"I was living in London and working late nights at a bar/club. The tube (the subway there) shuts down after a certain point and there are night buses that replace the train lines. New to the city, I was still a little unfamiliar with the night bus routes, so one night at about 4:30 a.m., I ended up hopping on the wrong one. Once the bus started veering off in an unfamiliar direction, I must've looked concerned enough that another passenger, a guy probably no older than 20 or so, had noticed. We made eye contact and I simply asked if this bus stopped at the stop I was looking for. He said no, at which point I asked the bus driver how to get home. He told me to get off at the next stop and transfer to another bus. OK.

I get off, only to realize that the stranger I had spoken to moments earlier had gotten off too. No big deal. Until I noticed him to my side, also looking at the bus map I was reading to figure out how the hell to get home. I rationalized that this must've just been his stop as well, and he was simply trying to be nice and see that I knew how to find my way home (even though he didn't really say much to me, and sort of just nodded when I said I was going to be fine). I cross the street. He crosses the street. This is when I start to get a little creeped out. It's nearing 5 a.m., I'm in a desolate part of a still unfamiliar city, nothing is open, and a man who, though slender, could easily take me, is following me through the streets. I don't start to really panic until he GETS ON THE NEXT BUS WITH ME. At this point I'm a little afraid to approach him and tell him, no, it is not OK that you're following me home. I said nothing.

Now it's so early in the morning that the tube is about to re-open soon, and I see a familiar tube station, so I quickly ask the bus driver of this second bus to let me off in between stops. The suspicious man ALSO GETS OFF, and this is when I completely lose it. As soon as I notice that he was following me into the station, I shout, 'Do you think I don't notice you following me? What are you doing?!?!' and throw some curse words and threats of calling my boyfriend to come meet me (it was the only thing I could think to say! I was truly panic-stricken). I guess I must've scared him off, because he ran in the other direction, and I never saw him again."

—Emmy Favilla