It starts small. You’re out with friends at your favorite pizza place, and she shows up. Julie, the most popular girl in school, saunters in like it’s a coincidence, flashing her perfect smile. “Oh hey! I didn’t know you came here too,” she says, even though you’ve never mentioned this spot to her.

Then it happens again. You’re at the park shooting hoops, and there she is, sitting on a bench with her designer bag, pretending to read a book. You can feel her eyes on you the entire time.

At first, you brush it off as bad luck. But the more it happens, the more unsettling it gets. She’s at the grocery store when you’re grabbing snacks. She’s at the library when you’re cramming for a test. She even shows up at your family’s church one Sunday, sitting in the back row and pretending she’s always gone there.

One evening, you decide to test your theory. You don’t tell anyone, not even your closest friends, and head to the skate park—somewhere you never go. Thirty minutes in, there she is, walking toward you with that practiced air of innocence. “Wow, we keep running into each other! Isn’t this crazy?” she says, her tone too sweet to be genuine.

Your stomach churns. This isn’t coincidence anymore. She knows where you are, all the time. And no matter where you go, she’s always one step behind.