Chapter Three--- The Voice in the Hallway
697 Words
The bell rings, but I don't move.
Students spill out of Pre-Calc like water rushing through a broken dam. Backpacks thump,
sneakers squeak, someone complains loudly about homework already---but it all sounds
distant, muffled, like I'm underwater.
Because I'm still hearing it.
That voice.
Warm. Familiar. A ghost I thought I'd buried.
I sit frozen at my desk long after the room empties. My hands feel too cold. My heart feels
too loud. I don't trust my legs to stand, so I just breathe. In. Out.
Or try to.
Maybe I imagined it.
Maybe I'm tired.
Maybe the universe is playing tricks on me again---
"Mia?"
My name hits me like a physical shove.
Not imagined.
Not distant.
Right behind me.
Slowly--so slowly I swear time holds its breath---I turn.
And there he is.
Luca Rivera.
Older now. Taller. A little broader across the shoulders. Dark curls slightly damp like he'd
rushed through the rain that hadn't even started yet. He leans in the doorway of my
classroom like he's been there a thousand times.
Like he never left.
The world tilts.
"Hey," he says, and the world is gentle, unsure, almost nervous. Luca never used to sound
nervous. "It's... really you."
I can't breathe.
I can't even pretend to breathe.
He steps inside, letting the door fall softly shut behind him. The sound echoes in the
empty room.
"I wasn't sure you'd still be here," he says. "But then I saw your name on the attendance
list, and..." He shurgs, something tight flickering in his eyes. "I hoped."
Hoped.
My throat aches.
"You're back," I manage. My voice is small. Strange. Not mine.
"Yeah." He runs a hand through his curls, glancing away for a second before looking back
at me. "Came home two nights ago. I was going to find you earlier but---" he pauses. "I
didn't want to freak you out."
Too late.
My pulse is everywhere---neck, wrists, fingertips. I grip my notebook harder, like it's the
only thing keeping me from floating away.
"Why?" I whisper.
He blinks. "Why what?"
He exhales, slow, heavy. "My mom... wanted to move back. Things weren't great in the city.
She needed a rest. I---" His voice drops. "I needed one to."
He says it like an apology.
Like he knows what he left behind.
Like he can feel the empty space he carved out of me.
Silence stretches between us--thick, fragile, full of things we never said.
Luca takes a step closer.
"You look different," he says softly. "Older. Not in a bad way--just... older."
I want to tell him he looks different too. That he looks like someone who belongs
somewhere I'm not invited. That he looks like the version of him I dreamed about and
tried to forget.
Instead, I say nothing.
He shifts his weight. "Mia... can we talk?"
Talk.
Talk about what?
Why he left?
Why he didn't say goodbye?
Why I felt apart afterward?
The questions pile up so fast they choke me.
"I have class," I blurt, even though I don't. I stand too quickly and nearly drop my
notebook. "I---I need to go."
Luca reaches out instinctively, like he used to when I tripped jumping out of trees or off
rooftops.
I flinch.
His hand freezes mid-air.
He pulls it back slowly. "Right. Sorry."
I push past him, keeping my eyes glued to the flor because if I look at him---really look---I
might drown.
"Mia," he says again, footsteps behind me. "Please. Just... wait."
I don't.
I can't.
I step into the hallway, swallowed instantly by noise, motion, people. But even surrounded
by a crowd, I feel exposed.
Like every memory I tucked away is suddenly walking beside me.
Like the ground beneath me isn't solid anymore.
Behind me, Luca calls my name one more time---
"Mia!"
I stiffen.
But I don't turn around.
Not yet.
Not when my heart feels like it's waking up and breaking at the same time.
I keep walking, fast, because it's the only thing I know how to do.
But the truth follows me down the hallway like a shaodw:
Luca Rivera is back.
And nothing in my life is staying quiet anymore.
- Writer
