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Ryan: It’s too late to make amendments now. And that nickname doesn’t bother me. Rabbits are known for their virility.
Ugh. He had to stop. Stop making me laugh and saying things that made me think about what it would be like to sleep with him. Would he be gentle or rough? Was he a one-and-done kind of guy or did he settle in for the night?
I needed coffee, and a distraction asap. I couldn’t think straight without it.
I hopped back into my car and headed for the convenience store at the end of my street. At nearly one in the morning, there was no one else inside the plaza parking lot. All the other stores were closed except for the small shop. I stepped out of my car but then remembered that I’d left my purse in the passenger seat, so I walked back to grab it.
I’d just slammed the door shut and turned around when a man appeared in front of me.
My heart leaped in my chest at the sight of the black ski mask and knife.
“The purse. Give it to me,” he said.
I wasn’t an idiot. I’d been in this situation before and each time I’d handed over my purse without hesitation. But this time was different.
Maybe it was because his voice shook, or maybe it was the trembling of the knife, but I looked into this man’s eyes and realized he was just a boy.
“I will give you my purse,” I said calmly, holding the purse above my head. “Or you can walk away right now with a clean record and go about your life.”
The hand holding the knife dipped but stiffened. A car horn blared in the distance and the boy turned around to look behind him. I didn’t think twice. I punched the knife out of his hand and he watched it fall to the pavement. His eyes grew big, and I felt like he was about to cry before he turned around and ran.
Panting, I stood in the parking lot and collected myself. I sighed, seeing the irony that I had also held a knife earlier and that I wasn’t so very different from this boy when I was his age. I wondered if he would be as sick to his stomach tonight as I was right now. God, I hoped so. It might stop him from trying it again on someone else.
I walked slowly into the convenience store, afraid my jelly legs would crumble beneath me. I knew exactly where the coffee pods were, picked up two boxes, and brought them straight to the register.
I didn’t bother to look at the clerk’s face behind the register or listen for the amount that I owed. When he pushed the machine in front of me, I simply tapped my credit card and walked out the door.
Sitting inside my car, I locked all the doors and dropped my head onto the steering wheel.
God, why couldn’t I have a normal night? Why couldn’t I go to work, come home, study, and wake up the next morning and do it all over again without there being some complication, situation, or a fucking robbery in my life?!
Was it me? Was I the problem?
I wallowed in self-pity for a little longer until my heart rate slowed and I knew I was capable of driving home. But before I could start the car, my phone beeped.
Ryan: Have dinner with me this Saturday
I didn’t respond to his message. I didn’t have the words or the energy to banter right now.
But when my phone beeped again, I couldn’t help but look. Only this time, it wasn’t Ryan. It was Sam.
Turns out I wasn’t the only one who had found trouble tonight.
Sam: I need your help. I’m at the police station. Can you come get me?
*
The station was about fifteen minutes away. My imagination went wild the entire time, wondering what had happened. Did someone hurt her? Was she robbed? Was there some sort of initiation happening tonight? If that were the case, anything could have happened to Sam.
By the time I walked through the front entrance of the station and approached the officer at the front desk, I was all out of patience.
“I’m looking for a friend. Her name is Samantha Rivers. She called me less than thirty minutes ago… Is she okay?”
The officer with a shaved head and a goatee stared at me for a long time until I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Are you going to take me to her, or what?”
He looked bored. “What did you say her name was again?”
“Samantha Rivers,” I bit out. I knew this was his way of showing me exactly who was in charge here, and I knew that any more rudeness from my end might annoy him enough to stall on purpose. So, I took a deep breath and thought of Mavis. What would Mavis do? She would stare at him with her tilted eyes and regal posture and wait until she got what she wanted. He continued to pretend to look at his computer.
