'Chasing Life' Recap: 'First Person'

On this week’s episode of Chasing Life, April decides to move forward with her book, Dominic accompanies April to the opening of Leo’s charity camp for sick children, and the search for Natalie continues.

April, Brenna, and Sara discuss George’s revelation from the previous night. They also speculate on Natalie’s whereabouts. When Beth shows up, she also joins the conversation. Sara seems the most concerned; she doesn’t want Natalie spilling their secrets to the wrong people.

Cue opening theme.

Dominic’s house was battered by the storm. April feels bad about what happened and encourages him to try to salvage the place, even though the damage is pretty extensive. Dominic asks how April is coping with her grief and she updates him on her book. She’s been writing again and reaching out to publishing companies. She also has a meeting with a literary agent. Dominic is happy for her.

Later, Ruthie comes to visit. She informs April that Leo’s camp for sick children will be having its grand opening ceremony that week and she wanted to invite April. She hopes that April will come and participate in the ribbon cutting festivities as well as say a few words on Leo’s behalf.

April and Sara go to a support group meeting, where a fellow member shares his fears about life and loss. April also shares what’s her on mind, though her feelings are radically different.

Brenna asks Finn to catch her up on Hamlet and finds her family situation eerily similar to the plot of the play. Later, Sydney asks Brenna to buy a raffle ticket for a fundraiser she’s organizing for Finn and Brenna is a little annoyed by Sydney’s sudden interest in him.

Sara and her daughters exchange conversation over dinner. Sara is still worried about Natalie. April says George’s revelation was hard on her, too. Brenna, on the other hand, refuses to let George’s issues affect her and remains adamant about studying at Berkeley despite her mother’s objections. When Brenna retreats to her room, Sara wonders if Brenna will come around. April thinks it’s better to keep people at a distance, which puts Sara even further on edge.

April stops by Beth’s and Josh is there. Beth saw a write-up of her boss’ show and is thrilled that a design she created received positive attention. When Beth mentions an upcoming meeting her boss has scheduled, April and Josh think Beth is on her way to becoming a successful designer. They’re both happy for her.

April meets with a literary agent and they go over plans for her book. The literary agent has some suggestions for how to improve her manuscript, namely encouraging her to get more personal. April doesn’t seem to love the idea. She becomes that much more turned off when she finds out that her meeting partner is still an assistant and will make literary agent when he pitches the perfect manuscript to his bosses.

Following the meeting, April expresses her doubts to Dominic, but he doesn’t think she should give up so quickly. Enter Danny, who’s been hanging out with Dominic and invites April to trivia night at The Charles. April has to decline due to the Camp Hendrie opening, which causes Dominic to ask if he can tag along. He wants to make a reporting gig out of it, since he’s been feeling uninspired lately.

April and Dominic attend the Camp Hendrie opening and April has a difficult time letting her true emotions show in front of everyone.

Meanwhile, Beth’s boss, Jacqueline is miffed that Beth’s design overshadowed the rest of her collection. Still, she’s happy that her collection is gaining even a little bit of press buzz. Because of this, she decides to promote Beth to junior designer. Beth reluctantly accepts the position.

Sara tries to smooth things over with Brenna, though Brenna doesn’t seem that receptive to what her mother is saying. She’s insistent about attending Berkeley and staying with her Uncle George in California during the summer. Later, Sara gets mad when Brenna blames her for her father’s misdeeds.

Back at Camp Hendrie, April unexpectedly bonds with a young camper that recognizes her as Leo’s wife and she finds herself opening up to him.

Back at Beth’s apartment, Beth and Josh talk about Beth’s meeting with Jacqueline. Josh doesn’t want to see Beth get taken advantage of and confesses he can see a real future with her. Beth is delighted. Josh helps her revise the paperwork that accompanies her new job from Jacqueline.

Following her unexpected meeting with the young camper, April finds Dominic and is visibly feeling better. Dominic notices immediately and he and April trade thoughts on life. April suggests that Dominic try singing a song at the campfire show to help drag him out of his rut and winds up getting more than she bargained for when she seems to realize he’s making eyes at her.

At school, Brenna freaks out on Sydney for using Finn as her “charity case.” Sydney accuses Brenna of being jealous and a fight erupts between the pair.

Meanwhile, Sara reaches out to Natalie with little luck.

Beth and Josh’s intimate moment at home is ruined by an unnerved Jacqueline. She’s upset at the changes Beth made to her contract. She does compromise, though that’s short lived when she starts treating Beth like an assistant again. Josh encourages Beth to quit, so she does and she’s happier afterwards.

April returns to the quasi-literary agent’s office with a new chapter utilizing his suggestions. He’s impressed by her writing and asks her if she can have two additional chapters done by Monday.

April tries to talk some sense into Brenna after her incident with Sydney gets her suspended, but Brenna is unwilling to budge at first. Eventually, she opens up to April—and their mom—and admits she’s hurting.

Dominic talks to Danny about the Camp Hendrie fundraiser and how it’s left him feeling inspired. Danny asks if Dominic is going to patch up his house, but the conversation quickly becomes about more when he realizes that Dominic is still in love with April.

Finn visits Brenna following her suspension to bring her her homework and she finally admits she has feelings for him.

Beth gets in touch with Natalie and lets April talk to her. She’s back home in Florida, because she wanted a break from all the Carver family drama. She promises to come back if April’s clinical trial works. With Natalie gone, Beth is in need of a new roommate, so she asks April to move in. April loves the idea of living with her best friend.

Meanwhile, back in Florida, Natalie talks things over with her mom and lets slip about her father’s manuscript that George destroyed. Her mother says she’s got another copy back at the house.

End of episode.

Image Credit: Walter McBride/INFphoto.com

Chasing Life airs every Monday at 9 p.m. on ABC Family.