A gust of wind brushed against my face softly as Mariah, Tori and I open the doors to exit the hot Ford Field stadium, I was still buzzing with adrenaline from the One Direction concert. All I could think of was how amazing the concert made me feel, The screams of thousands, the music boomed through my whole body, the band, everything was so amazing and it made me so grateful that I was able to go. The streets were busy with people. It was dark, as the moon hid behind the clouds, though it didn't look that way since bright lights seemed to beam from every building in downtown Detroit. Alone together, we made our way to the side walk grasping to each other to make sure we didn’t lose one another, Tori’s arm tangled around mine like a vine, as her warm hand laid in my palm. Tori was taller than me, the tallest out of the three of us, but Mariah was close to her height. Mariah had long dark hair, brown eyes, and was polar opposites with Tori’s golden blonde short hair and blue eyes.
Policemen signal traffic and for people to cross the busy roads, some even stood on the sides to assist lost fans. We kept traveling on the sidewalk for what seemed to be 10 minutes and the buildings we passed begin to grow unfamiliar. Dark shadows slithered in the night behind us as the time ticks later, later and later. I began to feel nervous, my stomach tightened while discomfort fills the air between the three of us. We finally stopped at an intersection between random buildings. As I look at them they seem to grow bigger, curving around us, enclosing us in a concrete hug. Looking back on this, I realize how vulnerable I felt, I was a tiny ant in a jungle of people not knowing where to go.

“Should we ask for directions?” Mariah said pointing to a police woman standing about 20 feet away from us. She looked bitter, her face frowned with deep wrinkles even though she looked in her mid-30s. Her expression sends chills up my spine and leaves me feeling uncomfortable. Tori and I begin to follow Mariah as we start toward the lady. Before we could reach her a small group of girls catch her.

“We are lost and trying to find our car, do you know what street this is?” one of the girls ask.

The woman glared at the girl as cold as ice. She points to the street sign at the corner of the intersection. “Maybe you should read the street sign so you didn't have to waste your time on this question.”
“Ohh... I’m sorry” The girl manages to get out before scurrying away.

Mariah turns back to us with a surprised look that mirrors mine. All three of us began to look around seeking another person with a badge that could help us find the parking garage our car was parked in. All the others were busy with giant groups of people and we were worried that another officer will get annoyed with our questions as the woman did with the group of girls.

“Maybe we should find it ourselves.” I say as we walk away.

We walked for decades now, my mom tries to help us find our way through text message and Tori tries to find the building on GPS. At this point, Detroit seemed as big as an ocean to me, it was filled with hundreds of buildings under the deep dark sky like the dark sea, easy to get lost in. I begin to feel of a strange sensation of someone watching us. I look behind me and see the many fans walking behind us, but it didn't feel right, it felt strange. I glance back again five minutes later and see only a couple people behind us, then I see something out of the ordinary. A suspicious man, walking about 50 feet behind us. He wore a long sleeve wrinkly shirt and pants with dirt on the knees, his hair was greasy. I feel uneasy but shake it off, there is too many people on these streets, there was no way he be following us, he is probably just going to one of the casinos. I ignore the feeling as much as I can and I can't help myself to look back again. He was still there, when he sees me glance back he drops his head in an instant. I start to panic so I turn to Tori.

“Do you feel like that guy is following us” I discreetly glance at him but when I look back at Tori her face is pale and anxious.

“I thought the same thing” she whispers frantically.

All three of us take turns glancing at our stalker who seems to be growing closer and closer in distance. Our speed picks up as we desperately try to get out of the situation. Then I spot another officer, I glance back at the other girls and we all have the same thought.

Immediately we turn in his direction seeking safety from the man behind us. I stop, remembering the lady yelling at the girls a couple hours ago. Her dark expression burned in my mind. But then I think about the man and how we needed to find any way we can for him to stay away from us. That's when I realized I needed to open minded to this policeman before me. If the man behind us was dangerous, this could potentially turn into a life or death situation. Detroit isn't a safe place to be at night, if his intention was to harm us, it's not something we should take lightly. I worked up the courage slowly coming forward.

“Excuse me, we have been lost for a while, would you please help us get back to where we parked?” I don't know if it was the fear in my eyes but he sensed what was wrong and immediately looked around. I glanced back behind me and saw the man who had been following us speeding off in the opposite direction. That's when the officer knew what was going on.

“Yes of course, What is the building you are parked in” he kindly smiled. His voice was firm but warm, making me feel a rush of relief.

That was the moment that I knew how important it was to not judge a book by it’s cover. People are different, you can’t come to conclusions about a person because of another's actions. It was wrong of me to do that since this man was willing to help us, even though the previous officer might have not been.

Tori showed him the address that was written down in the notes on her phone, and he thoroughly explained to us where to go.

We walked for about a half hour and finally got to our car after a long night around Detroit. Never let yourself be afraid to ask questions. If we had the courage to ask any other officer after the incident with the woman we would have had a much shorter journey and might have not encountered the seemingly creepy stranger. Be confident in yourself because the worst thing that can happen is that you were turned down, just get back up and seek someone willing to help you. To this day I try to appreciate this lesson as much as I can because I now understand how valuable it is. I also make sure I always remember how to get to my car in places like Detroit.