text: Rat-a-tap-tap. “Psst!” I look up from my homework towards the source of the noise: my window. “Psst!” The stranger at the window began to knock loudly. Squinting my eyes, I could barely make out a silhouette of a head in the dark night outside. Why did I keep my windows open even if I knew I wasn’t going to sleep soon? “Shhh! I’m coming but stop making such a ruckus! I’m not supposed to be awake!” Slowly and cautiously, I made my way from my desk over to the window on the other side of my room. As I was walking over to the window, I caught a glimpse of the time: 12:18 AM. Dang, I thought. What could anyone want from me at this hour? Maybe someone caught me being awake. My first instinct at that thought was to quickly shut the window and go to sleep. But another part of me suggested that there could be someone in serious trouble, and it nagged me to go and at least check up on that person. “Can you please hurry up? I’m trying to keep myself from falling, I have the tiniest grip on your windowsill and no place to keep my legs since I’m TWO STORIES off the ground!” It sounded like a male voice, and not like my father’s, so it probably wasn’t someone who had caught me. Picking up my pace, I cranked my window further open and took the hands of the person outside. I immediately noticed that they were sweaty and callused, implying that either this guy had spent a lot of effort trying to me, or was in trouble and was attempting to escape. Either way, I knew that I had to help him. The first thing though, would be to get him out of the position he was in right now. I just wasn’t sure whether to bring him inside our house or sneak out and talk to him on the driveway. “Thank goodness you came! I was not sure how much longer I could hold on. I need you to help me. Come outside and follow me.” The tone of his voice seemed more of an order than a request. I was scared to disobey him, mostly because he seemed older than me. That wasn’t unlikely because I was only in 6 th grade and this stranger’s tone seemed gruffer and deeper, sounding like they had already matured. Hesitantly, I replied. “Ummm, sure. I guess I’ll go with you.” In my head, I had planned to ask him some questions and trying to get an idea of where I was going to be taken, but my tongue tied when it was the opportunity to do so. Before I could say anything else, he wriggled his sweaty hands out of my grip (which wasn’t too hard because they were very hard to hold onto) and landed on the grass along the ground adjacent to my house. “You gonna come? I haven’t got all night here,” I heard him say. I could see him just enough through the scarce light our outdoor light provided. I cranked my window open as far as it could go so that I could slide my body through it. I wasn’t that big, so by putting my legs through and sitting on the windowsill, I was able to jump down. I guess I forgot to think about my landing until it was too late though. I must have gotten too much momentum in my jump, because I landed further than he did and ended up on the concrete. Fortunately, I didn’t seem to have any injuries except for a slightly skimmed palm and knee. He came over to me and pulled me up onto my feet. That’s when I got a good look at him. He didn’t seem to be much older than I did, and he had gorgeous blue eyes and the perfect shade of brown hair. He seemed to be very athletic and sincere. Everyone always told me that looks don’t matter, but I knew that I probably wouldn’t be as willing to help someone if they didn’t look as cute as he did. Somehow, he must’ve thought I looked cute too. “I love your dazzling green eyes and your smile. After this is over, we should hang out sometime. That is, if you want to. By the way, you can call me Andy.” Oh. My. God. I could not believe he said that. “Of course, Andy! Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Ali,” I replied, my cheeks blushing. I was so glad it was nighttime, and he couldn’t see my cheeks. “I would love to hang out with you. But first, let me help you with what you need help with.” Suddenly, he started chuckling and muttered something under his breath. It sounded something similar to “ aww, you’re so cute. I kind of feel bad for you.” Even though I was confused on what he meant, I shook it off and started walking out. That’s when it hit me. I was sneaking out. For the first time. My parents weren’t the strictest, but they were definitely not people to let it slide if they found out that their “perfect” daughter was sneaking out, talking to a stranger, and staying up for hours past her bedtime. I must have gotten very wrapped up in my own thoughts, because I abruptly heard a small van pull up to our driveway. I felt an arm rest on my shoulder, and I looked up to see it was Andy smiling down at me. But it wasn’t the friendly, caring smile I had seen earlier. This smile had a tone of mischief as though Andy were going to do something evil. Creeped out, I ducked my shoulder out from underneath him and tried to get some distance between me, but before I could, he grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I tried wriggling away from him, but he used the magical soothing voice of his to calm me down and convince me that everything was okay. “Come with me. I’ll lead you to where I need help. Okay?” “Alright. Will we be back soon though?” “I’m not sure. I might have to steal you, you’re super cute,” he replied, winking. I giggled and let him guide me away from my house and onto the sidewalk. We headed towards the van. I assumed that the van must be a coincidence and he would be taking us past it. However, we stopped right in front of the black van. The doors were automatic and slid open. These two big men with giant beards stepped out of the car. They appeared as though they were drunk and aggressive. I looked up at Andy, silently pleading to him out of fear. Maybe he would know about all this. But maybe he was as unsuspecting as I was. That thought was quickly squashed though as Andy let go of my hand, and in return, each of the big men took one of my hands. They laughed. “You made a good choice, son. She’ll be perfect for this.” With that, they gave Andy a pat on his back, easily lifted me into the van, hopped in behind me, and closed the door. I looked at Andy’s face once more, hoping he knew what was going on and would be able to save us. Then realized that it was all just makeup. He wasn’t as pretty as I thought he was. He wasn’t as young as I thought he was. He wasn’t at all who I thought he was. And worst of all, he didn’t really need help. But now I really did.