Her dark hair fell across her face and she tucked the loose strands back over her ear. What was it made her cry, he wondered. He wanted to go to over, to tell her it was going to be okay, that everything was going to be okay. Yet he stopped himself. He had never said a word, never revealed himself to her.

In his dreams, he talked with her. Laughed with her. Smiled with her. She knew him as well as he knew her. In reality, she barely saw, barely even knew he existed. Perhaps some day that would change, but for now, he was content to stare at her.

Her lovely face brimmed with tears. He raised a hesitant hand to touch his face, as if trying to feel her tears.

Her friend Maria came up to her now. Max slightly adjusted his position by the row of lockers, trying to desperately hide yet see what was going on with the girl he loved.

He loved her. It seemed like he had always loved her. From the moment he stepped off the bus and saw the brown eyed, brown haired little girl, his young heart was hers. And she didn’t even know it.

Maria was talking nonstop to her, trying to get her to stop crying, trying to rally her friend’s spirit. He liked the blonde, curly Maria, liked her feisty manner, liked the way she always stuck up for her friend.

She stopped crying and listened to Maria’s chatter. He saw a ghost of a smile cross her and he grinned too. What was it about her that pulled him and drew his emotions out? She was pretty, sweet and kind. But he knew other girls who had those qualities, yet never fell in love with them.

He watched as Maria tugged on her hand, inviting her to a lunch that consisted of tuna salad and chips and juicy gossip. He saw her take Maria’s hand, silently accepting her friend's invite.

They both passed by him, not even knowing he was standing there, just a little ways from them. Perhaps because he had gotten very good at pretending to be invisible, pretending to blend in, not to be noticed. Which was the way he liked it. Or so he told himself.

He never took his gaze off her as she retreated out past the hallway and into the sunshine. When the door finally swung shut and his gaze could no longer see her, he dropped his eyes downward. And wondered what it was that made her so upset.

Perhaps that was something he would never find out. But perhaps there was something he could to make her smile again. So his heart could soar again.

Max walked slowly outside. A flock of white daisy-like flowers planted near the walkway caught his eye. They reminded him of her. Their sweetness, their light, their innocence. He took a quick look around to see if anyone was watching him. No one. No one ever saw him.

Silently, he picked off a few stems of the angelic looking flowers and tucked them inside his leather jacket. Then went to join his friends for lunch of tacos and Tabasco.

***

Later that day …

The school bell rang and the doors burst forth, a teeming mass of teenagers alighting from them. She was one of them.

He gazed at her again, seeing her cross the hall to her locker. And saw the slight surprise on her face when she discovered a pocket of white daisy-like flowers resting inside. She took them out, staring at them as though they were something she had never seen before.

She sniffed the flowers, drinking in their pale scent. Would she think that Maria gave them to her? Or maybe Alex? Perhaps. He didn’t care. All he cared about was making her happy again. Making her smile again.

A wider smile graced her angelic face. That was the smile he loved, the smile that said “Everything is right in the world.”

Max sighed as he walked away. His face was streaked with a smile. Liz’s smile.