The Boy Who Never Smiled
1021 Words
The bell rang three times.
Students shuffled into English Literature with the usual Monday morning energy or lack of it.
Emma collapsed dramatically into her seat.
“If Mrs. Bennett gives us another essay today, I’m transferring schools.”
Ava laughed.
“It’s the second week.”
“Exactly. I’m already exhausted.”
Mrs. Bennett walked into the classroom carrying a stack of folders.
Her smile immediately made everyone suspicious.
“I have wonderful news.”
Groans filled the room.
“I’ve decided your semester grade will be based on one project.”
A few students cheered.
“…with a partner.”
The cheering stopped.
Mrs. Bennett looked down at her clipboard.
“I’ve already chosen everyone’s partners.”
Emma whispered, “Please don’t separate us.”
Mrs. Bennett began reading names.
“Emma Brooks… Daniel Cooper.”
Emma gasped.
“No!”
The class laughed.
Mrs. Bennett continued.
“Ava Carter…”
Ava barely listened.
“…Noah Hayes.”
Silence.
Emma’s eyes became impossibly wide.
“Oh my God.”
Ava blinked.
“What?”
“You got the mysterious transfer student.”
“I heard.”
“No, you don’t understand.”
Emma leaned closer.
“This is fate.”
Ava rolled her eyes.
“It’s a book report.”
“It’s a love story waiting to happen.”
“It absolutely is not.”
Mrs. Bennett clapped her hands.
“You’ll have ten minutes today to discuss your project before class ends.”
Ava’s stomach tightened.
She looked across the room.
Noah hadn’t reacted at all.
He simply closed his notebook and stood when Mrs. Bennett dismissed them into pairs.
He walked toward her table.
Calm.
Quiet.
Unreadable.
He stopped beside her desk.
“I’m Noah.”
His voice was just as soft as she remembered.
“I’m Ava.”
“I know.”
She blinked.
“You… know?”
He nodded slightly.
“Attendance.”
“Oh.”
Great.
She’d already embarrassed herself.
An awkward silence settled between them.
“So…”
Ava cleared her throat.
“I guess we’re partners.”
“I guess we are.”
Another silence.
Emma watched from across the room, trying very hard not to laugh.
Ava ignored her.
Mrs. Bennett handed each pair a sheet.
“You’ll be analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird. Presentation is due in six weeks.”
Noah looked down at the paper.
“I’ve read it.”
“Me too.”
“We should divide the chapters.”
“That makes sense.”
“Then compare our notes.”
“Okay.”
“…”
“…”
Ava wanted to disappear.
Finally she laughed nervously.
“We’re really good at conversations.”
For the first time…
The corner of Noah’s mouth twitched.
Almost a smile.
“Not really.”
“I noticed.”
His shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.
Maybe…
Just maybe…
Talking to him wasn’t impossible.
⸻
The bell ended class.
Students poured into the hallway.
“Wait.”
Noah turned.
“You forgot this.”
Ava held up the notebook he’d left behind.
“Oh.”
He reached for it.
Their fingers brushed.
Only for a second.
Ava noticed it immediately.
Dark purple bruises circled his wrist.
Like fingerprints.
Her smile faded.
“Your wrist…”
Noah froze.
Without a word, he pulled his hoodie sleeve down until it covered every mark.
“It’s nothing.”
It doesn’t look like…
“It’s nothing.”
His voice wasn’t angry.
It was final.
He took the notebook.
“See you tomorrow.”
Then he disappeared into the crowd.
Ava stood there staring after him.
Emma appeared beside her seconds later.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Emma crossed her arms.
“Ava.”
She sighed.
“I think something’s wrong.”
“With him?”
She nodded slowly.
“I saw bruises.”
Emma’s smile disappeared.
“Oh.”
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
⸻
School ended beneath cloudy skies.
A cool breeze swept through the parking lot.
Ava walked toward the bike rack while texting Emma.
Emma: Don’t forget to actually text your project partner.
Ava: I don’t even have his number.
Emma: Tragic.
Ava laughed quietly.
Then…
A voice echoed across the nearly empty parking lot.
“I said get in the car.”
A man’s voice.
Sharp.
Angry.
Ava looked toward the far end of the lot.
A black pickup truck sat beneath an old oak tree.
Noah stood beside it.
Facing an older man.
His father.
“I have homework.”
“You’ll do it at home.”
“I’m staying for tutoring.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
Even from a distance…
The tension felt heavy.
Noah clenched his jaw.
“You promised.”
“I don’t care what I promised.”
His father stepped closer.
“You think you’re grown now?”
“No.”
“Then stop acting like it.”
Ava couldn’t hear every word anymore.
Cars drove between them.
Students walked past.
But she saw enough.
Noah never raised his voice.
His father did enough shouting for both of them.
Suddenly
His father’s hand shot forward.
Grabbing Noah’s wrist.
The same wrist.
Noah winced.
Ava’s breath caught.
The bruises.
That’s where they’d come from.
Without thinking…
She took one step closer.
Then another.
She should leave.
She knew she should.
But something wouldn’t let her.
Noah pulled his arm free.
“I’m going home.”
“You’ll do what I tell you.”
“I said I’m going home.”
The words weren’t loud.
But they were firm.
For a brief second…
Noah turned.
His eyes searched the parking lot.
Until…
They landed on Ava.
Everything stopped.
She froze.
He froze.
Neither of them moved.
Neither looked away.
Then realization filled Noah’s face.
He knew.
He knew she’d seen everything.
Without another word, he opened the truck door and climbed inside.
The truck pulled away.
Leaving Ava standing alone beneath the gray afternoon sky.
Her heart pounded inside her chest.
She didn’t know what she’d just witnessed.
She only knew one thing.
The boy who never smiled…
Was hiding far more than silence.
- Writer
