April.

Last night, before he hung up, Trevor had called me April.

Not Ape.

A smile bloomed on my face each time I remembered that.

How could one so simple thing lift up my spirit? How can it make me all giddy and cause me to walk around “goofy-faced” as my friend Cassie put it?

“You are doing it again,” Caitlin said as she shook me by the shoulders.

“Uh? What?”

It was like coming out of a trance: a moment ago Trevor’s smirking face was before me and now all I saw was Caitlin’s frown.

“Spacing off with that dreamy expression,” she explained. “Want to tell me who he is?”

“I-I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I muttered and looked down at my study book.

“Yeah, as if I’m buying that!” She leaned closer to me and whispered: “You know you can tell me, April; I won’t judge even if you chose the biggest nerd in school.”

“He’s not a nerd,” I replied, falling in her trap.

“Aha!” She shouted victoriously, making everyone in the classroom turn towards us. “So there’s a…”

“Caitlin!” Or teacher raised her voice. “If you two can’t keep it quiet and work on the assignment I gave you, I’ll have to separate you.”

“Sorry,” said my friend and Biology partner. She even went as far as to appear ashamed which I knew she wasn’t. Once our teacher took her gaze of us, Caitlin went on in a low voice: “Aha! So there’s a certain someone!”

I sighed.

“No one new.”

That answer was enough to get rid of her victorious face and replace it with sympathy.

“So you’re still crushing over Trevor,” she uttered more as a statement than a question.

“It’s worse,” I admitted. “I realized yesterday that it’s more than just a crush.”

I went on to brief her on what had happened between us.

“How did he get your number?” She asked once I was done with my narrative.

“I have no idea.”

“And you said he offered to take you somewhere?” She continued with her inquiries.

“Yes, but it’s to study so don’t make a big deal out of it!” She continued to stare at me while chewing on her lip thoughtfully. “Caitlin, please! Don’t make a big deal out of it and don’t tell anyone about this except for Cassie and Brian.”

“Okay,” she nodded, “but in my experience when a boy keeps finding reasons to talk to you, he wants something. The only question is what that something might be.”

Two hours later, Caitlin’s remark was still occupying my mind to such extent that I felt no joy in Trevor giving me a ride after school for a second day in a row. I also paid no attention to where he was taking me.

“We are here,” he announced then let out a chuckle when he saw my dumbfounded face; we had parked in his driveway.

“I thought you were showing me somewhere great to study,” I remarked confused.

“And this is it!” He pointed at his house. “My parents are working late and you won’t have to worry about Maggie or your own mom and dad walking in on us.”

“Walking in on us?” I snorted. “The way you said it makes it sound as if we’ll be doing something else than studying.”

“Well, we’ll see how the day will unfold,” he said then grimaced. “Sorry! It was kind of a reflex response.”

“Your reflex response is to be suggestive whenever you are alone with a girl?” I questioned, clenching my fists at the thought of how many girls I knew he’d had.

“Usually,” he uttered in the same apologetic inflection. “I try not to do it with you because…”

“Because…?” I inquired when he made a pause.

“You’re just not that kind of girl,” he replied with a smile I’d never seen before. He seemed almost shy the way he spoke softly and a bit nervously.

I looked down, pretending to be busy with unbuckling my seatbelt; I didn’t want him to see me blushing.

We walked into his house and he gave me a brief tour through it.

“And this,” he opened one of the doors on the second floor, “is my room.”

I laughed.

“What?”

“It’s just as I imagined it,” I replied, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. It was a typical boy’s room with some clothes scattered on the floor, a football lying on the bed and posters with semi-naked girls taped to the walls. I wondered if I’d find some Playboy magazines under his mattress.

“Maybe I should’ve cleaned up a bit,” he murmured, pushing the clothes underneath the bed with his foot. The ball followed them. “So… Any particular reasons why you’ve imagined my room?”

Oh-oh!

“Poor choice of words,” I attempted to correct myself. “What I meant to say is that this room is very… you.”

“So you think you know me, Ape?” He questioned, taking a step in my direction. I shook my head. “Do you think you’d like to get to know me?”

I flushed red again.

Why did he have to ask me such questions and top them off with that sexy smirk of his?

“What I’d like to do,” I started, trying to sound carefree, “is finish our assignments.”

“Okay,” he nodded. “Let’s do that!”