They're sitting at the shoe shine stand, and Andy's talking about Mouserat again, and April's just watching him, glad to be there, when Ann and Mark walk past arm in arm. Andy turns to her with an intensity in his eyes she's never seen before on him.
"April." He says seriously, and she shifts a little to look him in the eye. "If you had to choose between me and Mark. Who would you pick?"
April rolls her eyes but inside she sort of panics. They've not been friends for very long, but ever since they hung out that day when everyone else was gone camping, she's started to feel a certain something for him. It's like a warm, squishy feeling in the pit of her stomach which she would normally consider gross but has since begun to grow on her. She wouldn't call it a crush, not exactly, but...
She shakes her head, answers: "You, I guess. Mark's all old and gross. You're kind of young, at least." She hopes it came out flat and uninterested, because inside that feeling is starting up again and she doesn't want to look him in the eye.
Andy grins at her and leans back in his chair. "Yeah, thought so. Mark is just... So boring. I don't know what Ann sees in him."
"Yeah." April agrees absentmindedly. She busies herself on her phone and the pair lapse into companionable silence. She sneaks a glance at him. He's staring down the corridor where Ann and Mark were a minute ago, seemingly lost in thought. She allows herself a moment to stare at him, trying to see why he makes her feel this way.
She can't tell how long it's been until he catches her. He flashes her a weird grin, one eyebrow raised and everything, and she manages a half smile back. She can't help it. His grin softens, becomes more sincere, and April has to quickly turn away again because dammit, she's getting that stupid feeling again. It's not a crush, she tells herself. I do not have a crush on Andy Dwyer. She repeats it like a mantra:
I do not have a crush on Andy.
I do not have a crush on Andy.
I do not have a crush on Andy.
I do not have a crush on Andy.
But when she composes herself enough to actually look at him again, and he's leaning back in his chair with a dumb smile on his face, she admits it.
I have a little bit of a crush on Andy.