A Ride Home
Her brother’s friend shows Anna the dangers of walking home alone at night.
She could feel the headlights coming up behind her as she walked on the side of the road. Anna stepped a bit further from the pavement into the grass on the edge to avoid the passing car. It slowed down behind her, making her tense, but she was used to this. She’d been walking down this stretch all summer, to and from work, trying to save the money to get her car fixed.
“Hey!” The driver called out to her. Based on his tone, it might not have been the first time he called out to her, but she had earbuds in her ears and probably didn’t hear him the first time.
Anna turned to look at the truck that had slowed to a crawl beside her. Her eyes took a second to adjust to the familiar face, and she pulled one of the earbuds from her ear.
“Hey,” she replied to the driver, halting.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” He demanded, sounding dumbfounded rather than angry.
“Walking home, duh!” She snapped back at her brother’s friend, Eric.
He shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Get in.”
Anna wasn’t about to argue with him. He wasn’t a stranger — she’d known this guy for years, and there was a time when he hung out around their house constantly. She hurried around the front of the truck and got in the passenger seat. Eric waited for her to buckle in before he began moving again.
“It’s after midnight, kid!” He announced to her, as if she didn’t know what time it was.
“Sure is. I work till midnight. So…” she trailed off, gesturing with her hands that there’s not much she could do about it.
Of course, Eric didn’t leave it at that, following up with questions about why she wasn’t driving and why she couldn’t have gotten a ride with someone. She had a well-rehearsed, logical answer to every one of his questions. It wasn’t the first time a concerned party asked her about these choices. But she felt safe in their town, on this road. And she knew better than to ride with strangers.
The concern didn’t seem to leave his face, though. His very handsome face, which Anna found even more attractive at this angle, sitting beside him in the car.
“Ok, but what about if it isn’t someone malicious. What if it’s just an accident? What if you trip and fall into a ditch and get like… knocked out or something?”
It was sweet that he was this worried about her.
“What if the same thing happens in a car? It would be even worse, wouldn’t it?” She countered. She had an answer for everything.
Eric shook his head, silently pulling into her parents’ driveway and shifting into park.
“Let me give you my number,” he offered, putting his hand out for her phone. “You can text me when you get off work, and I can give you a ride if I’m not busy. Though if you usually get out this late at night, I’m never busy at this time.”
She unlocked and handed over her phone, not hating the offer.
“What, no girlfriend waiting for you in bed? No dates?” She joked with him, trying hard to make sure he knew she was just teasing.
“Yeah, no. No girlfriend,” he chuckled. “You’re not gonna be pulling me away from anything important, I swear. Just text.”
