“Yes, thank you.”
She climbed in the back of the car, settling down on the cloth seats. Rubbing her sore wrists, she replayed her encounter with the man, and it made her insides tingle with fear.
Several minutes later, the security patrol car stopped. “Here you are.” Kylie hesitantly looked at the back of her dorm building. “Do you want one of us to escort you inside?”
“I do, thanks.” She slid out of the vehicle, scanning the parking lot. There wasn’t any sign of a purple Corvette, just a few students exiting from their cars. She sprinted up the stairs, thanked the guard, and breathed deeply when she entered her room. Locking her door, she checked it twice, afraidhemay know where she lived, especially since he knew her name. She shuddered, then began hanging up the new clothes she’d purchased, the fun of shopping overshadowed by her strange encounter in the parking lot.
Half an hour later, Kylie heard a key turning in the lock. Taylor walked in with an armload of books. “What’s up with bolting all the locks?” She threw the books on her bed, grabbed a Coke from the mini fridge, and slumped in the cushy chair by the window.
“I was sorta freaked out. This guy came up to me when I was trekking back to the dorm from parking lot C.” Kylie then recounted what had happened while she walked back to the building. “Sometimes he seemed cool and sincere, like he was a pal or something. He made me feel unafraid until he’d stare at me like he was undressing me, or a hard edge would slip into his voice. I’ve never had an experience like that before with a total stranger.” She took a sip from her bottled water. “He knew my name. Too scary.”
“He sounds like a perv who wanted to pick you up. If he goes to the university, it’s not hard to find out a girl’s name. Maybe he’s been crushing on you from a distance. Was he good-looking?”
“I couldn’t see him clearly. He wore these big mirrored sunglasses with really thick, gold frames. They looked like something a pimp would wear, or someone back in the 1970s.” She shook her head. “He wanted me to get in the car, but I got the vibe he’d hurt me. I hope I don’t see him again.”
“Remember last year when that guy kept trying to pick up girls in the parking lots behind the dorms? When the university got a lot of complaints, they finally beefed up security, and he went away.”
Kylie pulled her hair in a low ponytail. “Oh, yeah, I remember now. I totally forgot about that. I wonder if he’s back, and that’s who the guy was. What kind of car did the women say he drove? I can’t remember.”
“Me neither. You should file a report with campus security.”
“The two guards told me that, as well. I plan to.”
“The guy from last year just got his kicks out of talking to the women. Fucking fantastic that we have to watch out for pervs on top of everything else.”
“I know.” Kylie wanted to believe the guy was just some weirdo who got his jollies from talking to women in parking lots, but her gut told her he’d targeted her. He wanted something with her. Something dark, perverse, and terrifying. She knew she should tell her dad, but she was afraid he’d overreact and make her come back to Pinewood Springs, and she liked being on her own. She was probably reading more into the encounter than there was; the guy was probably some jerk who thought he was super cool. When she didn’t wax up to him, it bruised his ego. Some men were like that.
“Let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
Shaking off the dark feelings, Kylie grabbed her wrist wallet. “Me too. Cafeteria or café?”
“Cafeteria. I’m low on money until next week when my dad puts my monthly stipend in the bank.”
Opening the door, Kylie said, “Let’s go.”
The two women walked down the hall.
***
“The movie wasgreat,” Kylie said as she entered the restaurant, Ricky’s hand on the small of her back. “It was so fast-paced I held my breath through most of it.”
“I know what you mean. I loved it. It was the anti-hero at his best.”
The Burger Shack was teeming with young people. The eatery served up fat, juicy burgers, fries, onion rings, shakes, and fountain drinks at an affordable price, so it was little wonder that it was a favorite weekend hangout for college students.
Kylie and Ricky sat in a small booth next to the window, and the din of video games, laughter, conversation, and the ever-present tunes from the digital jukebox on the wall filled the eatery. She picked up a piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard tabletop, “What are you going to eat?”
Ricky laughed and placed his hand over hers. She stiffened slightly, causing him to slide his hand away. “It’s not that loud, is it?” He looked at the one-sheet menu. “You want some wings to start?”
“Sure.”
For the next hour, they laughed and talked, and when Ricky excused himself to go to the bathroom, Kylie realized she was having a good time. She knew several people in the place, so she chatted with them until he came back.
After he paid the bill, they left, the reduction in noise immediately apparent. “That was so good. I’m more than stuffed. I’m going to have to work out even longer tomorrow,” Kylie said.
“Do you work out at the school’s gym?”
She shook her head, tugging her leather jacket tighter around her. “No, I go to a martial arts studio. I work out there before class.”
