"Do you want to go to the zoo?"

I blinked, staring at Paul from across my apple-cinnamon Cheerios. "What?"

Folding his newspaper down, he tiled his head to the side curiously, his green eyes piercing into mine. "I asked if you wanted to go the zoo."

"The zoo...?" I echoed unsurely.

"That's what I said... twice now."

I gave him a sarcastic look. "I know that. I just mean why?"

Shrugging, he took a small sip of his coffee. "I don't know. I just feel like visiting the zoo today. Come on, it'll be my treat."

"Is there even a zoo around here?"

"Well, no... there's the mystic aquarium though. We can go there."

"That's in Connecticut," I pointed out.

He stared at me blankly. "So?"

"Isn't it kind of far...?"

"Only about an hour away."

"But it's Saturday. Won't it be crowded? What if someone sees us?"

Frowning, he placed his paper on the table. "What about it? It's not like we're dating or anything. And I highly doubt anyone's going to be down there."

I hesitated. "But..."

"You can drive."

"Let's go," I said immediately.

A smirk crossed Paul's face. "Ah, I see I've found your Achilles' heel."

"You have a hot car."

"I do, don't I?" he agreed shamelessly, pushing back his chair and standing up. "You finish eating and I'll go shower. We'll leave in about half an hour."

Nodding, I slurped up my Cheerios faster, knowing it took me ten times longer than Paul to shower and dress myself. I was a girl, after all, and the only time I was able to wear normal clothing was the weekend. I couldn't waste an opportunity to wear a cute outfit.

Forty-five minutes later I hastened down the stairs to the front hall, where Paul was waiting. His eyes were shut, slender arms crossed, with his back against the door. I paused for a moment, taking in his lean figure, from his ungodly white sneakers, to his messy brunette hair. His legs were clad in dark washed jeans from a label I'd never be able to afford in my life, while his torso was covered by a dark green sweater. I knew immediately it would bring out his eyes.

My theory was proven instantly the moment his bright green eyes snapped open. He offered me a friendly smile. "Ready? You look cute."

"Um, yeah," I mumbled, sending my eyes downcast, caught off guard by the compliment. My hands played with the hem of my powder blue knit top, something I thought might help add color to my plain grey eyes.

"Ready to go then?" he questioned, and I heard the jingle of keys.

Glancing back at him, I realized he was offering them to me. Excited, I snatched them from his hand and brushed by, swinging open the front door and stepping into the brisk November air. "Lock the door behind me, Paul."

"Why?" I heard him complain. "No one—"

"Paul," I interjected, tossing him a stern look from over my shoulder. "You trust people way too much."

Grumbling under his breath, he locked his door before closing it behind him. "I have an alarm system..."

"That only works if you lock the house!"

He blinked. "Wait, it does?"

Rolling my eyes, I quickened my pace. "Come on, we don't have all day."

"We don't? Why not?"

"I have to go to..." I trailed off, remember Paul still hadn't figured out I'd acquired a job. "Elliot's tonight. We're working on a project. Yeah."

Suspicion clouded his eyes. "So it's a date?"

"No!"

Chuckling, Paul slid into the passenger seat while I opened the driver's. Figures he wouldn't lock his car doors either. One of these days, he was going to be robbed. And I would laugh. Well, if it was his car, I'd probably cry, but whatever.

The engine roared to life, bringing music to my ears. Literally. Apparently Paul had a liking for loud, loud rock music. AC/DC came blasting through the speakers, causing me to jump. Sheepishly, Paul reached out and turned it down. "Sorry about that..."

Shaking my head, I turned the music back up. "Don't worry about it. I like rock and loud music."

"Well, you sound like my kind of car company," he told me, speaking louder to be heard over the music. "But, just so you know, I'm a car singer."

I laughed, shifting the car into reverse. "That's okay, I am too."

For the next hour, Paul and I sang our hearts out to bands that I was surprised he listened to, and bands he was surprised I knew. Although I wasn't sure why he was surprised I knew them— he was only two years older than me. It wasn't like he was an old man who only listened to his generation of music. Still, it was a nice ride. Especially since we were in the Aston.

"Oh, look at that. It's Couple's Day. Two for the price of one!" Paul exclaimed excitedly as we walked up to the admission register. "We look like a couple, right? Do you think so?"

I stared at him for a moment. "I guess so...?"

"Awesome. Give me your hand then," he demanded, holding out his own hand. "Let's make it convincing."

Hesitating only a split-second, I placed my hand into his, and he curled his hand around it, tugging me toward the counter. "Hi," he greeted the clerk brightly, leaning over the counter toward her. "We're a couple. New couple. A couple-y couple. Can we get the discount?"

The clerk, a woman who seemed to be around the age of fifty, with slightly graying hair raised her eyebrows at him. "Yes, of course... Twenty bucks."

After sending me a wink, Paul slid over a twenty and received our tickets. "Thank you! Have a nice day!"

"You too," she responded, offering me a small smile. "Have fun on your date."

I smiled awkwardly back. "Thanks."

Paul didn't let go of my hand as he marched away, whistling happy to himself. "Where should we go first? Penguins? I love Penguins."

"You're really excited, aren't you?"

Grinning, he nodded. "Yeah, it's been awhile since I've been out. I mean, sometimes Sam and I hang out, but that's rare. He's busy with work and school."

"Sam... your neighbor?" I guessed.

"Yup. You haven't met him yet, have you?"

I shook my head. "What's he like?"

"Um, annoying?"

"Annoying?" I repeated, glancing up at Paul. "Why?"

"Complete womanizer."

"Ah."

"So stay away from him, Allie," Paul advised me, squinting as he looked around the path we were on, probably searching for the one that led to the penguins. "Seriously. He tried hitting on my mom once."

I laughed. "Ew."

"I know. Now let's go find those penguins. Do you have a camera? I want pictures."

Shaking my head, I gave him an apologetic expression. "No, I don't have one, but my phone can take pretty good pictures though."

After thinking about it for a moment, he shrugged. "Well, that'll do."

Two hours, and three hundred pictures later, my feet hurt, my stomach was growling, and my phone was out of memory. And almost dead. "Paul, I'm hungry," I complained, resting against the white fence that caged in the deer. "Can we eat?"

"Um, no," he responded, raising an eyebrow at me. "We haven't seen all the animals you want to see."

My eyes narrowed. "We've only seen the animals I wanted to see. Aside from the penguins. And I'm good. We should eat, and then spend the rest of the time going to see what you want to see."

"I've already seen the animals I want to see. Same as you."

"Then let's go eat."

Sighing lightly, he finally consented. "Okay. The food here is so expensive though— oh my god! It's a leopard!" Without warning, Paul snatched my hand and dragged me to an exhibit across from the deer.

Peering into the tall cage, my eyes landed on a spotted leopard, resting on a rock, looking both bored and depressed. That was the thing about zoos. The animals were cute, but it was sad to see them caged. "Poor thing. I wish I was rich so I could buy all these animals and let them go..."

"Yeah, me too," Paul agreed. "I mean, I would, but I don't think I can."

"Maybe we could create our own zoo. And take in injured animals or something. Wait no, I still don't like the exhibition part... Huh. I don't think I like zoos very much, actually."

Paul turned to me, surprised. "Wait, you don't?"

"I feel bad for the animals."

"You should've said something! I wouldn't have brought you here—"

"No, I don't mind coming here," I assured him quickly, holding up my free hand. "It's just depressing."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed. "No, that's the opposite of what I wanted to happen."

I frowned. "What?"

"Let's talk over lunch... dinner, linner, whatever this is," he suggested, leading me in the direction of the food court. But then he paused. "Actually, let's go somewhere else to eat."

"What? But aren't there other—"

"The zoo's depressing, come on, let's go. Unless you want a stuffed animal from the gift shop."

"Er..."

When we were back in the car, I sat in the passenger's seat, a giant stuffed penguin on my lap. My cheeks were tingling, still warm from the blush that'd spread across it when Paul realized I did want a stuffed animal. It wasn't that childish, was it? And he was the one who'd chosen the giant penguin, and refused to let me pay for it. So I'd decided he could drive. He knew where we were going anyway; one of his favorite restaurants.

"You gunna bring the penguin in with you, or what?" Paul teased as he pulled into a parking spot at Panera.

I glowered at him, blushing again before tossing the penguin into the back seat. "No. And his name is Pengu."

Chuckling, he unsnapped his seatbelt and climbed out of the car. I followed suit, adjusting my shirt before following him into the bread factory. After ordering our food—two bread bowls of French onion soup— we sat down on one of the comfortable, leather couches.

"Have you been here before?" Paul asked me.

"Have you slept before?" I retorted sarcastically.

He grinned. "Well, no, actually. Do you like it?"

"I do," I told him, lifting a hot spoonful of soup to my mouth.

"Did you have fun today?"

"What's with the twenty questions?" I inquired, frowning at him. "Why...?" A guilty expression came over his face and I understood his actions immediately. My heart sunk. "Oh. You know, don't you?"

Biting his lip, he nodded. "Yeah, er, Kyle told me. He was worried..."

"I told him not to," I groaned in disbelief.

"I kind of, um, you know, blackmailed him..."

"Paul!"

Paul frowned. "What? You apparently don't want to tell me anything, so I have to ask other people about you. I'm your guardian, Allie. I need to know what's happening."

"I can handle it," I promised him, focusing on my soup. "Forget about it."

"It's obviously someone from my class. I can talk to them—"

"I can handle it," I repeated firmly. "Thanks for the offer, Paul, but don't worry. If you got tangled up in it, you'd just make it worse. This crazy bitch probably has the hots for you. No, I bet she does."

For the third time, Paul heaved a heavy sigh. "Allie Cat..."

"What?"

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have shown you off like I did. I always forget what the kids are like at that school. It's competitive, you know? I'm sure they're not bad people."

"No, the girl leaving those notes is just a bundle of daisies isn't she?" I muttered.

Paul gave me a disapproving look. "Allie Cat."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Tucker also mentioned the fact I think it's Olivia," I stated. It wasn't a question. Obviously by his defensive attitude, he knew I thought it was Olivia. After all he liked Olivia, didn't he? Suddenly, I was angry. "You know, she's not exactly the person you think she is, Paul. She's... she's like some crazy psycho—"

"Allie," he interjected, his tone sharp. "You can't say that. You don't know her. I told you, the students at this school are competitive—"

"That doesn't justify leaving harassing notes, Paul!"

"Are you positive it's her? You can't throw around wild accusations."

I narrowed my eyes at him, my hands clenched into fists. "I'm not, but I am pretty damn sure. And if it's not only her, she's definitely involved. Although I can see you're not going to believe me since you want it not to be her."

He pressed his lips together. "I never said I didn't believe you."

"Forget it. I can handle this myself."

"You're being childish."

Anger rose up in my throat and I felt the urge to shout, but I swallowed down. Childish? How was I being childish? Wasn't what I was doing the opposite? Not trying pick a fight with Olivia? Trying to settle things without blowing them up? "Never mind, Paul. Forget it," I snapped at him.

"But Allie—"

"I need to get to Elliot's soon. Finish eating so we can leave." Turning my back to him, I quickly finished my soup, now in a sour mood. What did it matter if he didn't believe me? I could figure it out myself. I didn't need his help. So why was it bothering me so much? The fact he didn't want to believe it was Olivia? He was free to think what he wanted to... but shouldn't he regard me higher than her? After all, I was living with him.

The ride back home was silent, aside from the blasting music. Neither Paul nor I talked. Judging by his dispirited attitude, I knew he was regretting his words, but I didn't feel like talking about it. I didn't find a fancy in the idea of being jealous of Olivia, which I figured I was. Paul was supposed to be on my side. Shaking my head, I shoved those thoughts aside. I'd worry about it later.

After arriving home and dropping off my penguin in my room, I grabbed the backpack that held my work clothing and hurried to the door. "See you later," I called as Paul appeared at the threshold of the kitchen.

"What time will you be back?" he asked, keeping his gaze adverted.

"Round ten or something," I responded, hitching the backpack over my shoulder. "Don't wait up for me." With that, I stepped back out into the cool air and hurried in the direction of the restaurant.

Once reaching the diner I quickly changed, my spirits dropping as I realized Elliot wasn't on shift. Two other people were there; an old woman named Marge and a younger girl called Piper. Piper and I got along pretty well, so I was at least happy about that.

"Wanna do phone girl?" Piper offered, sending me a little smile. She must've noticed my mood. "I'll do waitress."

"Yeah, thanks," I responded with a smile of my own. On the phone I could act nice and not have to put on a fake smile.

Even though I was only answering phones, work seemed to take forever. I swear I nearly fell asleep a few times. By the time ten rolled around, I was staggering around, stifling a yawn every three seconds. Since it was Marge's turn to close up, I managed to punch out and escape by ten o' five. Bleary eyed, I changed out of my work clothes before stepping into the now freezing night air. I pulled my jacket closer, and began my journey home.

The cold wind nipped at my cheeks and I pressed my palms to them, hoping it would warm them up a little. It was times like these when I wished I owned a car... but my job was helping. Soon enough I'd be able to buy one and in turn not have to walk the ten minutes to and from work. It wasn't bad during the day time when it was warm, but when I trudged home at night, it was awful.

To make matters worse, I'd also left behind my iPod. So there was no music to accompany me.

Just as I sighed at me dilemma, I heard someone cough behind me. Not directly behind me, but close enough. A little on edge, I picked up my pace.

And now that I was paying attention, I heard footsteps following me. Keeping up to my pace.

Holding my breath, I paused for a second, listening hard. The steps stopped. Gathering my courage, I looked over my shoulder, narrowing my eyes when no one was there. The footfalls were too loud to be my imagination. And the cough. Now tense and with heightened senses, I started walking again. A few seconds later, the footsteps returned.

My mind started racing. Who was behind me? A robber? A thug? A kidnapper? A murderer? A stalker? A rapist? The list went on and on. And it was late night, so there was no way it was just some person going on a stroll with their dog. My pace quickened a little, and my heart beat rose. No matter how much I sped up though, the treading behind me always stayed close.

There was no way this was my mind playing tricks on me.

And so I broke out into a flat out sprint.

Which of course, only set me on edge more. With the blood rushing through my ears, it was hard to discern any other noise. Who knew if the person was still following me, running to keep up? Who knew if he or she was right behind me, ready to snatch me up? Thanks to adrenaline, I didn't tire out as I raced the rest of the way back to Paul's. Once his apartment came into view, relief flooded through me, but I didn't stop until I was at the door.

My hand scrambled with the handle and I pushed hard, my heart still pounding furiously in my chest. Don't look behind you, I chanted in my head.

The door didn't budge.

"You've got to be joking," I choked out, my hand forming a fist and slamming against the wood. "The one fricking time I need it to be unlocked, it's locked!"

It was a terrorizing twenty seconds before Paul opened the door. I flung myself inside and into him, making him gasp in surprise. Twisting my body around, I slammed the door shut and locked it, letting out a long whoosh of air in relief.

"Allie? What's wrong?" Paul inquired, peering out the door window.

"Ah... I... I thought I heard something outside," I lied quickly. Or well, kind of lied. I had heard something... someone following me home. Or maybe they just happened to be going in the same direction. Though I doubted that.

Paul gave me a comforting smile, patting my shoulder. "Oh. It was probably just a raccoon. I leave my garbage open so they can eat it."

"Paul... why..." Shaking my head, I rubbed a hand across my face. "Never mind. I don't want to know. I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

His expression fell a little. "Allie, listen—"

"Night," I cut him off, trudging up to my bedroom after kicking off my shoes. Not bothering to change, I just fell onto my bed, snuggling into my covers and resting my head against the soft pillow. Almost immediately I fell asleep.

And dreamt of a faceless man chasing me down the street.

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