Could this be love?

Andy's point of view

Justin looked at me with his dark gray eyes that were filled with pure loathing hate. I looked around quickly. None of my friends were around me. In fact, no one was around me, which was odd because it was still the middle of lunch. Usually the court yard was full of kids laughing and eating lunch. Not today though. Today, it was just me and Justin. I slowly made eye contact with him, the corners of his lips lifting into a sneer. I blinked, and suddenly Justin was in front of me. I was tall, usually towering over people at almost six feet... But Justin was taller. And he was stronger, much stronger. He grabbed the front of my shirt and lifted me up so that my toes just barely touched the ground. He looked into my fear-filled eyes and opened his mouth in what I presume was a laugh, but not a sound came out. Suddenly, he stopped and looked back into my eyes. I panicked and tried to scream for help, but my scream got stuck in my throat and instead I coughed.  Again, however, not a sound was heard. Justin raised his fist and pulled it back as I closed my eyes and prepared for the painful beating that was sure to follow. Time seemed to suddenly stop. I could feel his fist moving the air as it sped towards my face and...

And I woke up. I opened my eyes quickly and looked around, relieved yet terrified that my encounter with Justin was just a dream. I only wished all of them were. Then I wouldn't have such a low self esteem and bruises covering my body from head to toe. I sighed, bringing my hand to my face to cover my eyes. I was relieved for quite obvious reasons, such as not actually having being beaten up, yet I was terrified that Justin was now haunting my dreams. Now not only did I have to deal with him at school, but in my sleep as well, where I was supposed to be safe.

My alarm clock starting beeping, pulling me out of my thoughts and telling me, very loudly, that it was now six thirty in the morning. I removed my hand from my face and began to search for the 'off' button on the clock. After a seemingly long and painful search, the clock was finally silent and I slowly sat up.

I really wished that today wasn't Monday, but wishing never got anyone anywhere. It was Monday, and I had to go to school, and that was that. I brought my knees up to my chest, hugging them with my left arm as my right hand searched under my pillow for my phone. When my long fingers grasped it, I pulled it out and flicked through my new messages.

"One message from Jake. One message from Jinxx. Two messages from CC. And, of course, seven messages from Sandra. Not including the three missed calls." I sighed to myself, not bothering to respond to any of the texts. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends almost as much as I love my parents, and I know they're just worried about me, but they can be such over-protective little fucks. I guess they had reason to be though; I haven't been at school for just over a week now, and I haven't talked to anyone in that time either. I just stopped showing up for school with no warning, no reason that anyone knew off, just... Nothing. Of course, I had my reasons for not going to school for a week, I was in an extremely bad place during that time. My depression was worse, my suicidal thoughts were worse, my cutting was worse, and my eating disorder was worse. I didn't need Justin or any of his friends pushing me over the edge, so I did the logical thing and stayed home. Now, you may be saying to yourself, "Andy! What was the thing that started this spiral of depression and self-hate?" Well, that thing was Scout.

Scout was my girlfriend of three years and she was my everything. I had given that girl all I had and in return I got nothing but heart break. Just under two weeks ago, she sent me a text message, breaking up with me. No explanation, and no farther contact. We were together for three fucking years and she breaks up with me in a seven word text message. Un-fucking-believable, right? That's why I didn't go to school for a week. And that's also why I didn't tell any of my friends the reason; I was too ashamed.