Things We Don't Say Out Loud

Callista doesn't talk much. She never has.
She's the kind of girl who listens more than she speaks, smiles even when she doesn't feel like it, and hides her thoughts in the quiet corners of her notebook - words that no one ever gets to read.

Then there's Kieran. The boy who sees what most people miss. He notices the smallest things like how Callista's eyes soften when it rains, or how she always orders hot chocolate instead of coffee.

They meet by accident in a cafe one rainy afternoon, but it doesn't feel like an accident at all. Since then, she keeps finding him in the most ordinary places. Always there, always calm, like he's waiting for her to say something.

He tells her once that silence can be its own kind of noise.
She tells him, eventually, that not every secret is meant to stay unspoken.

As the days quietly pass, Callista begins to wonder that maybe silence isn't safety.
Maybe it's just another kind of fear.
And maybe, this time, it's okay to be heard.