The Perfect Stranger - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,1

there's a chance they won't remember my face, or at least it will be in shadows. If they catch me wearing this? I will be more memorable.

I don't know what they see or what they don't see, but they pull out of the driveway and slowly disappear around the corner.

Finally, she answers the door. Her hair is disheveled, long and stringy, pulled up into a loose bun on top of her head. Her skin is pale and white, dry in spots, like she hasn't seen the sun for a long time.

But it is her eyes that make my knees buckle. Almond shaped and piercing, just like I remember. Her lashes are thick and black and there is a little bit of a smudge of eyeliner at the corners. The irises are hazel, with a mysterious mixture of green and brown as well as specks of gold. She parts her blush pink lips for a moment and suddenly I remember why I am here.

I don't want to do this.

This is the last thing I want to do, but it's my only way out. I didn't kill anyone and I can't do thirty years for a crime I didn't commit.

No, I can't go back to prison.

Isabelle

While I wait…

My heart starts to race.

Stop blaming yourself. This isn’t your fault. It’s his. You didn’t do anything wrong. Why do you always do this to yourself?

I know that I am right, but the thoughts of everything that I could have, or perhaps should have, done keep flooding my mind.

This isn't supposed to happen. I am just a normal person trying to live my life. This doesn't happen in reality. This only happens to people on Netflix.

I don’t know what is happening to me. I don't deserve this, but it's worse than that. I can't deal with it.

I can't even deal with normal life.

I don't like parties. I don't like going out. I'm an introvert and I like things that way. I’m happy with my life just the way it is. I have my schedule. I have my students. I teach little kids to talk.

I love seeing their progress and I love watching them get the words just right. This is what I studied to do in college and now I’m doing it. How many people can say that?

I work in a small office where there are three other speech therapists and I make a decent salary of close to $50,000 a year. Maybe it’s not a lot of money for some people, but it’s more than enough for me.

I don’t have many expenses. I live well below my means and I save most of that income. I’m almost done with paying off my loans.

After that? Well, frankly I don’t know what I’m going to do with all that money.

Maybe I can take a vacation, but then again, it would be easier to just imagine taking a vacation rather than actually taking one.

The thing is that I have certain fears.

I’m afraid of flying.

I’m afraid of driving long distances, especially at night.

I’m afraid of heights.

I’m afraid of wide-open spaces.

I’m afraid of closed-in rooms with too many people.

I’m afraid of speaking to groups of people.

On the outside, you wouldn’t really be able to tell. I can hide most of these fears well enough so that you don’t see the sweat on my lower back whenever I have to talk on the phone with a credit card company or God forbid a medical insurance biller.

The one time that my ex-boyfriend surprised me with a trip to Hawaii, I had a panic attack and couldn’t get on the plane. Angry, he went by himself and met his future wife.

I’m not mad about that. Not anymore. We were never really right for each other, but he was there and it was convenient. After we broke up, I promised myself that I didn’t need to be with someone for convenience.

I am perfectly fine by myself and dating is not something that I am particularly interested in.

Maybe some people are like that. They just go through life alone.

I rub my hands on my legs and feel the week-old stubble poking through my unwashed leggings.

“How long have I been wearing them?” I ask myself.

Five days at least or has it been ten?

My heart is still rushing but focusing on things like this calms my mind a bit. At least that’s what I have learned through my online talk therapy sessions.

Going in person is just too stressful.

I laugh to myself. India will never believe this