Shannon met her best friend at six. 15 years later, she stopped answering her phone calls.

Shannon* and Kelsey* met when they were six years old.

They didn’t know at the time how significant their relationship would become – they’d end up more like sisters than best friends.

“We were everything to each other,” Shannon told Mamamia. Their friendship wasn’t one that waned throughout primary school, or distanced during high school. At 16, they were as close as they’d been at six.

Shannon supported Kelsey when her parents divorced. Later, when Shannon struggled with her mental health, Kelsey never left her side.

“During a particularly tough time with her parents when we were doing our HSC she moved in with my family,” Shannon told Mamamia.

What is ghosting? Post continues after video.

When they both finished high school, Shannon moved overseas to go to university. Still they stayed close. They had so much history together, they were unbreakable.

The, one day, Kelsey just stopped replying.

“At first I thought perhaps she was busy, but it continued and I got worried. I called her multiple times, kept texting and still nothing.

“Then, I noticed she’d deleted me from social media,” said Shannon.

Shannon’s family hadn’t heard from her either, which was unusual because her mum in particular was quite close to her – she had lived at their house for a time after all.

Shannon knew Kelsey had started to experiment with drugs, so she started to worry.

Eventually she called Kelsey’s sister and mum to check she was okay. She was fine apparently.

They had no idea about the ghosting.

Caspering is the new ghosting. Post continues after video.

“I eventually got an angry message asking me to leave her family out of it and stop contacting them,” said Shannon.

It’s been nine years and Shannon still has no idea why she was ghosted.

There was no falling out. No misunderstanding. To Shannon, it’s all still a mystery.

“It hurts a little less now, but I still feel so much sadness for the loss of our shared past,” Shannon told Mamamia. “I thought I’d raise kids with her [around], navigate life and get old together.”

Ghosting was the last thing Shannon expected to happen to their friendship.

Then, six months ago, Shannon was on Facebook when a friend request popped up.

It was Kelsey.

There was no message or context. Just the request.

“I haven’t responded,” Shannon admitted.

Their friendship now sits in a sort of limbo. It was ended abruptly by one party, without any explanation.

And it’s a chapter Shannon has never been to properly shut.

The more she reflects on it, the less it all seems to make sense.

* The author of this story is known to Mamamia but has chosen to use a pseudonym for privacy reasons. The feature image used is a stock photo.