It was never supposed to be like this, he always told me it was a onetime thing that he just lost his temper. But I was constantly scared whenever I was with him; trying not to make him mad, doing everything he asks, kissing him when he asks, I was walking on eggshells.

I met him in Biology the 2nd semester of sophomore year. He was a year older than me. The first half a year was amazing, everybody envied our relationship. He would walk me to class, carry my books, and kiss my forehead when we said goodbye. He would bring me lunch to my summer job at the pool as a lifeguard and he would take me to nice restaurants. He always told me that I was perfect and called me baby girl. We would stay up till all hours talking on the phone about everything and anything. I told him about my family’s past and he told me his. We shared our favorite movies, music, and books. We would Skype whenever the other was out of the city. I guess they called this the honeymoon phase, but I never thought it would be just a phase.

The first time it happened, was the summer before my junior year. We were at his house, alone, on his bed watching Lucky One. Our legs were tangled together, even though it was hot outside.
“What would you do if I lost my memory?” I asked him. Being the flirt like he is he replied, “I’d kiss you until you remembered me.” I turned on my side and smiled at him. “I think I lost my memory,” I said trying to be flirty. He laughed and kissed my lips. We kept kissing, and things were starting to get intense. He lay on top of me still kissing me. Before I knew it he had his hands up my shirt, trying to unhook my bra.
“Stop,” I mumbled. “Common baby girl, its ok I won’t hurt you,” he said after. I shook my head and tried to free myself from under him. It seemed as if his body was three times heavier than before. He pushed me into the bed more and tried to undo my belt. I didn’t know what to do; I wasn’t ready to have sex. I did the only thing I could think of in a short amount of time, I kissed him and bit his lip really hard. “Ow!” he exclaimed. I quickly slipped from under him as he took his weight off of me for a slight second. I grabbed my shoes and my bag and tried to run out of his room, but he grabbed my wrist. He tightened his grip and turned me around. He scrunched up my lips with his fingers and growled, “Don’t you ever bite my lip that hard again.” Then it happened, he hit me. He hit my face with his knuckles, so hard that I fell to the ground. He immediately tried to help me up. I pushed him away and struggled to get up.
“Baby girl I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened I just got so mad. Is your eye ok? Oh my god it’s bruised. I gave you a black eye! Oh my god baby I’m so sorry it will never happen again I promise!” he said over and over. I looked at him in the eyes and said, “Never again?” “Never again,” he confirmed. Then he kissed me. Little did I know this wasn’t the last time this would happen.