Smile and Silence
588 Words
Chapter 18: Smile and Silence
Maddy was a sophomore in Pack Psychology, one of the newer and more vibrant additions to campus life. Known for her soft laugh and honey-brown eyes, she carried a grace that was difficult to ignore. She wasn’t flashy or loud, but there was something magnetic about the way she moved and how she listened. Maddy had a way of making people feel like they were the only person in the room.
She had noticed Phillip long before she introduced herself. He was hard to miss. Quiet, tall, and always observing the world with a stillness that drew people in without them realizing it. For weeks, she had seen him across the lecture hall and smiled whenever he looked her way. Sometimes he returned the smile. Sometimes he didn’t notice.
The morning after Misty chose Sutton again, Maddy walked into class early and saw Phillip already there, flipping through his notes.
“Hey,” she said, sliding into the seat beside him. “Rough morning?”
Phillip looked up. The circles under his eyes were darker than usual. “Something like that.”
Maddy offered a sympathetic smile. “I brought muffins. Want one?”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Thanks.”
They sat in companionable silence for a few moments before Maddy leaned toward him. “You’re always here early. Creature of habit?”
“Waiting on someone,” Phillip replied, almost to himself.
Maddy didn’t press. She just nodded, unwrapped a muffin, and passed it to him.
That was when Misty walked into the room.
Her heart skipped at the sight of the empty chair next to her usual seat. It wasn’t just the lack of coffee on the desk. It was the way Phillip was leaning slightly toward Maddy. The way he was smiling. Not politely. But genuinely.
She hesitated in the doorway.
Maddy saw her first. Her expression brightened. “Hey! You’re Misty, right?”
Misty blinked. “Yeah.”
“I’m Maddy. We have Psych together too. I think you sit two rows ahead of me?”
Misty nodded slowly, feeling oddly out of place. “Right.”
“Take this seat,” Maddy said, sliding her bag under her own chair. “I’ll sit here.”
Phillip didn’t say anything.
Misty sat down, smiling politely, but her chest felt tight.
The lecture began, but she barely heard any of it. Her eyes flicked to Phillip every few minutes. He didn’t look her way once. Not even when the professor made a joke that usually would’ve had him smirking.
Was he mad?
She had gone to Sutton again. And she hadn’t told anyone. Not even Phillip.
Maybe he had decided he was done.
Maybe he should be.
After class, Maddy packed up her bag quickly and waved. “Nice sitting near you, Misty. I’ll see you both around.”
“Yeah,” Misty replied, forcing a smile.
Phillip stood slowly, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
She hesitated before speaking. “No coffee today?”
Phillip gave a half-smile. “Didn’t know if you were coming.”
Misty swallowed the lump in her throat. “Sorry.”
He nodded once. “It’s fine.”
Then he walked away.
She watched him go, her stomach knotting with something she couldn’t name.
Was it jealousy?
No.
They were just friends.
She just missed Sutton.
That had to be it.
And maybe, if she went to see him again, she’d feel better.
Maybe this ache in her chest would finally go away.
- Writer
