Lucas to the tree in the backyard of our elementary school:

"Hi, Lucas." I grinned.

"Hey."

"I'm feeling a little embarrassed about this but I have something important to tell you" I bit my lip. I was so anxious.

"Alright, what's that?"

"I like you."

"I like you too. You're a really good friend to me, you know." he smiled, innocently.

Oh, he thought I meant it as a friend. I wanted to escape rejection so I decided not to make myself clear.

Soon, we were in middle school and the feelings disappeared. They were not very serious anyway.

"Hello?" Lucas snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, thanks for helping..." I said, pretending not to remember who he was.

"It's Lucas Calloway. From school?" he said.

"Oh my gosh, it's you! I knew you looked familiar." I smacked his arm, playfully.

"You've changed a lot, April." he said, sort of scanning my face.

"In what way?" I asked.

"You're taller, prettier, I don't know, just a little different." he pointed out, carrying my bag and leading me to the seat on my porch.

"Thank you."

"So what are you doing back here?" he asked.

"Things didn't work out in Chicago. I was between jobs, actually."

"Oh."

"It's okay." I shrugged.

"What about you?" I asked, putting a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I'm working here." he stated.

"Lawyer, right?" he always went on and on about it back in high school.

"Yeah, but the firm isn't such a big deal." he pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. You're doing what you love whether the firm's big or small." I truthfully said.

Then, I got another text from the group chat about the meet-up.

"Sorry, let me reply my friend first." I said, then had a genius idea.

"Lucas, can you do me a favour?" I asked.

"Anything, Kepner."

"Will you pretend to be my boyfriend?"

"What?" he laughed.

"Don't worry, forget I asked." I said with pretence.

"That trick won't work on me. So for how long?"

I laughed a little in disbelief. "For a few hours when I meet with my friends next week."

"Sure."

We exchanged numbers and said goodbye. Come to think of it, just like in fifth grade, I was once again bold with the way I acted towards Lucas.