EDITED
Sydney
I quickly look away from the very strange man and back to Brooke. She just finishes her food and looks up at me.
"What's wrong?" She asks with a concerned face.
"Oh, um nothing," I shake my head. I don't want to worry her about it, I don't even know who this man is. Maybe that's actually the real problem. I don't know who he is.
"Oh, ok," she nods, letting it go.
I look back over at the table the man was sat at and sure enough, he is still sitting there looking at me. If he really is staring at me, you would think he'd look away when I look over, but no. I find it awfully weird that everywhere I go, he shows up. This is the second time this weekend, yesterday at the café and again today. Maybe it's just a coincidence.
"Ok seriously, Sydney, what is wrong? You've been sitting here staring off into space for like five minutes," Brooke snaps me out of my thoughts.
"There's a guy over there, he has been staring at me for a really long time now," I quietly say to her. I make sure not to point or anything becasue if I did he would see.
She follows my eyes and turns around to look at him. "Well don't look Brooke, he's looking," I tell her but she already looked. He must realize that I mentioned it to her because he stands up and walks around the corner. Finally, he isn't here to look at me anymore.
"Who was that?" She asks when she turns back around.
"I don't know but he was at the café yesterday and he was staring at me then, too," I tell her.
"Maybe he wasn't even looking at you, I mean he was wearing sunglasses so you couldn't really see his eyes," She makes a good point but what are the odds that he would be there both times looking in my general direction.
"Maybe you're right," I nod. I don't want to freak myself out, and besides, I doubt he is stalking me. That thought alone is ridiculous.
"Lets just go home now," she says and stands up.
We throw our trash away and head through the halls toward the exit. On the way out, I happen to look to the side and leaning against the wall is that guy, his head moving for his eyes to follow us as we walk by. I look away and attempt to walk faster, pulling Brooke along with me.
"Sydney, slow down," Brooke laughs and tugs my arm.
"Hurry up," I whisper sharply. She furrows her eyebrows and continues walking.
We make it to her car and I quickly hop in. When she gets in the car, I hit the lock botton. She looks over at me and giggles. "What is with you?" She giggles agian.
"That guy, he was standing agianst the wall, watching us leave," I tell her. She looks over at me and raises her eyebrows again.
"Stop over reacting Sydney, he was just another guy at the mall, who happened to be looking at you when you looked over," she shrugs.
"What about yesterday at the cafe?" I ask her.
"That had to be a coincidence," she looks over at me quickly before looking back at the road.
"I guess," I sigh. I'm sure it's nothing, why would someone have a reason to watch me like a weirdo?
She pulls into my driveway and I say bye before getting out of her car and walking into my house. I walk into the living room and see my dad sitting there watching tv. I walk into the kitchen and my mom is sitting at the table with a coffee and a newspaper so I sit down with her and she looks up at me.
"How was your day shopping?" She asks.
"Alright," I decide not to mention that guy I keep seeing.
"Did you find a dress?"
"Yes," I pull the dress out of the bag and hold it up for her to see.
"It's pretty," she smiles
"I like it a lot," I say and place it back in the bag. "I'm going upstairs," I head out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
I shut my door and place my purse on my desk then walk over to my closet to hang up my new dress. I lay down on my bed and pull out my phone. I have no texts but I do have a few missed calls from the same unknown number as yesterday. Who the hell is it? Just as I'm about to put my phone down, it rings. That number popping up across the screen. Should I answer it? Maybe if I do these people will stop calling me. I press answer and hold it up to my ear.
"Hello?" I say. I hear nothing in response. "Hello?" I repeat myself. All I hear this time is heavy breathing. They don't say anything at all, but there breathing is heavy, too heavy for a girl. I'm about to say something but the line cuts out, the person on the other end hung up. What the hell? Okay I'm a little freaked out.
The logical explanation is that maybe the person called thinking I was someone else, and when I answered they didn't recognize my voice so they hung up. That's what I choose to believe.
I sigh and place my phone on the edge of my desk. I grab my book bag and take out my text book. I haven't studied for my history test yet so it would be a good idea to start for at least a little while. I sit down on my desk and open my book, reading the pages and writing down important things that I'll need to remember. I go over the information a few times befor moving on to the next page.
~~
A few hours later, I put my books away and walk downstairs. The smell of my mom's cooking lingers throughout the downstairs and I make my way to the kitchen to see what it is. Mom is standing at the stove making some kind of food. I walk to the fridge and take out a water bottle then open it up and take a sip while I sit down at the table.
"What are you making?" I ask her and she turns around to look at me.
"Potatoes and chicken," she smiles.
"My favourite," I smile. "When will it be ready?" I ask her.
"About half an hour," she tells me and turns back around.
"So I have time to go for a walk or something?" I'm extremely bored and there isn't anythng else I can do so a walk sounds good right about now.
"Yeah, not too long of a walk though," she nods.
"Okay, I'll be back soon," I stand up and leave the room.
I walk outside and down the driveway before I cross the road and walk down the sidewalk, sending a text message to Brooke.
I'm out for a walk, meet me at the end of your road, I send her.
A few minutes later I get a reply.
Okay, the text reads.
I walk down the next road over and cross the street. I make my way to Brooke's road and wait on the grass. She comes walking down the road, phone in hand, and smiles when she sees me.
"Why so smiley?" I giggle.
"Guess what?" She squeals.
"What?"
"Nathan asked me to the formal!" She smiles really wide and nearly jumps up and down.
"Really? That's awesome," I smiles and we continue walking.
"So what have you been up to since I dropped you off at home?" She asks me.
"Studying mainly," I shrug. "And I got a really strange phone call," I tell her. I feel as though I should tell someone because it's all I've been thinking about and I'm kind of a little worried.
"What kind of phone call?" She looks at me and raises an eyebrow.
"This unknown number has tried to call my cellphone a few times but I never answered because i had and still have no idea who it is," I pause and she nods, telling me to continue. "Okay, well, earlier they called again and I decided to anser it to see who it was. I said hello but no one answered me so I said it again. All I heard in response was really heavy breathing, then they hung up," I finish.
"That's really creepy Sydney. All they did was breathe heavily into the phone?" She almost laughs.
"Yeah, and it isn't funny Brooke," I almost laugh myself.
"Don't worry about it Syd," she shakes her head. I nod and we continue walking.
After about twenty minutes, Brooke walks back home and I do the same. I turn the corner and make it onto my road. There is a dark car parked a few houses down from mine and I begin to wonder who it belongs to. I start to get a little frightend when the car starts but still just sits there. I can see somone in the side mirror loking at me intently but I have no idea who. I get to the side of the car, ready to walk by very fast when I see who it is.
The same guy from the café and the mall...
Oh my god, I think I'm being stalked!
I think he notices the fear on my face and how my walking pace speeds up because he smirks. There is still no way for me to tell who he even is because he still has that hoodie and those sunglasses on. All I can see now is a few strands of brown curly hair sticking out from under his beanie.
Relief floods through me once I reach my front door and scoot inside my house. I lock the door, still very paranoid. Is it wrong of me to be completely freaked out? Is it crazy for me to assume he is following me? Everywhere I go, he's there. I never noticed him until yesturday but has he been watching me for longer than that? Oh god I really hope not.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid? Maybe he isn't even really around because of me? What if it's just a coincidence that he happens to be where I am? Okay now I'm being stupid, I need to just stop thinking about it before I drive myself crazy. I look out the window and see that his car is no longer there, I'm not sure if that's a good sign or a bad one but I'm going to say good for now because at least he is no longer near me or my home.
I walk into the kitchen and see my mom setting the table. She looks up at me and smiles.
"Hey, how was your walk?" She asks as she sets the plates down.
"Alright, I met up with Brooke," I tell her as I help her set the cups and forks out.
"Where did you guys go?" My dad asks and walks through the kitchen door.
"Just around a few blocks and back," I shrug and take a seat.
They both sit down and we start to eat. I don't know if I want to tell my parents about that man who seems to be following me. I know I should but I don't want all the follow-up questions and things that would happen in order to figure out what is going on. He may not even be following me, maybe he just happens to be places I go... and he stares at me the whole time... I don't know but the smirk he gave me when I walked by his car is something I will never forget. It was weird, like he was haunting and mocking me. I think I will keep this to myself for now, or at least away from my parents, maybe I'll tell Brooke and Jared. If this issue gets worse, like for example, if I notice him around me more, I'll tell my parents.
"Why so quiet, Sydney?" My dad asks. I look up from my plate and smile.
"I just don't know what to say," I shrug. I don't want to accidentally say something about it because I know my parents will jump to conclusions and become even more paranoid than me.
"What about school, how is that going?" My mom asks me randomly.
"It's alright," I say, not really having anything else to say about it.
"Any up-coming events or anything?" My dad looks at me.
"Well, I have a history test tomorrow if that counts," I laugh.
"How do you think that will go?" My mom asks.
"I don't know, good hopefully," I answer.
I fishish eating and washing the dishes before I go up to my room. I close my door and sit cross-legged on my bed. I check my phone and I have one unread text and one missed call...from that number. I click on the text first.
Don't forget about the test tomorrow. I laugh when I read Jared's message.
I reply back saying that I didn't forget and then I stare at the unknown number that keeps calling me. I really hope they stop calling me because it's starting to creep me out, like who the hell is it and what do they want? Just as I place my phone down, it rings. I look at the number and see it's the same one. It's almost as if this person can see me and it's really freaking me out. I wonder if these phone calls have anything to do with the man that may or may not be stalking me.
I'm curious to know who this person is so I hit accept and hope they don't ignore me this time.
"Hello?" I answer, with a bit of annoyance clear in my voice. All I get in return is silence. "Hello?" I repeat myself. Nothing. "Okay, who is this? Why do you keep calling me?" I raise my voice.
The person on the other line laughs in return. It's definitely a man, and that laugh is deep and scary almost. "I'm calling to hear your beautiful voice, sweetheart," he answers me. Who ever this is, they have a very deep and raspy voice with a thick British accent. I don't know if it's right to say this, but it's rather sexy.
"Who are you?" My voice shakes with fear.
"You'll find out soon enough, baby," he almost whispers into the phone and then hangs up.
What the hell was that? What did he mean I'll find out soon enough, am I going to be meeting him anytime soon? All I want to know is who the f*ck that was and how the hell did they get my cell number?
I look down at my phone and dial Jared's number. Whenever I'm worried about something he is always the one that makes me feel better about the situation so calling him right now is probably my best option.
"Hello?" He picks up after the third ring.
"Hey," I say.
"What's up?" He asks me, clearly wondering why I sound so shaken up.
"Jared, I got a really creepy phone call and I'm a little scared," I tell him, hoping he can say something to make me less frightened.
"Who was it?" He asks, getting interested in what I have to say.
"That's the thing, I don't know," I admit.
"Well, what did they say?" He asks.
"It was a guy, I know that for sure. I asked why he was calling me and he said so he could hear my 'beautiful voice'," I pause. "Then I asked who he was and he told me I'd find out very soon," I finish and a shiver runs down my spine.
"What the hell?" He almost yells. "That's freaking creepy, Sydney," he states the obvious.
"I know it is," I sigh and lay back on my bed, resting my head on my pillow.
"I'm sure it's nothing Syd, it was only a phone call. It was probably just someone from school messing around with you, playing a stupid prank," he tries to reasure me. He's probably right, the guys from school would totally do something like that. I'm just being paranoid.
"You're probably right, thank you, Jared," I smile, even though he can't see me.
"You're welcome. I'll see you at school tomorrow Sydney, goodnight," I can practically hear the smile on his face.
"Goodnight, Jared," I say and then hang up.
I put my phone on my desk and plug it in to charge. I put on my pyjamas and then hop into bed. It's pretty early but I'm tired so I'll just go to sleep. I cover up with my duvet and close my eyes, trying to push the thoughts of the phone call and that man out of my head.
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A/N
Hey guys:) Thank you so much for the votes on the last chapter! Hope you liked this one!
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~Bailey xx