(Inspired by a story written by Calvin Zhu, winner of “The
Writes of Spring Writing Contest,” Campbell
Chronicles, June 2011.)
“I love you,” I said, rehearsing a confession of my
love for April. I let out a deep sigh and fell backward on my bed. I picked up
a picture of my first-grade class and stared at it. I was mesmerized by the
tiny faces and the story that this picture held. Eight long years had passed,
but I still remember the day the photo was taken. April had just moved to my
school and was very shy. When it was time to take the picture, she had remained
seated and refused to get up, claiming she didn’t belong in the picture because
she had no friends in the class. After a while, the cameraman started yelling,
which made her cry. Eventually the entire class got upset about losing their
game time and began yelling at each other, and our teacher was frantically
running around the room trying to calm everyone down.
I decided to live up to my nickname, “April
Fool,” and boldly stepped toward April. I tried making her laugh, but she
ignored me. I tried everything I could to cheer her up, but nothing worked. She
was rooted to her seat.
In the end, the only thing that worked was
when I extended my hand and said, “Come on, let’s go. You shouldn’t make
friends wait.”
At first she was very hesitant, but before
long she was in place, and the picture was finally taken.
I set the picture down and slowly drifted
to sleep. Tomorrow was another April Fool’s Day and I definitely needed sleep.
“Hey, April Fool, what’re you going to do
this year?” Doug asked as I arrived at school.
“Nothing, “I said with a smile. “I’m done
being a fool.”
“Hey, man, you can’t just give it up. You’re
the master!” Doug looked concerned. “Just last year, you put ‘Out of Order’
signs on every bathroom in the school! How can you just give it up?”
“It’s because I’m not an April Fool anymore,”
I said as I walked away. I stepped into my class and gazed at the clock. I
watched as the hands spun around and around until the day was over.
Later, I saw April out in the school yard
and decided it was show time. I walked over to her and could feel my heart
race. “April, I think I’ve fallen for you,” I started, staring at her shocked
expression. “You’re just too perfect. No boy can resist eyes that shine
brighter than every star in the night sky. Nor can they stop themselves from
staring at such an unrivalled beauty.”
April’s face turned red, and there was
nothing but silence between us. Eventually, she managed to ask, “Are you
feeling okay?”
“I’m fine, but I’m …” I stopped.
“You’re what?” She looked me straight in
the eye and was expecting an honest answer.
“I’m moving,” I blurted. “I’m telling you
all this because I won’t have a chance to in the future, but I want to leave
without any regrets, so I’m going to ask you—”
“Anything, just name it,” she said, even
before I could finish talking.
“Can I … kiss you?” A gentle breeze
blew by, and along with it came more silence.
“Yes,” she eventually said as she gave me a
quick kiss.
I put my arms around her and knew it was
enough. “April Fools,” I whispered into her ear.
Unfortunately, she didn’t take it as well
as I thought. She stomped off angrily, and that was the last time I spoke to
April.
The days tumbled into weeks, weeks rolled
into months, and eventually, my family really had decided to move. Coincidentally
enough, we were moving on April Fool’s Day the following year. All my friends
came to a party my family threw, and to my surprise April came too, but she was
quiet and didn’t speak much.
As my family was about to take a group
picture, I noticed April was still seated. I knew this time I didn’t have to be
a fool.
I walked over to her, extended my hand and
said, “Come on, let’s go. You shouldn’t make friends wait.”
She was hesitant at first, but she eventually
took my hand, gave me a hug and said, “You really are a fool, aren’t you?”
copyright - Anne Shier, 2013, all rights reserved, published by Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
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