And in a place like Westbrook High, silence spread faster than truth ever could. Rumors exploded within hours. Some said he’d run away. Some said the school was hiding something. Some whispered that even his parents didn’t know where he was. And Shirley? She felt a cold dread settle in her chest.
Because she had been the first one he asked. And the last person who saw him before he disappeared. Shirley couldn’t shake the feeling that she was somehow tethered to his disappearance. Not responsible but connected. By the following week, whispers began crawling through the halls.