Everything with you

Part 38

Emma

"What the fuck are you doing?" a hoarse voice startles all three of them. I turn my head to see a well-built guy walk towards us. My brain finally started to work.

"Help! Please help me!" I scream, still trying to free myself from his grip. The big guy quickly lets go of my arm.

"Hey.. we're just goofing around, dude," he says casually. The moment he left my arm, I practically ran away from them.

"Didn't sound like that though," his voice even lower than before. Now that I stood beside him, he was huge. I looked between him and the other three guys. The new guy looks at me,

"Call 911," he says.

"No.. no.."

"Dude, we're leaving!"

"Chill man," all of them say at once. They looked at each other and started running down the street all of a sudden.

I just stood there and watched them run in a full sprint.

"You okay?" he asked me, watching me intently. I was shaking.. the adrenaline was starting to wear off after being on an all-time high. I take a deep breath and give him a nod.

"Thank you," I manage to say.

"What are you doing walking alone at this time of night?"

"Uh.. I umm. I work nearby. I got held up today."

"Why didn't you call 911 when I asked you too?"

"My phone died," I say, looking at my feet with guilt.

"What? Are you serious??" he almost shouts.

"Do you know what could have happened if I hadn't come out of the club? You could have been raped or worse!" he was actually shouting now. I knew what could have happened; I knew I was in trouble the minute those guys walked out, but him saying all of these made it real again. I started hyperventilating; my legs were wobbly. I crouch and sit on the ground.

"Fuck! Shit!", he realizes he's causing me to panic.

"Um.. they're gone.. you're fine.. you're safe." he says, gently tapping my shoulder.

I tried to take deep breaths and relax, but I was now going into a full-blown panic attack.

"Just breathe. Just breathe," he says, sitting beside me and tapping my back. I finally managed to calm down a bit. I look up at the person who saved me. He looked like he was in his early twenties, had blonde hair cut short, and blue eyes, which were full of concern from looking at me.

"Thank you," I say again.

"Do you want to call anyone?" he questions.

My phone was dead. I did remember only my parents number. If I called them now, it would surely send them into a frenzy. I couldn't call Justin or Hayley; I didn't know their number.

I shake my head.

"Ahh.. you're killing me!" he grunts out in frustration.

"Give me a minute.. I'll be back.. stay here," he says urgently and walks back into the club without waiting for my response.

I stayed in the same spot, waiting for him to come back. He came out of the club in a black crisp jacket and helped me up.

"I can drop you home since you don't have anyone to call. Is that okay?" he says.

"No, I'm fine. I'll just go by the bus, I say, my voice shaking.

"Buses are fewer once it gets late; I can try to book you a cab; is that okay?" he asks again, sensing my unease and handing over his phone in my hand.

I quickly grab it in my shaky hands, type in my dorm address, and hand it back to him. We waited for a couple of minutes, but there was no indication that any driver was in the vicinity.

"I'm Taylor, by the way," the guy says nonchalantly, still looking at his phone.

"Emma," I responded taking a look at him. He had brown hair , grey eyes and a big beard. He looked like he was in his early twenties.

"Emma, I'm afraid there are no cabs coming this way tonight; you'll have to choose either to come with me or walk; I suggest you choose the former," he says cooly.

"Thank you for helping me, but after what just happened, I'm not getting in a car with a stranger," I say sternly, trying to make my voice bold, but it came out shaky and scared.

"Oh, for the love of God! I saved you; remember, why would I want to hurt you?" he argues.

I don't answer; I just keep looking at him. He grunts and drops his hand into his bag, searching for something. He takes out his wallet and some sort of ID card and hands it over to me.

"Look.. the ID. That's my student ID. I go to FCU. I'm in the final year, and here..." he opens his wallet to show me a picture of an older woman.

"This is Betty, my mother. I'll give you her number if you want; I'm not leaving you here all alone tonight, Emma. Either take a chance and trust me, or we could go to the cops."

I looked between him and the things he handed over to me to see. He really was telling the truth because the date of his admission on his ID matched what year he said he was in. The picture of the older lady did look like him.

"Okay," I agreed in hesitation. I really didn't have much of a choice.

"Great! Wait here, he says, making his way back to the valet. I tried to calm my nerves, but my hand wouldn't stop shivering as I watched Taylor speak to the valet.

In a few minutes, a fancy car pulled up in front of us. Taylor opened the door for me to the passenger seat; once I was in, he got in the driver seat beside me.

"Where am I headed to?"

"Um.. you can just go to the UCLA campus; my dorm's near the second gate." He nods and types in UCLA in his car's navigation system. A female voice gave crisp instructions on how to drive with the best possible routes. He started the car and drove as per the directions.

The drive to the dorm was quiet. I didn't utter a word, and Taylor didn't speak as well. I was oddly comfortable in the silence. Taylor pulled into the dorm parking in the same spot where Justin had dropped me off this morning. A weird sense of dejavu hit me. Once the car was parked, I quickly undid my seatbelt and looked at Taylor.

"Thank you," I begin to say as he cuts me off.

"No need to thank me again, Emma. Just promise me you'll be safe? No more late-night walks without your phone chargeless?" his expression filled with pity.

"I promise," I say, quickly exiting the car and rushing inside. I hear the throttle of his car break the silent air as he rode back.

I make my way into my room to find it empty. I silently feel thankful that I'm alone. My eyes started watering. I closed the door and started crying as the emotions of tonight caught up to me.