Noah
688 Words
Three days.
That was how long Noah had been gone.
To everyone else, it was only a few absences from school. Teachers continued their lessons, students laughed in the hallways, and life moved on as if nothing had changed.
But for Luna, the days felt unusually quiet.
She never admitted it aloud.
She never told Mia that she found herself looking toward the classroom door every morning. She never confessed that lunch breaks no longer felt the same without someone waiting on the rooftop. Even at home, she caught herself unfolding Noah's handwritten notes before going to sleep, reading them over and over until the words had become etched into her memory.
"Some days are heavier than others. Keep going."
"Sometimes people disappear for a little while, but that doesn't mean they've forgotten you."
Simple words.
Yet they had become the only thing that made the silence in her room feel a little less lonely.
Monday morning arrived with a cool breeze drifting through the open classroom windows.
Luna was halfway through copying notes from the board when she heard the classroom door slide open.
"I'm sorry I'm late."
The voice was familiar.
Her heart skipped.
She looked up.
Noah stood at the entrance, his school bag slung over one shoulder. His hair was messier than usual, and although he wore his usual smile, there was something different about him.
His face looked pale.
There were faint dark circles beneath his eyes, as if he hadn't slept properly for days.
The teacher nodded. "Feeling better?"
"Much better, thank you."
He walked to his seat, and as he passed Luna's desk, he gave her a small smile.
It lasted only a second.
Still...
It was enough to make the tightness in her chest disappear.
She hadn't realized how much she had missed seeing that smile.
Lunch break couldn't come fast enough.
Luna tried to focus during class, but every time she glanced at Noah, she noticed him quietly rubbing his temple or coughing into his sleeve.
He wasn't completely well.
When the lunch bell finally rang, she made her way to the rooftop.
This time, someone was already there.
Noah leaned against the fence, watching the clouds drift across the sky.
"You came," he said without turning around.
Luna walked closer.
"You too."
He laughed softly.
"I guess we're both creatures of habit."
For a few moments, neither of them spoke.
The silence between them had become something comforting rather than awkward.
Finally, Luna broke it.
"...Were you really just sick?"
Noah looked down at the ground before answering.
"Yeah."
His reply came too quickly.
Too simply.
She studied his face.
He wasn't looking at her.
Instead, his fingers tightened around the railing.
She remembered something her grandmother used to say.
"People who avoid your eyes are usually hiding something—or protecting someone."
Luna didn't press further.
If Noah wasn't ready to tell her the truth, forcing him wouldn't help.
Instead, she reached into her school bag.
"I brought this."
She held out a small paper bag.
Inside were two warm melon buns from the bakery they had visited together.
Noah blinked in surprise.
"You bought these?"
She nodded.
"You always bought two."
A smile slowly spread across his face.
"So... this is your way of saying you missed me?"
Luna's cheeks flushed.
"I never said that."
"You didn't have to."
He accepted the bread carefully, almost as if it were something precious.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
Those two words carried more sincerity than she expected.
As they ate together, the wind swept gently across the rooftop, carrying the scent of fresh rain.
For the first time since they met, Luna realized something.
Noah always tried to make other people smile.
He listened.
He comforted.
He noticed the sadness others tried to hide.
But no one ever asked how he was doing.
She looked at him again.
Behind his smile...
She caught a glimpse of something painfully familiar.
A loneliness that looked just like her own.
And for the first time, Luna wondered if perhaps she wasn't the only one carrying a heart that was quietly breaking.
- Writer
