I left. When I should have stayed.

Because what if I got to know you and you turned out to be just like they said? What if you weren’t the person I hoped you were? That, more than anything, would have hurt the most.

As a writer, my only responsibility is to tell a compelling story.

But they were wrong. There was a reason.

Don't give up on me now. I'm sorry. I guess that's an odd thing to say. Because isn't that what I'm doing? Giving up?

Maybe if I forgot things once in a while, we'd all be a little bit happier.

I decided to find out how people at school might react if one of the students never came back.