I Invented My Own Murderer

Summary

I have always lived in my own head. To keep my imagination sharp, I invented a new student named Chase.

I talked about him every day, weaving him into conversations until my classmates got used to his presence. We’d joke about him, complain about his habits—he became a ghost that everyone thought was flesh and bone.

But only I knew the truth: Chase didn’t exist. He was a phantom I’d conjured out of thin air to fill the silence of my own life.

Until the day my homeroom teacher pulled me aside, her face a mask of grim severity. "Sophie," she said, her voice dropping to a jagged whisper.