Wednesday One-Shot: College PTSD

[00:00:02] Welcome to Wednesday One-Shots where we share a bonus story with you to help you get through that midweek slump. This week we have a story from a listener that asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. It's titled, College PTSD.

[00:00:28] I've been listening to this show for about two years and I have finally grown the courage to write in. I would like to remain anonymous for this has shaped how I carry myself and interact with men. This story took place about nine years ago.

[00:00:43] It was the beginning of the fall semester and I was new to campus. At the time, I was 19 years old and I had just started my new job working at the campus bookstore. Being new to the student employee program, I was stuck with a lousy schedule.

[00:00:59] Always closing of course. I worked Tuesday through Friday. During this time, I noticed a certain member of campus security would make his rounds every day around closing. No one would ever seem to mind him coming around so I didn't think too much of it.

[00:01:17] Two weeks later, I noticed the same guy from campus security, we'll call him Kevin and he's in my statistics class. Now I had never seen him in this class before and it was close to midterms.

[00:01:30] One Friday afternoon, our professor assigned us a group project that needed to be completed in a group of four. My group met after class and we talked about meeting the next morning to plan out who would work on which part of the project.

[00:01:44] We exchanged numbers and decided to meet at 10 a.m. in the library. I studied during the weekends from 8 to 10.30 a.m. in the library so this worked out. The next morning, I was meeting with my group. I received a text from a number that I didn't recognize.

[00:02:02] The text said, good morning. Can I sit with you? I know it's early. I thought I probably saved a number incorrectly and assumed that it was my friend Fry's. He would typically text me from a text-free app.

[00:02:19] We usually met up on Saturdays to get statistics homework out of the way. Before I could respond, I noticed Kevin walking toward me with his books and homework. He quickly said, it's fine, I'm here now baby, you don't have to reply to my text.

[00:02:36] I was caught off guard. I didn't even have a response for him. All I could manage to say was, my name's Maria and I'm actually meeting with my group so we need the table, sorry. Kevin walked away from the table and said, that's okay, I'll see you around.

[00:02:52] He called me baby again. After the weird encounter, I brushed it off and I met up with my group. I asked if any of them had given out my number. My friend Fry's said our friend Jacob had actually given it to Kevin since Kevin said

[00:03:06] that we were partnered up for our lab. The following week on Tuesday night, I worked my usual closing shift. This was the first time I hadn't seen Kevin doing his rounds for campus security in weeks.

[00:03:20] As I walked to my car, I had the feeling that somebody was watching me. I brushed it off and assumed that I was overreacting. As the week progressed, I noticed Kevin began to start his rounds closer to the beginning of my shift and stick around for longer.

[00:03:37] He would look around while making his presence known by making loud grunting noises. A few days later, Kevin approached me at the register and asked, who let you wear makeup? You're prettier without it.

[00:03:50] I stated, I don't have to ask anyone to wear makeup and I have a line. If you aren't purchasing anything, please leave. That night, I walked out to my car and I had the same feeling of somebody watching me.

[00:04:04] I noticed somebody ducking down between cars, so I ran to mine. After this incident, I spoke to my boss and told him about how Kevin would sneak into the store during closing time to bother me.

[00:04:17] I let my boss know that it made me uncomfortable and added that I could swear I was being followed. My boss said I wasn't able to change shifts, but he offered to partner me up with a male co-worker during closing shifts.

[00:04:33] The following week went by smoothly, but I continued having the feeling of being watched, especially at night. After having this feeling for about a week, I asked my guy co-worker if I could have a ride to my car since I always parked across campus.

[00:04:50] As I got into his car, he and I noticed Kevin near the fucking trash cans. That was it for me. That was the last straw. The following morning, I asked my boss to call campus security to talk about Kevin. They confirmed he was part of their EXPLORE program.

[00:05:08] When I mentioned his actions, they gave me nothing but excuses. All they would say was, he's just doing his job or he's patrolling. I asked for a restraining order of some sort and requested them have him work a schedule

[00:05:23] opposite of mine so that I didn't have to see him at night. I was straight up told no, but he will be quote unquote spoken to. He'll receive a verbal warning for this misunderstanding, they said.

[00:05:37] That night, I received 27 calls from an unknown number within an hour prompting me to turn my phone off and call it a night. The next morning, I was told to report to work at the bookstore so I did. My shift was going smoothly when suddenly I heard screaming.

[00:05:56] I was kneeling down and packing books in boxes when Kevin rushed across the room faster than I could react. All I remember was feeling immense pressure on my shoulders as I was being dragged to my feet. It was Kevin. He said, you ruined me, you bitch.

[00:06:13] Why won't you just let me love you? He kept screaming at me while shaking me. It wasn't until I heard my name being called out that I snapped out of it. I freed myself from his grip and landed against shelves, bumping the back of my head.

[00:06:27] I remember sitting there staring as my boss escorted Kevin out of the shop. My coworkers were shocked and attempted to speak, but no one was able to form words. I met the campus police in regard to obtaining a police report and restraining order again.

[00:06:43] They used the same excuses as they did the first time. Even though I had fingerprint bruises all over my shoulders and two big bumps on my head from the encounter, even after all of that, I was told he didn't physically cause me any harm.

[00:06:59] They expressed that they would hate to see a misunderstanding ruin the future of such a bright man. At that moment, I knew that it was time to quit and relocate to a different school. This wasn't a safe place for me.

[00:07:14] Campus security didn't care for the safety of the students if it meant that it would make their staff look bad. So to Kevin, who ruined my college experience, and to the not so helpful sexist officer

[00:07:27] he worked for, I hope we don't ever meet again because next time I'll fight back. Thank you to everyone for listening and thank you to the anonymous author for sending that story in. If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com.

[00:07:45] I'll see you guys next week for a full episode of Let's Not Meet, a true horror podcast. Stay safe!