Her Secret Crush

** Harper **

An image flashed in Harper's mind. A figure of a young man draped in a black and gold graduation gown, smiling at her as she raised her camera. She still remembered the dazzling sunshine that day, the crisp scent of summer breeze drifting in the air as everyone swarmed him with congratulations. That picture she snapped was still sitting at the bottom of her desk drawer, locked away together with the brightest memories of her teenage years.

She shook that image out of her head. Nah, that Eli she grew up with had left for a different city four years ago, and he wasn't an editor. This must just be some other guy with the same name. A funny coincidence.

Then she saw the next message with the phone number. The same number that she had only texted a handful of times in the past four years, but still recognized with a mere glance.

No way. It was really Eli Sterling? Her Eli Sterling?

Harper gawked at her screen, dumbstruck. Eli should be thousands of miles away on the west coast of the country, not here. He should be working his nine-to-five job at a big finance company, not editing amateur web novels. So how could it be him? Why was he back, and when did he become a freelance editor?

Did Chelsea send him a link to the book already? Did he read it?

That last question drowned out all the others as soon as it came into her head. No no no no no. He'd better not have read her book … He'd better not have seen those horrendously written intimate scenes!

Harper jolted from her seat, all worries over her book's future replaced by a new fear. Gosh, this was even more mortifying than seeing those comments from her readers. At least, her readers didn't know who she was in real life. But Eli, the boy on the next block whom she had been friends with since middle school? Whom she had been secretly crushing on throughout her teenage years? No way she'd let him read those chapters knowing she was the one who wrote them! How was she ever going to fix her ruined image in front of him if he did?!

Harper couldn't believe how much of a mess she had just gotten herself into. Forcing a deep breath into her lungs, she replied a quick thanks to Chelsea, then clicked on Eli's number and started a new message.

[ Hey, Chelsea gave me your number. Have a minute? ]

This wasn't how she preferred to get back in touch with someone after years of barely talking, but she could only focus on defusing the book situation first. The catchup chat could wait, as could any discussion of finding a different editor to check her writing.

She hit send, then thought that maybe the message was a bit too abrupt. So she reconsidered the familiarity in her tone and added, [ I guess I haven't mentioned to you that I was writing a— ]

The keyboard disappeared in the middle of her typing, replaced by the display of an incoming call. That photo from Eli's graduation — the profile picture she had saved for him — smiled back at her.

Harper sucked in another deep breath. She wasn't suggesting a direct call by asking if he had a minute! How was she supposed to go about such an awkward conversation without hiding behind emotionless texts?

But as she stared at Eli's picture, her finger started moving on its own, swiping away the lock screen. Without her realizing it, the call was answered.

… Damn her dazed subconsciousness, she cursed silently. But she had no other choice now. Clearing her throat, she tried her best to level her tone.

"H-Hi," she managed.

"Wow, it really is you." The voice she hadn't heard in years sounded against her ear. "I was wondering how many Harper McKenzies there could be in Davenshire."

Harper's fingers tightened over her phone. She didn't realize till then that she still remembered every bit of the timbre of his voice. She could even tell that he sounded a little different through this speaker, lighter and airier, without the resonating depth that she liked. But it was him all the same, full of friendliness and warmth even after years of them drifting apart.

A tinge of nostalgia rose in her, easing her awkwardness a little. "Yep, it's me. Small world." She smiled.

"Glad to hear you liked the city enough to stay after graduation. So you ended up working at Miracles?"

Hmm? How did he know the name of her company? "I did. Chelsea told you that?"

"Nope, you told me that. Last year when I texted you on your birthday, you were at a party with your internship coworkers. You said you liked the company enough that you wanted to go back for a full-time job."

Ah, now that he mentioned it, she did recall talking about it casually at some point. She must've been too drunk on her birthday to have almost forgotten about it though, and it surprised her that Eli had remembered such a trivial conversation.

"And from the look of it," he added, "things must be going smoothly there for you to have the time to write web novels after work."

… Time for the topic she dreaded. "Y-Yes, I suppose you could say that," she stammered. "I'm just doing it for fun though. That web novel … Um, did Chelsea send you a link to it by any chance?"

She didn't, Harper prayed.

"Of course she did," Eli replied merrily. "I spent a whole weekend binge reading it, and I've been following your updates every day since then. Don't worry, I'm all caught up to the last word."