soundless love

Soundless Love - Part 3

Image: Max

As the day progressed, students entered and exited the classrooms. Many of the students went home, while others stayed for after-school activities. The others simply wandered to the apartments. Rin was among the children who walked to the apartments. She entered the apartment lobby and waited for the lift to arrive. Guess who arrived while she was waiting? Max. The lift door opened, and they both stood motionless, as quiet as a mouse. The odd thing was that he was on the same floor as she was.

The corridor was deafeningly silent. You could hear your own breath if you listened closely. When Rin arrived at the door to take a look for her keycard, she noticed Max unlocking the door across from her. He lived on the other side of the hallway. She walked into her room and slid into her bed. The amusing thing was, why did she care so much, she couldn't possibly like him. He's tall, has black hair with a navy blue streak in it, and emerald eyes, but what she found interesting was that Emiko had the same blue streak in her hair.

She had just gotten ready for bed and began writing her story, which led up to 10 p.m. Emiko walked through the door after shutting down her laptop and fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

Rin sighed and closed her journal. She knew she'd probably be sleeping again soon, as the light outside of her window shined through.

Rin woke up to a loud knocking at the door. She stumbled over and unlocked the door, seeing none other than the mysterious boy from lunch.
"What are you doing here...?"

Rin yawned, standing in the doorway. His expression changed slightly when he saw how exhausted she seemed.
"Emiko told me you live in this building, I'm Dylan. I live right next to you." He smiled at her as if everything was normal. "Didn't know you were roommates with Emiko."

"Yeah, she's my roommate."
"Well, that's good. I'll go now then, bye." With that he walked away very quickly.
"Wait..." Rin called after him, but he had already disappeared. Rin looked around and decided to go check on Emiko.

The only sound she could hear was birds chirping outside, and there was the faint smell of smoke in the air.
Rin knocked softly on the door, but heard no reply. She walked into the room and saw Emiko sitting in her desk chair, facing the wall. A note was lying on top of her homework. "You need to finish this tomorrow."

Rin stared at it for some time before turning around and walking out. She then went to the bathroom and washed her face, brushing her teeth afterwards. Once Rin got dressed and left her room, it was quiet once more. She checked the clock on her phone, reading 11:45 p.m. She had five minutes before the next class started, so she walked down the hallways quietly.

Suddenly, someone caught her attention. She stopped dead in her tracks, noticing it was that boy with the hearing aid. He was coming towards her direction, and she wondered if she should walk away and avoid confrontation. She didn't want to seem rude. But the boy caught her off guard when he walked past without acknowledging her presence. She looked at him in curiosity as he walked down the hallway, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his shorts. After a couple of seconds, he stopped.

"Hey, uh, Rin." He greeted. He looked nervous and apprehensive. He paused and took a few breaths, trying to calm himself down. Rin glanced behind him, and there was nothing there.
"Hi." She replied, not knowing what else to say. He suddenly walked back and forth a couple times, fumbling with his thumbs, and looking around.

• Part 4 coming soon •