Scary.

Dear Mama,
Tonight, the Ap's and I went to Open Mic (... basically anyone on campus who thinks they can sing is allowed to sign up and sing or recite poetry. Some of them are correct in their assumptions of their abilities. Some, on the other hand, are poorly mistaken.) It was pretty good! Although, the volume was turned up so loud that you couldn't always understand what the people were saying. But, all in all, it was very enjoyable!
Soon enough, I got hungry. I do that, you know.
The Ap's had already eaten, but she still stood in line with me because she's a lovely human being. The Open Mic ended, and we danced in place to the next few songs the leaders of the Open Mic played while they took down the set. The guys behind us look ridiculously melancholy, and I wanted very badly to ask why, but not badly enough to carry on a conversation afterward, so I left them alone.
I got my six inch sub, and the Ap's and I made an agreement: She would hang out while I ate if I would walk back to the dorm with her (rather than us riding on the bus.)
I was not pleased, but I knew she really just wanted to walk back and she wanted me to come too.
So, I agreed.
and I ate.
and then we left...
into the cold night.

I was not really dressed for this chilly adventure from one end of campus to the other, but I tried to not think about it. we passed a few people, and I could see their breath. The Ap's offered to take the bus, but I knew she really, really wanted to walk, so I said something overly dramatic about how I had made a decision and I was sticking to it, and we continued through to the abandoned football stadium.
Now, it got to that point in conversation where the obvious had to be stated: if I were home, dad would pop out of that bush wearing a gorilla mask.
It was just the truth!
It was dark, freezing, and uncomfortable. It would be the moment dad would choose to scare the living daylights out of me.
We discussed this, you know, what we would do and so forth.
Then... that silence fell
You know the one.
You make light of something you're legitimately fearful of, and afterward you are both too busy playing these scenarios in your head to actually speak? Yeah. That silence.
It was so... so so quiet....
And then, like it was playing out from my mind, some man ran from the shadows and grabbed April!
THERE WAS A MAN
RUNNING
GRABBING APRIL
She screamed
I screamed
WE WERE GOING TO DIE!!

She and I jumped away, hugged ourselves, and tried to make sense of it all...
Then I realized... he didn't really grab her.
It turned out he didn't even touch her. We scared him about as much as he scared us!
He and his friend were jogging, and they just happened to be really quiet runners who didn't have the decency to not run so close to us we could touch them.
I leaned up against the wall of the football stadium and experienced a moment where I just needed to remember how to breathe.
We got up, and continued to walk.
We started to laugh... and we kept laughing, we kept laughing until *POW!!!*
And we jumped.
Who in the world fires off a firework at 10:00pm for no apparent reason?
I looked at the Ap's and said, "You know, Satan just wants me to have a heart attack and die tonight."
She agreed that it was a plausible reason for the past events.
We continued to walk, because our campus is ridiculously long, and we saw the darker part of the walkway, out in front of the Giant Golfball. It has a few street lights, but it's just... darker than the rest of campus, and I never like walking through there at night. I have a very active mind, especially at night, and there is rarely a time I go out in the dark when I don't have scenarios running through my mind about how I will protect myself from a man lurking in the bushes.
But, the Ap's and I had eased up. We're talking freely about... something. I started to complain about how cold my fingers were, we sang a song in harmony, I started to trip and caught myself, you know, the usual stuff.
We begin to go through the dark part, and as another girl came my way I think to myself, "You know, this is an irrational fear."
Mid-thought, I'm surrounded.
Completely surrounded by the sound of men screaming at me.
Just screaming.
they're all around
I can't see them, but they're everywhere!
April and I both scream, as does the girl coming toward us. We all slightly huddle against the fence and wait for it to end.
It felt longer than it really was
Then I realized... it was the Idiots.

The Idiots drive around really fast at night, and whenever they see a girl on the sidewalk they full-on yell. The car is always packed, so it sounds like there is an angry mob after you or something equally traumatizing. The Idiots have attacked me once before, and April, twice. These guys just load up, and drive around yelling at people for kicks...
As they sped off, I yelled, "WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT?!" (because I manage anger in a healthy way.)
I was not happy.
The other girl started to laugh a little, and April and I did a bit too, but we were both kind of uneasy.
We continued to walk, and... something I haven't shared with you up to this point is this:
I really had to tinkle.
That's not a good thing when people are scaring you, because that desire does not leave. It just stays. Makes itself known. For all of eternity.
So, we finally reach our building, and I'm trying to act all cool while The Ap's messes with her PassCard. I can feel my eyes bulging. I needed to get inside. Bad.
Finally, she opened the door, I raced up the stairs, into those nasty public restrooms, and slam the stall door behind me.
Then I had a horrible realization
My fingers were so frozen I couldn't unbutton.
I tried multiple times but I couldn't get my fingers to work!
I'm standing there, realizing I am trapped.
I cannot be free.
The night took more than my sanity, it took the function of my fingers.

That's when it got religious.
I prayed.
"God. Please. Help me. Please, please, please God help me."
You would have thought I was a martyr asking God to give me strength in the face of persecution.

Thankfully, there are no limits on the drama level of our prayers, because... He heard mine.

And that is my story for today.

-Me