She smiled and looked the man up and down. He seemed harmless enough. Certainly better than that guy Eddie in the battered station wagon who’d picked up her and her best friend, Shannon, last week when they’d hitchhiked to the Three Dog Night concert. He’d creeped Linda out but no one else had been willing to pull over, so they’d reluctantly gotten in the car for fear of being late to the concert.

She bit her lip, glanced at the man’s pristine Camaro and then back at him. After weighing her options, she said, ‘Okay thanks, if it’s not a problem. I really appreciate it. I’m not going far, just a short drive down to Genesee Street. It’s pretty close to the freeway so it shouldn’t take you out of your way too much.’

‘Not a problem at all,’ the man said as he loaded his duffel bag into the back seat. Linda noticed the muscles in his arms and back bulging with each movement. He was in good shape. If he were a bit more attractive, she might have been interested. But his face was too wide, his nose too large and his skin showed the remnants of bad teenage acne. After a slight moment of hesitation, she got into the passenger seat and waited for him to come around and start the car.

She reached her hand across and said, ‘I’m Linda. Thanks again, you’re a real life-saver.’

They shook hands and he smiled at her but didn’t offer his name in return. He turned on the radio and Elton John’s The Bitch Is Back blared through the speakers. ‘I love this song,’ she said, shimmying her shoulders back and forth. The man watched her move out of the corner of his eye as he drove out of the parking lot. ‘You go to school at U of A?’

‘Yeah, U of A,’ he said, nodding his head as he clicked on the blinker and turned left. He glanced at her, then quickly averted his eyes. Guess he’s not a big talker, she thought. He’d seemed much chattier before we got in the car. Determined to fill the silence and make the ride less awkward, Linda rambled on about going to school at Syracuse, shooting him smiles and laughing as she recounted stories of her and her friends.

‘You probably drive all the men wild, don’t you?’ he interrupted, glancing sideways at her for a brief moment.

She playfully swatted his arm, her hand lingering on his bicep for a few seconds. He stared down at her hand, then turned his eyes back to the road. Linda, distracted by the story she was telling him and the song pumping through the speakers, didn’t notice that he’d turned down the wrong street. Finally, the song ended and The Eagles’ Already Gone came on. She frowned and turned the volume down.