When I was an eight grader I lived on a military base. There had been a crap ton of stuff going on off base such as a marine who killed himself and his wife but lots of stuff happened on base too. A teacher at my school caught for having/ selling weed to kids (which was super illegal) and twice in the same house two different fathers killed their families. So there was always a fear in the back of everyones minds because something bad could and had happened, but it was super unlikely. i’ll call myself Alex and I’m trans I’m white and my parents, when i lived with them, where super lenient about pretty much everything. I had red hair and I did, and still do, dress very feminine. no skirts or dresses but like that night i had an off the shoulder crop top, and ripped flair jeans. My friend, i’ll call her Nori, was a ninth grader at the time and we had known each other since i was in sixth. she’s latino but very pale and her parents wouldn’t let her hang out with her boyfriend alone (that’s why i was there) but we where also spending the night at my place (her parents where unaware i’m a guy since it had only been about a month since i came out and her parents where super transphobic so she didn’t tell them). That night she was wearing ankle boots, a short skirt, and a crop top. she also had an “emo” hair cut with purple and green streaks in it. Then of course her boyfriend, and my friend, who i’ll call Mayson, was there (just to see the movie) he was a tall white boy from the US. (i mention more what Nori and I where wearing because it becomes relevant)
So it’s around 9 P.M. and the three of us come out of the movie. we stand around talking to Nori’s friends who happened to be there too and after they leave the three of us start joking around about just random stuff. Mayson’s mom comes to pick him up and Nori and I stay there talking about what to do next. were looking at google maps to see how far away the store is when i hear something (keep in mind we both get inspired for our looks by emo style and/ or anime)
“Hentai” I look up and see two guys. The worker which i’d seen multiple times before when going to movies and a guy in one of those Bape zip up hoodies. i’m a little weirded out but they can talk about whatever they want. (my friend later said the guy was probably talking about us. we looked like adults and like i said we had an anime/emo style) anyways i turn to Nori and tell her we make a joke and continue looking at maps. then the guy starts talking to us, i guess he was bored because the movie guy had gone inside, he asks us if we wanted a ride. it was raining and because by this time it was around 10 P.M. it was dark as hell. we declined obviously, i lived about ten minuets from where we were and the store was in walking distance. besides both of us loved the nighttime sky and how peaceful it was outside despite the rain. he asked us multiple times if we wanted a ride and we decline all of them at one point he even asks us something along the lines of “are you headed anywhere?”
eventually he leaves us alone and a few minuets pass. we find out how to get to the store we wanted to go to and are about to leave when we hear someone calling to us. it was the guy. we were a bit surprised but it was no big deal right? he was in a white car that nori only remembers because it looked like her dads and he asks us again if we want a ride and again we decline. he then said something that would scare the shit out of Nori.
“there’s plenty of room in the back. no need to worry about that” sure he could’ve totally been trying to be nice but that freaks us out. i’m standing there quiet thinking about how the hell i should respond and Nori goes on autopilot. the guy asks us where we’re headed and nori tells him. he says he’s headed the same way and asks again if we need a ride. we decline. at the time both of us would’ve told you we weren’t scared but we waited until his car left to start walking. we would’ve told you we weren’t scared but we turned the opposite way of the car. we took the scariest way.
in retrospect it was a horrible idea but we we’re taking the path behind the movies. it was past 10 so all the stores where closed, there where no houses around, and it was beside a big forest. in retrospect we shouldn’t have gone that way but we where scared little emo teens scared out of their minds trying to get away from some guy who freaked us out. then Nori grabs my arm.
“Alex” I turned to her “is that him?” I looked where she was pointing and just barely saw a white car round the corner. i couldn’t tell if it was him or not but I was horrified. the headlights approached. I grabbed Nori’s bag (I meant to grab her arm but I missed) and bolted. she followed after me.
we where two emo kids. we didn’t didnt go outside and while we didn’t eat enough to gain weight we definitely weren’t heathy. our diets consisted of Ice cream, oatmeal cream pies, Monster energy drinks, and Fanta.
I turn to look at the car and realize the headlights are close. there’s no way in hell we’re outrunning this thing and i know it. I stop Nori and put a hand in front of her defensively. we can’t out run the car and if the guy gets out to attack us it’ll be harder to fight if they’re behind. both of us were emo so we had rings, chains, belts, and because we weren’t allowed to drink monsters (and Nori was staying over) we had bags. we could beat the guy up if we needed to. I made eye contact with the car as it passed by ready to fight.
it wasn’t the guy. it was some dude for sure but it definitely wasn’t the guy. we realized we where scared and also that the way we where headed wasn’t even in the direction of the store. we called Mayson and where about to cry. he stayed on call with us until we arrived at my house around 12. we then watched movies until 5. and i kid you not sometime that night around one or two i swear there was a tapping noise coming from the window behind us and both nori and I felt eyes watching us.