What Happened to Melissa?

Chapter 1: The Empty Desk

Jasmine Perez barely noticed Melissa’s absence at first.

First period Algebra was as boring as ever. Mr. Bell droned on about slope intercepts while Jasmine half-listened, half-scrolled through her phone under her desk. The seat in front of her—Melissa’s—was empty, but it had been plenty of times before. Melissa wasn’t exactly what you’d call consistent.

Second period passed, then break. Jasmine laughed with her friends, watched a TikTok video three times in a row, and forgot Melissa even existed.

But in third period English, something shifted.

Mrs. Wyatt paused at roll call. “Melissa Ramos?”

No response.

She looked up from the clipboard. “Anyone know if Melissa’s out sick today?”

Silence.

A few students shrugged. A couple of heads turned, curious.

That’s when Ava leaned over and whispered, “I heard she never came home yesterday.”

Jasmine turned to her. “Wait—what?”

Ava’s voice dropped lower. “Like, she’s actually missing. My sister said the police were at her house this morning.”

Jasmine blinked. “Are you serious?”

“I mean… that’s what she said.”

Mrs. Wyatt moved on, but Jasmine wasn’t listening anymore. Her stomach twisted. She stared at the empty desk in front of her, where Melissa usually sat, hood up, scribbling in the margins of her notebook.

Gone?

The rest of class blurred. As the bell rang, Jasmine hesitated, then slowly reached forward and touched the back of Melissa’s chair. Cold plastic. Still. Quiet.

The seat looked just like every other. But something about its emptiness felt… heavy. Haunted.

Jasmine hadn’t talked to Melissa in months—maybe longer. Once, they’d been close. Not best friends, but something real. They’d bonded in eighth grade over a shared love of poetry and weird indie music. They used to sit on the back steps during lunch and swap notebooks filled with half-finished lines and dreams they never said out loud.

But things changed. High school made everything messier.

Melissa got quieter. Jasmine got busier. New friends, harder classes, dances, drama. Melissa faded into the background—barely a wave in the hallway now. And Jasmine had let it happen.

No fights. No fallout.

Just… silence.

Now, all Jasmine could think about was the last time she saw Melissa—last Friday. In the hallway by the water fountain. Their eyes had met. Jasmine had smiled politely.

Melissa had looked away.

Now she was missing.

And her desk was still empty.