At first, I thought our house had suddenly become haunted. I’d heard someone whispering downstairs in the middle of the night only to find no one was there and everyone in the house was asleep. Stuff in my room would go missing for days before reappearing out of the blue. After sunset when the windows turned into black panels, I felt eyes watching me from the shadows outside. I could always tell the ghost had messed with something when the smell of pine trees hung in the air.

I asked my mom and my sister if they noticed anything odd going on in the house lately, but they looked at me like I was nuts. Apparently, none of their things went missing, and they didn’t hear the whispering at night. I thought it was strange that the ghost didn’t seem to bother them at all.

Things only got worse.

Someone had rearranged the books in my locker, and chips I put into the shopping cart at the store would vanish once we got into the checkout line. A few weeks after that, I started seeing someone walking behind me—following me to the bus stop—but when I turned around, there was no one there. Or, I’d be at my desk doing homework and catch a glimpse of someone pacing back and forth in front of my house.

No matter where I went, I never felt alone. Someone, somewhere, was always watching. It was starting to drive me crazy. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I wanted to know for sure what was going on. So one night, I’d set up a camera in the corner of my room in hopes to see how my stuff had managed to move all on its own while I was asleep.

I didn’t have time to review the hours of footage the next morning before school, so I had to wait until the end of the day. After dinner, I told my family not to bug me and locked myself in my room.

I turned my computer on and hit play on the recording. A grainy black and white image of my bedroom filled the screen. I kept my eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. The only thing that seemed to be moving was me as I tossed and turned on the bed.

Then about halfway through the recording, the door to my bedroom opened. My body froze. I locked my door every night, so I don’t know how it swung open on the video as if it wasn’t locked at all.

My heart went from a nervous pace to an all-out panic as my eyes stayed glued to the screen. The dark shadow of a person stepped into my room. They weren’t hazy or see-through, so that meant they weren’t a ghost. They stood at the foot of my bed, watching me sleep for a few minutes before wandering around the room. They’d flipped through the books on the shelf, messed with my collectible figurines, and shuffled through the closet. They had done it all so silently that I didn’t notice anyone in the room with me.

As they made their way around, they stopped when they saw the camera. They grabbed one of my notebooks and flipped to an open page. They scribbled something onto the paper and held it up to the camera.

I guess the jig is up.

They put the notebook back exactly as they found it. Then as quietly as they came, they backed out of the room and shut the door.

My eyes watered up in terror. A stranger had broken into our house. They had been watching me sleep. I wasn’t delusional. For the past few months, someone was stalking me.

My mind began to race. Why would someone come after me? No one would get any money if they kidnapped me. I thought I was too ugly for a serial killer to want to cut me up and preserve me in their fridge.

My hands were shaking. I tried to stay calm as I rushed down the hall to my mother’s room. She had her hair in a messy bun and wore her baggy “mom is off duty” shirt while she played a game on her tablet.

“Mom, I need to show you something,” I said. She didn’t bother to look up at me; she merely pointed to her shirt. “This is an emergency!” I yanked her off of the bed.

“Daniel, I’m in the middle of collecting my coins!”

“I know, but I need you to see this!”

I dragged her into my room. I sat down at the computer and tried to play the video. An error message appeared: FILE NOT FOUND. What?! I thought. I went through the computer files and the recycle bin. The video was gone.

I reached for the camera. Maybe I could plug it in and upload the file again, the only problem was the camera was gone too. It wasn’t on the desk where I left it. I searched the room frantically. I rummaged through the clothes on the floor, my bookshelves, and under the bed.

My mom yawned. “What is so important that you have to show me right this minute?”

“It was a video. It was on my computer five seconds ago, and now it’s gone. I can’t find the camera. It was just here!” I said as I tore at my hair.

“Well, how about you show me tomorrow when you find it, okay?” she said and started to leave my room.

“No, mom wait! It was here you gotta believe me. There was someone in my room; there’s someone following me—they broke into the house—”

My mom laughed as she went down the hall. “What’re you talking about? The alarm would’ve gone off. You need to lay off the scary movies. All this talk of ghosts and whatever is getting exhausting.”

Just like that my chances of calling the police and getting help went up in flames. I was on my own. I didn’t know what to do. Or rather, what could I do? No locks or alarms could stop whoever was after me. All I could do was sit there and wait to die.

I snatched my hockey stick and made a hiding place in my closet. I stayed perfectly still for hours, waiting for my stalker to come. I had a death grip on my makeshift weapon. Even when it started to hurt, I didn’t dare loosen my hands. My heart thundered in my chest, the pulse pounding in my ears. I clenched my teeth until I’m sure my gums began bruising. I didn’t know when they would show up, but I knew they were coming.

I woke up when I heard the door open. My body became rigid and on alert once more. I peered through the crack to see if anything had changed. I was blinded by daylight as someone stepped quietly into my room.

I shouldn’t have been so stupid. The killer would’ve known I’d be up all night waiting for them to come. They’d outwitted me. They came in the morning when they knew I’d be groggy. Well, they were about to get a nasty surprise.

I sprang out of the closet bellowing like Tarzan. I swung my hockey stick, and it collided with my mother’s head.

She screamed and grabbed her forehead. “What on earth are you doing?! Put that stick down this instant!” She hissed in pain.

“I’m sorry!” I dropped my hockey stick. I held my hands up and backed away slowly.

She rubbed her forehead and gave me the stink eye. “…and to think I was just coming in here to check on you because your alarm didn’t go off…” She was lucky that I wasn’t all that strong. She’d barely have a bruise.

“I’m really sorry.” I looked away, embarrassed.

“Go use the bathroom before I wake your sister up,” she said, waving me off.

“Right…” I knew if I didn’t move fast enough Hannah would hog it. I lumbered down the hall to the bathroom.

Every day I avoided looking into the mirror as I brushed my teeth, but failed. I ended up poking at the blob that should’ve been a stomach and at my soft, round face. It wasn’t fair that other guys my age had lost their baby fat and gotten more muscular; I just turned into a big teddy bear. Being fat was like being trapped. I couldn’t do the things I wanted to because I was slow and unconfident. I’d give anything to look like a pro wrestler.

Hannah rolled across the floor like a ninja. She was wearing a gas mask and held her hands up in a fighting pose. She was no taller than my waist, but that didn’t faze her. She punched my side.

“Are you ready for the apocalypse, punk?!” Hannah asked.

Hannah had once been a regular kid who liked coloring books and baby animals, but then she started watching Apocalypse Ready. She claimed that the show scared her straight and showed her what she really needed to focus on. Now, she spent most of her time watching martial arts videos and buying odd things off of the internet with her allowance.

“Yeah, sure, I’m ready,” I said around a mouthful of toothpaste.

“No, you’re not! You haven’t been doing your assigned five mile run every day. If you don’t train, you won’t be ready.” She poked my gut. “I don’t want you to die because you can’t run away from a marauder!”

“I’ll have more time to focus on it this summer, okay? I promise, no marauders are going to get me,” I said and rinsed my mouth out.

“You promise?”

I sighed. “I promise.”

After getting dressed, we had to switch into rush mode. We skipped breakfast and piled into the car.

For mom to get to work on time she had to do drive-by drop-offs, which meant she slowed down enough for us to jump out of the car. We unloaded Hannah first before driving across town to my school.

“Have a good day, sweetheart!” my mom said as I hopped out. It was loud enough for a few groups nearby to have heard. I lowered my head and hurriedly shuffled towards the school’s entrance.

The hallways were chaos. People threw paper balls, chased each other, but mostly they were milling around with their friends. My school had a uniform dress code: a white shirt, a blue tie, and either a plaid skirt or blue pants. It was to promote equality, but actually, it just promoted the teenager’s urge to express oneself through accessories. I snuck around the edges of the crowd, behind their backs so they couldn’t see me. I beelined straight towards my first class before—

WHACK!

My head shot forward, and I struggled to stay on my feet. I looked down to see what had hit me. The 7:50 basketball was on time. My body tensed at what was coming next.

“Morning, freak!” a group of guys behind me hollered. I rubbed the back of my head and kept walking. I reminded myself it was the last week of school and I wouldn’t have to deal with them over the break.

When I reached the Science room, the temperature was boiling. The only thing to help ease our suffering was a shabby fan in the corner. It provided just enough of a humming noise to mask everyone’s gossip while Mr. Varnes searched his desk.

I sat down in the last row closest to the window, which hadn’t helped me to focus. I had a tendency to let my eyes wander outside. I searched the sidewalks for my stalker. Although, when I thought about it, I didn’t think they’d be on the sidewalk. They’d most likely be in a bush, or worse, they had already found their way into the school.

I had wished for something exciting to happen to me almost every day, but I guess I needed to specifically tell the universe that I wanted to be the chosen one destined to save the world; otherwise, it thought a creepy stalker would do just fine. I wanted to feel important and special, but not in that way.

My thoughts stalled as the classroom door opened.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have a new student enrolling here next year. She would like to shadow one of the kids,” an office administrator announced.

“Yeah, sure. Send her in,” Mr. Varnes said.

I didn’t hear the girl when she walked into the room, which was odd. I could always hear people’s footsteps. They either scooted or stomped about, but this girl made no sound. Everyone’s chatting ceased. Somewhere a pencil fell. Overwhelmed by curiosity, I looked up to see this mystery girl.

My jaw dropped.

She strode in with such confidence and poise; a queen would be hard pressed to match. She was tall and lean. Her skin was tan from hours underneath the sun. Her hair was dark brown with lighter streaks throughout and went down past her shoulders in coiling waves. Her face was the crowning jewel of her perfect body. Everything was symmetrical and well proportioned. She had bright eyes the color of healthy grass.

My eyes narrowed. There was something familiar about her. I was sure I must have seen her before. Maybe as a blurry figure on the outskirts of my dreams? Someone on a magazine? Whatever it was, I felt an urgent tug from my stomach. It was a mixed feeling. I wanted to get closer to this girl, yet at the same time, something was screaming at me to run away.

“Uhh.” Mr. Varnes fought to find words. He blinked several times. “T-take any seat you want.”

Most of the guys scrambled to make a seat beside them available. Those who had girlfriends dropped their heads with regret. The girls fidgeted with their hair insecurely and glared with jealousy. Some clung to their boyfriends. However, the new girl paid no attention to them. She scanned over the room and spotted me.

I froze in place like a deer in headlights. I gulped as I saw her come towards me. What was I supposed to do? I’d never been within a hundred feet of a pretty girl without doing something stupid, and this one might as well have been Helen of Troy.

I started trembling. No, don’t come over here! I thought. I looked down and tried to hide as much as I could behind my desk. I wished so badly that I could turn invisible. She took the desk beside me.

I felt her eyes on me. Crap, how red is my face right now? I pressed the button on my pen rapidly. I tried to pretend she wasn’t there. It was impossible.

“So, um…is anyone up for a spelling game?” Mr. Varnes asked. The class groaned, but all I felt was a sweet relief as the attention turned away from me.

Now that it was safe, I did my best to sneak a glance at her. The moment I looked, I think my eyes became transfixed. The longer I stared, the more determined I was to find some blemish or a spot she’d missed with her make-up. I couldn’t find anything, not even a scar or a freckle.

“Alright! Thinking caps on. First word: spell stromuhr.” The class pretended to be occupied by something on their desk. “Does anyone even know what that is?”

“S-T-R-O-M-U-H-R, it’s an instrument for measuring the quantity of blood that flows per unit of time through a blood vessel,” the new girl said out of nowhere. Beauty and brains? Really? Was I dreaming or something?

“Well, it’s nice to see someone brought their brain today.”

Mr. Varnes called out another word. Again it was nothing I’d ever heard of before, but this girl spelled it with no problem. Seeing that he finally had a challenging student, Mr. Varnes gave her more and more complex words. She didn’t even have to stop and think it over before she spelled them out.

This wasn’t natural. Something was up—and what was that smell radiating off of her? The moment she sat down, I felt like I was in a forest. The scent was refreshing. What could it be? I stopped breathing as I realized…she had the same piney smell that had randomly started popping up in the house.

My heart felt like it had taken a suicide dive from its perch in my chest all the way down to my navel. The color drained from my face. I finally put all of the pieces together; the way she made no sound when she walked and why she looked so familiar. She had the same outline as the person that I’d caught on camera.

It was her. She was my stalker!

Right at that moment, she chose to look at me. Her eyes locked onto mine. She grinned knowingly at me as she saw the recognition on my face.

She offered her hand. “Katherine Carvosso,” she said.

So, I’d finally come face to face with my pursuer. She didn’t look like anything I’d pictured in my mind. She had a sweet, inviting smile that wasn’t hiding any malicious intent as far as I could tell. I had to be wrong. Maybe she just happened to use the same fragrance as my stalker?

I grazed her hand. I was too afraid of tainting it with my nasty, bloated fingers. “Daniel I am.” I winced. “I mean—I’m Daniel. Daniel Haley,” I said.

Katherine’s brow rose, but instead of giving me the usual Oookay-You’re-a-Weirdo look, she seemed amused. “Would you mind if I shadowed you?” she asked.

“Uh…” I was tempted to say yes, but then I mentally kicked my brain. Was I insane? I couldn’t agree to have her follow me. Next, I’d be inviting her over to my house for tea and offer my throat for her to slash. “Actually, you should just follow someone else.”

The bell rang. I jumped out of my seat, snatched my bag, and ran towards the hallway. I had to get away as fast as I could. I knew I could lose her in the sea of uniforms. I didn’t slow down until I was on the second floor. When I looked back, there was no sign of Katherine.

Some weird part of me felt bad. Was she back there lost somewhere? I slapped my forehead. What was wrong with me?! She broke into my house!

I turned into the sanctuary of my next class. I would tell the English teacher, Mrs. Kinney, that there was a potentially dangerous girl in the school. She’d get arrested, and I’d be safe. Maybe it was better that she’d confronted me at school after all.

“Oh, Daniel, there you are!” Mrs. Kinney said. “This young lady was trying to find you. She said you were supposed to be showing her around the school?” Mrs. Kinney stepped aside to reveal Katherine standing there. She waved innocently at me. Escaping her was going to be harder than I thought.

I stepped closer to Mrs. Kinney and whispered, “Can I talk to you in private?”

“Not right this minute. The school needs you to be a good representative, and the first part of that is manners. Offer her a spot next to you, won’t you?”

“But Mrs. K—”

“Daniel, can you recite Shakespeare’s Macbeth in Latin and Greek?” she asked. What did that have to do with anything? I shook my head. “Can you even tell me who Robert Frost is?” I wanted to say something, but my mouth just hung open. “That girl is a prodigy and do you know how many have graduated from this school? None! Do whatever it takes to get her to stay. Now sit.”

Katherine sat down with a satisfied expression. I don’t know how she’d gotten to the English room and managed to brainwash Mrs. Kinney so quickly, but it could only mean one thing: she was no amateur at this game.

I sat down slowly, put my bag in my lap, and hugged it. I stood no chance against this Katherine Carvosso (if that was even her real name). Whenever she chose to make her move, I was already defeated. I took in ragged, shallow breaths. My time on this world was swiftly coming to an end.

“Okay, everyone, you may talk quietly amongst yourselves,” Mrs. Kinney said.

The room filled with the screeching of desks being turned to face each other and the immediate roar of multiple conversations. Katherine didn’t hesitate to put our desks together. I didn’t bother to move. Though I’m pretty sure my expression made it look like I’d gotten jabbed with a needle.

“Would you relax?” Katherine shook my shoulder to try to loosen me up. “You act like I’m trying to kill you.”

I fought to crack open my lips; fear had dried and stuck them together. “Well…aren’t you?” I managed to say.

“Of course not, silly.” She eased back into her chair. “I just want to get to know you.”

I leaned over the desk and whispered, “I’m pretty sure you know everything.”

She resisted the urge to laugh. “Well, I won’t deny that I know everything. But when it comes to you, I only know the small things. For one,” she began listing on her fingers, “your favorite color is navy blue. Two, your favorite sport is hockey. And three, you prefer Star Wars over Star Trek.”

“And how could you possibly know that, huh?” I wanted her to admit she’d been stalking me, so I knew for sure. Once I had her confession, I was going straight to Mrs. Kinney.

“It’s called your online profile,” she said. “You don’t have yours set to private.” I should’ve known. “I know the tiny facts about you. What I want to know is the real stuff.”

I shook my head. “No way. I’m not going to tell you anything unless you tell me something.”

She drummed her fingers on the desk, mulling it over in her mind. “Fine.”

“Where did you come from?”

“I moved here from Paris. Before that, I was in Australia, Spain, India, and sort of all over the place. I move around a lot,” she said.

“Why do you move so much? Are your parents in the military?” I asked. She stiffened and a strange look stained her face. I imagined it would be similar to someone who was lying to an interrogator and had suddenly screwed up their story.

“Yeah…you could say that,” she said.

“You don’t sound too sure.”

She smirked. “You caught me. Now, I’ll have to kill you.” There was no playfulness in her eyes. I couldn’t tell if she was joking. I felt like I was walking down a suspicious alley, and despite my instincts to turn back, I kept going.

“I-I c-can keep a secret,” I said.

“Good. You might need to use that skill in the near future.”

I shifted, unable to find a comfortable position. “So, how long are you staying here?”

“However long it takes,” she said, looking me dead in the eye. Then she pointed to the dozens of superhero pins on my backpack. “What is it about superheroes that interest you?”

I’d never gotten the chance to enthuse about superheroes with someone. My excitement burst out of me. “Are you kidding? What’s not interesting?! They have all these great powers and exciting lives. Don’t forget great costumes. Who wouldn’t want to be one?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. It sounds complicated. You’d always have to keep secrets, distance yourself from everyone you loved to protect them, and you can forget time to do anything you wanted,” she said.

“I would do it.”

She watched me with a scrutinizing gaze. “You’d honestly sacrifice everything to go around saving other people?”

“What would I be sacrificing?” I slouched and lowered my head. “I don’t have a girlfriend or friends; I spend all my time at home sitting around.”

“You’d have no problems leaving your family?”

“Well, I wouldn’t have to leave them entirely, right? I could still visit.”

She shook her head. “What if your enemy followed you home? What if they used your family to blackmail you? Could you put them in danger?”

I frowned. “No…I couldn’t.”

“There’s nothing wrong with fantasizing about being a hero, but you should be careful about what you wish for. You never know what’s out there.”

I thought it was ironic that she of all people would be saying that. Then a heavy weight fell onto my shoulders. My excitement disappeared. The truth was, even though I was scared, I was glad that she was there. She was the most intriguing thing about my life. Once she lost interest, I’d go back to my bland regularly scheduled programming.

“I think what’s out there is scarier than anything.” I stared at the desk. “I don’t want a mundane job, a cookie-cutter house, or a family that goes through the same boring routine over and over. I don’t want to live, and die, and be nothing.”

“You want to be famous?”

I found a tiny paper ball. I rolled it around between my index finger and thumb. “No, I don’t care if a lot of people know my name. I just want to know that I’m important, that I can do extraordinary things,” I said.

Sympathy filled her eyes. “But you can.”

I flicked my paper ball across the classroom. “No. The reality is that I can win a Nobel Prize, I could hand out free food to try to bring about world peace. What I want…” I sighed. “…what I want is to fly spaceships and defeat the evil empire. I want to do things no other human can do. But that sort of thing doesn’t exist, and to me that’s scary.” I looked around the room. “I mean, is this it? Is this all life has to offer? Is it all just about working to buy things? The greatest thing destiny can offer someone is a desk job?” There was a long pause, and I realized I’d just gushed out my most intimate thoughts. I felt naked. “Sorry, I’m probably boring you.”

“No, not even a little,” she said.

“Seriously? Talking about me is holding your attention? You, who has been all over the world. I should be asking about you.”

“But I already know about me.”

The bell sounded. For some funny reason, I didn’t try to escape. I let her follow me to the cafeteria. I got a tray from the stack in the corner and followed the line to the unhappy lunch ladies. I frowned at the brown lump placed on my tray.

“Do you want any?” I asked.

“Actually, I don’t eat meat,” she said.

“Really?” My face bunched up with confusion. If she couldn’t tolerate the idea of eating an animal, then there was no way she could bring herself to hurt me, right?

I turned around to face one of the worst parts of my day; trying to find a table to sit at. Since I didn’t belong to any social group, I was forced to sit alone at the graffiti-covered table that had a broken leg. The area had snatched the scent of Taco Tuesday and refused to let it go.

Only something disturbing happened, half of the school swarmed the area the moment we sat down. The popular cliques wedged themselves onto the benches beside us. Had they lost their minds?

My tormentor sat down beside me and wrapped a thick arm around my shoulders. “What’s up, man? Aren’t you gonna introduce me to your friend here?” He smiled and winked at Katherine. “So, I heard your name was Katie.” He pointed to himself. “I’m Derek. And as the best guy this school has to offer, I’m gracing you with first dibs. How about a movie after class?”

Frustrated, I waited for Katherine’s eyes to fill up with admiration and say she’d go anywhere with him—only she didn’t. Her eyes narrowed to slits.

“Katherine is my name. And, no, I don’t think I can go to a movie tonight.”

He reached across the table to grab her hand, a gesture that would put a guaranteed SOLD sign on any other girl. Her body shook, and her hands turned to fists. “Come on, what about—”

“No. I’ll be busy.”

“Oh, yeah? Doing what?”

“I’m hanging out with Daniel.”

Derek gave me a baffled look. He was probably thinking the same thing I was. Why would a girl like her want to hang out with me?

A storm brewed in his eyes. “Look, you can’t say no to a guy like me.”

“Just leave her alone, man,” I muttered.

“No one asked you, dough boy.”

Katherine sprang to her feet. “What did you say?!”

Derek looked shocked by the ferocity in Katherine’s tone. He seemed like a deflating balloon as he sunk in his seat while she towered over him. She invaded his personal space; nostrils flared like a bull.

“You want to run that by me one more time?”

His knees quivered. “W-well…” he glanced at his friends for help, and then he gestured to me, “he is. He’s fat a-and he’s weird. He never talks to anyone.”

“It’s better to say a few meaningful words than to exhale trash all of the time.” She turned to the others. “That’s the problem with all of you ignorant people. You think anyone who doesn’t act like you; you can declare as weird and treat however you please.”

“N-nuh-uh…”

“Well, guess what. You’re going to wake up one day to find all you have are empty, brainwashed lives and there’s nothing worthwhile inside of you. So you can all backoff! That’s right! Get up and leave!” She crossed her arms and waited for them to get moving.

My peers and classmates that had ridiculed and threw things at me all year could only stare at the ground like scolded children as they went back to their usual tables. I struggled to hide the victorious smile wiggling its way onto my face.

No one had ever stood up for me. No one had ever cared. For once, I felt like I had worth. Katherine was choosing me over all of them. I took my fork and poked my arm. Nope, I was awake. The world is about to end. That has to be it.

“Um, thank you?” I said as she sat back down.

“I know what it’s like to get picked on and you don’t deserve that,” she said. Something about that didn’t click in my mind. She was a triple threat; smart, beautiful, and friendly. Girls like that didn’t get picked on; everyone around them worshiped them.

After lunch, the cafeteria crowd separated into two groups; one headed towards the gym to watch a movie, and the other towards the library to work on last minute assignments. I hung my head and went towards the library.

“You should go watch the movie. I have to try to decipher the mysteries of algebra,” I said.

“Oh, do you want some help?”

I halted and looked back at her. “You’d rather help me with homework than sit around?” I gestured to the movie group.

“Yeah, math is fun.”

She was officially the weirdest stalker, ever.

We found a table hidden amongst the bookshelves. I gave her my textbook, and she went straight to work. One moment she was speaking English and the next it was some bizarre numerical language. My mind couldn’t resist the urge to wander somewhere else.

I ended up staring at her and wondering what her deal was. I thought stalkers started freaking out and twitching if they didn’t have someone’s full attention: Katherine certainly didn’t do that. It seemed like she asked me things to be polite (not because she was desperate to know) and she kept making me laugh. I had to remind myself of what she had done, but even that stopped bothering me. I was flattered that a girl like her had been stalking me.

I kept trying to gather the courage to confront her about why she did it, but I faltered. As minutes ticked by, I started to dread the end of the day. Was this the last time I was going to see her?

“…then you want to multiply X by thirty-seven—”

“Will you be coming back tomorrow?” I asked.

She looked around the library. It was the first time she bothered to pay attention to the school. I’d forgotten that “school” was supposedly the reason she was here. “A second look couldn’t hurt,” she said.

Warmth spread through my chest. The last bell rang and threw me out of my daze. I scooped everything back into my bag and hurried towards the hallway. If I made it to the bus stop before 3:35, I could catch the early bus home.

“Thanks for your help, I’ll see you tomorrow!” I called back to her.

Despite being locked up all day, not everyone was racing out of the school. Countless students moved lifelessly through the hallway, their energy drained. I tried to get around them, but they zigzagged and blocked me. I was forced to give up and trudge behind them just as slowly.

“Is it me, or are you still trying to get rid of me?” Katherine asked as she caught up to me.

“What? No! Of course not. It’s just…if I don’t catch the early bus, I won’t get home until six,” I said. She mouthed an “O.”

I held the door open until she passed through. The parking lot was loud with the sound of honking and everyone trying to scream over each other. Most of the commotion was coming from a swarm around a single car.

Katherine sighed. “I wish they’d leave my car alone.”

I stopped briefly as my eyes followed her. The horde backed out of her way to reveal a shiny red car. It was not one of the daddy-bought Mustangs or Convertibles some other kids drove. Her car looked like those on magazine covers that cost a fortune. How in the world could she afford it?

As she went to the driver’s side, some of the people surrounding the car tried to talk to her. She ignored them and got in. Once the engine roared to life, the crowd jumped back.

I refused to believe it and continued my lonely trek to the bus stop behind the school. I kept my eyes on the ground and soaked up the hot breeze the cars stirred up as they drove past. I wondered just how nice it would feel to drive home in a fancy car instead of on a cramped, smelly bus. A powerful engine made me jolt and look up. Waiting by the curb was that unmistakable red car, holding up traffic. The passenger window rolled down.

“Need a ride?” Katherine asked.

I felt like an ice cube was sliding down my back. My mind kept replaying the old cartoons warning children about strangers. Don’t you do it! Don’t you get in that car! Just keep on walking to the bus stop!

“Come on, I promise I won’t bite.” She smiled, and I moved towards the car like a moth drawn to light.

I ignored the blaring alarms in my head. I tried to reason with my fears. There was nothing dangerous about her. She hadn’t done anything suspicious all day. Serial killers weren’t this nice, and she was probably the nicest girl alive.

I got in, and the muggy air from outside evaporated in the air-conditioning. The car had that new smell to it, and the dashboard looked like it belonged on a spaceship. Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me” played quietly from the speakers.

The instant the door shut and my seatbelt clicked, the car blasted forward. The force pushed me into the back of my seat. I screamed internally at the onslaught of incoming objects: a curb, a house, and other cars. My body prepared for impact. I gripped my seat as Katherine wove through traffic so swiftly I heard the tires squealing.

This had to have been the worst idea I’d ever had. We were about to crash any second. All I could picture were the firefighters pulling a sack of broken bones from the mangled car and my mother screaming in agony over my body.

“AAAHHHH! Are you crazy?!” I shouted. “Slow down!”

“What? This is nothing,” she said. I was about to hyperventilate as she slammed her foot against the gas pedal. The car growled in response. I tried to close my eyes, but I couldn’t manage it. I had to witness the moment I died and left this world for good.

She yanked the wheel to the left. The car drifted around the corner, painting the road with tire marks. Another car was coming straight towards us, and I knew it couldn’t stop in time. The car got so close I saw the whites of the other driver’s eyes. Before the cars collided, Katherine easily swerved around and kept going. Ahead, a rapidly approaching light turned from yellow to red.

“Stop!” I begged. She hit the break. I was flung against my seatbelt and thrown back. I held my head. I was sure I had some sort of whiplash.

“Sorry?” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

I groaned and sank back into the seat, trying to catch my breath. “You deserve to get busted by a cop for driving like that! Are you trying to kill somebody?!”

“I’d like to see the cops try to catch me,” she said. “And no one has ever died because of my driving.”

“That’s hard to believe,” I said. “What kind of car is this, anyway?”

“To be specific, it’s a Saleen S7 Twin Turbo. It can go two hundred and forty-eight miles per hour, and zero to sixty in three point two seconds,” she said. I was astounded that she knew all of that.

“How much was this?”

“A few bucks,” she said. The light turned green, and we went back to speeding, only now it was slightly less reckless.

“Where’d you learn to drive?”

“Driving school.”

“You’re pulling my leg…” I said. She nodded, and I smiled. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“Or, maybe I just let you think that.”

Some part of me was still hoping that I was wrong and she wasn’t the person spying on me. That hope crumbled as she pulled up to my house without needing to ask for directions. There was no denying the facts anymore, no matter how unbelievable it all seemed. I pressed my lips together and stared at her.

“I can give you a ride tomorrow,” she said. “I mean, if you want.”

“Sure…” I said. I tried to reach for the door latch without looking, but my hand just fumbled. As I felt the blush rising, I finally grabbed the latch. “Uh, bye?”

“For now.”

I got out of the car and watched her as she sped away. I continued to stare into the distance long after the car had gone out of sight. I kept repeating one question to myself: what did she want from me?