I stood at the very end of a cobblestone trail leading up to the central university building that contained a good portion of the administrative offices including the sorority and fraternity office, the office for funding, and most importantly, the office in charge of Title IX complaints.

I'd woken up on Phoebe's couch to a cup of hot tea and an already-buttered slice of toast. Phoebe had left me a note in her cursive writing.

I have a meeting but didn't want to wake you. See you later?

I quickly pulled out my phone and texted a yes. Of course.

And then, I'd gotten a text from Andrea.

Hey, can I call you? It's urgent.

In a panic, I'd run up to my bedroom and picked up the phone. Andrea, in a rush, had explained to me that she thought David was catching on. That he had texted her and asked if she knew me.

She had told him no.

"But I'm worried he's going to do something. He's smart. He's manipulative. He will make sure that we can't report him."

What could he do at this point? Andrea and I were allowed to report him without retaliation. If he tried to retaliate, we could report that, too.

"Do you want me to go to Title IX today? I'm happy to start talking to them," I offered.

"It doesn't hurt to," Andrea agreed.

Andrea had shared with me a massive document with images, videos, and text exchanges immediately following our call. Before I could chicken out, I pulled on my running sneakers, a jacket, and headed toward Title IX.

Overhead, dark clouds hovered, drifting soundlessly across the darkened sky. My umbrella still sat in my apartment closet, tucked away. I racked my brain, trying to remember the last time I'd bothered to use it.

It was nearly snow season, anyway.

Leaves cracked beneath my shoes as I journeyed up the worn pathway, heart racing. The last time I'd been here, it hadn't gone in my favor. David hadn't faced any consequences. But this time he would. This time, I had evidence. He couldn't fight that.

The large wooden door creaked as I shoved it open. A few students stood in the hallway, one furiously texting with her backpack pressed back against the wall. Another two chatting with each other while waiting for one of the other offices. I wandered down the tiled hallway, clutching the straps of my backpack close to my chest. My phone battery sat at a solid ninety-nine percent.

The Title IX office door was at the very end of the hallway, shoved into a corner of the administrative building. I quickened my pace, nearly jogging across the hallway toward the office. In my head, I was counting each minute since Andrea had called me. The uncertainty of what David would do, what he could do, was killing me.

I just wanted him to disappear. I wanted everything to be okay. I wanted to go on a formal date with Phoebe when all of this was over and...

My face went a bit red.

We hadn't even kissed last night. I'd considered asking, but I didn't want to move too fast. Everything that had gone on between us still felt too raw, too real. 

"Hey."

That voice.

A chill scrambled down my spine. My grip tightened on the backpack straps, and the fabric dug into my palm.

"I haven't seen you in a while. Where are you headed?" David's voice grated against my ears.

He sat on the floor by the water fountain and just outside of the men's bathroom. How hadn't I seen him there?

"Please leave me alone," I mumbled back. My heart pounded in my chest. I'd nearly tripped when I first heard him. Now, I kept walking, trying to leave him behind me.

"Don't go in there," he ordered as I neared the Title IX office doors. I was close enough to see the fake tree sitting just inside.

"Why should I listen to you?" I demanded.

He sauntered toward me, hands shoved into his pockets. The other students in the hallway were too far to hear any of this.

"Because I don't want you to do something you would regret," he said. "I'm just trying to help you."

"I asked you to leave me alone." I backed away from him, inching closer to the office. I contemplated just running into the office and shutting the door behind me. But no. He would be here waiting once I got out. I could call campus security. But what would they say? He hadn't attacked me. He wouldn't. Would he?

"What are you going to even report to them, huh? That you poured your drink all over me at an illegal party? That I upset you? You know your going to look like the attacker, right? You'll just get in trouble. I'm serious." He stopped his saunter once he was within a foot of me. I could see the light freckles on his cheek, a small scar by his ear, the split ends of his brown hair. The lines in his forehead. The absolute deadness in his eyes.

My fingers trembled and I wandered back a step. "I know what you did to Andrea."

"Do you, though? You know she cheated on me, right? I was just reacting appropriately," he argued, his eyes lighting up with anger.

I didn't believe him. I'd seen the screenshots. I'd seen the horrible names that he'd called her. I'd seen the evidence of hundreds of missed calls as he desperately tried to contact her and later tried to follow her around.

At that point, I should have just left. I should have marched right on into the Title IX office and ignored him completely. I should have turned my back on him so he wouldn't be able to hurt me - or anyone else around me - again. I had the evidence. I had everything I needed to at the very least get a restraining order.

But I didn't leave.

"You're a liar," I snapped at him. 

"About what? I'm literally telling you the truth. What? Do you really believe Andrea's sob story?" he countered. Then, he let out a horrendous chuckle. "She's literally out of her mind."

"She showed me what you did. She showed me screenshots. And you did hurt me. You made it so I couldn't go anywhere without having to worry I'd get harassed by someone!"

He was shaking his head and smiling at the floor. As though I were the foolish one. As though I had also just made everything up.

"You know, if you go in there, I will come after you."

My muscles froze. "What do you mean by that?" He couldn't mean... he wouldn't... We were in public?

"I mean legally. I have a lawyer already." He closed the distance between us, until his face was just a couple inches away. Just like it was that night when we'd kissed. When he'd shoved his digusting tongue into my mouth. I wanted to vomit at the thought of it.

My feet were glued to the tiled floor. I was so close to Title IX. So close to what I needed to happen.

But if he had a lawyer...

I couldn't afford a lawyer. My mom might want to help me but that's about it. And I didn't know what a lawyer even did. I didn't know how to get one. I didn't even know if what I was doing could be considered illegal.

If Andrea was lying, if her screenshots weren't real, would I get in trouble for reporting it? For wasting their time? Was what I was going through really worth it?

But it wasn't wasting their time. They couldn't do that to me. I had to tell someone. David had already hurt Andrea, and now me. If he got away with this, he would just keep doing this to the next girl. He'd find someone else to harass.

And I didn't need anyone to tell me whether my pain was "enough" to be reported. It was.

I broke from the momentary trance and shoved him away from me. He didn't even flinch as I put some distance between us. He just hovered there, hands clasped behind his back, waiting for me to give in. That's why he was here, after all. To intimidate me away from doing something. To force me to fold under his pressure.

"You look desperate," I spat at him. "Is this why you decided to sit out here, to try to scare me? I won't be scared. I don't care about you. I can sense how scared you are. Even with your lawyer, you know you won't win this. Because I have everything I need."

There was a moment of silence between the two of us. The hallway had emptied at some point in our conversation. Not a soul nearby to witness our verbal clash. I watched his cheeks tighten into a grimace, then relax completely. I saw his dead eyes light up with a dark fire. He unclasped his hands from behind his back. He tossed his backpack on the tiled ground, the books landing with a heavy thud on stone.

Then, he ran right at me.