Page 61 of The Perfect People

She turned around and saw, emerging from the shadows, the gangly guy with glasses who had been hovering by the ice cream stand, staring at them. She was almost certain that it was also the same guy she’d seen by the sand dune earlier tonight, though she couldn’t be absolutely sure. Either way, his presence here, when she thought that she and Chris were essentially alone, was truly unnerving.

“Sure,” she said noncommittally, gripping the purse that held the pepper gel and stun gun, “I guess.”

“Pretty hot though,” he said. “Part of me wishes it was autumn already. There’s nothing like seeing the leaves start to change and feeling them crunch under your feet when you’re walking across the quad trying to get to class on a fall morning. You know the feeling, right? What are you? A sophomore? A junior maybe?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t know about that, sorry,” she said, not about to give this guy any personal information.

She looked around, trying to determine how best to extricate her and Chris from this situation once he returned. She wasn’t sure if this guy was just awkward and creepy or something more, but she wanted to be prepared for all contingencies.

“Of course,” he said, blathering on, “that whole crunching leaves thing is a very specific sense memory. I know this one guy who’s really big on that sort of concept, always talking about how current experiences evoke past memories. He’s a little touchy-feely like that, but a really good guy. I was actually just visiting him at a beach house up the way a little earlier tonight. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. I guess I’m kind of rambling because I’m a little nervous. The reason I came over to say hi was that I noticed you around the area this weekend. I thought you were cute, and I wanted to know if you wanted to maybe go out sometime.”

Hannah felt the tension in her chest release slightly. Apparently the guy wasn’t a total psycho so much as an incredibly awkward, borderline creepy human gawk-fest in search of a date. She did her best to handle the situation diplomatically.

“That’s very sweet of you,” she said, “but I’m actually seeing someone.”

“Yeah, I saw you with that guy,” he said, his shoulders slumping briefly before he seemed to quickly rebound and regain his confidence, “but I’ve got to tell you, I just don’t think he’s right for you, Hannah.”

A shiver went up her spine as she heard those last words.

“I don’t remember telling you my name,” she said, as she began to unzip her purse.

“Do we have a problem here?” asked Chris, who was walking out of the men’s restroom with a frown on his face, only steps away from the gangly guy.

“Not if you walk away,” replied the interloper, who Hannah noticed hadn’t taken his eyes off her. In fact, his attention was fixed on the bag she was slowly opening.

“I couldn’t help but overhear you as I was coming out,” Chris said, not walking away but rather moving around the guy and toward Hannah, “and it seems like the lady isn’t interested in what you’re offering.”

The gangly guy nodded, a thin, nasty smile on his face.

“It seems like you should mind your own business, friend,” he said, with a self-assurance that Hannah found disconcerting.

“Let’s just go, Chris,” she said, reaching out her hand for him to grab, even as her other hand felt in the purse for the Taser.

“Yeah, Chris, you should go,” the gangly guy said, now with a bit of venom in his voice.

Chris reached out to take her hand. But as he did, the gangly guy leapt forward and shoved him hard to the pier’s wooden plank flooring. Hannah let go of the purse, bending over in the hope of helping break his fall. But almost immediately, she realized that she’d made a mistake.

There was no way she could prevent him from falling and by trying, she had let go of her purse and along with it, the weapon inside it, while the threat they were facing was only feet away. She quickly abandoned her attempt to help Chris.

Instead, she dipped low into a crouch. The gangly guy, having shoved Chris, was still moving forward, his momentum sending him straight toward her. Without hesitation, she pushed hard off the balls of her feet and flung herself at the advancing guy, aiming for his knees.

She made contact with her shoulder and felt him topple over her as she hit the planks. Ignoring the pain as the wood scraped her skin, she popped up, darted back over to her purse, pulled out the Taser, and began shouting, “Help! I need help! I’m a teenage girl and I’m being attacked by a man that I don’t know. He’s very tall with curly blond hair and glasses. Call the police. Please help!”

Meanwhile, the gangly guy rolled over like a log several times and got near the pier railing. It looked for a moment like he might tumble off the side into the water below. But he managed to come to a stop before the edge and pushed himself to his feet. Hannah moved over so that she was standing next to Chris, who was still on the ground with what appeared to be an injured ankle. She held out the Taser and pointed it directly at the guy.

“You still want that date?” she snarled.

The guy took a step toward her, then winced when he tried to put pressure on the knee that she’d slammed into. He seemed torn as to how to proceed. His face was twisted with rage but something in his eyes suggested he knew he couldn’t act on it in his current condition.

Suddenly the light from the gift shop flicked back on. A voice inside called out unintelligibly. Another voice from somewhere a little ways down the pier shouted, “Hold on, I’m coming!” A second shop light about fifty feet away turned on. The gangly guy looked around, then back at her.

“This isn’t over, Hannah,” he growled, then turned and limped off as quickly as his long legs could carry him. Hannah wanted to go after him, but there were no lights in the direction he went. Even with her Taser, she would lose her advantage quickly in the dark. Besides, she couldn’t leave Chris. Within seconds, the guy had disappeared into the night.

“How are you doing?” Hannah asked, kneeling down beside Chris, though she still kept her eyes fixed on the impenetrable darkness up ahead.

“I think I twisted it,” he said through gritted teeth. “You were pretty amazing there.”

She shrugged.

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