If We Were Us

by K.L. Walther

“Find his Insta,” Reese said. That was her answer to everything. Instagram.

“Gatsby’s house.”

these are the type of references I appreciate

“Ah, I see,” Luke said. “Rapunzel is indeed a princess, but”—he looked up from his phone and caught my eye—“she is not Prince Charming’s love interest.”

It’s official, I thought. Nina Davies likes Luke Morrissey. But Luke was keeping his hands to himself, ignoring Nina’s silent invitation for him to rest them on her legs. Instead, his arms were folded across his chest. To me, the message was clear: He wasn’t interested. And deep down, I had a feeling that even if they became super close and Nina’s flirting continued, Luke still wouldn’t be interested.

“How do I look?” he asked after. “Legit,” I said, a lesser-known synonym for super cute.

“Wait, you were born at 8:15 on 8/15?” “Yup.” “Creepy.” “Or a moment of perfect symmetry?”

“I mean, it’d be much more fun if Nina were Shawn Mendes, but…” He smoothly trailed off, and my heart began running faster than we were. Much more fun if Nina were Shawn Mendes. Holy crap, I thought. He did it, just like that. And by way of a response, Charlie slowed a little. “Uh, Shawn Mendes?” “Yeah, Shawn Mendes,” Luke said drily. “Ever heard of him?” Charlie bristled. We ran in silence for a stretch. “Well, sorry, Luke,” I said. “But if anyone snags Shawn, it’s me.

I’ve known it for a while now. More than anything, I want to marry you someday. I want us to play street hockey with our kids in the driveway and teach them to bike mountain trails. I want to be that old couple who wins every bocce ball match at our Florida condo complex. And that’s why I can’t be your girlfriend right now. We’re too young for it all to begin.

“No, he wasn’t,” Charlie said. “And that’s the best part.” He sighed. “Luke loves me, but he’s not hypnotized by me.” His eyes were crinkling in the streetlight’s glow. “You know what I mean?”

But there’s this person, I shut my eyes. There’s this person I love with everything I’ve got. And right now he’s asleep in my bed, because my voice is the last thing he wants to hear before going to sleep, and my favorite thing on earth is waking up to see him smiling at me.

If Charlie is really going to accept himself, and be himself, it needs to be now, among all the people who love him.”

Your endless support and eye rolls mean more to me than I can say, and I consider myself so lucky to know you.” When he moved on to the address’s final remarks, I felt eyes…lots of eyes, but I knew they weren’t focused on me. “Did you hear that?” I asked Luke. “Yes.” He nodded, unable to suppress a smile as he folded his arms over his chest. “And it was not in the original version.”