The blue lights illuminating the bridge cast a ghostly light over the river flowing slowly through downtown Jacksonville. My...

Morgan sat with two of her friends in the sun on the steps, watching all the students pass by. It was the first day of school, a day...

The next day, she texted Kayla when she didn’t show up to work, making sure everything was okay. Kayla answered, saying that they were...

That night in the hospital was long. Leila struggled staying awake the next morning as she and John opened The Coffee Shop. Ellen had...

Leila sat on the floor of the bathroom, trying to calm the stranger clinging to her. Ellen’s fingernails dug into her arm, but Leila...

Leila worked at The Coffee Shop. Yes, that was the name of the café. No, she did not like it; the lack of creativity in the name did not...

Lights. That was all I saw walking down the snow-and-slush-covered streets. I slipped a few times and finally gave up trying to hurry. I...

Read Part 1 here. “Calm down, you’re shaking like a chain smoker without a cigarette,” Katie said as she rang the doorbell to Phil’s...

The first time I saw Phil again was like a stab in the chest. It surprised me; I hadn’t expected to still feel the way I had about him...

I sit alone, surrounded by my problems. I look around, and they are there, silent, watching me. They are silent monsters that haunt me,...

I love my mom. I really do. But sometimes she really pisses me off. Like this one time I decided to go to a rock festival with Josh. My...

Day 4. Last night had been a nightmare. Kaylee had hardly slept, and when she managed to fall asleep, she’d dreamed that all her friends...

Day 3. Kaylee woke up uneasy for some reason… Then she remembered. Her eyes darted to the picture on the wall. Was it true? She went over...

Day 1. Kaylee checked her hair in the mirror one last time before leaving. She had to look great for the class picture today. Not that...

Sitting alone on a sidewalk bench, watching the people walk by on the street, I ponder one question: If I disappeared, who would look for...

The hot sun beating down on us and the sound of cars passing by seemed so foreign. We looked around, confused, squinting in the light. We...

Something was wrong with my island. Like, the more things I brought to make it better, the worse it got. I took some bug repellent to get...

From that day on, my life changed. Whenever something bothered me I left. Whenever I was bored I left. Whenever I just wanted to get away...

It happened for the first time the day my sister, Rachel, left. It’s just the two of us kids in the family, so it was a big deal to all...

The next few days were hard, much harder than I expected. I went to visit Iz almost every day with the same result. She would always be...