Was it him?

Our class was loud. Too loud to notice silence.

Loud in the way people are when they don't want to notice

things.

Everyone got along so well with each other and

we were a class to be remembered.

But then there was him.

A quiet boy, always in the same seat by the window, head

resting on his

arm like the world had already exhausted him.

As the lessons passed, as days went by, we never

heard him speak not even

when the teachers called him.

We stopped expecting him to exist, it was easier that way.

Until one day, when the silence broke.

Later that evening, an audio clip was released.

It had no name just a button waiting to be pressed, while

the groupchat was already exploding.

We pressed play, and suddenly the silence didn't feel empty.

It was our classroom, every small sound was too clear.

Then a voice cut through it. Mine...

Laughing and talking about one of our professors,

not knowing the words I said would leave the air they were

spoken in.

Who recorded this? This isn't funny!

No one said his name yet, but everyone knew.

The next morning, photos and videos followed.

Strange angles but familiar ones.

Look at where it's coming from. It's him. It has to be.

The boy now was not ignored, he was avoided.

More audios came. Sharper and personal.

Each one pulled us towards one conclusion.

Soon there was no "class" anymore.

It was him and everyone else.

Then everything suddenly stopped.

The class teacher stood in front of us.

This was a social experiment.

A study of trust... of how quickly people choose a side.

So it wasn't him?

This question dug the whole deeper.

Then why did it sound so real?

No one answered her. Because some things you can stage.

Others... you recognize.

We looked at the boy by the window.

He hadn't reacted. Like he has seen this film before.

The experiment had ended.

But whatever it revealed.... hadn't.

And as the silence settled back into the room

realization hit...

We were told it wasn't him

but certainty never arrived.