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“I don’t feel safe around him,” New Girl said just as Tara looked up and saw me standing there. I had no idea what to do, all I knew was that hearing her say that she didn’t feel safe had me wanting to save her from whatever she was running from. Then, she turned, her eyes flashing with horror when she saw me standing there. In an instant, embarrassment crept into her features as she dipped her head and ran out of the place like there were hot coals under her feet. I took a step in her direction, then stopped. What was I going to do? Run after her? I didn’t even know her.

What was this feeling? I couldn’t identify it, but there was a burning in my chest, a need for action. It was the wobble in her voice that did me in. She sounded frightened. Tara cleared her throat, bringing my attention back to her.

“Do you want another?” she asked, motioning to the mug I’d carried over before I got distracted by New Girl’s plight. It was such an ordinary question and felt unnatural after what I’d just heard.

“Uh yeah.” I handed her the mug. “Who was that? A friend of yours?”

Tara’s eyes turned a little sad as she considered the girl who’d fled the café in obvious embarrassment over what she’d confessed. Of course, she had no reason to be embarrassed, but I understood how she might be. My brother’s best friend, Rhys, had experienced abuse from his father for years before he ever told any of us what was going on. We’d only found out about it this last summer, so I knew how these things could get all tangled up in shame, how people might choose to hide away instead of seeking help.

“Not a friend, no. Her name is Erin. She was applying for the part-time position,” Tara motioned to the ‘Help Wanted’ sign. “Poor thing is obviously having a rough time of it. Did you hear what she said?”

“Yeah, something about her sister’s boyfriend?”

“She needs the job so that she can find her own place, said something about renting a room. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that even if she got the job here, it wouldn’t be enough money to cover rent in this town. Everything’s so expensive.”

“You are going to give her the job, though, right? She clearly needs it.”

Tara chewed her lip, looking torn when she replied, “I more or less promised it to Celine. She’s saving up for college and needs the money, too.”

Celine was another of my sister’s friends. “But Celine doesn’t have a sister with a scary ex-boyfriend,” I countered.

Tara gave me a considered look. “Why are you so concerned about this girl? You don’t even know her, or … do you? She obviously goes to your school.”

“I don’t know her, but I’ve noticed her around. She’s new and doesn’t seem to have any friends.”

Tara smirked. “She’s also beautiful, which doesn’t hurt. I mean, those eyes are just … wow.” She tutted to herself. “Not that any of the idiots around here would notice since she doesn’t dress to show it off.”

“That’s not why—”

“She was looking at you, you know,” Tara said, and I blinked.

“What?”

“Earlier when she was waiting in line. I saw her watching you. Seems she’s been noticing you back.” She gave a little wink, and I felt colour rise in my cheeks at the idea of New Girl noticing me. No, not New Girl. Erin. Why was it so exhilarating to finally know her name?

“Ha, you like her,” Tara chuckled. “Why don’t you get her a job at your dad’s hotel? They’re always hiring people for the kitchens and such, right?” She waggled her eyebrows. “You could be her knight in shining armour.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“It feels like overstepping. She’ll think I feel sorry for her or something, and she doesn’t seem like the type who would appreciate being looked at like a charity case.”

“I don’t know. Seemed to me like she really doesn’t want to live with her sister and the boyfriend. Maybe she’d appreciate some help.”

Before I could say more, a group of women wearing yoga garb entered the café carrying rolled up matts and reusable coffee mugs. Tara started to take their orders, and I went back to the table to re-join my friends. I barely heard what they were discussing. My head was elsewhere.

I couldn’t get Erin out of my mind, the startled look in her eyes when she’d realised I’d overheard her. Confessing something like that to another girl her age was one thing, but having some random lad you went to school with overhear was different. No one wanted a stranger to know their business.

Could I help her get a job at the hotel, or would that come across as creepy? She probably already thought of me as the freak who stared at her in art class, so randomly offering her a job would just make things weirder.

The next day, I only saw her once, her hands tight around the straps of her backpack, her head down as she hurried by the lockers. It was on the tip of my tongue to say hello, introduce myself.

By the time I worked up the courage, she was already gone. What was going on with me? I was never normally nervous to talk to girls. Flirting had always come easy. But there was something about Erin, like she had a defensive wall up that I suspected would take a lot more than my usual charm to break down.

I didn’t have art on Tuesdays, so I didn’t see her again until after school. I was on the sports pitch, running laps to warm up before training, when I spotted her leaving one of the buildings. Most of the other students had already left, and I got the sense that she’d hung back on purpose. A black car with tinted windows was parked by the gates, and her shoulders tensed when she spotted it. Something didn’t feel right, and I found myself jogging in her direction before I even realised what I was doing.

Erin gave the car a wide berth, her knuckles white as she clenched the strap of her backpack even tighter than she had been earlier by the lockers. Why was she so tense? A sense of wrongness filled my gut, some sixth sense telling me things were off.