“You’re sure?” Frank asked, staring at her wide eyed. “You’re completely sure?”
Jamia nodded. “Every day. Every day I’ve seen him Frank, for nearly two weeks now. I just… I thought it was nothing at first. But now I’m sure he’s watching me. Everywhere I go… I see him. I can’t get away from him.”
“Jamia, if it’s true, if this guy really is following you and you’re not just imagining it, you need to report it to the police.”
She paled. “But what if I really am just seeing things? I don’t want to go to the police about him and then find out I’m going crazy and nobody has been stalking me.”
“And that’s partly why you want to leave Jersey?” Frank asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. I mean, it’d be better this way. I’d be able to get rid of him without having to say anything to the police.”
“What if he followed us?”
“I don’t think he would… but I… I don’t know, I’d change my name, cut my hair and dye it, lose weight, put weight on… I don’t know, I’d just change how I looked.”
Frank bit his lip. She was clearly scared. She wasn’t talking any sense, she couldn’t just leave Jersey and change who she was because some guy was following her. It wouldn’t work. The only way she’d get rid of him was going to the police about it. If this guy really was a devoted stalker then he’d follow her wherever she went. But it didn’t make sense. Why would Jamia of all people be watched by a stranger?
“And you’re sure you don’t know him?” Frank asked.
“I’ve swear I’ve never seen him before in my life. And I’d know if I had. He’s pretty hard to forget.”
“What does he look like?”
“He’s… he has dyed white hair, almost silvery and he… he’s tall and really pale and his eyes are dark,” she described slowly, frowning. “I’ve not seen him close up properly so I can’t really say what he looks like. But I’d be able to point him out if I saw him.”
Frank’s heart dropped and he stared at Jamia. The man sounded exactly like that weird guy who’d come up to him in the store the other day. He shuddered and then quickly reminded himself that there must be more than one guy around here that fit the description Jamia had given him. Surely there were plenty of other people out there who had white hair and dark eyes and pale skin. But it didn’t seem right that the description fit the guy Frank had met. Something was wrong with the whole situation.
“I don’t know why he’s he doing it Frank,” Jamia said shakily, her voice thick and tears forming in her eyes. “I’m scared. I don’t know if he’ll ever stop. Why would he pick me to fucking stalk? I’m nobody! He… I-I’m no one important Frank, why’s he doing this?”
“I don’t know Jamia, but I wish I did. Are you sure you’ve not done anything to offend anyone or upset them?”
“What?! No! I’ve done nothing but go to school and work on the weekends and see you and my friends Frank! I’ve not done anything out of the ordinary, I’ve been acting like a normal person my whole life!”
Frank shrank back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I’m sorry, okay? Look, if it carries on I really think you should report it Jamia. You want to end it before it gets any worse.”
She scrubbed at the tears dribbling down her face. “Okay… okay, I’ll just see if it carries on.”
Frank gave her a reassuring smile. “Look, I’ll stick with you through this Jamia, I’ll help you out. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You don’t deserve this.”
“Thank-you Frank,” she mumbled through watery tears, giving him a weak but relieved smile. “It means so much to me.”
Across the street, a figure stood under the glow of a streetlamp, watching the window of the front of the house before him, watching the two teens sit there embracing each other and the boy wiping away the girl’s tears.
His lip curled up in anger and disgust before he turned away into the shadows and vanished into the night.