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If you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at g L.A. during the summer after high school. My parents bought the house from my

aunt and uncle who had just moved out. We already had family in that area, so it felt familiar,

and the neighborhood was nice and quiet.

The plan for me was to live with my parents and save money while I figured out what I wanted to do next.

I was getting ready to start community college and applied to a medical assistant program.

Now, back then, everyone had an opinion about East L.A.

People generally described it as dangerous, even though most of them had never even been there. I grew up visiting my cousins

in that same area, and it was never as dramatic as people made it sound. As such, these places

just aren't scary to me. They're just neighborhoods where people live.

I met Michael at my cousin's house party that summer. He had tattoos and looked edgy.

When he asked me out, I said yes. I was flattered and curious about what he would be like.

He told me he knew of a place with the best guava nectar in town

and said that we could go to the drive-in afterward.

I actually laughed.

I like guava nectar, but I had never heard anyone hype it up like that.

But as I said, I was curious, so I agreed. He parked at the drive-end

first. He said that we could leave the car there, walk to the restaurant, and come back for the

movie. We even asked the employees if that was okay. They said it would be fine to do that if we

paid a small fee, which he did. Something about the plan felt strange, though.

The restaurant was about a 20-minute walk away, and the movie started at nine.

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