Always

0.1

          When I stepped into the snow, I had only two things on my mind: finding my friends and getting out of the cold.

It was mid-December in Clarence, Washington, and Winter Break had just started, so my friends and I had decided to go sledding together. Planning to meet at the cafe, we decided we would drive up together.

My phone went off, signaling a text coming from my best friend Anne, telling me that she and Cindy were here. I looked up, but I didn't see either of their cars, so I went back inside, and texted her that I was inside and couldn't see them.

I sat down at our favorite booth, ordered a hot chocolate, and waited. After a while, Anne texted me back saying that they were inside too. This caused me to panic, because I didn't see them, I began to think maybe we're at different coffee shops, maybe they went without me, maybe they don't want to be my friend anymore... in case you couldn't tell, I don't have very much self confidence.

I looked around frantically, trying to calm down, and in the process, I noticed a strange man that I didn't know staring at me, I immediately diverted my eyes and looked anywhere but at him.

What he did next made my heartbeat skyrocket, he walked over, sat down and said,

    "Don't make a noise, don't move, act calm."