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That night was the first night that I'd been comfortable in my home in weeks. The feeling of being watched was gone. My belongings weren't out of place when I went to my room.
I suppose I should've been grateful since it's what I wanted after all. Instead, I was disappointed. Now that I'd met the person stalking me, I was sad that she wasn't hanging over my shoulder.
I woke up the next morning afraid that Katherine Carvosso was a figment of my imagination or a very vivid dream. I started to believe that the day before couldn't have happened. I mean really, what were the chances of a girl like that talking to a guy like me?
Thankfully, my worry was short-lived. The second I looked outside, I saw that Katherine was waiting for me. She lay on the hood of her car, her skin gleaming in the sunlight, classic square shades over her eyes, in tight jeans, and a white button-up blouse with the sleeves rolled up.
One poor guy across the street couldn’t find the will to move out of the middle of his driveway. His coffee was pouring down the front of his clothes. A lady stopped as she was jogging by, put her hands on her hips, and probably wondered why she even bothered.
“Uh, hey-mom-I-don’t-need-a-ride-today-bye!” I said and dashed out of the house before my mom had a chance to ask any questions. I tried to look smooth as I walked down the path, but I tripped over my feet the closer I got to Katherine. “You know, you shouldn’t do that.”
She slid off of her car and landed lightly on her feet. She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow. “Do what?”
"A girl like you can't just sprawl herself over a car like this; it fries people's brains." I pointed to the guy across the street as an example.
“Are you saying I did that?” she whispered as she got into the car. I sagged into the passenger seat.
“Don’t act like you don’t know,” I said and fastened my seatbelt.
She giggled. “Please explain this, because I have no idea what you’re saying.”
“You’re gorgeous,” I said. My ears grew hot. She chewed her lip to try and hide the smile that wanted to break across her face. The car shot away from the curb.
After we parked in front of the school, I led the way inside. I looked at my shoes until I heard a few whistles and hollers directed our way. All eyes watched us so intensely it was as if they'd spotted royalty and were awaiting directions. I heard a sea of whispering all around us.
The football team glared at me. I guess I’d stolen their spotlight. Derek dug his fingers into his football and resisted the urge to hurl it at me.
“Does this happen everywhere you go?” I asked.
"Hmm?" Katherine looked away from her phone. "Oh, what, the staring? I don't know, maybe."
No one was brave enough to bother us today. Everyone left my usual area in the classroom deserted. After we had taken our seats, I have no idea what happened. I suddenly found myself walking to my next class. I didn’t even remember hearing the second bell ring. I rubbed my heavy eyelids. I guess I still had some sleep to catch up on.
Katherine's hand slipped into mine, and she whispered into my ear, "Let's get out of here."
“What do you mean? And go where?”
“Anywhere.” She bumped my shoulder with hers. “You can’t tell me this is fun for you.” I came to a stop as I realized what she was suggesting.
“You want me to ditch?”
“It’s not like you’d be missing anything important.”
"Yeah, but I can't just ditch…I—it's bad," I said. I looked over my shoulder and searched for a teacher. I felt like I was going to get in trouble by merely mentioning the D-word.
She shook her head. "You've been way too cooped up, I'm not letting you say no."
She tugged me along. I didn’t have the will to take my hand out of her grip and refuse. My blood buzzed as we went down an empty hallway. We ducked around corners and hid from any teachers we saw along the way.
We escaped out of the front entrance. Now that there were no more places to hide I ran straight for her car. Granted running for me was a sad jog. By the time I got to the car, I was gasping for air. We jumped inside. Katherine revved the engine and tore out of the parking lot. I laughed as I watched the school grow smaller in the side-view mirror.
“I can’t believe I did that,” I said and ran a hand through my hair. I felt weightless.
The day invited me to forget that ditching was bad with its cloudless blue sky, dazzling sunlight, and traffic free roads. The songs on the radio kept my thoughts at bay, and the engine's hum massaged my muscles. The grungy buildings of downtown faded into shopping centers and neighborhoods. Only the gurgle from my stomach pulled me from my trance.
“Hungry?”
“I guess so,” I said. We exited the highway and searched the side of the road. I pointed to a modern-day glass hut, splattered with color and character pictures. “A burger sounds nice.”
"No, absolutely not. Fast food is suicide." She stuck her tongue out and shivered as we drove past.
Eventually, we pulled up to an impressive building that resembled a pagoda. Samurai statues guarded the tinted windows. A handful of men in sharp suits went inside. Katherine's car was not totally out of place in the parking lot.
“Now this is real food: all organic, locally acquired, and their employees don’t work like dogs for minimum wage,” she said.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
It was dim inside. Glass cases held ancient replicas of armor and ornate teapots. The dining room was loud from all of the conversations and sizzling grills. Katherine spoke quietly to the hostess, and we were led to a secluded table, away from the noise.
“We will be right with you.” The hostess bowed.
Katherine waved her off and said something in another language. My brow arched. “You speak Chinese?”
“Japanese.”
“Oh, whoops.”
Despite having a large table to ourselves, Katherine planted herself in the chair beside me. Our arms were close enough to touch. I gulped at the minuscule gap separating us. Why would she sit so close to me?
“May I get you something to drink?” a waiter asked.
“Two strawberry lemonades, please,” she said. The waiter nodded and walked away. Katherine put her elbows on the table and turned to me. “So, five years from now, what do you want your life to be like?”
I scratched the back of my head. “I guess if I have to pick…I’d like to draw comic books professionally.”
She laughed. “That’s it?”
I tapped my chopsticks together. “I don’t like talking about myself,” I said.
"Don't worry so much about what people think about you. Be yourself. If that's not good enough for them, then you didn't need those sorts of people in your life," she said and poked my side. It tickled, and I fought against the compulsion to smile. "So, what, no wife? No five-million-dollar home?"
"I thought the whole point of the ‘Five Years from Now' question was to be realistic," I said.
The sound of a buzzing phone interrupted us. She took her phone out of her pocket. Her pleasant expression darkened when she opened a text message. I couldn’t read what it said. Her thumbs pounded at the screen in response. Her body became rigid. She jammed the phone back into her pocket. Her foot tapped on the floor, a million taps per second, and she chewed her thumbnail.
“Uh…is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, sure,” she answered, but her thoughts were clearly elsewhere. “You didn’t have to be somewhere after school, right?” I shook my head. “Good.”
My curiosity was rising. Questions zipped through my mind. I didn’t care about trying to coax answers out of her anymore. I had to know, now.
“Why are you here?”
“We’re getting to know each other.”
“Not really. You won’t let me ask anything about you.”
"Perhaps you don't give me questions I like," she said. My lips formed a tight line. "There's plenty I could tell you. I like the color green. I had a cat named Oreo because she was black and white. My favorite pastime is hiking. See, you never asked about that sort of thing."
“That’s great but—”
“Don’t ask about what I can’t tell you.”
I blinked. "Why can't you tell me?" She ignored me, and she sipped her lemonade. "What are you? A spy? A secret agent?"
“I’m not answering that.”
“Is it against the rules or something? Do you have superiors watching your every move?” I peered over my shoulder.
The chef arrived, saving Katherine from my barrage of questions. I had enough sense to stop asking in front of a stranger. As I watched our food cook, I ran through several theories about her. She had to be a part of some big ultra-classified organization; CIA (possibly), or an unknown military branch. From what I could tell, she was well trained. She snuck into my house like it was nothing. She was a talented liar. She'd made it seem like she slipped so I could catch on that something was out of place. But I was sure I didn't know anything that she didn't want me to know.
I tried to enjoy the chef's skills of flipping his spatulas and making artful displays with our food, but it was hard with Katherine's mood change. She glared at the chef like she just wanted him to cook the food and quit playing around. Her phone continued to go off. Every time she checked it, the edgier she became.
"Finally," she said once the food was ready. She snatched her plate, ate three bites, and then pushed it away. She crossed her arms and waited for the bill to come.
I basked in the onslaught of flavor. Everything was cooked to perfection. I didn't know how the chef could mess around like he did and the food still came out spot-on. If I tried doing that in the kitchen, all I would get is some unevenly cooked food. I cleaned my plate. Full and satisfied, I leaned back in my chair and became aware of the world around me once more.
Katherine was eyeing me like a turtle that took ten minutes to cross its tank. “Are you done now?”
“Yeah.”
I realized why she was so irritated. Our server was waiting for me to finish before bringing the bill. When she opened it, I saw the price of our lunch.
“Whoa! Uh, I don’t have that kind of money,” I said.
“I got it,” she said as she took out a roll of hundreds. My eyes bugged out. Who walked around with that much cash? I wanted to ask about it, but she was already making her way towards the exit. I had to waddle to keep up with her.
Her sense of urgency got worse once we were outside. Her eyes scanned the area. When I didn’t walk fast enough, she pushed me forward gently. Not even the safety of the car made her calm down. She squeezed the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white.
“Where to now?” she asked.
“Well, there’s a mall across the street—” Before I could finish, the car was halfway to the nearest intersection.
The mall wasn't crowded like it was on the weekends, but there were a few clusters of people. Katherine made it a habit of blending into each and every one. She kept me away from the windows and stores that were too empty.
“Why are you avoiding empty places?”
"I'm not. If you really want to go into the women's lingerie store, go right ahead," she said. After that, I kept my mouth shut.
We did four laps around the mall before we ran out of things to look at, so she dragged me to the movie theater. The darkness seemed to put her at ease. Her eyes stopped darting around so much, and the tension in her muscles lessened.
The first movie we watched was three hours. Apparently, that wasn't long enough to avoid whatever it was she was hiding from. I didn't mind. I got to see whatever I wanted. The only requirement was that it had to be at least two hours. At times, she would lean over and whisper into my ear; a joke, or an insightful fact I didn't know. I hadn't really had the experience of going to the movies with someone closer to my age (at least I think she was). That was fun to know what it was like.
She was reluctant to buy snacks until she saw the candy. She bought a small mountain of Skittles. Since she got junk, she agreed it was only fair that I got some, too.
The next time I checked my watch, it said 9:46 p.m. My mouth fell open. I checked my phone. My mom had sent a couple of messages and called ten times. I opened one of the texts.
MotherShip: Where are you? Are you still alive?
Dan: I’m ok. Sorry, hanging out with a friend. Be home soon.
I didn’t have to wait long for a reply.
MotherShip: Ooo a friend? Is it a girl?
I shook my head at the phone. I wasn’t even going to respond to that. I tucked the phone away. Katherine stood beside me, eyeing everyone like they were up to no good.
“I really liked the movies,” I said. I wasn’t sure if I had her attention, she didn’t bother to look at me. “But I should probably go home. School tomorrow and my mom is worried…”
She frowned, hung her head, and let her arms dangle lifelessly. “Alright,” she said. “You’ve grown weary of my company.”
“You know I haven't," I said. Her head jerked up, and a stunning smile appeared on her face like nothing was wrong.
“Just checking.”
We went past a strip of outlet stores that formed a walkway between the theater and the mall. The storefronts were dark and barred, and the walkway was lit by cozy lanterns now that the sun had gone down.
The others who had seen the last movie with us were all parked by the theater. Katherine’s car was still on the other side of the mall. So, it was just the two of us as we walked back.
Our footsteps echoed around us. Katherine’s eyes dashed left and right. The further we went, the more her phone buzzed with messages. She didn’t check them.
I didn't have to be a super spy to know something was wrong. I could feel it in the heavy air, and in the way the hairs on my arms stood up. The area didn't feel so big and empty anymore; it felt tight and claustrophobic—like many invisible eyes surrounded us.
My lungs clenched, and I had to remember to breathe. I searched for anything that might be out of place, but I didn't look too hard; I didn't want to find out.
She grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind her. “Stay close,” she whispered and slowed her pace.
She took another cautious step forward. We were now standing in the center of an intersection. Leading out to the parking lot were two passageways between the stores. There were two figures on each side waiting in the shadows. The sight of them felt like a punch to the chest. I heard pounding in my ears.
All four, men I saw now—slowly came towards us. They were tall and muscular. They wore black tactical clothing with lots of pockets. An assortment of knives hung on their belts. Even in the faint light I could tell they had cold, hard expressions, and their eyes all held a strong sense of purpose. They were all looking at me.
A hard bubble of air formed in my throat.
Katherine growled. “Great.”