"OVER THERE," MORGAN says, pointing at the shop across from us. "It's a really cute store, let's go."
I'm at the mall with Morgan-it's Saturday afternoon, the day after the night of the party. She texted me this morning and told me that she and Claire were going, and invited me to come along. But then Claire had some last-minute emergency and had to cancel, so now it's just me and Morgan. I really like her; she tries hard to make me feel included, and welcome. I've only known her for a day and I already feel close to her. Monday, when I return to school, I'll feel much more comfortable knowing that I have friends.
"Okay," I shrug, and follow her in the right direction.
Then I see him. Standing there with his hand in his pocket, leaning against the store's doorframe...he's even more beautiful in the light. I tense, my body instantly overcome with fear, frozen again. I can't move, I can't think, I can't do anything.
But suddenly I know that I have to move. Now.
He gives me a sky wink, aware that I've spotted him. He's been following me again, I know it. He's tracked me all the way to the mall. To the very store I'm entering.
Grabbing Morgan's arm and steering her away, I state urgently, "Stop. We can't go in there."
She throws me a bewildered look. "Why not?"
"That boy in there. Do you see him? At the entrance?"
She looks around, confused. "The hot one?"
I roll my eyes but nod my head, gripping her arm tighter to prevent her from nearing him. "That's the boy that chased me last night."
Eyes widening, she whispers, "Oh...that's creepy. He's staring at you."
"Yeah. I bet he's been following us...we should leave. Like now."
We walk as quick as we can in the opposite direction without raising suspicion. We're getting farther, we're about to turn a corner, we've passed several stores-
"Hey! Lexi!"
I pretend not to hear and keep walking. Crap...I'm truly terrified of this boy.
"Lexi! Wait up!"
His voice is closer now, and I glance at Morgan.
"What do we do?" she hisses.
"I don't know!" I reply, feeling tears threaten to spill over. I try to calm myself, but I can't. There's an older boy stalking me. And now he's following me in the mall. And he's trying to get me alone.
"I know you hear me, stop!"
I nearly fall over as I feel a large, rough, and unbelievably strong hand close around my forearm, yanking me back. My eyes show terror, I'm sure-there's no hiding it at this point.
"Why are you so scared of me?" Landon whispers, his face close to mine.
And for some strange reason, at his words, reality comes and hits me with the force of a freight train, and my situation becomes much more real. Wherever my confidence was hiding, it's broken out, and I'm able to act myself. As my instincts rush forward to take charge, my free hand raises, and I hear the smack of skin on skin. Though Landon doesn't react, his expression changes, and now he looks angry.
I've slapped him. Right in the face.
I manage to continue staring into his eyes in defiance, though my insides are cowering in fear. He stares back, and his grip on my arm grows stronger.
"Leave. Me. Alone," I demand. He releases my arm and I begin to rub it, feeling shooting pain.
"Fine," Landon says. "I'm in no hurry to win you over."
And he stalks away, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, leaving me standing there awkwardly, shocked and shaken.
Our little scene has caused many passerby to stop and stare, and as I look around for Morgan, I notice people watching me, openmouthed. But I don't care. I march over to my friend, who is pushed up against a wall, looking at me in disbelief. I take a deep breath to calm myself.
"We're leaving," I whisper. All Morgan can do is nod.
•••
I'm finally going to get a car next week. I know how to drive-I passed my test and got my license in New Zealand, and for a short time, I rented a car so I could get used to driving one. But there was no real need for a teenager to have one, so I never had my own. But here, in Oklahoma, there are not as many places that can be reached easily by walking, so it is much more necessary for me to have a car. So I convinced my parents, and I'm getting one next week. But as for right now, I'm carless. And that's why I'm having to walk to the corner convenience store to get my family bread for sandwiches.
The cars pass quickly on the street, and I stay in the grass, hugging the line of trees marking the start of the woods. I'm scared to be alone, but of course I can't tell my parents about Landon. They'd call the police or something.
Finally, I reach the parking lot and walk inside the store, buying my bread and hurrying out.
But now the Starbucks across the street is calling my name, and I can't resist. I'm in desperate need of a frappecino.
"I'll have a cookie-crumble frappe," I tell the barista a few minutes later after walking across the street and entering the coffee shop. She nods and tells me the price.
I fumble around in my pocket, trying to find the exact amount of change required, when suddenly a five dollar bill is slapped into the counter by the man now standing next to me.
"Her drink's on me," he tells the employee in a deep voice. "Keep the change."
I turn my head towards him, fearing the worst, but the man is now turned to the opposite direction with his hood up.
I stand there awkwardly until the woman hands me my frappe. Mumbling a thanks, I turn towards the door, but suddenly an arm is draped around my shoulders and is steering me away towards the nearest table. Whipping around, I find myself face to face with Landon...of course.
"You're not leaving, you're going to sit and drink and have a civilized conversation with me, whether you like it or not. I'm tired of you running away."
I'm exasperated, not to mention frightened, but I feel as if I have no other choice but to sit at the booth. So I sit, hands shaking while gripping my coffee, and watch as Landon shakes his hood off. Oh my gosh, and those muscles...he's so strong, how was I stupid enough to slap him? There's no telling what he could do to me if I make him angry again.
"Thank you," he mutters, leaning closer across the table. "Thank you for behaving."
I still feel as if I should bolt, and I'm sitting slightly raised, ready to take off at any moment. Instead of responding, I stare at him, and he gives me a questioning look.
"What?"
"I'm just trying to figure out what you want," I say softly.
Landon smirks. "I thought that would be obvious by now."
I raise my eyebrows, and Landon continues.
"I want you."
I automatically scoot back in the bench, edging away from him, repulsed. Does he mean what I think he means?
"Not necessarily that way," he reassures me, and I relax a little bit. "I just really like you."
"You don't know me," I point out.
"But I want to know you."
I continue to stare at him, not knowing what to say. Then I take a deep breath.
"Look," I say, slowly and calmly, "that's really nice and all, but I'm not interested. You kind of ruined any chances by telling me that you were following me. Surely you could've thought of a better way to talk to me than stalking me? Plus, you're older than me, and I'm not really into the whole bad-boy act, and honestly, you've really been freaking me out. Thank you for the drink, but if you'll excuse me, I need to go now."
I gather my drink and the bag from the convenience store, standing up. Landon's face is expressionless. I'm almost to the door when I hear his voice.
"Lexi?"
I turn to face him, exasperated.
"Just let me take you to lunch tomorrow."
I roll my eyes and leave, feeling the door swing shut behind me.
•••
"What took you so long?" Mom asks.
"I got a drink at Starbucks and I ran into a friend," I lie. "Sorry."
Once in my room, I dig my phone out of my pocket and turn it on-there's a text from Morgan:
"hey I've been thinking. That guy that's been following you looked really familiar to me earlier, and I just realized why. His name is landon, right? He's twenty and he's known for getting in fights around town. He's a bad boy, I remember him from school, he dropped out two years ago. I've seen him at clubs before too, he drinks a lot and sleeps around with girls. Try to stay away from him...I remember him as bad news. Just thought you should know--Morgan. Xx"
I finish reading her text and hastily send a reply, then fall back on my bed and close my eyes. I'm even more scared of Landon now. He's apparently known for violent behavior, he drinks a lot and goes clubbing, and sleeps around with girls?
I end up crying myself to sleep tonight. It's not only Landon, it's a lot of things actually...I miss Austin terribly, and I can't talk to him enough. I'm nervous about my new school. I'm unfamiliar with the area, and I want to go back to New Zealand. I wish that my parents would stop having so much control over me and treating me like a kid. I wish that none of this would have ever happened. I wish that we could have stayed. I wish that things would go back to how they were two weeks ago, before my life was changed so dramatically.
•••
"Lexi, will you go get the mail please?"
My dad peers at me over the top of his newspaper. It's a little past noon, and my mom is in the kitchen fixing lunch.
"Okay," I tell him, getting out of my comfortable chair and heading outside to the mailbox.
Although the day is young, I am already ready-that is, I'm dressed, my hair is done, and I have on makeup. This is because I plan to go clothes shopping later with my mom.
As open the box to remove the mail, I am aware of a car driving unusually slow on the street behind me. Deciding to ignore it, I gather the envelopes and start back up the sidewalk.
And that's when I hear it. The sound of a window rolling down. I stop immediately and turn around.
"Hey! Lexi!"
Breathing deeply and telling myself to remain calm, I call back to Landon.
"What do you want?"
"I'm here to take you to lunch, remember?"
I take a few steps closer to his black Jeep.
"How do you know where I live?"
Now I'm wanting to smack that stupid smirk right off his face.
"I have my ways," he says.
"And I never agreed to this! Can you not just leave me alone?"
I watch him close his eyes for a moment, as if feeling pain or fighting an internal battle. "No," he states quietly. "I can't."
"Well, you can try," I tort hotly, turning on my heel and striding back to my front door.
The sound of his car door opening stops me, my hand tightly gripping the handle of my own door. He's coming towards me. Oh my gosh, he's at my house...
Landon's hands come to rest on my shoulders as he turns me around to face him.
"You're turning out to be a much bigger challenge than I thought," he mumbles, and I look up into his beautiful blue eyes. It's like I'm being swallowed whole; I can't look away. How could this gorgeous person possibly want anything to do with me? "Please. If you just come to lunch with me today, I swear I won't bother you as much."
I can't stand it anymore. As much as I am afraid of him, and as much as he intimidates me, I can't seem to reject him again.
"Okay," I breathe.
Landon's face instantly gets brighter, relieved, and his grip on my shoulders loosens.
"Just-just let me put up the mail."
I rush inside of my house, locking him out, and toss the mail on the coffee table, bounding up the stairs to get to my room. I brush my hair and touch up my makeup, grab my phone, then rush back downstairs.
"Mom-sorry-is it okay if I go with a friend to lunch instead?"
She looks at me, shocked. "Well, um...alright. I'm glad you already have so many friends."
Mom gives me a cheery smile that I'm sure is fake, then I meet Landon back on the front porch.
"Ready?" he asks, sporting a small smile. He has his hood up again.
The opposite of ready, I nod my head