I drove home in a haze with my fingers pressed to my swollen lips, replaying every second of the kiss that scorched me. It was late, going on ten o'clock. Traffic was light but yet, the car that pulled behind me when I left Amanda's house remained in my rearview mirror for miles. I tried letting him pass, but he wouldn't. I pulled into a convenience store parking lot. So did he.
I whipped out my cell phone and called Maddie.
"Mom, are you home?"
"No, Eden. I texted you hours ago. Didn't you get it? I have that benefit this evening. I'm in Manhattan."
Oh.
"Eden? What's wrong? Where are you?"
"I'm... I'm at a 7-11. Someone's following me."
"Go to a friend's house."
What friends? I put my car in gear and drove back to Amanda's place, my hands shaking on the wheel. I skidded to a stop in the driveway right behind Amanda's minivan and ran to the front door. Before I could ring the bell, the door was whipped open and Adam, looking wild in a pair of sweat pants, shouted at me. "Jesus Christ, Eden, what the hell are you doing?"
"Car. Car." I stammered, pointing to the black Honda idling down the street. "Following me. I can't... can't... don't want to go home." I shook my head. "Maddie's not there. I'm alone.""
Adam threw out his arm, hauled me inside and lurched out the front door without his crutches. Amanda and Zach came running down the stairs.
"Eden, what it is? What's wrong?"
My knees shook and I slumped to the first step. All I could do was point outside. The peal of tires shattered the night time quiet. Zach ran down the walk in his bare feet. Amanda tugged my hand, drew me into the family room where I fell onto the sofa.
I leaped up when Adam and Zach returned, Zach's arm supporting Adam. Adam held my bag and keys. "I got a partial plate number." Adam said, limping to the table beside the sofa. He dropped my stuff on a chair, picked up a pen and scribbled something on the cover of a People magazine. "But I didn't get a good look at the driver. It was too dark. Any idea who it was?"
"Adam," Amanda said, jerking her head toward me, the quivering mass of fright on the sofa.
With a muttered curse, he sat beside me and took my hand. "Jesus, your hands are like blocks of ice."
Amanda leaped up, opened a door in the shelf unit and took out a bottle of liquor. She poured a glass and brought it to me. "Here. Sip. It's brandy."
I couldn't hold the glass steady, so Adam did. The amber liquid blazed a trail down my gut and made me cough. "Easy, baby." I sipped again, welcoming the warmth that spread out from my center to my extremities. He put the glass on the table. "Now tell us what happened."
I sat with my hands engulfed in his and thought I'd never be able to talk. "I left and that car left with me he was out there the whole time and followed me right on my bumper and I tried to let him pass but he wouldn't and then I stopped at a convenience store to call Maddie but she's in Manhattan and I couldn't go home alone because it might have been him and I couldn't go to Belinda's because she hates me and I didn't know what to do so I came back here but he wouldn't stop he just followed me the whole way back here." I gasped. I knew I wasn’t making any sense but I couldn’t control it.
"Okay. Okay, honey, you're safe." Amanda stroked my hair. "You'll stay here tonight. Zach?" Zach nodded and went upstairs. "Mom has the spare room so I'm afraid all I can offer you is the sofa, but it's safe."
