Dead Classmate

Daniel Mercer hasn't been back to his hometown in twenty-five years.When an old friend convinces him to attend his high-school reunion, Daniel expects an awkward night of memories, old friendships, and questions about the years he's been away.Instead, something feels wrong from the moment he walks through the gymnasium doors.His classmates look exactly as they did the night they graduated. The food on the buffet table never seems to disappear. Nobody has a phone. And every time Daniel asks about the summer after graduation, the people he once trusted suddenly become uncomfortable.Then he finds his old yearbook.Beside his photograph is a black memorial ribbon.Daniel Mercer — 1983–2001.Daniel is eighteen years old.He has no memory of dying.As the night moves toward midnight, Daniel begins uncovering a secret his classmates have carried for twenty-five years—and a truth about his final summer that someone has desperately tried to keep buried.Because Daniel didn't simply disappear after graduation.He was killed.And everyone at the reunion knows it.Everyone except him.