The Loudest Silence

Isabella

"You showed up today." Mason's surprised voice said from beside me. Keeping my head down I tried to pinched my eyes shut, hoping my shaking hands weren't visible to him. It felt like the excuse I had been rehearsing for the past half hour had completely fled my brain, leaving me blank minded.

It had been a week since I attended class. Hell, it had been a week since I had properly been back at school. The wounds on my face and body had been too prominent, and there was no doubt that Isla and Mason would have seen it if I had returned any sooner.

Rick and his men had been out of town all week long, and Roman generously allowed me to stay in his home while my wounds healed. I returned back to the dorms briefly to grab the few belongings I had, and to leave a note for Isla explaining my whereabouts.

Forcing a smile onto my face, I slowly turned around and faced Mason. I could see a mix of shock and relief as he examined me slowly. I could see the questions at the tip of his tongue, threatening to escape, but he luckily held them back as a smile enveloped his face.

My wounds hadn't fully healed, but I used whatever makeup I could find from the drugstore to cover up any bruising. I purposely allowed my hair to curtain over my face to avoid Mason from looking too closely.

"I'm sorry for missing class last week, I caught the flu and didn't want to get anyone else sick." I finally answered as he fell into the seat beside me. I briefly flashed him a small smile while continuing to randomly doodle on my paper. I could feel Mason's eyes burning into the side of my head, but I refused to meet eyes, fearing that he could see through the lies I was spewing. 

I silently prayed that he wouldn't ask anymore questions, and let out a sigh of relief as he nodded his head, "I'm glad you're better, Bella."

I momentarily stopped doodling on my paper as the nickname registered in my head. It had been so long since I had heard someone call me Bella, and I couldn't help but get a fluttery feeling in my heart at the sound of it.

The name reminded me of my childhood. It was bittersweet hearing the name my mother and brother used to call me.

"You don't mind me calling you that, right?" Mason asked, after a long pause between the two of us.

Turning to him, I gave him a small smile and nodded my head. There wasn't much conversation for the remainder of class. Mason would occasionally lean over and clarify anything the professor had gone over the week before. At the end of class, our professor announced that our project was due in a few weeks time, before dismissing us. Packing my stuff into my bag, I followed Mason out of class. I couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving Mason to do the project by himself all week, so before we could move any farther from the classroom, I spoke up.

"I can catch up on the project and finish up anything we need to do. It's the least I can do after missing class all week." I offered as Mason pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced down at the screen. I watched as he typed something on his phone, before shoving it back into his pocket and looking back up at me. "I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch today, but there's no need for you to finish the project alone. We're almost done anyways, and we can go work on any last minute improvements today if you aren't busy?" He offered with a smile on his face. I couldn't help but be shocked at the fact that Mason wasn't angry at all. Any other student would have certainly contacted the professor with a complaint. It was foreign feeling for someone to show generosity.