"Can't we sit in your car for a while?" the guy next to her asked in a velvety voice. The third one plonked down on the hood of the Datsun, staring at her through the windshield without saying a word. The look in his eyes was downright creepy and intimidating.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Her voice was getting shaky. "I don't know you guys, and I'm all alone. No offense."
Her eyes were following the movement of the three intruders. The way they moved was odd. It was like their bodies responded to one another, reminding her of a documentary she'd recently watched about packs of wolves and their group behavior. Goosebumps spread all over her arms.
"Come on, don't be a party-pooper." The guy on the other side of her door tried the door handle and discovered the car was locked. He violently pulled the handle again, a few times. The sound echoed in Hannah's ears like it was coming from far away.
Oh my God, she had to do something before this got out of hand. Say something. Scare them off. "Keep your dirty paws off my car," she barked, as snippy as she could manage. "If I'm not mistaken, I just told you to stay out of my car. Are you deaf?"
She fixed the guy with an angry stare. He wasn't even that much older than the pupils she taught. She could do this outside the classroom, too. Make clear where her boundaries were.
The guy on the car hood crawled closer and tapped a finger on the glass, leering at her. "Or maybe you're blind," he replied. "I don't think you've missed that there's three of us and one of you. You really think we can't force you out of that old car if we want to?"
A cold shiver ran down her spine. Her right hand reached for the glove compartment and found the unloaded gun she kept there for emergencies. "Just in case," her mother had said when Hannah first got her driver's license. She wasn't a big fan of firearms, but right now she was silently thanking her mom.
"Fine." She pointed the gun at the guy on the hood. "Go force the door open. Let's see how far you'll get after that."
They stared at her wide-eyed. The guy in front of her slid off the car hood. "Come on, let's go. That chick is nuts." He kicked against the front tire and glowered at her. "Have a nice life."