“I think someone’s following me.”

“What?” Was what I said to his ridiculous assumption that someone had the time and energy to follow him around. “Someone’s following you?” He nodded fast to my sarcastic tone as he was saying “Yes! Really!” “You can’t even get a girlfriend! Why the hell would someone stalk you?”

“I’ve been getting a lot of weird messages and I hear things.”

“What do you hear? That one stair close to the floor that creaks?” He was now getting irritated and took out his phone as he swiped to something quickly. He slid the phone across my bed and pointed at it from where he was standing.

“See that! That man was standing at the bus stop I passed again! I finally got a picture of him. He’s been getting closer and I see him everywhere.” I sighed and handed him his phone back as he took it with a hopeful look on his face but I shot him down.

“Dawson, you realize that our town is kind of small? He probably gets on that bus everyday to go to his job to deliver pizzas or whatever. Look, you’re probably just paranoid. Try to get some sleep okay?” He sighed and nodded sadly before leaving and closing my door behind him. I could hear his footsteps get quieter and quieter as he walked down the hallway. I laid down with my head against the pillow and contemplated what I had just told him. I was a right? He probably felt bad that I wasn’t taking him seriously. But I’m sure he IS just paranoid. I turned over on my side and slowly drifted to sleep from my tiring day.

The next day Dawson didn’t come out of school. He didn’t walk out with Kayla, his best friend, laughing, talking, then doing their handshake so they could go their separate ways. I didn’t see any of it. I decided to wait. I waited and waited and he still didn’t come out. It was now 4:32 and I was starting to get worried. Maybe he had a new after school activity or he had a test to finish. 30 minutes later, he still didn’t come out. I needed to look for him. I went back inside and went down the hallway of his classroom. The room was dark; door locked. I walked to the office and yet no one was there. Where was he? I frantically paced through the school and once I realized he was no where to be found I called his phone. After 15 calls there was no answer. But there was a dark blue car sitting on the side of the road. A man in a dark sweatshirt with his hood up along with sweatpants to match walked around the car and before he got in, he looked directly at me. He then sped off down the street without a second thought and my heart dropped.

Shit.