Her footsteps echo through the street, but it can't drown out how loud her own heartbeat is.
 
The echo dims as something else fills the street, but she'd already seen the headlights from afar. Her heart begins a sprint as her head turns to follow the car's path as it drops from a brisk pace to a crawl.
 
The windows aren't titled, and she can see the man inside meeting her eyes for a split second, before his own, wide-open eyes drift down.
 
Over her bare breasts, nipples painfully stiff in the chill winter air.
 
Over her thighs, scars leading to her exposed crotch, feeling moisture trickle from it and turn cold as the breeze blows against her heated body.
 
Her breath catches, unable to breathe as she watches the man drive past. She hopes the car slides against the sidewalk. She hopes the door opens. She hopes the man, good-looking, well-groomed, gets out of his car and trods toward her, grabs her by the shoulder, presses her against the cold walls as his lips devour her, hands tearing at his winter clothes, fumblin with layers. She hopes she feels him enter her, give her relief from the aching pressure within her. She hopes she screams into the night.
 
But the car drives on, gaining speed, quickly hurtling down the street. She hopes it'll slow down, but the car shrinks and shrinks, before turning right and out of sight.
 
It's funny. A long time ago, she'd have a heart attack for even hearing of anything like this. Maybe Lilly would, if she ever heard of her trips to the city. If the school found out, maybe some friend of hers would call poor Lilly all the way in Scotland.
 
She imagined a picture of herself like this sitting on Lilly's computer. Shame should have filled her, but all it did was make her heart beat quicker, fill her with more aching heat that melted the frigid air away. No, she'll soldier on – moving further into the city. Not too far from here was one of the busier streets, crawling with college kids and post-grads and other people streaming to and from bars, restaurants, nightclubs, all the places in the night.
 
She knew. She had her first time there.