Behind Locked Hearts
1310 Words
EPISODE FOUR
The rain had settled over Redwood University long before noon, turning the brick walkways into ribbons of dark red that reflected the gray sky above. Students hurried between buildings with hoods pulled over their heads and coffee cups clutched like lifelines against the cold.
Inside the Student Volunteer Center, warmth replaced the chill outside.
The room buzzed with conversation.
Foldable chairs scraped against the polished floor.
A volunteer struggled with the projector while someone else searched for an extension cord.
Near the front of the room, Jael Morgan arranged a stack of folders into perfect rows.
She adjusted one.
Then another.
Then sighed quietly and aligned the corners again.
"You know they're going to ruin that in about thirty seconds."
Chloe's amused voice drifted over her shoulder.
Jael didn't look up.
"I know."
"So why keep fixing them?"
"Because right now they're right."
Chloe laughed.
"You are the only person I know who finds happiness in straight paper."
Jael finally looked at her.
"I find happiness in things making sense."
"That's a very English-major answer."
"It's the correct one."
"You say that about everything."
"Because I'm usually right."
"You've spent too much time with your father."
"And you've spent too much time avoiding your lectures."
"I attend them."
"Physically."
"That counts."
Jael smiled despite herself.
Moments like these grounded her.
The world always felt louder than she preferred.
Chloe had a way of making the noise feel lighter.
The door swung open.
Conversation dipped almost instantly.
The hockey team had arrived.
They entered in clusters, joking with one another, damp from the rain.
Liam Brooks shook water from his jacket dramatically.
"If anyone asks," he announced, "I nearly drowned walking here."
"You crossed one parking lot," Mason said.
"It was a dangerous parking lot."
Coach Reynolds stepped in behind them.
"You'll survive."
"No promises, Coach."
Laughter rolled through the room.
Noah Carter entered last.
He held the door open for two volunteers carrying boxes before stepping inside himself.
Nobody seemed to notice.
Jael did.
Only because she'd been looking toward the entrance.
Not because she had been looking for him.
She quickly looked back down at the folders.
"Go," Chloe whispered, nudging her.
"You're in charge of handing those out."
Jael nodded.
She picked up the stack and walked toward the first row.
"Morning."
A volunteer accepted theirs with a smile.
"Thank you."
She continued down the aisle.
When she reached Noah, he looked up.
For a brief moment, the room seemed quieter.
Not silent.
Just... distant.
He accepted the folder.
"Our fearless coordinator."
Jael raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think anyone's called me fearless."
"They should."
"You've met me for exactly four seconds."
"So?"
"So your sample size is extremely limited."
He laughed softly.
"Fair point."
She offered the smallest hint of a smile.
"I'm Jael."
"I know."
"My name tag?"
He nodded.
"It saved me from introducing myself twice."
She couldn't help it.
A laugh escaped before she caught it.
It wasn't loud.
Just genuine.
Noah noticed.
He'd heard crowds chant his name.
He'd heard reporters praise him.
For some reason...
That quiet laugh mattered more.
Before he could think of something else to say, Jael had already moved to the next volunteer.
He watched her for a second longer than necessary.
"Captain."
Liam nudged him.
"I think she escaped."
Noah looked away.
"I noticed."
---
Professor Ethan Morgan stepped to the front of the room, carrying nothing more than a notebook and a warm smile.
"Thank you all for volunteering."
His voice wasn't commanding.
It didn't need to be.
People naturally listened.
"When I was eight years old," he began, "a university student visited my primary school."
The room quieted.
"She read us a story about a bear who was afraid of winter."
A few people smiled.
"I don't remember her name."
"I don't remember what she looked like."
"But I remember the way she made every child in that room believe books were places you could live."
His eyes moved around the room.
"You may only spend an hour with these children."
"But don't underestimate what an hour can become."
Jael watched her father with quiet admiration.
He had a gift.
Not for speaking.
For making people feel like what they were doing mattered.
Even Noah found himself listening more carefully than he'd expected.
---
The meeting ended almost an hour later.
Students drifted toward the exits.
Someone stacked chairs.
Others gathered leftover pastries into paper bags.
Jael crouched beside three heavy boxes filled with children's books.
She wrapped both hands beneath the first one.
It barely lifted.
"You know..."
A familiar voice came from beside her.
"You don't have to prove you can carry the whole library."
She looked up.
Noah stood there with his sleeves rolled to his forearms, revealing faded bruises and the pale outline of old hockey tape marks around his wrists.
"I wasn't proving anything."
"No?"
"I underestimated children's literature."
He smiled.
"That's happened to better people."
She studied him for a second.
Then stepped aside.
"If you're offering..."
"I am."
Together they lifted the boxes.
The hallway stretched ahead of them in comfortable silence.
Noah glanced toward her.
"So..."
"So?"
"I've been wondering something."
She looked over.
"What?"
"Why weren't you impressed?"
She blinked.
"Should I have been?"
"I don't know."
"You're the one asking."
He laughed.
"Most people talk to me because I'm the hockey captain."
Jael adjusted her grip on the box.
"My grandmother always says reputations are introductions."
He waited.
"They're not biographies."
Those four words landed somewhere deep inside him.
No one had ever separated his name from who he was.
Not until now.
---
They reached Professor Morgan's office.
Jael nudged the door open with her shoulder.
"Right here."
They placed the boxes on the floor.
She dusted her hands together.
"Thank you."
"It wasn't exactly heroic."
"It was still kind."
Kind.
The word caught him off guard.
He wasn't sure the last time anyone had described him that way.
"I'm Noah."
"I know."
He pointed toward her name tag.
"I had help."
She smiled again.
This time it stayed a little longer.
For reasons neither of them understood...
Neither one was in a hurry to leave.
Until Professor Morgan stepped into the hallway.
"There you two are."
Jael turned.
"We've finished."
"I can see that."
Professor Morgan smiled politely at Noah.
"Thank you for helping my daughter."
"No problem, Professor."
As Noah walked away, Professor Morgan watched him disappear around the corner before looking at Jael.
"He seems polite."
"He carried books."
"That's not what I asked."
Jael frowned.
"I don't know him."
"Fair enough."
She picked up her notebook.
"I'll see you at dinner?"
"I wouldn't miss it."
She disappeared down the opposite hallway.
---
Outside, the rain had stopped.
The campus glistened beneath the afternoon sun breaking through the clouds.
Noah shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he crossed the quad.
Liam jogged to catch up.
"So?"
"So what?"
"The professor's daughter."
Noah shrugged.
"What about her?"
"You've been smiling ever since you left that building."
"I have not."
"You absolutely have."
Noah looked toward the literature building.
A second-floor window was open.
For just a moment, he thought he saw Jael standing beside the shelves inside.
She disappeared before he could be sure.
Liam followed his gaze.
"Oh..."
A grin spread across his face.
"I get it now."
"You get what?"
"The captain finally found someone who doesn't care he's the captain."
Noah looked away.
"She's... different."
Liam's smile widened.
"Different usually means dangerous."
Noah didn't answer.
He couldn't.
Because for the first time in a very long time...
He wasn't thinking about the next game.
He was thinking about a girl who had looked at him like he was just another student.
And somewhere deep inside him...
Something had quietly begun to change.
---
- Writer
