The scorching sun thaws me from my icy air-conditioned house, giving all of its warmth before it sets. Twigs snap and leaves crunch under my feet. I look down at Coppelia and can’t help but smile as her tail quickly moves left, right, left, right. Cars pass by, masking the sound of my footsteps and I can hear the faint bass from their music. I guide Coppelia straight, instead of our usual turn down the block, where people are walking. A white car is stopped at the end of the street, its headlights blinking on, off, on, off. The windows are tinted, only showing me my dark reflection as I walk by.

Those people must be having car problems. They are probably going to the car repair shop down the street.

I quickly forget about the car when we pass a person walking their dog and Coppelia starts barking at them. Aside from a few people walking their dogs, it's empty outside. Most people would be having dinner right now and it gets chilly once the sun sets, but I don’t mind. For now, the sun is glistening down on me and its warmth feels nice. The screeching sounds of birds cooing overhead and fluffy, brown squirrels scurrying up trees strike Coppelia's attention. Her eager eyes follow their every move and I have to keep her from chasing after them. I pause for her to go to the bathroom and I notice the white car I saw, driving slowly on the road next to me.

 It stops right after I stop. I nudge Coppelia’s leash and tell her to keep going, and the car also starts to inch by again. The stillness of the quiet neighborhood makes the crunching of leaves underfoot more noticeable after we stop. The only car on the road is the white car. I start to get this strange feeling: a pulling in my gut making me feel more and more uncomfortable as we walk. We keep going and the car continues to inch by, never three feet ahead of me. At this point, we are almost to the post office and the car is still on the road next to me. I pretend to stop walking to look at my phone and the car stops. 

Something’s definitely wrong. I think that car is following me.

I decide to turn onto this random alley that is next to the post office to see if the car is following me. I turn left and look back after a few seconds, and the car had turned into the alley too. My stomach drops. I don’t want to keep walking down the alley, there’s a lot less space between me and the car, so I quickly run out of sight behind some bushes behind the post office. Now I am scared. I get chills down my spine even though there is no wind. Goosebumps prickle my arms and legs as I get my phone. I feel like I’m being crazy so I call my friend Eva. The words fly out of my mouth as I explain what happened and I realize that the white car was following me and that I should call my dad. 

“Hi, I don’t want to be over dramatic but I think that a car is following me. I was walking and it drove super slowly next to me and then it stopped next to me and then I turned into an alley and it followed.” My voice trembled as I told him.

“I’m coming over right now. You were right to call me.” He says.

I tell him where I am and then start to wait with Coppelia. I look back at the alley to see if the white car is there and it isn’t. The people in the car must have driven away, but to be safe, I stay behind the post office. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, my dad’s familiar gray car comes around the corner and I rush over to it and get in. 

Relief overcomes me and I feel safe with my dad in the car. He asks me more about the car and what happened and I tell him, I am now a lot more confident being with him. He tells me that I was right to trust my gut instincts and call him. If I hadn’t turned onto that alley or noticed the car, I don’t know what type of situation I would be in. The people in that car could’ve tried to kidnap me or worse. From all of this, the lesson I learned is to always trust my gut when I think I'm in a bad situation because you never know what could happen.