"Where Are You Going..." Response

At the beginning of "Where are you Going, Where have you Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, the plot that happened was the last thing I would have guessed that was going to happen. Connie seems like a regular fifteen year old, struggling with her mother and living under the shadow of her older sister. When Connie first saw the boy who later showed up at her house, the way he was described did not see relevant to the plot line. However the details given were memorable. For example, shaggy black hair with a gold convertible is brought up again later in the story and we already knew he was mentioned. I think if he was only briefly described, like just black hair, there wouldn't have been a connection with the two parts of the story. I liked the story overall but I was also very confused with what was happening. It was fuzzy whether or not the boy with the gold convertible was real or just a part of Connie's imagination. It was very strange that the boy knew where she lived, where her family was and knew exactly what they were doing. The part where  it was really unclear if he was really there or not is when he would only go into the house if she touched the phone. That makes me believe that he really was there because he was threatening her. I felt almost scared for Connie because as the reader, we had no idea what he wanted or what he was going to do if he did go into the house. However, Oates did a great job writing the story because at the end, we still didn't know what happened or if he was real. She also provided enough details for both perspectives whether if he was real or not which is important for a good story. Overall I did like the story. It kept me reading and interested and it made for a good conversation during class which is better than no conversation. Even though I've read the story, I still want to know the outcome of Connie. I want to know if she was just imagining this whole scene or if he really was there.