The next morning, Kate went to a local Wal-Mart and bought three cans of Mace. The cashier looked at Kate like maybe she wasn’t all there ‘upstairs.’

“Expecting a mugging or something?” she asked, half laughing.

“No, not exactly,” Kate mumbled. “Thanks for caring.” She added, grabbing the plastic bag from its turn-table and hurrying out the double doors. Stuffing two of the cans into her purse, and one into her book bag, Kate discarded the plastic bag in a nearby trashcan, and walked briskly towards the campus. She felt a little better, but the events from the night before had her jumping at the most mundane noises and sounds. She was constantly looking around, and checking back behind her. She was thoroughly paranoid.

In her pocket, Kate felt her phone buzzing. Despair washed through her. Pulling it out with shaking hands, Kate opened the new text message.

‘Hope you feel better. --Pete’

Kate nearly dropped her phone onto the sidewalk. ‘How in the hell does he know where I’m at and what I’m doing?’ Kate had stopped walking, and was frantically looking around her in all directions. Nothing, and no one, appeared suspicious and out of the ordinary. People walking to and fro, busy with their own lives and their Tuesday morning schedules. Sighing, Kate resumed walking, this time at a faster pace. Before she knew it, she was practically running.

Breathless, Kate stopped to rest on a bench near her dorms. Looking at her watch, she considered ditching all of her classes for the day, but then decided that it was better to be surrounded by people than alone in her room. After relaxing for a few minutes, and catching her breath, she rose up from the bench and walked towards the massive campus library. There were always tons of people there: reading, studying, researching, you name it. The library would help to keep her calm and relaxed while she killed the next hour and a half before her next class.

****

Scanning the library, Kate spotted an overstuffed leather chair in a corner of the library. She would be practically hidden from most of the people there, so that’s where she headed. She didn’t want to see -or talk- to anyone right now. She needed people around, not to so much interact with them. Settling down into the comfortable brown chair, Kate pulled out a book from her purse that she had started reading on before school had started, ‘Endeavor.’ It was by Kate’s favorite author, J.C. Mackay.

Quickly getting interested in the book all over again, time escaped Kate. Looking at her watch, she realized she had ten minutes before the start of her next class.

“Ughhh.” Kate groaned as she pulled herself free from the chair’s comforting warmth and embrace. It was if the chair had been holding her, protecting her.

****

The rest of the day’s classes went without a hitch, and after a couple hours, ‘Pete’ was far from her mind, at least momentarily. She couldn’t help but get absorbed into the information. Becoming a doctor, and specifically helping children, had been her dream for as long as Kate could remember. After her second class, Medical Terminology, was dismissed, Kate recognized a boy that was in her first class. She guessed that his name was Andy.

“Um, hey. I was just wondering if there were any assignments in Professor Lewis’ class.”

“Oh, uh, Kate, right?” he asked, and after Kate nodded, he added, “Well, Professor Lewis had a note on the door cancelling class for today, but we still have class tomorrow. All the stuff that was due today is due tomorrow. And we’ll be doing both day’s worth of work in one day.”

“Oh, okay. Well, at least I didn’t miss anything. Finally something works in my favor! Thank you!” Kate smiled and waved as she turned off to grab a quick soda from the commons area before her last class before lunch. ‘Today may not turn out to be such a bad day after all.’ Kate thought as she walked happily to the soda machines.

****

That evening, Kate sat on her bed, finishing the last of the day’s assigned homework. Suddenly, she realized that, other than the text this morning, there had been no word from ‘Pete.’ Kate was thankful, but in a way, suspicious. Pulling her laptop from its case, she logged onto Facebook. No new messages, IM’s, notifications, nothing. All was normal in the social networking world. Had he grown tired of torturing her? Had he lost all amusement, whatever there was to begin with, from making her a wreck? Had he gotten hit by a truck? Kate seriously doubted the last question, but still, you never know. Shutting down the computer, Kate double checked her phone. No new messages or calls. “Huh.” Kate pondered, looking at her phone. It’s not like she was complaining that this creep wasn’t bothering her 24/7, and that he was probably just taking a ‘day off,’ but it was still a little odd, all the same.

Kate went to bed fairly early that night. Her dreams escaped her, and she had the deepest, most restful sleep that she’d had in awhile.

****