Tag-Along
By: Sabrina Martinez
Tags: College, Short Fiction, Fiction, Short Story

Counting backwards from ten is supposed to help you regain your composure. Erin did not. There was a brief explosion of fury-filled words and she was sent out of the classroom with a stern warning from the professor. Erin sat outside the Art Building in a huff. She was going to get an earful from her advisor if she didn’t get her act together. One more incident like that and she’d lose her scholarship to the University.

It felt like the pavement was melting under her. Even in the shade temperatures were a scorching ninety-nine degrees. August in Arizona was just hell with cacti. She pulled up her hair in a bun. Brown strands falling limply on the side of her head, she plucked them angrily off her shoulder pinning them back with a bobby pin from her pocket.

When the class was let out, her roommate raced over, a mess of blue curls bounding towards her.

“Dude,” Was all she managed to say. Erin shook her head and outstretched her arms for her to be helped up.

“That asshole deserved it.” Erin said in her defense. She tossed her backpack over her shoulder and the two began the trek back to their dorm.

“Yes, he does, but you complain about it in your student evaluation. Not in front of the whole class during the middle of the lecture.”

“Who picks up a kid’s piece of work and uses it as an example of, what not to do? The guy deserves everything I threw at him and then some.”

“Erin.” She warned.

“Sophie.”

Sophie gave an extra heavy sigh, dragging Erin towards the student center. “Come on, let’s get a slushie to fight this heat. On me.”

“Aw, you do care.”

“Shut up,” She laughed. The girls made their way past all the other students that politely cleared a path for the freshman passing through.

“I’m gonna get all the flavors!” Erin ran over to the ICEE machine

“Gross it’s gonna be a sludgy brown.”

Erin laid her arm out in an exaggerated fashion. “So, we can match skin tones!”

Sophie rolled her eyes, a bright smile on her face. She handed her a cup, Sophie got raspberry blue, while Erin got her rainbow concoction that slowly melded to a caramel brown.

“You know despite what Mrs. Atkins says, I’ve really been on my best behavior this week.”

“You only got kicked out of class five times this week?”

“Ha, ha. More like twice. But for only five times since the beginning of the semester. It really is a feat; you should have seen me in high school. The entire office knew my name — ”

Erin needed to pay more attention, it’s something her parents always told her. As it turned out today just wasn’t hers for the taking as she tripped over a walking cane. She fell hard on her stomach, slushie still high in the air before it could topple onto the floor.

“Erin! Are you alright?” Sophie dropped down to pull her up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Shit. I’m so sorry.” She looked up to the person she had rudely stepped in front of.

“It’s fine. Are you okay?” Black sunglasses shined back at her. Did she honestly trip on a blind person’s cane? There wasn’t much concern in the guy’s voice, more annoyance.

“Just embarrassed. Sorry, again.” Erin gradually stepped out of the way, allowing him to move forward.

“Don’t worry about it.” The guy had no emotion on his face. Dark curls whirled around with him, moving back into the crowd. Everyone had enough sense to move out of his way.

“That was…” Erin finished Sophie’s sentence with a groan of embarrassment. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Let’s get out of here.”

It wasn’t until the next day that Erin’s advisor managed to find out about her little fight with the professor. Lucky for Erin her advisor was out on a conference meeting in Kentucky. So, she didn’t have to get chewed out in person but in a very strongly worded email. It said what Erin pretty much thought it would say:

Dear Ms. Mendoza,

Do you want every professor in your major to hate you? No one is going to want to have you in their class. You’re a talented artist Erin! Please don’t throw away the opportunity you’ve been blessed with.

We will discuss this when I get back. I don’t want to have any more news about you till then. One more strike Ms. Mendoza and I’m so sorry. But there will be nothing I can do to assure your attendance next semester at Arizona State.

Sincerely,

Beth Atkins

The message was clear, and it scared her. Enough that she wanted nothing more than to stay in her dorm for the rest of the week. But she still had a day of classes and she did not want to miss it. She got her bearings that night and had Sophie list a million different reasons not to get kicked out of the school that pays her tuition.

With all of it in mind and her willpower to avoid the wrath of her parents and Mrs. Atkins. She went to her one Friday class of Psychology of Art and Creativity. In an unsurprising turn of events class went well, without any interruptions from her. She walked out quickly, even giving a wave to her professor as she left. She excitedly texted Sophie on the way back to the dorm.

Sophie: You made it out in one piece?

Erin: I did!!

Sophie: That’s awesome!!! I’ve left already, but I’ll be back Sunday!

Erin: Wicked! I’ll see you then.

Sophie: Be careful, okay? I don’t want a repeat of last time….

Erin: Bro… I knocked over the plates in the dining hall one time!

Sophie: IK! I’m just teasing, see ya soon!

When she was back in her dorm it was just Erin, and Erin alone, and no, the ghosts did not count. She’d spend the weekend reading her chapters for class and having small dance parties by herself. At least that was the plan. She had to venture out of her room eventually though, food was a must have.

She showed up to the cafeteria alone. She really loved hanging out with friends, but not many had taken a liking to her antics quite yet. Erin knew she’d meet them eventually, that is if she managed to stay in school that long. She warily walked over to the stack of plates and quickly took one from the pile and ran away before anyone could blame her for something.

Erin grabbed the most edible thing in the cafeteria, a slice of pizza, and managed to find a seat to herself, but upon sitting down she saw the person who she had tripped over just a few days ago. She involuntarily blushed at the memory, feeling only the slightest pinch of guilt. Gathering her courage, she grabbed her plate of half eaten pizza and sat across from him.

“Hi! I’m Erin, what’s your name?”

He clearly wasn’t expecting any visitors as he jumped in surprise. He sighed in indignation and that was enough for Erin to almost apologize and leave, but he straightened himself up and cleared his throat. “Lee Velazquez. Erin, was it?”

She nodded and realized he couldn’t see her and responded a little too loudly. “That’s me!”

His frown deepened, “Well Erin, I don’t know what you’re trying to do but I’m not sitting alone because I’m sad and have no friends, I just quite prefer it.”

Erin’s throat closed up on her as she fumbled for a response. “That’s not what I thought at all. I’m the girl that ran into you the other day, I felt really bad about it. I saw you over here by yourself, so I thought I could come over and say hello and give another apology.”

“Oh. That girl.” He stabbed his salad in irritation. “Thanks, I guess, but I think our formalities ended there. You don’t have to keep apologizing.”

“Right. No, totally. I just wanted to see how you’re doing?”

“Fine.”

“Cool. Hey, listen, I was thinking about going to the coffee shop down the street if you wanted to join me.”

“No thanks. I’m busy,” And with that Lee took his plate and cane and left Erin in the dust.

“Okay. That was sad.” Erin looked down glumly at her pizza, so much for making a new friend. Not feeling up to eating much after that, she decided to head back to her room in defeat.

Erin was kicking rocks on her way back when she heard a familiar voice cursing in the distance.

“Ow! Stupid, where the hell is that thing?” Erin saw Lee clambering for the door handle of Ross-Blakely Hall.

She knew it was getting dark and she knew that she was probably the last person he wanted to see, but she couldn’t leave when someone needed help. That’s one thing she didn’t forget.

“Hey! Do you need some help?”

Lee paused and turned towards her voice. “Please do not tell me this is you again.”

“Ok, I won’t. Do you want me to get the door?” Lee ran a hand through his hair and gestured to the double doors in defeat. “I’m coming.”

Erin jogged over and swung the glass door open for him, holding it with the heel of her tennis shoe. “Thank you,” he grumbled; the building was dark inside. There was definitely no classes going on this late, she casually stepped in after him.

“Where are you going?”

“Why are you still following me?”

“You’re walking into a dark, empty building. Are you sure this is the one you need to be in?”

Before he could answer the lights flickered on, illuminating the foyer of a large open spaced office area. The walls painted shades of orange and yellow, matching the last bit of sunlight outside the floor to ceiling windows. Desktops with the ASU lock screen glowed warmly on desks, it felt almost peaceful without the racing of all the students. Erin saw balconies towering over them, banisters allowing people to look down from. This place was way cooler than the art room.

“What are you looking for in here, anyway?” Erin asked, following behind him, ignoring the glare she was receiving behind the sunglasses.

“Documents my Professor left me for next semester.” He rummaged through file folders at one of the tables that looked like it was for mail coming in and out. He ran his hands down the sides of it and stopped on the fifth one.

He pulled out a maroon folder and walked away with it, sitting down at one of the many office chairs in the vicinity. Erin watched as he ran his fingers down the documents, she wondered if they were in braille. When Lee sighed, she assumed not, he got up quickly with a snap of the folders contents. “Okay, thanks again. Bye.”

“Hey, wait. Do you need someone to read that to you?”

“Yes, but I have friends, thank you.”

“Come on. You can get whatever you need done here and won’t have to worry about it later.”

“Oh my god, if I say yes, will you leave me alone?”

“You have my word.”

Lee sat down with a huff and kicked a chair towards her, she sat down and spun over to him. “Alright, let me see.” He handed her the folder, and she opened it to the first document.

“Arizona Center for Disability Law, or ACDL for short. Legal Rights of Students with disabilities in Post-Secondary Schools.” Erin paused flipping through some of the other pages. “It’s an instructional guide,” she concluded.

“Yeah, I know. You can skip ahead. Should be the last few pages.”

Erin flipped past the thirty plus pages landing on the last few. “Disabilities Form for Arizona State University Students.”

“That’s the one. They’ve read it to me before, I just need help signing the document.”

“Do you have a pen?”

“No.”

“How do you not have a pen?”

“Do you have a pen?”

Erin huffed, swirling back out of her chair to search for something to write with. Lee laughed and she was glad she managed to make him smile. “There’s gotta be some around here, right?”

“Actually, I think they have some back there under the balcony.”

Erin made her way in the direction but underestimated the size of this place. “Where?” She called back to him.

“In the back.”

“Could you be more pacific.”

“It’s specific.”

“That’s what I said.” Erin rummaged through empty desks but found no pens or pencils.

“No, you’re saying Pacific, like it’s the Ocean.” Erin turned back to him sitting backwards in his chair, an amused smile on his face.

“But did you get what I said?”

“Yes — ”

“Then shut up. Where is it?”

Lee laughed and waved vaguely with his hand to the right side of the room. “Try the Welcome Desk.” Erin sprinted over to it and leaned over to find a mesh cup full of colored pens. She pulled out a black one and came back over to him.

“Got it!”

“Great, thank you.” She placed it in his hand and brought back the documents to him. “If you could place my hand on to where the signature line is, I’ll sign and that will be it.”

Erin did so and gawked at Lee’s perfect signature. “Date?” He asked, she placed his hand slightly to the right and he wrote in today’s date. He twirled the pen in his fingers and handed it back to her. “Done and done.”

“Was that it?”

He stretched out his arms with a yawn, “That’s it. Thanks for your help, even though I really didn’t need it.”

“No problem, it’s what I do.”

“Annoy people?”

“Something like that.” He nodded, reaching out his hand to her, at first, she thought it was to give her a handshake, but he was just reaching for the folder. She cringed at the thought of embarrassing herself again and handed over the forms.

A click rang through the building at the transaction. Shutting off all the lights in the building, it was enough to make Erin gasp.

“What?”

Erin looked back to him in alarm, and mentally slapped herself in the face. “The lights turned off,” She explained to him. He shrugged and began making his way back towards the exit.

“Guess that’s our cue to go.” Erin sighed and ran over to open the door for them, but as she thrust her shoulder into the door, she bounced back.

“Ow!” She pushed again and that didn’t work. When she tried to pull it and nothing happened, she began to panic.

“What is it?” Lee asked behind her, she swallowed roughly not wanting to scare him.

“I think the door is locked.”

“It’s not supposed to be.”

“I’ll try the other one.” She stepped over his cane and pushed and pulled with all her might but no luck. “Oh shit,” she whispered, suddenly feeling very small. The darkness outside seemed even more menacing in their situation.

“Let me try.” Lee pushed past her and couldn’t manage to get through either. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“That’s probably not a good thing.” Erin tugged at the strands of her hair.

“You think? There’s some other exits, let’s try those. There is no way these are all locked.”

They were all locked. Erin sat in an armchair, as Lee paced the space in front of her grumbling about this school’s stupid security system. He let out a small shout before digging out his phone from his pocket. “Okay, we’re clearly not getting out of here without help. Siri, call campus police.”

Erin jumped up in alarm, snatching the phone out of his hand and exiting the instruction. “Hey! What are you doing?”

“Are we gonna get in trouble?” Erin asked.

He flailed his arms about in exasperation, “I don’t know, maybe? We’ll probably be fined, at the most.”

“No! I can’t.” She tossed the phone onto one of the desks.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll take the blame for keeping you late. Just give me back my phone, please.”

She ran her hands through her hair, “No, you don’t understand. I’m basically on probation, if I get in any more trouble, I won’t be able to come back to school here.”

“How did you… and you just failed to mention that earlier?”

“It didn’t really come up in conversation, did it?”

He threw up his hands and angrily walked over to where Erin was previously sitting. He plopped down in the yellow chair, “Then what the hell are we going to do now?”

“You’re not going to fight me on this?”

“Not like I have much of a choice, had to hit me with the, ‘get kicked out of school’ card.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure what to do.” She could barely see him, the only light coming from the streetlamps outside.

“There’s not much we can do. We’ll have to wait ‘till the buildings open up tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow?” Erin repeated in horror, she wanted to cry, this could not be happening. Did she really get into all this trouble just to make some friends?

“Building opens at six. We should be able to make it till then.”

“That’s hours away! What are we supposed to do till then?”

“Sit and wait.”

“But we can’t just — ”

“It’s either this, or campus police.”

She buried her face in her hands, soft whimpers forcing their way out her throat. Why was she so stupid? “It’s fine Erin. Come sit down.” She rubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe away tears that had fallen. She took the orange chair next to him and tried to keep her sniffles to a minimum. “Maybe you should try and sleep. It’ll make the time go faster.”

“But what if — ”

“I’ll keep watch, and yes I realize the irony of my words, but I’m serious. Just get some rest, I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

Erin stretched out in the chair, feeling a little relaxed at his words. “Okay, but promise you’ll wake me up.”

“I promise, now hush.”

Erin drifted off to sleep, very uncomfortably, not feeling rested at all, her body ready to flee at any sounds of distress. She wasn’t sure what time it was, when she felt Lee smack at her leg. “Get up,” he hissed at her, the panic in his voice was enough to have her bolt up.

“What is it?” Lee hushed her, placing a hand on her mouth, that ended up on her nose.

“Quiet, someone’s in the building,” he whispered.

Fear shot up her spine, she pulled away from Lee’s grasp to have a look at their surroundings, and sure enough on the third floor was the beam of a flashlight and the sounds of a radio from a security guard. She cursed, reaching for Lee’s hand as the beams got closer to the balcony. If the security guard shone the light down here, they’d definitely catch them.

“Come on.” She pulled Lee out of his seat as he struggled to follow her and maneuver his cane. “Just hold it, I need to get us to a hiding spot.”

“No way, you’re going to make me fall!” Erin grabbed the cane and pressed it to his chest.

“I won’t. Trust me.” She could see from the reflection in the glass that the security guard had made it to the banister. “Lee, please.”

“I hate you so much.” He grabbed her hand tightly and she took it as her cue to get them to safety.

She stepped quickly under the balcony, as the beams flashed over the first floor. She held her breath, walking Lee carefully through chairs to hide behind the Welcome Desk. “I’m checking the rest of the floors now,” a woman’s voice echoed through the building, slowly followed by a soft whistle, and the sound of footsteps down the stairs.

Erin could barely see back here, she navigated carefully, running into things and moving them out of the way for Lee. Eventually making it to the large crescent moon shaped desk. “Let’s hide under here.”

“Where is here?”

Erin pulled him down to the floor with her and he fell onto his back. “Sorry. Under the desk.” She pulled him towards her, and he crawled after, smacking his head on the table. She winced and grabbed his head, rubbing the spot where he hit himself.

“I’m fine, let me go.” He fell in the spot next to her, breathing heavily. “Christ, Erin.”

“I’m sorry! She was coming downstairs.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, to see that it was two-thirty in the morning. “It’s almost time, just four more hours.”

“If we manage to make it that long.”

She elbowed his arm, “Don’t say things like that, you’ll jinx it.”

He put a hand to her mouth, this time managing to catch it. She heard the radio again, closer this time. He slowly put his hands down and leaned close to her, tucking his legs under the table, Erin following his example. The whole time Erin prayed that they wouldn’t get caught.

She saw the beam of light, racing against the wall, illuminating Sparky the Sun Devil smiling menacingly at them and their crimes. “Geez these kids really don’t take care of this stuff.” She heard the rolling of the chairs Erin had pushed around trying to get here. “First floor is cleared, heading to the second.”

Erin tried not to sigh with relief too hard as the security woman began her way to the second floor. But there was a pause in her footsteps, Lee gripped her hand tightly as they waited to see what she did next. “Looks like a student left their phone in the building.” Lee laid his head against Erin’s in defeat, she’d thrown the phone on the desk and just left there. “I’ll bring it to the lost and found.” A muffled voice responded back to the security guard, “Yeah, it’s an iPhone, be right up.”

When they were sure she was on the second floor it was only then that Erin apologized for the millionth time that night. Lee shook his head at her, leaning back against the desk quietly. “Are you mad?” Erin asked him.

There was a brief pause, “No.”

She didn’t like the silence between that, she screwed up, she knew that. Now they had Lee’s phone, and who knows if they’d question him on why it was there. Would he rat her out? She wouldn’t blame him if he did, she managed to ruin not only her evening but his as well. “This is why you don’t have any friends Erin.”

“What?”

Erin slapped a hand to her mouth, then tossed it lamely back down at her side. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“You have no friends because you talk to yourself?”

“What? No, I don’t have friends because I do stupid shit like this. And the worst part is, I don’t even mean to do it. I’m just speaking out my truth or doing what I think is right. Yet, I’m always in the wrong. You’d think I’d learn when to quit.”

“Okay, there’s no reason to beat yourself up about it. You’re not intolerable.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He turned towards her, taking off his jacket and tossing it onto her lap. “I mean that. I know I’ve been ragging on you this whole time, but you’re okay.” Erin didn’t respond, holding the jacket against her chest. “Is that why you’re on probation? You don’t know when to quit?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s pretty admirable. I can’t remember the last time I had the motivation to do something like that. Fighting for what you believe is right is hard to do, especially now more than ever. It’s brave.”

“Thank you,” Erin accepted the complement with a small nudge to Lee’s shoulder. He nodded, looking at what would have been the ceiling had the desk not been in the way.

She watched with him curiosity, she had so many questions, but she had no clue to ask him. Or even if he’d be willing to answer. “If you don’t mind me asking…how did you lose your sight?”

“Nothing cool or special. Glaucoma. The immense pressure in my eyes, it impairs my vision. So, I’m considered legally blind.”

“How long have you been blind?”

He blew a raspberry, “Since my senior year of high school, so about three years now.”

“You’re a sophomore?”

“I am. And you’re a freshman.”

“How did you know?”

“You just have that vibe.” Erin laughed, he shushed her with a small giggle of his own. “We’re not out of the woods yet, keep it down.”

“Right, my bad. Hey Lee?”

“Yeah?”

“After this, do you think we could be friends?”

He clicked his tongue, “I don’t know, are you still going to be putting me in dangerous situations?”

“No! At least I’ll try not to.”

“I guess I could settle for that.” He outstretched his hand to her, this time for an actual handshake. Erin was too excited for formalities and pulled him in a tight hug. “Okay, thanks for that. A warning next time, please. I can’t see you, I thought you were going to choke me.”

She pulled away from him, “Sorry! I’ll try to remember. I’m a hugger.”

“Good to know. How long do we got?”

“Three hours and thirty minutes,” she replied meekly seeing the time flash onto her screen.

“Of course. Might as well get comfortable. What’s your favorite color?”

She laughed, “Gold, yours?”

“Pink.”

After a while, Erin couldn’t remember the last conversation she had but the next thing she knew she was tussled awake. “Hey, Erin. It’s morning.”

“It is?” She rubbed at her eyes, seeing bright rays of sunlight illuminating the room.

“At least that’s what your phone told me.”

Erin snagged her phone back from him to see that it was six-thirty. “We made it!” She cheered, pulling herself out of the desk and pulling out Lee after her.

He yawned, stretching out the rest of his limbs. “Thank goodness, I don’t think I slept a wink. Let’s get out of here.”

Erin managed to run by the chairs and snag Lee’s folder which was tucked into the cushions, out of eyesight of any Security Guard. She kissed it in success and managed to still catch the now unlocked door for Lee.

“After you, sir.”

“Thank you,” he breathed in deeply. “Fresh air and sunlight, isn’t this great?”

“Yes, but I don’t need to get any darker.”

“Yeah me neither. Since I need to come back here to get my phone in the next hour or so, would you care to join me for coffee across the street?”

“I’d be delighted!” He shushed her with a smile.

“Still very early, let’s try to keep it down.”

“Oh yeah, good idea.”

The next week, Mrs. Atkins returned back from Kentucky, and Erin was summoned to her office as soon as she was out of class. She was sat outside, dangling her feet from the chair, texting anxiously back and forth with Lee.

Erin: She knows dude, I can feel it!!!

Lee: You’re being paranoid. Everything went fine, no one knows, or cares for that matter.

Erin: Ur right.

Erin: But what if you’re wrong?!

Lee: I’m not. Go in there, and say you’re doing better. Then come meet me for lunch.

Erin: Yeahhhh ok! I’ll text you when I’m outta here.

Lee: You’ll do great. Good luck!

Erin: Thank you!!!

“Ms. Mendoza, come on in.” She stuffed her phone in her pocket stumbling into the room at the sound of her name.

“Hey Mrs. Atkins, how was your trip?” She sat down tentatively, laying her backpack by her feet.

“Very well, thank you. But let’s please discuss the problem at hand. I see from my documents there hasn’t been any record of misconduct in your name. That’s what I like to hear. I don’t know what’s gotten you on this right path, but I hope you keep at it. Nothing’s happened while I was gone, correct?”

“Actually, there was something. I got trapped in a building with a boy I barely knew the entire night.”

“I’m sorry?”

Erin laughed, “I’m just kidding! Nothing new, nothing exciting. I’ve been golden since your warning, Mrs. Atkins. Trust me.”