Alex was the happy kid everyone adored, the class clown who could make anyone laugh. To you, he seemed like he always had everything together. But as you walked towards the bus stop one evening after school, you saw him with his head down, quietly crying.

It was unusual to see him there alone after everyone else had already left.

You noticed his tears soaking into a tissue he clutched tightly.

“I hate going home...” he muttered.

His usually bright blonde hair looked dull, and the sparkle in his eyes was gone. No one else knew the real reason behind his tears, but Alex did. He always kept his home life a secret, hiding his pain behind jokes and laughter. Now, as he sat there wiping his tears in the fading light of the evening, the mask of the class clown had fallen away, revealing his fear of returning to a house filled with his parents’ fighting.