so i believe that a man attempted to follow me home after a late work shift. my job knows that i walk so they try to not schedule me late hours because of that. however, i told them that my cut off time is 11 pm for my shifts.
yesterday i was scheduled to work until 11 and ended staying about 20 minutes later than expected to help close. after clocking out i took my normal route home. i know i should switch it up and i try to but it was late and this was the fastest way home. to get back to my house i cut through my college campus as a safety precaution. i know our campus gym stays open late and the police department is open 24/7.
campus was dead as students weren’t returning back to campus for the spring until tomorrow. as I was walking i felt someone behind me. it was a strange feeling because i hadn’t noticed anyone around me as i was walking and i make sure to always check my surroundings. when i turned back and looked, there was a man uncomfortably close behind me with a smug look on his face. i was immediately spooked but i tried to convince myself i was paranoid.
I went to cross the street (i jay walked) and i noticed the man didn’t cross until i did. this is when i got really scared but still tried to convince myself i was overthinking it. i put some distance between us and he began walking on the sidewalk parallel to me. i noticed he was walking as if he was making a left to head towards the dorms and i felt relief. as i continued walking a random boy on scooter came up to me and asked for number and was trying to start conversation (i saw him in our gym parking lot with his friend on the scooter). Our conversation was short and he rode away.
i felt someone behind me again and i turned back and it was the man and he was closer to me this time. after seeing him again i felt myself almost have a panic attack. i tried to stay calm but at this point i knew he was attempting to follow me because to get behind again he would’ve had to turn around and pick up his pace. at this point i pulled out my phone and texted my friends and said i was scared. i decided to change my route up and he continued to cross the street when i did and never stopped following me until he saw i was on the phone.
the biggest thing that creeped me out was i noticed a car parked in a parking lot that i normally cross to get the crosswalk that’s close to my home. i kept looking behind me and notice the the car had its headlights on. the car never moved from that spot no matter how many times i looked back. I decided that once i reached safety i would call the cops and i ended filing a report with our local pr and campus pd.
i am still spooked and the more i think about it the scarier it gets. the normal route i go leads me to walking through a narrow alley way between dorms it’s well lit but very cramp. i still get chills thinking about what would’ve happened if i would’ve kept straight.