(no subject)
I might've mentioned my creepy stalker in passing once, but for the most part I've not documented his creepiness because up until yesterday, the adjective "creepy" was just a joke. (He really has been a stalker, however.) So I suppose a little bit of backstory is required.
My creepy stalker has a name, contrary to popular belief. It is Ben. The past summer, I took speech to get the credit out of the way. Naturally, summer school classes are filled with people who somehow failed (how do you fail speech??) or... or something. So they're not very enthusiastic people, and specifically in speech most of them suck at speaking. We had a group project, and because they kept quiet, it was up to me to lead and get things done. Ben was in my group. I bossed them around like no one's business and we got a good grade. When summer school ended I was rid of my summer stalker (kind of like a prelude right? there was a guy who talked to me every day during the 15 minute break, he was clearly infatuated with me just because I like Halo) and rid of the rest of the class.
But little did I know that BEN GOES TO MY SCHOOL. One day around the beginning of the school year, he approached me in the morning. I humored him by talking to him and asking him how he was doing, etc. I'm a nice person, painfully so. I don't know how to say 'no' to people for fear of hurting them, so I hurt myself instead. Clearly that's not healthy, but I'm doing my best to overcome it. Any way, this continued for a long time. He'd sulk around the water fountain just around the corner from where I sit in the morning for a minute before showing up next to me and start a conversation punctured with awkward silences. He discovered, much like my summer stalker, that I like Halo, and oh god did that set him off. It got a little worse after that.
Homecoming rolled around, and me being me, I didn't plan to attend, nor did I want to, nor do I ever really expect to. But, my creepy stalker being my creepy stalker, he asked me if I wanted to go. As in, with him. This set off all kinds of alarms in my head. I had previously joked that he too was enamored with me, but then I realized it wasn't a joke anymore. Thankfully, I had a legit excuse. A relative was staying the weekend with us and I wouldn't be able to go (even if I wanted to). Ironically, the relative later canceled her plans so I was free, but in the very least I didn't feel guilty because at the time I didn't lie to him. Not long after that, winter break was coming closer, which meant Christmas. And what did he do? He asked me if I had Halo 3 yet. Like all guys who discover I like Halo, he assumed I had an Xbox 360. Which, I don't. I probably never will. Unfortunately he had the idea so buried in his head, I couldn't just tell him I didn't have one. He said if I didn't get Halo 3 for Christmas, he'd buy it for me. I tried to get that idea out of his head, but he kept insisting, as if he was doing me some huge favor, that he'd buy it for me no matter how much it was.
Around this time, I started spotting him all around. He'd sulk around the water fountain in the morning, and when my friends would show up to sit with me, therefore deterring him from talking to me, he'd walk off and disappear. He'd pass by the hallway right in front of us, as if hoping I'd call out to him to talk to him. He timed it to where he passed me in the hallways on the way to 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. When I still had A lunch, he'd get to the cafeteria super early just to run into me, despite him having B lunch. He'd wait outside the school after the bell rang for when I walk outside to go sit with my friends. He'd walk by our gathering spot, probably once again hoping I'd call out to him. During pep rallies, when my friends gathered in the cafeteria, he'd show up and sit a couple tables away just staring at me. It was getting a little frustrating but I just altered my plans. Walked faster, changed my routes, ignored him completely as if I were a dumb blonde who couldn't use her peripheral vision.
When I returned from winter break I lied and said yes, I got Halo 3. That thankfully deflated any plans he had to buy me a game I couldn't play. After that, the amount of times he'd show up to talk to me decreased. He'd still time it to where he ran into me in the hallway, but he seemed to have lost the courage to start the conversation himself. For a while I was relieved of that social pressure.
But yesterday? Oh, yesterday. His creepy level was truly over 9000.
I got a schedule change after the first couple weeks of school, changing my lunch from A to C. That rid myself of one awkward meeting, making my lunch a safe place once again. He must've figured this out. I don't know where he was supposed to be, but he showed up halfway through C lunch. I noticed him immediately. He's not easy to miss. He slouches over slightly, he walks really slowly around me (hoping to god I'll notice and talk to him), and he looks around as if he's there for something other than me (but he's really not, and it's painfully obvious). He's about my height (5'2") if not shorter, is a little chubby, and has a quasi-beard. Quite the winner.
Now, I've whined about my creepy stalker to my friends before. Most of them believe me, since they've run into him themselves. Phillip bursts out laughing whenever he sees him, in fact. Unfortunately, Mr. Redlinger never really believed me, since he had never seen him. But yesterday, he learned. I pointed Ben out to him, as I was really freaked out. He showed up at my lunch! What is he doing here is he going to talk to me oh please don't let him pass my lunch table I don't wanna deal with this right now ughhhh. Ben walks toward a table half the cafeteria away, but still in viewing distance of my table. He sits there for a couple minutes and initially I think I'm safe... until he gets up and starts walking around the cafeteria, circling the center section (where I sit) like a shark, painfully acting like he's there for some purpose other than stalking me. After a couple minutes of this, he moves for the exit as if he's finally going to leave... but right before, he TURNS AROUND and makes a beeline for my table. A little over a yard to the right of my table is a pillar. He picks this spot, leans against the pillar, and simply stares at my lunch table, and I can only assume that once again he's hoping I notice him. Conveniently I was turned the other way so I wasn't just pretending to be stupid this time; my back was to him.
By now, Mr. Redlinger was pretty freaked out too. I was a complete paranoid mess, laughing and whining/crying at the same time. Thankfully, Mr. Redlinger asked me if I wanted to go the library. My "Yes!" was probably a little too enthusiastic. Ben could clearly hear us. I grabbed my bag and in a second we were walking out of there. I couldn't turn around for risk of making eye contact, so Mr. Redlinger kept tabs on him for me. As we made our way out of the cafeteria, he said Ben started to walk down the aisle parallel to us, and followed us out. We picked up the pace a little until we made it to the library, where we loitered for a bit until Mr. Redlinger decided we had lost him/he had given up. After a couple more minutes we circled back around to the cafeteria (and I found $2 in the hallway, woo!) and I didn't see Ben for the rest of the day.
That event was more than enough for me. He had crossed the line. I couldn't take it anymore, I shouldn't have to avoid walking down certain hallways at certain times just because some boy is completely obsessed with the ONE person who talked and was actually remotely nice to him.
I talked with the crisis counselor, Mrs. Bayer, who has sort of become my therapist, about it very briefly today. I knew she couldn't do anything without his last name, but I summarized the situation and she was not amused. My mission now is to find his last name, report him, and hopefully get an equivalent to a restraining order. Some distant part of me feels bad. I should be able to man up and tell him to his face that hey, you're being kinda creepy. (I mean, I know those tricks. I know he's timing everything because I do that with the boys I have crushes on!! In the very least, I know when to back off.) Unfortunately, I hate confrontations and dealing with the consequences, so it's much more my style to be all passive and tell someone else about it so they can solve the problem.
For the record, we had a pep rally today, and he showed up at the same table he's always sat at to stare at me. :| I got Mr. Redlinger to recount yesterday to Eric, Phillip, and Parker. Good(?) times.
VerusMaya II
My creepy stalker has a name, contrary to popular belief. It is Ben. The past summer, I took speech to get the credit out of the way. Naturally, summer school classes are filled with people who somehow failed (how do you fail speech??) or... or something. So they're not very enthusiastic people, and specifically in speech most of them suck at speaking. We had a group project, and because they kept quiet, it was up to me to lead and get things done. Ben was in my group. I bossed them around like no one's business and we got a good grade. When summer school ended I was rid of my summer stalker (kind of like a prelude right? there was a guy who talked to me every day during the 15 minute break, he was clearly infatuated with me just because I like Halo) and rid of the rest of the class.
But little did I know that BEN GOES TO MY SCHOOL. One day around the beginning of the school year, he approached me in the morning. I humored him by talking to him and asking him how he was doing, etc. I'm a nice person, painfully so. I don't know how to say 'no' to people for fear of hurting them, so I hurt myself instead. Clearly that's not healthy, but I'm doing my best to overcome it. Any way, this continued for a long time. He'd sulk around the water fountain just around the corner from where I sit in the morning for a minute before showing up next to me and start a conversation punctured with awkward silences. He discovered, much like my summer stalker, that I like Halo, and oh god did that set him off. It got a little worse after that.
Homecoming rolled around, and me being me, I didn't plan to attend, nor did I want to, nor do I ever really expect to. But, my creepy stalker being my creepy stalker, he asked me if I wanted to go. As in, with him. This set off all kinds of alarms in my head. I had previously joked that he too was enamored with me, but then I realized it wasn't a joke anymore. Thankfully, I had a legit excuse. A relative was staying the weekend with us and I wouldn't be able to go (even if I wanted to). Ironically, the relative later canceled her plans so I was free, but in the very least I didn't feel guilty because at the time I didn't lie to him. Not long after that, winter break was coming closer, which meant Christmas. And what did he do? He asked me if I had Halo 3 yet. Like all guys who discover I like Halo, he assumed I had an Xbox 360. Which, I don't. I probably never will. Unfortunately he had the idea so buried in his head, I couldn't just tell him I didn't have one. He said if I didn't get Halo 3 for Christmas, he'd buy it for me. I tried to get that idea out of his head, but he kept insisting, as if he was doing me some huge favor, that he'd buy it for me no matter how much it was.
Around this time, I started spotting him all around. He'd sulk around the water fountain in the morning, and when my friends would show up to sit with me, therefore deterring him from talking to me, he'd walk off and disappear. He'd pass by the hallway right in front of us, as if hoping I'd call out to him to talk to him. He timed it to where he passed me in the hallways on the way to 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. When I still had A lunch, he'd get to the cafeteria super early just to run into me, despite him having B lunch. He'd wait outside the school after the bell rang for when I walk outside to go sit with my friends. He'd walk by our gathering spot, probably once again hoping I'd call out to him. During pep rallies, when my friends gathered in the cafeteria, he'd show up and sit a couple tables away just staring at me. It was getting a little frustrating but I just altered my plans. Walked faster, changed my routes, ignored him completely as if I were a dumb blonde who couldn't use her peripheral vision.
When I returned from winter break I lied and said yes, I got Halo 3. That thankfully deflated any plans he had to buy me a game I couldn't play. After that, the amount of times he'd show up to talk to me decreased. He'd still time it to where he ran into me in the hallway, but he seemed to have lost the courage to start the conversation himself. For a while I was relieved of that social pressure.
But yesterday? Oh, yesterday. His creepy level was truly over 9000.
I got a schedule change after the first couple weeks of school, changing my lunch from A to C. That rid myself of one awkward meeting, making my lunch a safe place once again. He must've figured this out. I don't know where he was supposed to be, but he showed up halfway through C lunch. I noticed him immediately. He's not easy to miss. He slouches over slightly, he walks really slowly around me (hoping to god I'll notice and talk to him), and he looks around as if he's there for something other than me (but he's really not, and it's painfully obvious). He's about my height (5'2") if not shorter, is a little chubby, and has a quasi-beard. Quite the winner.
Now, I've whined about my creepy stalker to my friends before. Most of them believe me, since they've run into him themselves. Phillip bursts out laughing whenever he sees him, in fact. Unfortunately, Mr. Redlinger never really believed me, since he had never seen him. But yesterday, he learned. I pointed Ben out to him, as I was really freaked out. He showed up at my lunch! What is he doing here is he going to talk to me oh please don't let him pass my lunch table I don't wanna deal with this right now ughhhh. Ben walks toward a table half the cafeteria away, but still in viewing distance of my table. He sits there for a couple minutes and initially I think I'm safe... until he gets up and starts walking around the cafeteria, circling the center section (where I sit) like a shark, painfully acting like he's there for some purpose other than stalking me. After a couple minutes of this, he moves for the exit as if he's finally going to leave... but right before, he TURNS AROUND and makes a beeline for my table. A little over a yard to the right of my table is a pillar. He picks this spot, leans against the pillar, and simply stares at my lunch table, and I can only assume that once again he's hoping I notice him. Conveniently I was turned the other way so I wasn't just pretending to be stupid this time; my back was to him.
By now, Mr. Redlinger was pretty freaked out too. I was a complete paranoid mess, laughing and whining/crying at the same time. Thankfully, Mr. Redlinger asked me if I wanted to go the library. My "Yes!" was probably a little too enthusiastic. Ben could clearly hear us. I grabbed my bag and in a second we were walking out of there. I couldn't turn around for risk of making eye contact, so Mr. Redlinger kept tabs on him for me. As we made our way out of the cafeteria, he said Ben started to walk down the aisle parallel to us, and followed us out. We picked up the pace a little until we made it to the library, where we loitered for a bit until Mr. Redlinger decided we had lost him/he had given up. After a couple more minutes we circled back around to the cafeteria (and I found $2 in the hallway, woo!) and I didn't see Ben for the rest of the day.
That event was more than enough for me. He had crossed the line. I couldn't take it anymore, I shouldn't have to avoid walking down certain hallways at certain times just because some boy is completely obsessed with the ONE person who talked and was actually remotely nice to him.
I talked with the crisis counselor, Mrs. Bayer, who has sort of become my therapist, about it very briefly today. I knew she couldn't do anything without his last name, but I summarized the situation and she was not amused. My mission now is to find his last name, report him, and hopefully get an equivalent to a restraining order. Some distant part of me feels bad. I should be able to man up and tell him to his face that hey, you're being kinda creepy. (I mean, I know those tricks. I know he's timing everything because I do that with the boys I have crushes on!! In the very least, I know when to back off.) Unfortunately, I hate confrontations and dealing with the consequences, so it's much more my style to be all passive and tell someone else about it so they can solve the problem.
For the record, we had a pep rally today, and he showed up at the same table he's always sat at to stare at me. :| I got Mr. Redlinger to recount yesterday to Eric, Phillip, and Parker. Good(?) times.
VerusMaya II