The dialling tone rang for a long time, too long. In that time Keegan began to let the worries pile up one after another, she would be late for school, the receptionist would call her Mum, she would be in so much trouble and she didn't think her parents knew how to handle a daughter in trouble, it would be a new concept to them all. She was about to put down the phone and consulted the timetable for the next train, if she left quick enough she would only miss registration.

And then, the dialling tone stopped, she was connected.

All she could hear was slight buzzing from the other side of the phone, this could all be a trick, a trick to lead her to a secret location she was so stupid. Keegan summoned up any vestiges of bravery she possessed, she had to know who was on the other side of the phone, if they sounded creepy she would call the police.

"Hi... I found your note on the train, you said to call you... so I'm calling you," she said dumbly.

"So you actually called me." The voice was male, young and clear. The person whistled on the other side of the phone, a loud and piercing noise. 

"Well this is a surprise." she heard a laugh on the other side of the phone.

"You know what I wrote on it, half of me didn't want anyone to reply, I hadn't really prepared for what I was going to do if they did..."

Keegan's mind had gone blank, the person sounded like they were around her age but her guard was still up, people her age could still do terrible things to girls who were alone.

"I have no idea who you are," she said. "You could be a murderer or some kind of predator who's really good at sounding like a teenage boy so he can get good-hearted girls to come to him before he disembowels them"

He laughed for real now, that was a surprise to her.

"You're funny," he said simply.

Keegan was never funny, she was smart and straight-laced, never funny. 

But right now she wanted to be, she realised at this moment that whilst she didn't know him, he didn't know her. For all he knew, she was confident, loud... and funny.

"Send me a picture right now of you wherever you are, hold up two fingers so I know you didn't just google a picture of someone younger."

"Okay," he replied.

There was silence on the other side of the phone, and then her own phone pinged, she almost dropped it in surprise.

There on the screen was someone who was definitely not an old, creepy predator. He'd covered most of his face with a hand, say for his eyes which were brown. He had on a black hoodie and held two fingers up, she couldn't see his mouth but she could sense that he was smiling at what she had told him to do by the crinkle of his eyes. Keegan connected back to the call.

"I got your picture, so your not some paedophile then."

"I don't think so"

"What's your name? Unless you want me to call you hoodie boy for the rest of your days."

This laugh sounded like it was a fake one, and she realised the stupidity of what she'd just said, he'd written a note because he wanted to end his life.

"I'm Noah," he said.

"Okay Noah, where are you right now? You wrote that someone once told you that the kindness of strangers can be surprising, were strangers right now but we don't have to be, I'm Keegan and your now my responsibility. So tell me where you are and I'm going to come and find you." She was surprised at the intensity and command in her own voice, she sounded like someone who people didn't refuse.

"I'm in a park, sitting on a bench, I got off at Blackfriars, walked around for a bit and found myself here."

Now it was Keegan's turn to laugh.

"I'm at Blackfriars right now, and aren't you going to ask me my name or check that I'm not a creep?"

"I can tell you that your not a creep, and even if you are, what do I really have to lose?"

That sounded so hopelessly sad.

"Noah stay on the phone with me, I'm Keegan, I'm walking out of the station right now, I'm on the main high street across me is a fish and chip shop and there's a newsagent on one side and a McDonalds on the other side, you need to tell me what way to go."

"Go right, towards the newsagent and carry on walking till you get to a bench painted white then turn and here I am."

This was a crazy situation, an absolutely crazy situation, but somehow the knowledge of this made her want to walk faster, she passed the newsagent, keeping her phone glued to her face as she did.

"You still there?" she asked after he hadn't spoken for a while.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Noah replied.

" I just passed the bench, white isn't a good colour for one, it's filthy."

And there was a sign for the park, Kingston Park.

"Okay so I'm in the park, whereabouts are you?"

"Describe yourself to me, I'll find you."

Now that threw her, how did you describe yourself to a stranger?

"Okay..." she said slowly.

"I'm in a school uniform, a kinda disgusting school uniform, white blouse, checked skirt and some black knee socks, my hairs brown and tied up and I probably have a stressed out expression on my face, fortunately I haven't been in much of these situations and I have no idea what I'm doing right now, it's all very spontaneous.... Noah?" she asked realising she'd been mumbling.

"I'm standing behind you" she heard the voice echo on the phone and in her own ears, before turning around she turned off her phone, she'd reached a point where she was now completed calm.

Noah was tall.

He was wearing all black, his hood drawn up, the first thing she noticed about his face was a thin scar that ran from his forehead to his left ear. The second thing she noticed, which she hadn't expected at all was that Noah was very good-looking. That threw her, more than anyone else, she'd expected a pale, shaking figure mumbling about how they needed to end it all, not a seemingly confident person looking at her with a smile on his face. She hadn't thought people who looked like they had it all could write something so sad on a napkin for a stranger to find, and now she didn't have a clue in the world what to say to him.

"So hi... I'm Keegan," she said, thinking if she talked to the floor she wouldn't have to try and get past the thing she had where attractive people stopped her mouth from functioning.

"Nice to meet you Keegan, would probably be nicer under better circumstances, thanks for calling my number."

She remembered what she'd thought before, he had no idea who she was, she could do this, the instinct to help had brought her here and she was going to help, Keegan straightened her spine and looked at him straight in the eye.

"Why exactly do you want to die Noah?"