... ... .

I am officially, scared.

I don't have good memories of being left alone with people. I am not going to be afraid.

I AM NOT GOING TO BE AFRAID!

I tell myself this as I turn around to see the face of this stranger.

If I cannot run, I'll face this head on.

I look straight into the dark eyes of this being. He's slightly taller than me (which is a first). He has roguish features, with his hair cut close to his scalp and a tiny scar above his eyebrow. He's looking at me funny, and I don't like it. So I look at his nose. With a sharp nose and blunt tip he looks almost friendly, if he wasn't looking at me like I killed his favorite pet.

I gather the courage to talk and cough into my fist.

"Ahem, may I help you?"

NO answer

"Um, are you ok, you seem to have the wrong person here. I can assure you, who you're looking for is definitely not me"

"Oh really?"

Oh, so he speaks.

"Yeah" I squeak.

"Are you not A?"

"Um, A , there are many A's I don't know which one you mean"

"It says so on your nametag"

I look down to my chest, and there in Bold Roman font it spells 'A'.

I look so dumb now, and I can't even blame myself for it.

"Um, can you step back a little"

"Little how?"

"Like two feet away from me?"

"I'm afraid not"

This time, I am MAD. I don't know what happened to me, I always have a slow reaction to everything but this time, I'm just MAD.

"STEP. AWAY. FROM. ME. NOW."

"I'm AFRAID.NOT"

I step on his toes with the full weight of my leather school shoes and kick him in the shin. It's his turn to express surprise. I finish off my ultimate escape move with a punch to the abdomen. I don't have time to savor this, I'm out of here.

The hallways are not safe. Few people linger after our meeting and all after school activities should have ended. So I speed-walk again to my bicycle and cycle all the way home.

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I DON'T like that guy. I really want to end him, and I have every right to.