Untitled Chapter 5 (Stalker)

    My eyes flicker open to the muted light of early morning. If I don’t fall asleep immediately after coming home from school, then I usually go to bed around eight or nine, then get up around six or seven the next morning.
    As I brush my teeth and wash my face, I think about what had happened last night.
    I don’t outright suspect Michael of spying on me, but I couldn’t ignore the coincidence that I’m almost positive I’d seen someone looking in my window, just after Michael had finished telling me about whatever “danger” he knew about and had to protect me from.
    Not feeling very hungry, due to the squirming my stomach is doing, I skip breakfast and move on to cleaning my room and house, doing the laundry, dishes, and checking my e-mail for the next three hours until I get a text from Amy. She wants to go to hit the mall then go to the library to get some homework done.
    After a major shopping spree--hey, my father may be a drunk, but he has a great job and gets paid a lot--Amy and I throw our bags into the trunk of my car and head over to the library.
    “So Michael’s quite the hottie, isn’t he?” She says, as we sit in the corner on the library on the ground.
    “Maybe.” I say nonchalantly, keeping my eyes down on my Alg 2 homework.
    “Oh please.” She replies. “You have a weakness for guys like that. And I must admit, he’s pretty hot for someone who isn’t black.”
    I roll my eyes. Amy has a thing for black guys, maybe since she’s like three percent black or whatever. It’s not that I’m racist or anything, but I’m just not into them.
    “Do I have to call Travis and tell him you’ve been checking out other guys?” I ask jokingly.
    Travis is Amy’s long distance boyfriend. He lives more than five states over in Denver, Colorado. They met at a party because his father is her father’s friend or something like that. Travis is also very protective of Amy. No smoking, no drinking, no checking out other guys.
    “Well?” Amy insists.
    “Well, what?”
    “I’m waiting for you to gush about how completely gorgeous he is.”
    “Don’t hold your breath.” I tell her.
    I hate to admit it, but Amy’s right. Michael is hot, but there’s also something wrong about him. Something scary, but also something a little bit amazing. How he’d said he was here to protect me. I’ve always fantasized about a guy protecting me from danger and all that jazz, but not some stranger that just shows up, automatically knowing two girls that are in all my classes, then being in all my classes himself. Not some stranger that somehow finds out where I live and watches me through my window at night. Not some stranger who can see the shadows I’d previously thought only I could see. Not a stranger at all.
    I want to tell Amy that I think Michael is following me, but my stomach twisting and turning keeps me from doing so. But the urge to tell her grows when I see him across the room, standing in the opposite corner, seemingly buried in a book.
    “He’s here.” I whisper.
    Amy looks up and spots him. “Do you think it’s creepy he’s here at the same time we are?”
    “Do you?”
    “I think he’s following you.” She says and my heart jumping even though she’s snickering.
    “I think it’s just a coincidence.”
    This isn’t true. I don’t think it’s coincidence. I really do think he’s following me. The question makes my heart beat faster after what had happened last night and the fact that I hadn’t mentioned it to Amy.
    “Michael!” Amy stage-whispers. “Over here! Are you stalking Lia?”
    My arm wraps around her head and my hand clamps over her mouth and she falls over slightly, laughing hard. “Shut up!”
    Amy is still laughing softly as I let her up. “I bet he’s following you.”
    I shove her head and pick up my books before stalking out of the library. She follows after me, still snickering, but drops it once we’re in the car and I’m dropping her off. She promises to text me later before shutting the door and leaves me to my thoughts on the drive home.