Stalker

The Spring Break post stirred a few recollections. So bear with me as I stroll down memory lane.

I attend the University of Maryland - GO TERPS!! Because I was a commuter and a freshman (yea dork central - I know) I had to park in the lot on the very fringe of Campus. It had to be a good mile and a 1/2 away from any building. You also had to pass the dairy farm to get to the main Campus, which added insult to injury on the warm days. Although I got very good at cow tipping (I'll talk about that one later).

I finished up classes one afternoon, stopped by the Student Union to grab a soda and started the trek back to my car. As I near the dairy farm I noticed a guy right in step with me. He is trying his best to start up a conversation with me; I am doing my best to ignore him. Not interested at all. He is persistent and asks for my phone number. I decided I could give him a number and then he'd magically disappear. So I told him sure. He proceeded to hand me a notebook and a pen. He took the drink out of my hand so I could jot a number down. I gave him back his notebook and he returned my drink. We continue walking and he has slowed his pace a bit. I am now approaching my car and thinking I don't really want him to know which vehicle is mine. My guard is up. So I pass my car thinking he will eventually find his car and go away. While I continue to amble through the freshman lot, I go to take a sip of my soda. As I put the open cup to my lips, I remember that as I was writing down the phone number my hand got wet. I drop the drink onto the pavement and to my horror I see a pill half disintegrated in the soda puddle. I turn around to see where he is and find him diving into the passenger side of a car that was following along and they zoom off. I have never been so rattled in my life. Was I smart enough to get the tag number? Of course not. I hate the cliche “it all happened so fast“, but that is truly how it went down.

It took me a week to let go of the question - what would have happened if I had taken the sip? It also took me about a month and a couple hundred dollars worth of parking tickets to be able to park in that lot again. I never saw him after that day. Was my guard up at all times, sure. Thankfully, the rest of my time at Maryland was uneventful and pleasant.