People Can Surprise You

 You can never truly know a person until you've seen every side of them. The good, bad, and the ugly is something we all posses. Each person has their own story, and what their story entails may not always be reflected by the cover. If you're wishing to read a happy story about a girl in high school who has perfect friends, perfect relationships, perfect grades, and is ultimately perfect, then I suggest you find another story. This is a story about life, pain, the power of love, and conquering struggles. The details of this story are very real and should be read with great caution. This is the story of Rylie Summers and her horrible junior year of high school.

 The tragedies of junior year ultimately stemmed from the May of sophomore year. My first long and serious relationship had come to an untimely end and I was more than ready to have an amazingly fun summer to take my mind off of Nathan. Nathan and I had been together for 8 months until he confessed, the week of prom I might add, that he was both in love with me and his supposed best friend Casey. After a horribly awkward prom, we ended things. Nathan was a sweet and caring gentleman that I felt broke my heart so ultimately when the chance to be with someone the complete opposite arose, I leapt at the opportunity. With the fresh wound plaguing my heart, the obvious signs that Nick Bailey was no good for me were ignored. Nick was the cool bad boy that went to parties, drank, and the complete opposite of Nathan. He was just what I needed. So I thought at least... The word "No." was not something that Nick heard often and when he did, he rarely acknowledged it. He never cared what the cost, so long as he was right and got whatever he wanted. Nick possessed an uncanny talent to manipulate people and get inside their head. He could force someone into giving him the shirt off their back then make them think it was their idea from the start. Nick was much more experienced than I was in just about every way and this obviously worked to his advantage. I only had a wall of morals for him to tear down after all. I'm sure it was an easy victory for him, but in the end I lost more than I could ever put into words. Nick took my self esteem, tested my faith in God, destroyed me both physically and emotionally, and then convinced me that I deserved all the pain that he caused. Even agreeing to date Nick was my first mistake but as my mom always says, "People can surprise you."

 Nick was like a suspect out of Law & Order and my discovery of the person he really is was even more shocking than the reveal of who the killer was in Scream. He didn't carry the persona of the type that would do what he did to me. Nick came off as a kid that liked to have his own way and go against rules, but not the type to have no mercy or morals. Not the type to do what he did. But looks are deceiving and people can fool you.

                The day Nick's true self was revealed still haunts me. I was spending my evening playing the role of babysitter for my friends who'd decided to throw a small get together. A party if you will. The party was being held at a friend's house and not many people had been invited. I was to make sure no one got too outrageous and tried to do anything rash or stupid. At around 2 a.m. the rowdy group had settled down for the most part and were all beginning to head to bed. Deciding to follow their lead, I made myself a pallet in one of the spare rooms. As I finally began to fade into unconsciousness, the door was slowly pushed open. Squinting through the sudden light, I was able to make out a male figure standing in the doorway. Once my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I immediately recognized my boyfriend. Nick stood in the doorway just staring at me. The ice cold look his eyes displayed chilled me to the bone. I opened my mouth to question why he was here, but he beat me to the punch. "Shh, just lay back down. I was invited. Just lay back down and go back to sleep." He told me. Too tired to argue, I just nodded and did as I was told. When I'd drifted to the border of unconsciousness for the second time, Nick began to move; to touch me. "Nick, stop." Again he hushed me but didn't follow my request. I attempted to push him away; I didn't want him to do that. "Nick, stop. Leave me alone." My statement turned Nick's feather light touches into harsher grips. "Nick, please I-" He stopped suddenly and turned the same icy stare to meet my own. "You know," he said, "Good girlfriends would do the things I want. Good girlfriends would let me." I stared at him in utter confusion. Good girlfriends? Good girlfriends would let him do what? He continued to stare at me before repeating, "Good girlfriends would let me." Nick shoved my shoulders into the carpet we lay on and before I could retaliate he was on top of me. "Nick, please stop!" But he wouldn't listen. I continued to fight as much as I could. The pain was so much. Was it supposed to be this way? Was this really happening? I can't remember how long it went on or how many times I tried to just roll away or close my eyes and it would just be over. At the end I just remember wiggling on the ground trying to wrap my mind around exactly what had just happened. "I'm sorry." He said. "Good girlfriends would let me. You wanted to be a good girlfriend didn't you?"