The Alarm

  The sound of her alarm is possibly the most degrading thing she has ever heard. It means another never ending day at school. It means finding an outfit in the morning to accommodate her current situation. It means an entire day of looking over her shoulder, refusing to go anywhere by herself, for fear of running into Him. She has come to hate the sound of her alarm. He doesn't stop at raising angry welts on her face and arms, for His complete satisfaction He must also manipulate her, play games with her that she has no way of winning. Games only He can win. Because of Him she is living one of the most unhealthy lives possible. Domestic abuse is often overlooked by other, more "important" issues, when really it is one of the most severe problems that has arisen in today's society.

     Domestic abuse usually occurs when one member of the relationship decides they need to have the upper hand on the other member. In her case, it is simply because He cannot stand the feeling of weakness. Like most boys, He often would compete with his friends to see who could bench the most, who could be the best on the football team, etc. And when this girl that he knew he loved popped into his already chaotic personal life, He could not let her take over. So he resorted to violence. Of course there are many other reasons this occurs as well, people could be overly possessive and not allow their partners to have friends that are of the opposite gender, they could be using their significant other for physical  favors and see them as nothing except that, or they could even believe that men and women are unequal. In reality more people than you realize are being violently abused, and the signs are everywhere. For example victims will become very conscious of their body at all times, the way they walk to and sit at their desk seems almost planned and mechanical. Also they seem to know every injury on their body and the elaborate cover up behind it. Less obvious signs is that they will flinch at almost anything that comes their way, even something as small as somebody flipping their hair over their shoulder. But the most painful part of domestic violence? The fact that the person that is hurting you, is the person that said they never would.

     Unfortunately abuse in relationships does not stop there. In some cases, like the case of our friend , there is physiological abuse involved as well. This type of abuse is very different from violence, but the effects are just as bad. For example, she has a very low self esteem, and her self confidence is basically nonexistent. It is even hard for her to answer a question in class. This may be have something to do with the fact that He is constantly reminding her that she has no redeeming qualities, or maybe it's because He makes it a point to greet every girl in the hallway but her. Those are not the only things that occur during this type of abuse though.  In severe cases the victim may have to follow a set of rules that the abuser has enforced, such as who they can and can't talk to, what they can and can't wear, and what  they choose to do with their time.  Oftentimes people overlook this aspect of the abuse, but overall this also plays a big part in the outcome.

     For her, the scariest part of the entire relationship is the changes. When she looks at Him she still sees the little boy who has liked her since 5th grade. She still hears Him calling her his angel, and she still feels his arms around her when he would dry her tears instead of create them. And because of this she can't let go. She doesn't know if he even cares about her at all anymore, all she knows is that she needs to move on from the past. But she is too afraid to.