“Hey beautiful.” He said.
“What do you want?” I asked keeping my tone
light and fearless.
“You.” He laughed. “You look lonely. I thought
I'd join you.”
“I'm fine. Thanks for your concern.” I turned
away from him and walked faster.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Let go of me.” I said evenly. With my other
hand, I reached into my bag and wrapped my fingers around the can of pepper
spray.
He smirked and came closer until our faces were
inches away. His breath blew into my face. Alcohol. Definitely. He was going to
kiss me. I felt my stomach curl into a ball as the fear registered.
Keeping my calm, I pulled out the pepper spray
and pressed on the nozzle aiming at his eyes.
He cussed and cried out in pain. “Damn it!”
I immediately shook off his hand and ran like
crazy. I didn't pay attention to where I was going, just what I was running
from. I ran for several minutes. I glanced behind me periodically to make sure
he wasn't following. Just then, I bumped, or more like crashed into somebody.
“I am so sorry.” I said quickly and started running again.
“Wait!” The person I knocked down called.
I didn't wait. I just kept running.
He caught up with me easily. He ran next to me.
“Who are we running from?” He asked.
“What? What do you think you're doing?” I asked
shocked.
“Why are you running?” He asked me back.
“Why are you running with me?”
“Who's chasing you?” He asked stubbornly
refusing to answer any of my questions.
I groaned and stopped running when I thought we
were in the clear. I didn't know where we were now. All I knew was that we were
behind some building near the main road. I panted trying to catch my breath. He
did the same.
“Well?” He asked after a while.
I looked up to study him. He had brown hair
that was a mess due to all the running. Somehow, it still looked good. He was
dressed in a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pushed up slightly
and jeans that were designed to look torn and faded. What prevented me from
responding was his eyes. They were blue I realized. They looked warm and kind.
“Hello? Anybody in there?” He asked.
I flushed and said, “Some guy was chasing me.”
“Some guy?”
“He was harassing me. I murdered his eyes with
pepper spray.” I said showing off the can of pepper spray.
“Tough.” He commented smiling. Then, he was
serious. “Are you alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Cause if you aren't, I'd be happy to go back
to that guy and punch his teeth out.”
“Why?” I asked confused. “You don't know me.”
“I despise guys who treat women like that.” He
shrugged and leaned against the cinder wall of the building we were behind.
“Ah... I see.”
“What's your name?”
“Lilliane.”
“Pretty name.”
“Thanks.” I smiled.
“You should go home.” He told me. “Around here,
if you're this beautiful,” He said gesturing to me making me blush, “you
shouldn't be around here. It's not really safe, you know?” He smiled. “Oh I
almost forgot.” He said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small silver
object. He handed it to me. “It fell out of your bag when we bumped into each
other.” He smiled again.
“Thanks so much. Actually, I bumped into you.”
I reminded him.
“Right. You were trying to run backwards. My
advice: Get eyes on the back of your head.” He smirked.
I scowled. Then I asked, “Did I hurt you? I
think you cushioned my fall.” My face and tone was sheepish.
He looked at his elbows that were slightly
grazed. “Not much. I'll live.” He said.
“Sorry. I really didn't mean to.”
“It's alright. Go on home now. Need me to call
a cab for you? You don't seem very capable.” He teased.
“I'll walk. My house isn't far.”
“Are you kidding? After that experience you
still want to walk?”
“I'm not supposed to be out.” I said biting my
lip. “If I call a cab and all, the headlights, the sound of the car, I don't
know. I'm afraid my parents will wake up.”
“Alrighty then. I'll walk you. If I leave you
alone now, and you get bothered by some guy again, it'll be partially my
fault.”
“That's a strange excuse.” I commented. “What
the hell?” I said shrugging.
“So what're you doing out this late?” He asked
as we started walking.
“Clearing my head.”
He snorted. “Bet it didn't work.”
“Nope.” I admitted.
“Want to tell me what's going on?”
“I don't think so.” I said warily giving him a
wry smile.
“Right. Sorry. I guess it's too much to tell to
someone you barely met.” He replied understandingly.
“So, you never told me your name.” I said when
we were a block away from my house.
“Dylan.” He smiled. I realized that he had a
very nice smile. It was the kind of smile that could brighten anybody's day no
matter how crappy the day was.
“Well, thank you for your help tonight, Dylan.”
“It was my genuine pleasure.” He mimicked my
formal tone. His eyes danced playfully.
“Alright. I should... get inside.” I said
regretfully. Why did I sound so rueful?
“Okay. I'll be seeing ya, Lil.” He smiled at me
one last time then he was gone.