So it was me. After a long, exhausting day at school where everything felt loud, rushed, and annoying. I just wanted to get home. My brain was fried, my back hurt from lugging my backpack all day, and the last thing on my mind was interacting with anyone.

I took my usual shortcut through some quiet residential streets. It was peaceful, mostly empty. But that afternoon, a girl probably around 16 was walking ahead of me. A bit shorter than me, black hoodie, earphones in… but she kept glancing back every now and then.

At first I didn’t think much of it. Maybe she was just checking traffic or something. But the third or fourth time she looked back, her eyes lingered. It hit me then she thought I was following her.

I felt this weird shitty feeling like i didnt wanna be accused of being a weirdo. I didn’t want her to feel unsafe. I tried slowing down, giving her space, letting her walk ahead, but she slowed down too. Either she was nervous or we just had the same natural pace. Either way, the timing sucked.

I still had about two streets left until I got home. So I figured, alright, just keep walking and hope it clears itself up.

She turned right.

That was my turn too.

Then she turned right again. So did I.

Now it looked really bad. Three matching turns. I felt the awkward tension growing, even if no words had been spoken. She suddenly stopped, right near my street. I was maybe 30 meters away from my front gate when she spun around, eyes sharp and voice clipped.

“Are you seriously following me?”

I froze mid-step. “No, I’m not. I swear, I live right here,” I said, pointing behind her toward my house.

“Sure you do,” she said, crossing her arms. “You’ve been behind me for like ten minutes. You expect me to believe this isn’t creepy?”

“I get how it looks, but I’m literally just walking home.” I held my hands up, trying not to escalate anything. “My house is right there, with the blue mailbox. You can watch me go in.”

She squinted, looking at the house, then back at me. “You’re not some weird guy or something?”

“I mean…” I scratched the back of my head. “Weird? Maybe. But not that kind of weird.”

She stared for a second longer. I walked past her and opened my Door With my key.

Then, slowly, her expression shifted—like she realized how insane the coincidence was. Her arms dropped to her sides and she sighed, rubbing her face.

“Oh my god… I am so sorry.” Her voice was suddenly lighter. “I totally thought, ugh. You get it, right? I just freaked out a little.”

“Yeah, no worries,” I said, trying to play it cool even though i was also surprised by the coincidence"

She dug into her hoodie pocket awkwardly, then pulled out a small wrapped candy—something like a lemon drop or maybe a caramel and held it out to me. “Here. Peace offering?”

I blinked. “Uh… I’m good, thanks.”

“No? Not even to forgive the ‘you’re a potential stalker’ accusation?” she smiled sheepishly.

“I’ll survive,” I said with a shrug

She laughed a little under her breath, then turned and walked off, still clearly embarrassed.

Weirdest walk home of my life.

so how can i avoid this in the future? Give me tips! Pls. Dont wanna be sitting on a cell in the future for this again!