Paolo Bacigalupi - The Doubt Factory

“I still don’t…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m still not sure what I should do. I want to think about it, still.”

“About…?” Cynthia was clearly dying for the details.

“You remember the guy who slugged Mr. Mulroy yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

Alix took a breath. “He talked to me.”

Cynthia gave a funny squeak of shock. “ Talked to you? When? How?”

“Right when he splattered Widener Hall. He was in the crowd with us.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. I would have seen him.”

“He wasn’t dressed like before. He looked more like a cop. He was right behind me. He was whispering in my ear. He had me by the shoulders and he was whispering in my ear.”

“He touched you?”

“What?” Alix laughed nervously. “No! Not like that. He was just holding my shoulders.” Holding them so hard that I can still feel his fingers . “It wasn’t creepy,” Alix said, not sure whom she was trying to convince.

“You weren’t scared?”

“No.”

“You can’t be serious.”

But it was true. In the moment, she really hadn’t been scared. She’d been mad at the guy for screwing with her head. But when he walked away, she’d followed him. If she’d been afraid, she definitely wouldn’t have done that.

So why weren’t you afraid?

Looking at it from the outside, of course it was scary. Some stranger coming up and grabbing her. The way he’d materialized behind her and then come in so close. His breath warm as he spoke in her ear.

Confident.

In control.

Watch this. This is for you .

Telling her to watch, to see what he had in store. He’d been closer to her than anyone except Toby Welles when she’d had him up in her room and her mother had left for another Pilates class.

Except this guy had been a total stranger.

So why hadn’t she tried to get away? Or push him off? Why hadn’t she done any of the things she’d learned in the self-defense classes that Dad had made her take in eighth grade? Even later, when they’d fought in the smoke, she realized she could have fought harder. She could have screamed for help.

But she hadn’t.

“He wasn’t creeping on me,” Alix said slowly. “It wasn’t like when Alan tries to get a peek up your skirt, or gives you the eye at lunch. It didn’t feel like he was creeping on me. He was just talking.”

And looking at me. And holding me .

Alix was suddenly afraid that she was blushing and that Cynthia might read her thoughts.

“He knew my name,” Alix said.

“What?” Cynthia looked even more horrified. “How would he know that?”

“I don’t know.”

Cynthia threw up her hands in exasperation. “I’m sorry, girl. That’s some weird shit. You’re deep in stalker territory.”

“I know, I know.” Alix shook her head. “But the weird thing was that he wasn’t acting stalker-y. He just told me to watch the prank.” She deliberately left out the part where she’d chased after him and he’d grabbed her and she’d bitten him. That just complicated the whole story.

“He told you to watch it? You mean, while he felt you up?”

“I told you, it wasn’t like that!”

“If a stranger knew my name and grabbed me, I’d have crippled him. Why haven’t you called the cops?”

“He said it was for me.”

“What?”

“The thing with the paint and rats and everything… he said it was for me. Right before it happened.”

“For you, how? Like a big snuggly stalker present?”

“I don’t know. I asked him what he meant, and he told me to ask my dad.”

“Your dad ? Ew. Now your guy sounds incest-y, too. Seriously, girl. Call the cops. They don’t have any leads on this guy. You could probably help.”

“Yeah. I know. I should.” Alix swirled the ice in her drink, avoiding looking over at Cynthia.

Cynthia sighed. “But you’re not going to, are you?”

ALIX DIDN’T WANT TO ADMITit in front of Cynthia, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized she was considering not telling anyone at all.

Cynthia seemed to be reading her mind. “He assaulted Mr. Mulroy,” Cynthia reminded her. “You do remember that, don’t you?”

“So? What am I supposed to say?” Alix playacted the way it would go if she went public. “Um, like, so, there’s this guy? And, like, I think he’s stalking me?” Alix made a face of annoyance. “It’ll look like I’m trying to get attention. People will make something out of it. I don’t need that. Next thing you know, I’ll be a joke on TV.”

“You’re making excuses.”

“I am not!”

“Are you hot for him?” Cynthia accused suddenly.

“What? Ew!” Alix socked Cynthia’s arm. “No!”

“So why aren’t you at least telling your dad?”

“I don’t know…. I guess I don’t want to make a big thing out of this. Maybe if he’d put my name up there instead of that stupid 2.0 stuff, then maybe I’d say something. Seriously, I don’t need the hassle.”

“So what’s he want with your dad? He said something about your dad, right?”

“How should I know?”

Cynthia let out an exasperated breath. “What’d the stalker say?”

“I don’t remember too much,” Alix lied. “It was all happening so fast.” Cynthia kept glaring at her. Alix relented. “Okay, okay. I think I asked him what all this prank stuff meant—you know, why he was doing this stuff, and he said, ‘Ask your father.’ That was it, I swear. I think he was making some kind of joke.”

“Like a ‘your mother’ thing?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Something like that.”

“You think maybe he was serious?” Cynthia prodded.

“How would I know?”

“You could… you know…” Cynthia jerked her head toward the window where Dad was still having his loud conversation. “Ask your dad if he knows anything that would clear it up….”

“He’s busy,” Alix said.

Cynthia rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah. Totally busy. He wouldn’t have any time to talk to his teenage daughter about some creep who’s stalking her.”

“He wasn’t stalking.”

Cynthia gave her another hard look.

“Okay, okay. Lay off, Tiger Mom.” Alix made a face. “I’ll do it.” She started to get up, then sat back down again. “Tonight.”

“Gah!” Cynthia threw up her hands. “I can’t stand the suspense. Promise to tell me what he says, at least.”

“I promise.”

“I’m serious, Alix. Don’t do some kind of bad-boy romance thing on me, girl. Stalker crushes are so last year.”

It was like Cynthia had climbed inside her head and was reading every single guilty thought almost before Alix thought it. “The guy’s a total stranger,” Alix said. “I’m not hot for him.”

“No? The big, strong, black stranger? Sooo hot.” Cynthia pretended to fan herself and fluttered her eyelashes. “Sooooooo hot.”

“It’s not like that!” Under Cynthia’s judging gaze, Alix finally conceded. “Okay, okay. I’ll talk to my dad. Tonight. I promise.”

“Fine. Good.” Cynthia’s phone beeped with a text message. She checked it and frowned. “I’ve got to get home. My mom’s freaking.”

She dialed and pressed the phone to her ear. “Ma? Meiyou . Everything’s fine. Shi. Shi. Shi. Wo zai Alix jia. Buzhidao . Some kind of weird prank. Wo zenme zhidao? ”

She rolled her eyes at Alix and made a circling motion with her finger beside her ear. Crazy mom. “ Haole . I’m coming home now.”

She climbed out of the lounge chair and started pulling on her socks and shoes. “Sorry. She’s totally flipping.”