Collection of Short Stories

Prompt 3

A/N I was given the prompt "write a story with zero dialogue" and a title was just not happening. I also cheated a bit towards the end but I hope this is okay

Looking around, you see that you’re in the courtyard outside of school. The sun is shining bright, illuminating everything around you. Surprisingly there’s no one around and you’re not sure why; usually the courtyard is bustling with people, specifically around the school’s very over-the-top fountain right in the middle.

Suddenly you sense a presence behind you and turn around; there’s a girl there, watching you. She’s a little shorter than you with tanned skin, wavy dark brown hair and nearly black eyes. Her lips raise in a half smile when she sees you looking back. Her mouth opens and your heart races in anticipation; is it finally going to happen?

You see her take a breath and -

Your eyes fly open as you feel a hand softly rubbing your back. You see your mother’s face above you, and you now know she is just waking you to go to school; in the courtyard was just a dream.

With a disappointed sigh you roll out of bed and start your routine of getting ready for the day. Once you’re fully showered and dressed you make your way downstairs and see the usual breakfast of scrambled eggs and 2 pieces of toast lightly buttered that your mom made. You eat quickly as you notice that you’re running late.

Exactly as the clock hits 7:30 you’re out the door and running to the car where your mom is waiting to drive you to school. Sometimes you wonder if your mom gets tired of this silent routine everyday; you certainly do. You know your dad does too, that’s why you hardly see him anymore. Fourteen years of silence is a lot for anyone to endure. 

Soon enough you’ve arrived at school and your mom waves goodbye as she always does when you get out of the car. You quickly make your way through the crowds of students until you reach the front doors of the school. Once inside, you walk down the hall to your homeroom class and take your usual seat in the corner. Most teachers would prefer you to sit in front, but you can read their lips just fine from your position.

As the class starts to fill up for the start of the day you busy yourself with doodling in your sketchbook, choosing to ignore the people around you. The seat to the right of you remains empty as usual.

Wait a second. 

You look to your right and see a girl setting her books down under the desk. Once she’s done she turns to face you and you have to fight not to gasp - it’s the girl from your dream! Her mouth opens and you can see she’s telling you her name - Harper.

You shake your head in response and point to your ears. She seems to realize what you mean and instead pulls out a piece of paper from one of her notebooks and a sparkly pink pen. She slides them over to you and you guess what she might want so you write your name in your best penmanship, Violet, and slide it back over.

She gives you a blinding grin and then waves, before turning towards the front of the classroom. You look in that direction too and see that the teacher has started class. The next forty minutes are boring as ever - Pre Calculus is definitely your least favorite subject - and Harper doesn’t look in your direction again. Figures, no matter how nice people are, they always ignore you once they figure out you can’t be a normal friend.

At the end of class, however, she turns and gives you one last smile and wave before leaving the room. You give a small smile in return and that’s the last you see of her all day. You always spend your lunchtime in the art room where no one will bother you, and she doesn’t appear to be in any of your other classes.

Harper moves to the back of your mind once you get home and work mindlessly on homework. At 6:30 sharp your mom comes to get you for dinner where you (surprise) have chicken, green beans, and one small roll. It’s nearly the same every night; you figure it’s because it’s one thing your mom doesn’t have to worry about. After dinner you read for a bit before deciding to just go to bed.