Our Year Together - Book One

Chapter 4

Anthony bursts out laughing at me when I tell him the news. It's been a few hours since I spent time with April. After our little walk, we split up with the promise of meeting up tomorrow morning for our next tutoring session before class starts. Once I'd gotten home I'd called Anthony over at once, not sure what to do about my little predicament.

"So, even Alex isn't immune to April's charms." He's still laughing and it's starting to tick me off. Our positions are reversed from yesterday, me sitting on the bed and him in my desk chair. I grab one of my pillows and chuck it, smiling when it hits him square in the face.

"I'm being serious here, Anthony. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Anthony takes one look at my face and can no doubt see the worry on it. His laughter dies down and a serious look takes over his eyes as he recomposes himself and clears his throat.

"Well, the way I see it, you've got one of two choices. Either tell the girl your feelings-"

"Next." I cut in which gets me a grin from him.

"Or, you can just forget about her. I mean, Alex, do you really think she's going to get with you? She's turned down every guy who's asked her out."

I flinch at the brutal honesty of his statement. Of course, I know he's got a point but even so my thoughts shift to what April and I had talked about on our walk. She'd called me hot and I'd been shocked and ecstatic at the same time.

No one's ever said it before so I've always just seen myself as significantly average. Of course, I doubt there was any special meaning behind it. I'm sure she says it to a lot of guys.

My mood drops at the thought and I can feel a depression setting in. Anthony must be able to sense this because he jumps up from his seat in my desk chair. I jump, startled at his sudden burst of energy.

"Hey, don't get upset. There is plenty of fish in the sea. You'll find yours one day." He said and I sigh hating how my friend not only seems to be no help in this time of need that I've found myself in but also uses one of the oldest lines in the book to try and cheer me up. Despite that, my mood does pick up a notch.

"What if I've already found my one, though?" I muttered and Anthony sighs as he sinks back down to the seat.

"Don't you think you've fallen for this girl a little too quickly? I bet she hasn't even noticed you that way. You're only a stepping stone for her so she doesn't fail the grade."

I flinch at the words and glare at him.

"A bit harsh, don't you think?"

Anthony just shrugs turning part of his attention to his phone. It's clear that he's starting to get bored of this conversation which ticks me off. I toss another one of my pillows at him and he ducks out of way before looking towards me and saying,

"It may be harsh, but it's the truth. Besides, you don't want to get involved with her anyway. She's got a lot of baggage."

My eyebrows shoot up at that and I lean forward, waiting for him to elaborate on just what this 'baggage' is. Anthony stares at me for a long, silent moment waiting to see if I'll really make him recount the tale. He sighs and turns his phone off before turning towards me.

"You remember Braydon, right? He was a year older than us, but he passed away when he became a sophomore."

I nod because I do remember him. April, Victoria, and Trevor always used to hang out with the guy. It was a rarity not to see some form of a combination of the group together.

Now that I'm actually remembering it, I don't think there was I time I ever saw him and April separated outside of classes.

"He was her brother."

"What?" It feels like I just got whiplash from how sudden that bit of information was just dropped on me. Anthony's mood has mellowed down by now and there's a depressed look to his eyes.

"Yeah. His death was really unexpected and it hit April hard. She didn't come to school for a while and, I think the only reason she started showing up again was thanks to Victoria which is why they're so close now."

I look down at my hands and Anthony becomes quiet leaving the both of us to our own thoughts.

Dead. Her brother is dead.

Now that I think back on it, I remember how she used to be more cheerful and less sardonic about things. Her personality and attitude started to change a lot after we became sophomores. That's when people started to hear more about April. She just started acting differently.

I guess I know why now.

A lump forms in my throat and I find it harder and harder to breathe as the second's tick by. Images of her bright and smiling face filter through my thoughts. Those beautiful, large blue eyes filled with laughter and joy. Sun-kissed skin that my fingers itch to run over and the promise of meeting up tomorrow morning. A sigh across the room has me looking up at my friend.

"Just be careful not to get hurt. I really don't feel like spending my summer picking up the pitiful and broken pieces of my best friends heart."

I smile and Anthony returns it, though I can see the pity there in his eyes. He doesn't think I have a shot in hell. My eyes go to the window at the end of my room. The walk April and I had been on earlier comes to mind and I remember how the sun had shone down through the trees.

She'd looked almost otherworldly.

I chuckle at the thought and look back towards my friend as I smile and say,

"I won't."