Catch Me When I Fall: Falling For You (Book 1) {BxB}

How NOT to Get Information

"Khai..."

"What?"

"Oh, I don't know. If there was some person constantly checking in on me, even if it seems well-intentioned, and I didn't know them, I wouldn't just go poking around to find out why. I would be scared, and I'd probably tell a trusted adult. And also, I'd never go him with them just because they saved me from bullies! That was a kinda stupid thing for you to do."

"He's married to my mom..."

"Yeah, but he doesn't live with you. He could've kidnapped you for all you know."

"But he didn't..."

"That doesn't mean he couldn't... look Khai, my mom put this thing in place when I was younger where if she was going to pick me up from anywhere, I'd have a secret password that only she would know about. Kidnappers can be anyone, Khai. They don't just randomly spawn in the world and wreck havoc. They're usually family. They're grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, even parents. I know you can't kidnap your own kid, that's not what I'm saying. What I mean is that you can't trust someone won't kidnap you just because they have their own kids."

"What does the password have to do with that?"

"Well... let's say my uncle was going to kidnap me, and he came to my school and said, 'your mom told me to pick you up today' but my mom never actually asked that of him and it was just him trying to find a way for me to willingly go with him so it wouldn't raise any suspicion. But because I have that password, and he doesn't know it because he's not supposed to be there, I know my mom didn't send him, now I know I'm in danger, and I go wait with the teachers and let them know he's not supposed to be there trying to pick me up."

"Ohhh... wait that's really smart actually."

"Yeah, because not many kidnappers would physically make you go with them in a full school yard. It significantly reduces your chances of being kidnapped. And even in places outside of school, you just need to make sure you're near or with a trusted adult who sees you."

"Oh yeah. Safety in numbers, right?"

"Hmm... kinda. But you're not always safer in crowds. Especially in a busy environment where everyone is doing there own thing. The more people there are, the less attention that's being paid to you. It gets divided over all the other people and then some bad guy could come up to you and no one's watching because there's so many other things and people to keep track of, or you're lost in a crowd, or you just blend in and the bad guy just blends in, too."

"That's really scary."

"Yeah. But hey, we're taking self-defense, right?" I remind him, not wanting him to worry too much.

"Yeah, I suppose."

"And aside from that there's other preventative measures you could take."

"That's true. But Tyrone... why is my plan so bad then? I trust you, I'd be with you so I wouldn't actually be alone."

"Okay, but what if Jatix really is a bad guy and he's armed?"

"Oh."

"Yeah. Can we please just try your dad first?"

Khai sighs.

"Okay, fine. But also, just so you know and to ease your mind a little, Jatix does not actually follow me about. He was just in the right place at the right time."

"Yeah yeah. Still, I wouldn't get in his car again without planning it ahead of time."

"Now who's the wise one?" Khai says with a little laugh. "Now that I think about it, I don't even understand why you called me that before."