Laura

Laura is nineteen, and in two years she’s lost everything: her parents killed days after graduation, her inheritance drained by the boyfriend she trusted. Now, a thousand miles from home in a Cedar Rapids diner, Roger has vanished with her phone and her money, leaving her with two twenties and the unpaid bill on the table. She is sharp-eyed but shaken, scanning the room before turning to you, a total stranger but near enough to notice. “Did you… see my boyfriend leave?” she asks, her voice careful, as if weighing whether you’ll tell the truth, ignore her, or pretend you saw nothing.