As Tina reached for the phone, she was not sure whether she was going to call Becky, she looked through her eyes which were all blurry and she let out a gasp as she thought that the guy from the diner was behind her.
She panicked and instead of gripping the phone, she knocked it loose from the holder making it fall to the floor. This made the panic set in even harder because now she couldn't even call for help if she had to. There was no way that she was going to stop now to try and get her phone and risk that he was going to catch up to her.
All that kept running through her mind was that she should have called the cops on him and had him arrested when she had the chance.
Tina reached down as far as she could while trying to keep her eyes on the road and as she stretched, she found that there was going to be no way for her to search the floor for her phone and if by chance she would be able to feel where it was it wouldn't matter, she would not be able to pick it up from there.
As the panic set in she started speeding faster without even realizing that she was. It didn't take long before she came up to another car that was doing just a little faster than the speed limit but to her, it was moving like a turtle, and it was in the way to the point that she had to hit the brakes to avoid running into the back of them when she saw that she had been doing over a 100 mph.
Once Tina got the car back to the speed limit, she was able to take a look behind her again after she had wiped the tears away. Now she was looking behind her more clearly. She saw that she had been mistaken. It was just another old ugly car, and she could tell that it was not even the same kind. The color was a different shade of blue.
Tina thought that she should have known better, there was no way that guy could have even gotten close to catching up to her. After all, she had not stopped or changed directions once and she had constantly driven at least the speed limit if not a few miles per hour faster.
At this point, all she knew was that she was relieved that it was not him so she knew that she could stop and get her phone. Tina thought that this would be another reason it would be handy to have someone else along with her. She was starting to wonder if she was just looking for a reason for her to go back and get someone or if it was truly a need it was more likely the paranoia that was making her think this way.
Tina thought that it was going to be okay to drive for a while without being able to see her phone after all the cars had navigation and if there was anyone that was going to call, she could just either wait but that was right the car was linked to her phone she could have just used the car to make the call.
Tina felt silly for panicking before, but it was not like she ever used the car to make calls for once it came through the speakers and would kill the music and everything not to mention that everyone could hear it even people that were outside the car if the windows were down and she didn't want people listening to her talk on the phone.
Now that she was feeling silly, she just decided to travel to the next place where she could get completely off the road. In case the phone slipped under her seat or something. The last thing that she wanted was to be along the road and then have to get out and have to dig for her phone, with the door open and her butt sticking out of the open door.
She was going to call Becky now, but she was glad that she had time to collect herself before that was going to happen. She really wanted to talk to her above everyone else, she figured that Becky would be on her side and understand her the best and have the best chance to understand everything that she was going through. At least she was hoping that she would.
It took half an hour for her to find the place where she wanted to stop and be calmed down enough so that she was ready to make the call. She was just hoping that Cindy had not talked to Becky in the meantime. She really didn't want her to have hurt feelings over her not calling and talking to her first. Part of that is that she knew that she was probably going to spend more time talking to Becky. That is if she didn't get too emotional again to the point that she was just wanting to hang up again.
Tina pulled over and actually parked the car instead of just pulling out of the way she didn't want to be in the way or risk getting the car hit. It was a good thing that she took the time to do that because when she got out and looked for the phone it was nowhere to be seen, it had not just fallen and slid under her seat it managed to slide into the back. It took her a good ten minutes to find it, she started to wonder if it had made its way out the window because it was nowhere to be seen. But she knew that there was no way that it could have made it out it fell down when it dropped and went nowhere near the window.
Tina decided to just sit there while she called Becky after what happened when she called Cindy, she was able to drive but with all the tears and all the emotions that she went through it was just going to be better to be sitting someplace till the call was over.
Tina sat there for a few minutes and took some deep breaths and did her best to clear her mind of everything that was going on so that she would not sound distressed or too sad. She knew out of everyone that Becky would be able to pick that up in her voice. Tina dialed her cell and Becky picked it up on the first ring. It was like she had been sitting there staring at the phone just waiting for it to ring.
Becky said. "Hello." She sounded like she was out of breath like she had been running to get the phone after it had rung a bunch of times.
Tina took a deep breath in and said in a very calm voice, "Hi Becky."
Becky instantly knew that she was overwhelmed by everything that was going on and could tell because she never sounded that way unless she was trying to hide something from her. She said, "I'm so sorry."
Tina didn't reply to that, she knew that she would understand what she was going through.
Becky said, "I heard about your dad and Ken. I wish there was something I could do to help you more than just be here for you."
Tina was not quite ready to talk to her about everything, so she changed the subject. Tina asked, "How did graduation go?"
Becky took the hint and realized that she was trying not to talk about that stuff yet. She knew that she would talk about it when she was ready. After all, she would not have just called her for graduation stuff unless everything would have worked out better at the hospital. Becky said, "Dave really did it big he rented a limo and everything including a classy hotel for after."
Tina put all the other thoughts out of her head and concentrated on her friend Becky and what had to be a huge night in her life. Tina said, "That sounds so great it was just what you were hoping to get."
Becky said, "Well kind of it would have been better if you were there." She had been thinking of her and Ken but there was no way that she was going to mention his name again.
Tina said, "Yea I know." She was thinking that she would have rather been there too.
Becky asked, "Are you doing, okay?"
Becky knew that she was not okay, and she knew that she had to be tired of people asking her if she was. All they really wanted to hear was that she was okay. If she had told any of them that she was not okay, then they would have acted like she had said that she was.
Tina thought most of the time I'm doing okay. She said, "Yea... I'm doing okay."
Becky could tell by hesitation that she was really not doing all that well and she was trying to hide it from her. She said, "I know that there isn't much I can do from here but is there anything that you need that I can help you with?"
Tina thought you could come to be with me but there was no way that she would ever say that out loud. She put on a fake happy voice and said, "I am doing just great I am getting to see lots of new things as I drive."
Becky had forgotten that she was even driving her car and she put a snarling look on her face knowing how much she hated driving that car. She asked, "Are you doing okay with driving the car? I know that it scares you."
Tina thought about what she wanted to say and replied, "I am getting used to it now, and it does go fast, but I am able to get away from people. If I have to. So, it's okay."
Becky was concerned when she heard that she was having to get away from someone and asked, "What happened? Who were you trying to get away from? Are they following you?"
Tina got a little smile on her face and said, "Easy Mom everything is okay. It was just this nasty guy who did some stuff, and I'm away from him now."
Becky demanded, "Are you sure you are, okay? Just what did he do?"
Tina explained what happened inside and outside the diner and how he was sitting outside the hotel when she was leaving, but she had not seen him since she had left the town.
When she got to what he did in the diner Becky gasped and she heard a disgusted sound when she said that she had caught him jerking off in the parking lot. Tina almost let out a giggle as if she had not remembered how disgusting the guy really was.
Becky asked, "Did you call the cops or anything?"
Tina said, "I didn't want to get trapped in the town trying to prosecute him it just was not worth it."
Becky said, "You should have made an anonymous call, that way they would have at least checked into it and maybe picked him up."
Tina said, "Oh Yea I didn't think of that at the time I was a little freaked out. You know."
Becky said, "Yea, I think I would have been a little freaked out by the guy that did that too."
Becky asked, "You said that he was behind you when you were leaving the hotel in the morning?"
Tina said, "Yea. He was there, but when I saw him start his piece of shit car, he blew a bunch of smoke as it tried to start. I think that he lost me before I even left the town. It's been a couple of hours I have been on the road and still have not seen him."
Becky was still concerned but it sounded like she had lost him. She asked, "Where are you, and where are you going? I don't like you being all alone, especially with the perverts out there just looking to grab a girl like you."
Tina let out a little giggle and said, "OHHH MOM." With a string of giggles following it.
Tina thought that Becky was acting more like a mom than Diana ever did. Tina knew that she needed to tell at least Becky where she was and where she was headed just in case something happened. Becky was right that the perverts needed to be kept away. If one of them grabbed her at least she would be able to tell them where to start looking and the basic direction that she was headed in.
Tina said, "Well I thought I might go down to the tip of Florida. I heard that there were a lot of bridges that were just over the water, and I think I want to see them."
Becky thought that sounded so cool. She said, "That sounds like it could be fun and so cool to see."
Tina thought she didn't know how fun it was going to be, it never seemed to be all that fun when she was all alone. But she did like the thought that Becky thought it was going to be cool to see it.
Becky asked, "So where are you now?"
Tina said, "I am just outside Princeton."
Becky thought that she had never heard of a place called that. "Where is that?" Becky questioned.
Tina said, "It's a small town in Missouri."
Becky looked it up online trying to figure out where it was in relation to where she was and asked, "Why did you go there?"
Tina blushed a little at the question and said, "Well to tell the truth I was not sure where I was going at first. I just needed to get away and then when I decided where I was actually heading it kind of put me here."
Becky thought that sounded like a typical Tina. Not thinking of where she was going until she was already on her way to it.
At this point there was just silence on the line Becky was waiting for Tina to say what she was calling about she didn't want to lead the conversation. There was a long-drawn-out silence on the line when Becky was ready to ask if she was still there Tina took a deep breath and braced herself and said, "I need to tell you something."