I was terrified.

So, I'm pretty sure I've got a target painted on my shirt at all times. It says, "Morons of the world, please converge in this general area."

Yesterday was Professional Development for teachers at Long, so the students didn't have school but I still had to be there. Lunch was from eleven to noon, so I went to Applebees with some of the Teach for America crew. I got there last.

I saw Jenny V. walk around the corner of Applebees and parked next to her. As I was pulling into the spot that was next to hers, I noticed that a man was almost walking into the spot I was going to park into. I slowed down so he could walk past, but instead he stopped by Jenny's car and let me park.

When I looked up as I opened my car door, he was standing next to Jenny's driver-side door staring at me. As soon as I opened my door he said to me, "You look very nice today." It was as if we'd had this conversation every day of our lives, and he was here meeting me for lunch. I frowned slightly out of confusion, and embarrassment at the compliment, and then smiled. "Thank you."

I leaned over and got my purse, wondering if whether I was wrong and that it hadn't been Jenny's car that I had parked next to after all. I felt creeped out; when I looked over to get out of my car, he was smiling at me with a strange, vacant smile. His eyes watched my every motion, and they were watery as if he was about to start crying at any time. I shut my door slowly and began to walk to the front of my car. He followed.

He was next to me before I even realized he had gotten that close. He had on a heavy, forest green Six Flags collared shirt. It was untucked, and he had a white shirt or towel in his hand. He had on black pants. Up close, his face looked even more vacant of emotion--it was as if there was nothing inside of him; his eyes were watery and staring directly into mine, never once leaving my face, and truth be told, I was too scared to take my eyes off of his.

"Where are you going? Why are you leaving me? Where are you going?"

I froze. He stepped even closer. He was practically touching me. "I'm meeting some friends for lunch."

He seemed to get very upset at this information, and his face screwed up and showed some emotion for the first time. "Why are you leaving me? How can we stay in touch? Can I get your number? I want to call you tomorrow, ask you how your day was, to see how you're doing. I want to talk to you again. I want to make sure we stay in touch; we can stay friends. What's your number?"

My mind literally searched for answers as he got even closer to me. If I had leaned forward slightly, my nose would have touched his chin. I was feeling the flighty part of me begging to run, but I was too terrified to move. He seemed ready to do whatever it took to keep me there, and out of my peripheral vision I could see his hands twisting around the white fabric in his hands. Why did Jenny have to walk around the corner!?

"I'm sorry. I'm engaged," I finally blurted.

A strange expression flickered across his face; I cannot even begin to describe it. If it's possible, his eyes filled with even more liquid, and he slowly leaned back. He took one step backwards, then another.

"Well," he said, "have a nice day."

I felt as if a line had been lifted, and I knew then that if I didn't get away then, I wouldn't get the chance later. I immediately turned around, ducked my head, and walked swiftly away. I peeked back once and saw him staring at me, his face twisted into an angry frown, walking the length of my car. I clicked lock on my keychain and made my car beep twice. Then I practically bolted into Applebees. I shook for a good long time.

I had pepper spray/tear gas in my purse, but it wasn't until later that someone suggested that I should have pretended to be looking for my phone and have gotten that out; I don't think that "Excuse me while I look for my mace" would have worked. But... he just seemed so unstable that I'm positive that I would have lost that fight. Especially with how close he was to me. He would have seen the contents of my purse in no time.

I'm desperately thinking about taking self-defense courses. That was too close to comfort.