The next morning, I went to Daniel’s school.
The principal was kind. She let me watch the security footage from the cameras that covered the main gate.
He thought I was another panicked parent who didn’t know her own kid.
I sat in a small office and watched the video from the previous afternoon.
Groups of teenagers poured out of the building in clusters, laughing, pushing each other, checking their phones.
Then I saw Daniel walking beside a girl.
For a moment, I didn’t recognize her. Then she glanced over her shoulder, and I got a clearer look at her face.
“Maya,” I whispered.
I saw Daniel walking beside a girl.
Maya had visited Daniel a handful of times. Quiet girl. Polite in a way that seemed careful.
In the video, they walked through the gate and toward the bus stop.
They got on a city bus together, and then they were gone.
“I need to speak to Maya.” I turned to the principal. “Can I?”
“Maya doesn’t attend this school anymore.” She gestured to the video. “She transferred suddenly. That was her last day here.”
***
