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Ninth Grade: Matthew

For privacy reasons, I will not be showing Matthew. From left to right is Abby, me, and Trowa our freshman year.

Matthew was the first boyfriend I ever had, but we never really dated. We only saw each other in school and talked on the phone outside of school.

I only began to notice how weird Matthew was when Christmas rolled around, and he hogged me. I didn't get to spend much time with my family because he'd get upset with me if I got off the phone.

However, New Years was even worse. I was having a sleepover with Abby at the time. Matthew had video chatted me, so I was on the phone with him. He wanted my face to be the first one he saw for the New Year and vice versa, so Abby got a mischievous idea. She moved in front of the camera just as it became midnight. Her face was the first one I saw for 2017.

Naturally, this angered Matthew. He told me that he needed an apology from Abby, so she and I came up with yet another prank that night. I called Matthew back, telling him I'd yelled at Abby and she took it a little too serious. She faked crying and got a knife. She acted like she was going to kill herself. I don't remember if I ever told Matthew it was a prank or not, but Abby and I laugh so hard about that even to this day.

Around January that year, Matthew became manipulative, jealous, and possessive. He never liked Trowa and didn't understand our bond, so of course he didn't like that I spent time around him. Not to mention that fact that he knew I'd had strong feelings for the guy. So Matthew set off on a mission. He slowly began making me feel guilty for spending so much time around Trowa. Matthew got into my head and told me he didn't want me around him. Always looking to please, I relented. I told Trowa and blocked him. I started avoiding him just because my boyfriend was jealous.

Matthew eventually became verbally abusive toward me. One morning in the cafeteria, I was sitting with my friends. Matthew had gotten upset with me for something else and was yelling at me. Trowa, still being in our friend group, stood up. He told Matthew that he didn't deserve me.

It was March when I finally had enough of Matthew's crap and broke up with him.