I quickly paced down the dark alley. Egypt was not safe at this time of night. There were murderers and rapists and God knows what else.

I was on my way home from a friend's house. This particular friend was one of the few in our college "group" who was really wealthy, and she viewed anyone who was not wealthy as they were below her. Visiting her was a formality, not a pleasure. My fellow group-mates didn't understand my feelings, but how could they? They had lived like this since birth. I had only been in Alexandria three years, and three short ones at that.

I had never fit in well anywhere. It was not much of a surprise that the other people in my group were intimidated by me; my black eyes and shining hair were completely normal for Egyptians but something about me repelled others, especially others of the male variety.

I pulled sharply out of my thoughts as I heard another pair of quiet footsteps joined in to the clomping of my pattens. I did not look behind me; I just sped up. Soon, I was running.

I didn't see it coming; it just came out of nowhere. One second I was sprinting down an alleyway, alone in my terror and the next second, whoever was stalking me had me pinned to the wall, hot breath panting in my ear.

"Well, Tia, it's been too long," he rasped. With a jolt of horror, I recognised the voice.

His name was Raphael and he was the first and only boy who had ever expressed any interest for me. He had seemed to truly love me, and although I was flattered by this, I had heard the tales around the campus. Raphael had a bad reputation – several times, he had been pulled out of school for smuggling marijuana into his dorm room. So, as tempted as I was to be with him, I declined and left him there, resenting me for rejecting him.

"Get away from me, Raphael," I hissed. I spat at him and the saliva landed on his cheek. He wiped it away and sneered at me.

"You think that bothers me, Tia?" he snarled. And I could see that it didn't.

I knew without a doubt what would happen next. Raphael knew that I was too weak to fight back, no matter what he did to me. And as he reached forward, intending to rip my hat off and tear the pins out of my hair, something hit him, hard.

Before I had figured out what happened, it was over. All I caught was that another person's body had smacked into Raphael's and now he was knocked out, a trickle of blood running down his face. And then I noticed movement next to him. I backed away automatically. Raphael's attacker could be worse than Raphael himself.

"I won't hurt you," a voice promised. It was a lovely voice; soft and deep. It held a trace of optimism and perhaps a little smugness. "Don't be afraid," the voice whispered.

I couldn't find my voice to speak, not even to thank my saviour. I could feel the person moving forward and I shrank back against the wall. He lightly touched my shoulder and guided me out of the alley and to my house.

Standing in the safety of my small home made me feel safer. Now I could see my rescuer in the flickering candlelight.

It was immediately obvious that this kind of boy was way out of my league. He looked around the same age as me, maybe a little older. His features were perfect and beautiful, unlike any others I had seen before. I knew in that second, as I stared at his flawless, anxious face, that I would never want any other boy except him.

"Are you all right?" he asked concernedly.

"Why shouldn't I be? I'm fine, completely fine – thanks to you."

"You're welcome. There wasn't any trouble on my part. My name is Benjamin. Your name is Tia, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right. How did you know?"

"I heard that man in the alley say it. Raphael, right?"

Wow. I was sure we were whispering at that time. How did Benjamin hear us?

"Anyway, I must go. I'll see you soon, Tia."

"Of course. Goodbye, Benjamin."

I liked the way he assured me that he would see me again. I believed him and felt reassured. I watched him walk out of the door with only a small twinge of sadness.