Nameless

5. I'm Done Pretending

 Chris’s fist managed to wipe the satisfied smirk right off of Terrance’s face. Terrance stumbled back. Without giving him time to recover, Chris tackled him to the ground and continued to pummel him. Holding his hands up did him no good; Chris’s punches rained down upon him unyieldingly. Never before had I seen such pure hatred and anger as I did in Chris, nor had I ever seen such sheer terror in anyone’s eyes as I did in my boyfriend in those moments. He looked so deceptively innocent as he was having his face smashed in.

I curled up in front of a bank of lockers as I watched Terrance get his ass handed to him.  Kids circled around, chanting: “Fight, fight, fight.” I knew that with this kind of attention, administration wouldn’t be too far behind. All I could do was watch anxiously, waiting for someone to end the brawl.

Terrance flipped Chris on his back and got a few good punches of his own in. I had to look away; I couldn’t bear to look on as Terrance treated someone I cared about like he had me time and time again. I’d been stuck under him more times than I could recall, but one particular incident stuck out in my mind.

 We’d been hanging out at his house—we’d just started dating about a month prior—and we’d been watching some television broadcast or another, when he started kissing me. At first, I was hesitant, and recoiled from the gentle touch. He’d assured me that it was okay, and that he loved me. Being the first time that anyone had ever told me that he loved me, I giddily obliged. I drew the line when he tried to take my clothes off. He hit me for the first time then. I was shocked. He’d said that he loved me, and yet, treated me no different than my parents did. He tried again to remove my shirt, and I had slapped him and threatened to break up with him. My mistake. He’d gripped both my wrists in one of his hands and leaned over my ear.

“You’re never going to fucking leave me; I’ll make damn sure of it. I’ll kill you if I have to.” He growled menacingly and struck me across the face.

Despite my screaming in protest and tears, he ended up having his way with me, and left me downstairs on the floor afterward. I felt more embarrassed, broken, disgusted, useless, and hopeless than I had ever felt before.

I shuddered as the memory flashed before me, but I knew what I had to do. I shakily got to my feet and took a deep breath.

“Terrance!” I screamed, but my voice was barely audible over the din of the surrounding students. “We’re through, I’m breaking up with you!” he heard that all right. His head whirled around to face me, blood pouring from his nose and mouth, making him look downright savage. I’d never seen so much rage in his eyes before. He rose, shook Chris off, and launched himself at me.

“You little bitch, you don’t get to end the relationship. I love you and you won’t get rid of me that easily.” He hollered after me as I sprinted down the hallway, trying to get as far away from him as I possibly could. His pounding footsteps echoed down the corridor behind me, as well as the other students’ as they followed the action.

“I’m done pretending; I don't love you anymore!” I squealed. I had no idea where I was planning on going, but I had to find somewhere fast, because I could hear him gaining on me.  At the end of the hall were a couple of restrooms, and I thanked my lucky stars as I ducked into the girls’ bathroom. He couldn’t follow me in here. Or so I thought. In fact, he stormed in behind me, and before I could make it into one of the stalls, grabbed me around the neck and slammed my forehead against the sink.

“YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO FUCKING LEAVE ME!” he roared angrily. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t scream. I was going to die in the high school’s lavatory, possibly the shittiest way to go. He threw me to the tiled floor and drew his foot back to kick me.

The door opened with such force that it cracked against the wall.

“Young man, turn around slowly with your hands on the back of your head.” I peeked around my ex-boyfriend to see that the school resource officer had his gun drawn. Terrance’s eyes widened as he complied. The officer rushed forward and forced Terrance to his knees as he cuffed him. As he was being led out, he remarkably resembled a dog with its tail between its legs.

I managed to pull myself up using the bloody edge of the sink, and gazed at my reflection in the mirror as I tried to maintain my balance. I had the same black hair and brown eyes as my father, but I had my mother’s pale complexion, which, considering the circumstances made me look all the more sickly.

The door opened again, much gentler this time, and I turned to see who was there. Chris looked horrified.

“He got to you,” he croaked, “It’s all my fault. I went to get the resource officer, and I wasn’t there to protect you. I let him hurt you again.” He crossed the dark room and wet a paper towel. Pressing it against my bleeding forehead, he wrapped his arms around me. I jumped a mile at his touch. It wasn’t only reflexes, the contact sent my stomach fluttering, and felt almost electrically charged. Hurt flicked across his face. I knew he understood that I couldn’t help it, but I still hurt him.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I’m so sorry.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and cried into his shirt, repeating the phrase.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” he gingerly wiped the blood from my forehead and threw the paper towel in the sink so he could rub his hands across my back, calming my frazzled emotions.

“He was so scary, Chris, I was terrified he was going to kill me. I don’t want to die yet!” I sobbed. My thoughts were everywhere, and I was shaking uncontrollably, my adrenaline finally calming down.

“I know, my little bird, and I would die without you. But you’re okay, look in the mirror.” he turned his head and pointed toward the mirror. I looked; there we were, standing with our arms entangled around the other, both looking worse for wear, but yet there was an odd, inexplicable, almost serene vibe exuding from the reflection. “See? There you are, safe and sound. As long as you’re with me, nothing will ever harm you.” He’d stopped watching the mirror, and instead was looking down at me. I turned my head to look back at him, and couldn’t help it as my eyes flickered to his lips for a fraction of a second. I stared into the soft ocean of his eyes; mischief flitted across those blue seas, and I felt him chuckle as his lips brushed mine, sending all the right shivers down my spine, before claiming my mouth in a tender kiss.

I didn’t know what that meant for us, but I knew one thing.

I was happy.

An update! Wow! I'd just like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you guys. Having your support really has kept me motivated to continue to write this, when I probably would've abandoned it for another story idea had I not posted it. So, you're really, honestly the reason that I've kept this up. Thank you.