Never Again

Chapter One - Don't Even Think About It

I looked around me, asking myself if I should just go home or stay for a little while longer. It was already dark outside and every one of us was already bored. I fished my phone out of my back pocket and looked at the time. It was 9.30 P.M. and I knew I should have just went home, before my parents could start to worry.

I unlocked my phone, searching for something to do on it for a few more minutes. I was waiting for Layla to finally decide to go home, so that we could walk together. We lived in the same neighbourhood and I could really use her company along the way. I have always been afraid of walking alone at night. One time, as I was approaching my house, a car slowed down and followed me. The driver looked at me and I almost froze - the way he was watching me was so disgusting. I knew I was lucky to be just a few meters away from my home. I bolted through the gates, shutting them behind me and ran inside. Who knows what would have happened otherwise? He then drove off. What a creep.

1 New Message Request

I tapped the notification, wanting to know more. It happened a lot. I considered myself to be average looking, but a lot of unknown guys used to text me then. The wonders of social media, I guess.

Hey, how are you?

I knew that name, but I couldn't put my finger on where I knew it from. It sounded so powerful in my head, though. I looked at the pictures posted on his profile to try and see if I knew him, but his face didn't look familiar. I turned towards Layla, thinking about asking her about him. She was popular, maybe there was a way she knew him. As soon as I faced her, I saw her panicked eyes. She had the habit of looking into my phone whenever I texted someone.

"No, trust me. You can't."

"I can't what? It's just a message."

She shook her head. "You can't, Angie. You simply can't. Don't ever talk to him. Ever."

I couldn't understand why she was so set on it. At least she knew him, just as I supposed.

"Can you explain? I can't understand you if you won't tell me what this is all about."

"Well, you know Martha, right? Martha was his girlfriend. They broke up because he beat her. She even went to the police."

It all clicked. I knew his name, but not him personally. He was the talk of the town, te big bad wolf. Even though I didn't know much about him, I knew there was a lot of intrigue surrounding his image. He was known for having loads of money, a pretty expensive car and a very beautiful and popular ex-girlfriend, Martha. Everyone pronounced his name in a certain manner, as if he was a very interesting personage. I don't know why, I've never been curious enough to ask more about him. Layla's demeanor, however, made me extremely curious.

I'm fine. How about you?

Normally, after seeing my friend react like that, I wouldn't reply. Something pushed me to it. Maybe I felt the need to reply because of my own autodestructive impulses. Weird, isn't it? I was afraid of walking home alone, but I wasn't afraid texting a stranger with such a reputation.

Something caught my eye and I realized he would probably not reply anymore.

"It's a really bad idea, Angie."

"Oh, shut up. He had written this message three weeks ago. I'm sure he won't even reply."

She scoffed at me, but her expression turned to anger the moment my phone vibrated in my hand. She looked as if she was ready to punch me.

Do you want to go for a ride?

Huge red flag, right? Instead of actually bothering to build up a conversation, he just jumped to asking me to meet him, in his car. He surely could do something bad to me if that was his intention.