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[[Begin|choiceone]].You are biking to work. You can either bike the long way to work on the [[street]] or you can take a shortcut and bike through the [[bus station]].After blocks and block you finally make it to work. And [[You're late to work]]! You are racing to work because you are always late. Out of the corner of your eye you see "John" the homeless man who is usually hanging out by the bus station. He yells "Hey, slow down, missy!" Which then follows with some muttering that you can't quite make out but are sure isn't something you probably don't want to hear or a request for booze and cigarettes. John requires more attention than you have to offer. You finally make it to work, and [[You're late to work]]!
As punishment for your tardiness you must serve the patio section. It's only 8am, and you're already dripping like a popsicle.
The morning is slow, it's almost too hot to eat outside unless you are a crazy dog person. The only other customer that request's a spot on the patio is a regular, another restaurant owner in town and the most high maintenance customer but you pretend like you care enough for him to tip you 20%. Last weekend he randomly hugged you. He attempts to hug you again but this time you attempt to avoid it.
You can avoid his hug by:
clearing the plates on the table
approaching another table
abandoning the patio by going inside
[[you take his payment for the bill and he squeezes you from the side]]
Finally your shift ends, you grab your tips and race home on your bike. You calculate the exact amount of time you have to take a nap before your night shift bartending. Make sure you budget time to take a shower because you stink!
You are back at work completing your opening duties. This is the only hour you'll have alone and you cherish every minute. But being alone at the bars creeps you out. There have been breaks before, it's near the bus station and the building is large with many entrances. There are two entrances that are in your view that you keep a close eye on. As you count the change in the drawer you hear a loud banging on the front door. You look up and there is a young guy in his 20s with a hoodie and jeans on, he is holding a skateboard with a blank stare. He looks like someone that would come see the show so you head over to the door cautiously. You don't really recognize him but you don't have everyone's face memorized. You ask him "what's up?" as you crack the door open. He tries stepping in the door and remind him that you do not open for another hour. You shut the door immediately. And he skates away.
Another person skates up to the door. You turn quickly to see who it is, you breathe a sigh of relief. It's the sound guy, you consider telling him about the strange interaction you just had, but something within you decides it was just strange and nothing worth mentioning, and instead you offer him a [[drink]].
Later that week you head to your favorite bar to meet with friends you haven't seen in awhile. You are busy in school and working far too much. They are all preparing for graduation and you can't wait to catch up and hear their plans for post graduation. It's a busy night at this particular bar because it's Martini night. The bar is a buzz and everyone is gabbing non stop. The music is loud to compensate for the loud patrons, you are having a great time until the guy that had just been at your bar days prior walks in, for the sake of the story let's call him backpack guy. He always has a backpack on regardless of the occasion and he is hard to describe because he looks like every other small white guy with blonde hair. Your stomach immediately drops but you're not sure why. You pull your ball cap down and slump a little, it's a small restaurant and you are hoping he doesn't see you. You are trying to focus on your friends conversation but you can't help but notice Backpack guy walking in and out of the restaurant each time making sure to pass your table. The room seems to begin to notice him as more and more people stare at his odd behavior. He never orders a drink the multiple times he enters and exits. You consider mentioning it to your friends, but again it could be a coincidence this is a public space, and let's face it this topic would be a buzzkill. You brush it off. Your roommate and you walk home together. You can't help but clench your jaw and hope that backpack guy isn't [[around]].
You begin to notice backpack guy more and more frequently, at this rate you see him every day. He skates outside of your last class of the day just before you have to be there. On the first day you notice him, he crashes into you on his board.
[[You keep walking and don't acknowledge him]].
[[You ask him what's wrong with him]].
He continues this for the next two days. Your stomach hurts and you consider skipping your last class. Your jaw clenches holding back vomit while you consider you are probably safer in class than walking home. You continue to walk quickly into [[it's the weekened]]. As the words are about to leave your mouth, you look around and consider your surroundings. Hundreds of people are walking to and from class and you decide now is not the best time to confront him. He quickly picks up his skate board and jogs away from campus. You continue your walk to class, you clench your jaw to keep the vomit from coming up, your mouth is watery. You are relieved to be sitting in your classroom although you loathe your stats [[it's the weekend|it's the weekened]]. It's the weekend, your anxiety increases as you realize you will be working a lot. The more shifts you have the more opportunities backpack kid has to come and harass you. The word harassment doesn't quite seem to fit because you are still in disbelief and aren't convinced that these incidents aren't coincidences. Your first shift is Saturday morning brunch. It's extremely busy as usual, as the restaurant begins to fill with patrons you notice backpack kid, you are too busy to deal with it. And besides what would you say any way? Eventually you and the host cross paths and you tell the host not to seat him in your section.
[[While at work you decide it is a coincidence you keep seeing him]].
[[While at work you decide that he is following you]].
You go behind the barista bar to make your own drinks. It's so busy it'll be faster than having the barista do it. While you're back there the barista mentions backpack kid, she mentions he doesn't look like that he doesn't know that he can grab a free seat at the bar. I roll my eyes in my head, and tell her that she probably doesn't want him sitting here because he never tips and is a total creep. You rush away back to your section to take an [[order]].
Another server approaches you while you are placing an [[order]] and she asks about backpack kid. As she walks away you feel affirmed that he is following you. When she walks away she says "I've been there, we've got your back".
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/TXaPkIMXnX">pic.twitter.com/TXaPkIMXnX</a></p>— em.roberts (@emroberts16) <a href="https://twitter.com/emroberts16/status/1011591248954691584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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You get a notification on your phone, you unlock your phone and open the Facebook app. Your account displays one new notification, a friend request from "Anthony Vejtruba." You aren't familiar with the name so you decide to click on the name, the photo next to it is the Facebook default photo. You still aren't sure but your gut reaction is that it's the backpack kid. You search the Facebook profile a little longer, there are few friends and even fewer photos. After a few minutes of browsing you find a photo that looks just like backpack kid only this guy looks younger. You quickly close the app. You begin to search his name on the internet. Zero results.
Next you wonder how he could possibly know your name. You're name was the most popular used names the year you were born and your Facebook is [["private"]].
You've been at the library for hours studying for finals. It's getting late and you are becoming delirious. As you step out of the library you begin to analyze your interactions with backpack guy. You wrack your brain in an effort to resolve how he knows your name. These thoughts consume you as you walk home, it's [[dark]] and there aren't many people on the streets. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fxIIgnC6bg0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As you walk your pace increases, you have the feeling that someone is [[watching you]].You've finally concluded that he is following you. You've gained enough courage to tell someone. Who are you going to tell this story to?
Duh, you're friend [[Matt]]. He is one of the first individuals to tell you to be aware of your surroundings and he agrees that he is creepy.
No, you should definitely the sound guy [[Ross]]. He is your friend and was there the first night and he has gotten creepy vibes from backpack guy, too.
Your [[partner]] is the only choice. You tell them everything, why wouldn't you tell them about this?
Your [[manager]] you want to feel safe at work, and you have plenty of examples of backpack guy being creepy at work.
You're friend Matt also works at the bar. He recently had kicked out the backpack kid for harassing other customers. The two of you are hanging out and you decide to casually ask if he has seen him lately. He says that he hasn't seen him. You decide to tell him about your recent interactions. He tells you that we shouldn't let him in here anymore. He says he wants to ban him but that he looks like he could murder someone and doesn't want to upset him [[too much|banned]]. You decide to tell the sound guy. He has seen the backpack guy around the skate park and also gets weird vibes from him. He agrees that he is a creep and to watch out. You are relieved that someone else sees that the guy is creepy and that your interactions aren't just a [[coincidence|banned]]. You finally build up the courage to tell your partner. They tell you that they've never seen the guy and think that it's all in your head. They make jokes about it and completly dismiss the situation. You begin to think it's all in your head [[again|banned]]. While you are opening the bar your manager sits and watches you. You decide to make small talk and ask if he has seen the backpack kid lately. He responds by saying no. You mention you've seen him around a lot lately, and that another employee had kicked him out recently. Your manager barks back and dismisses the conversation by stating that the guy might have some kind of mental illness and the manager hasn't had any negative interactions with him so he is not [[banned]]. The backpack kid has been starting to harass other people. You began to notice it the night he was kicked out of the bar you work at. It then escalates when he gets into a fight with another business owner downtown which ends in him getting banned. Eventually the owner messages you and asks you about the situation. He asks if you would like to know the guys name. You respond that you already know his name from his Facebook. The owner responds back with a different name, the backpack kid had been using his brother's name and photos on his Facebook.
This story circulates around town and everyone around you decides that this is serious. He is officially banned from your [[work]].
Later that week while you are at work Ross the sound guy comes up to you with big news. Ross was at the skate park earlier that week and backpack guy was trying to pick a fight with some of the people skating there. Ross says that he got his butt kicked and is moving out of town.
You never see him again.