The night my best friend saved my life

The night my best friend saved my life<br><br>In my early 20s, I went on a short vacation to a small-ish city in the US. It was a college town, and the university had a international reputation for strong business and engineering programs. One of my best friends, Claire, was doing her undergrad there and invited me to come out and visit for a week. It was a great opportunity to enjoy a different part of the country, visit a friend, and get a new experience. <br><br>I had come from a smaller town and had also been homeschooled. So, this trip was my first extended experience away from home, outside of family vacation. And the college town was much larger than my small town. I mention these points because my inexperience shows later in this story. <br><br>Anyway, Claire and I had a great time. She is one of those friends who always knows what to say and do to make you feel comfortable. I was incredibly shy (and still am somewhat), so I often felt out of my element in this new setting. But Claire took me under her wing, introduced me to all of her friends, showed me around the university and town, helped me navigate the city, etc. We also spent a lot of time just hanging out in her dorm room, watching movies, flipping through a fashion mag, gossiping, and being lazy (the best things in life). <br><br>One evening, Claire suggested we go out for coffee. I agreed and we walked to the university's student union, which had a coffee shop and dining hall on the ground floor. We got our coffee and sat outside at a table. There was a small university parking lot next to the student union. We had just been sitting there for a few minutes when two men pulled up in a car and parked in the lot. They were clearly drunk. The driver was stumbling, the passenger had his head against the back of the seat, and the car was swerving around as they parked it. I remember being a bit surprised because they were obviously drunk and driving. <br><br>The men got out and walked over to us. One of them was very clearly drunk. The other one seemed more sober. They said they were frat boys from a nearby university. They started talking to us, trying to flirt with us, making sexual remarks, etc. They invited us to a frat party at their house. Claire politely declined and said we weren't interested. They persisted and she had to be more forceful in saying no. They finally walked away. But, I didn't realize that one of them had hung back while the others left. <br><br>The one who stayed back was the more sober one. He approached me and started talking to me. Claire saw what was happening and excused herself to go to the bathroom. I didn't think much of this because I assumed she'd be back in a couple minutes. But she didn't come back. And the guy kept talking to me. He was asking me all these questions about where I was from, how long I was staying, where I was staying, what I liked to do, etc. I started to feel uneasy, but, again, I was inexperienced and didn't know how to get out of the situation. <br><br>I tried to shut the conversation down, but he wouldn't leave. He kept pushing me to go to the frat party. He made some remark about how I reminded him of a high school girl he used to date. That's when I started to get scared. It finally occurred to me that Claire had been gone for ~15 minutes and I started to look around for her. That's when I saw her standing across the parking lot. She was leaning against a lamppost and staring at me. I waved at her and motioned her over, but she didn't come back. She just kept staring. <br><br>The guy followed my gaze and saw Claire. He said something like, "Is she waiting for you? Why don't you go ask her if it's OK if you come to the party? If she says it's all right, I'll drive us over." That's when I started to panic. I was a dumb, young girl and I didn't know what to do. So, I walked over to Claire. <br><br>As I approached her, she said, "Don't say anything. We're going back to my room." I nodded. She turned around and started walking towards the student union. I followed her. I glanced back over my shoulder to see the guy following us. Claire sped up and I did too. The guy yelled something at us and started running. That's when Claire grabbed my arm and we started to run. We ran through the student union, up the stairs, and into the main hall of her dorm. She didn't stop moving until we were inside her room, with the door locked. <br><br>She finally said something. She asked me why I went to talk to her. I explained that I had waved at her and motioned for her to come back. Claire said she realized something was wrong when I was still talking to that guy after she'd been gone for 10 minutes. She said she had walked to the edge of the parking lot to see what was happening and heard him ask me to come to the party. When she saw me glance at her, she said she knew he had seen her too. She was worried he would follow us inside, so she was waiting to see what he would do. When he followed us, she knew she needed to get me inside the dorm and to safety. <br><br>I didn't realize how bad the situation could have been until she explained all of this. If she hadn't been there, I would have gone with that guy. And, based on some of his comments, like the high school girl remark, it's likely he would have attacked or raped me if I had gone with him. <br><br>Claire and I both shook as we processed what had just happened. We called the campus police and reported the incident. They said we had done the right thing in getting out of there and they would keep an eye out. <br><br>I never forgot this incident. Claire is the reason I am safe. If she hadn't been there, who knows what would have happened.