Chris Chambers first encountered his stalker after a quiet lunch in the school cafeteria.
Initially, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. He was simply sitting in his plastic chair, staring down at the pile of mashed potatoes and "chicken" on his plate, waiting for Gordie to get back from the bathroom and wondering how Teddy was holding up in the principal's office.
Vern was sitting across the room, intently staring at the back of Chris' head, but not daring to come near him out of fear of instantaneous rejection. His nasty cold was what had gotten him banished to the corner in the first place.
Chris was so preoccupied with the sensation of Tessio's eyes burning a hole in his skull that he was completely and utterly undeterred by the figure sitting alone a mere ten feet from where he was, watching him calmly with a semi-creepy aura of obsession and total fixation.
The figure was a young woman, somewhere around the age of 16. Her hair fell in long locks around her hips and her hands sat comfortably atop each other in her lap. Her left wrist sported a flashy watch while her right boasted a gorgeous silver bracelet. She wore a floral-printed dress to perfectly accompany the accessories, sitting so still that not even the slightest fold formed in the fabric.
Nothing about this girl screamed Castle Rock. She looked far too well-off to be from anywhere within a thirty mile radius, yet here she was, watching and waiting patiently. The only thing about her that seemed to remotely fit into the public school setting was the leather book bag perched neatly beside her. However, even the book bag was laced with intricate, hand-sewn detail.
She had been sitting in her chosen cafeteria location for the past half hour, completely silent. Yet Chris hadn't noticed a thing. As a matter of fact, no one had. It was almost as if she was invisible, appearing only as a ghost or perhaps an angel.
It took another two minutes after Gordie returned for Chris to finally realize someone had been watching him. The two friends were enjoying each other's company, enthusiastically discussing the most recent episode of The Twilight Zone, when Chambers caught a glimpse of the mysterious girl to his left.
It was just a glimpse. His intention was not to turn around and stare back at her, but once he noticed the odd way she was looking at him he couldn't help it. Interestingly enough, she didn't appear flustered or disoriented by the fact that he had discovered her. She allowed herself another moment of peering straight into his eyes before swiftly turning her head and going about her business as if she hadn't spent the last half hour doing nothing but observing him.
Even though the encounter was unusual, Chris wasn't entirely bothered at first. But then he allowed himself the opportunity to quickly give her a scan, wondering how a girl so beautiful and incredibly dolled-up could possibly attend a school as worn-down and shitty as Castle Rock High. In fact, he wasn't sure she belonged here at all, mentally noting the fact that he was quite sure he had never seen her before.
His concentration was broken by the sound of Vern slapping his algebra textbook down next to Chris' lunch tray, sending the half-eaten mashed potatoes some three inches into the air.
"Come on guys, the bell's about to ring. We have a test in Ms. Carrie's today, remember?" Vern exclaimed while simultaneously pulling back the snot build-up in his nostrils.
"God, Vern. That is truly nauseating. Please go blow your nose," Gordie insisted as he gathered his books and stood up, preparing to head out. He had taken no interest in the girl that had captured Chris' attention, and was entirely unfazed by his distraction.
"Come on Chambers, let's go. You know how she gets when we're late to class," Vern shivered, recalling the last time he had upset his teacher.
Chris finally managed a chuckle and stood up to walk out of the cafeteria with his two friends. The mysterious girl was still sitting at the table a mere ten feet from him, but her head was now down and she seemed focused on the mush on her plate. He gave her one last look as he headed out, and once he had made it to the cafeteria doors, she was gone.