Page 18 of The Hotel Room

Her grip on the wheel tightened.

“Hey,” she tried, keeping her voice light, careful. “You okay? You didn’t eat much this morning.”

Noah didn’t answer. Just stared out the window, earbuds still in.

Kate exhaled slowly through her nose, forcing calm.Stay patient.

“Noah, please. I know you’re upset. But I’m still your mom. I—”

“Can wenotdo this right now?” His voice was low, flat.

Lily flinched in the backseat.

Kate blinked, her hands curling tighter around the steering wheel. “I’m just trying to talk to you, Noah. You can’t shut me out forever.”

He didn’t respond.

And the silence stretched again, even heavier than before.

The high school loomed ahead, the drop-off lane already crowded with cars and clusters of teenagers, the energy of the school morning buzzing around them—so loud and full of life while the inside of the car felt like a void.

Kate pulled to a stop near the curb, her stomach twisting as Noah immediately unbuckled and reached for his backpack without a word.

Emily was standing near the front steps, her long brown hair loose around her shoulders. Noah’s entire posture shifted.

The tension in his shoulders eased. His face—so hard and closed off moments ago—softened, his expression relaxing into something warmer.

Kate watched as he stuffed his phone into his pocket, suddenly more alert, adjusting his cap like hecaredhow he looked now.

“Hey, bud—”

“I’ll get a ride home with Emily,” he mumbled, already halfway out the door.

Before she could respond, he was gone—slamming the door shut without a backward glance, heading straight toward Emily. Emily’s face lit up when she saw him. She reached for his hand without hesitation, and just like that, the wall he’d built around himself for days seemed to dissolve.

Kate sat frozen behind the wheel, watching them disappear into the crowd.

The ache in her chest deepened—not anger, but something quieter. Sadder.

Hecouldopen up. He just wouldn’t open up toher.

“Mom?” Lily’s voice broke the silence, small from the backseat.

Kate blinked, forcing herself back into the present. “Yeah, baby?”

Lily hesitated. “Is Noah mad at us? At me too?”

Kate’s breath caught, heart twisting as she met her daughter’s wide, worried eyes in the rearview mirror.

“No, sweetheart. He’s not mad at you.”

Lily hugged her lunchbox tighter. “But he doesn’t talk anymore.”

“I know,” Kate whispered, her throat thick. “He’s just…he’s having a hard time right now. But it’s not your fault, okay? And it’s not forever.”

Lily nodded, but the sadness lingered.

Kate tried to smile, pushing back the ache in her chest. “Come on. Let’s get you to school. And maybe tonight we’ll get that ice cream you wanted, huh?”

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