Outsider

Cameron knows what betrayal looks like-he's seen it more than once. He learned early that trust doesn't come easy, especially after watching people he once called friends turn into strangers. But nothing prepared him for the moment he saw someone just like him-a quiet, timid boy-suffering far worse than he ever had.

Back in middle school, Cameron thought he had already faced the worst. Being cornered alone in a hallway by a girl whose smile hid something deeply unstable changed him. After that, he convinced himself that heartbreak was simply part of growing up... something inevitable, something survivable.

Two and a half years later, things feel different. Cameron spends most of his time with Araon, another outsider who understands him in ways no one else does. Together, they drift into a small, odd group of friends-misfits who don't care about popularity or fitting in. School isn't a battlefield for them; it's a place to exist, to learn, to quietly dream about becoming something more.

But everything begins to shift one Friday morning.

Araon pulls Cameron aside, insisting they talk in private. There's something he needs to confess-a secret meant only for the two of them. At the same time, Cameron starts to notice something unsettling. His family, his siblings... even the people around him begin to act strangely. Their silence feels unnatural, like they've seen something so horrifying it stole their voices.

And it all seemed to begin after one thing.

The adoption.

Cameron had always wanted a sister-someone who truly felt like family, not just another distant connection. But ever since she arrived, something has been wrong. The air in his home feels heavier. The shadows linger longer than they should. And the people around him... they don't look at her the way they should.

As if they're afraid.

As if they've seen death itself-and know it's living under the same roof.

Now Cameron must face a truth far more terrifying than betrayal: