The Eye of a Hurricane

Pippa

Lin pulled out his phone immediately and called the police. I felt my body tense, and my hands were shaking. I sat on the couch, trying to calm down as I listened to Lin talking to the police. He gave them a description of John and asked them to take a look around my block for him. They advised him to file a restraining order the next day and change her phone number.

After he'd hung up, Lin brought me a cup of tea and sat next to me. He wrapped an arm around me and we just sat silently for a few moments.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you," he said quietly.

"I feel so...violated," I told him honestly. "I didn't even see him, and he was close enough to take that picture. It's so creepy."

"It's definitely a violation," he agreed, rubbing circles on my back. "And you're definitely staying here tonight. In the morning, we'll go to the police station together and then to AT&T."

I nodded and took a sip of my tea. I set it down, my hand still shaky, and Lin pulled me close to him. His arms wrapped around me, I began to feel a little less tense. Still, I was incredibly shaken. If he was stalking me like this now, what would it turn into? Before it had been uncomfortable, but now it felt like a threat.

Lin just held me for the longest time then whispered that we should get to bed. I let him lead me by the hand down the hallway. I hadn't planned on staying the night so I borrowed one of his t-shirts, making a mental note to start leaving some of my own stuff here. I climbed into Lin's bed and he spooned up behind me. After a long while, I finally fell asleep, feeling safe in Lin's arms.

___

In the morning I rolled over, hearing the sounds of the Mirandas' morning routine. Luna was chattering on about the field trip they were going on today. I could hear the coffee maker going and Lin quietly talking to the girls. I stretched my arms over my head and swung my legs over the bed. After using the restroom, I put on my clothes from the day before and wandered out to the kitchen. Lin's face lit up when he saw me.

"Morning," he said, giving me a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"Morning," I replied. Luna was playing around in her chair as she ate, taking her time.

"Luna, sit up please," Lin told her. "We don't play while we eat."

Luna sat up and scooped another spoonful into her mouth. Isabel read a book as she ate her bowl.

"Did you have another sleepover?" Luna asked us. We looked at each other and smirked.

"Yep," Lin said.

"Gross," Isabel commented, eyes on her book.

"Sleepovers aren't gross," Luna argued.

"They are when you're a grown up," Isabel quipped. We decided to leave that alone for now. Maybe we'd need to have a talk with Isabel about what was going on between us. At twelve, I'm sure she knew some things and might have questions.

Lin looked at the clock. "Alright, five minutes, girls. Finish up and find your shoes."

We didn't want to scare the girls so we didn't say anything about going to the police station. A few minutes later, we were all out the door riding the subway to the girls' school. Luna was incredibly excited about the field trip. Isabel was just...blah. I'd only seen her smile a couple times now. I wondered if she was always this sullen, or if it was because she was away from her dad and her home.

After we'd dropped them off, Lin took my hand and we walked a couple blocks to the closest police station. I filed a report about the messages I'd received and paid to have a restraining order. After that, we went to AT&T to change my phone number. It was a pain because now I'd have to tell everyone my number had changed. Luckily, the worker was super helpful in helping me save all my contacts' information.