Save Me

RaeLynn stood rigid against the front door as she came face to face with her boyfriend. She knew he was pissed off and she couldn’t just make up an excuse to lessen the pain that was soon to follow. The deadly look in Chris’s eyes said it all.

“Where the hell have you been, RaeLynn?” Chris questioned all too calmly. RaeLynn’s eyes filled with tears and she prayed to God that He was standing beside her, holding her hand because she knew needed all the faith she could get.

“I…I was out w-with a f-friend. We lost track of time and—” Her words were interrupted by Chris’s hand striking her across the face. RaeLynn fell to floor, clutching her cheek and tears rapidly falling from her eyes.

“You’re cheating on me?! You pathetic bitch!” Chris yelled at his girlfriend, who was starting to back away from him. RaeLynn cowered in a corner as Chris advanced toward her with the look of malice written all over his face.

“Chris…p-please. Listen to me. I-It wasn’t what you think.” RaeLynn pleaded, but Chris didn’t listen. He never listened. He threw punch after punch, kick after kick at RaeLynn’s face and body. He busted her lip and RaeLynn was sure that at least one of her ribs was either fractured or completely broken. Her thoughts were interrupted as Chris viciously grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her up roughly to meet him face to face. She let out a helpless whimper from the pain that shot through her head and down her neck.

“Who the hell was that earlier? Who the fuck do you think you are, RaeLynn? You are mine and I’ll be damned if I let you get away from me! Do you hear me?!” RaeLynn simply nodded which caused a sadistic smirk to present itself on Chris’s face.

“Hmm…I don’t believe you do. You think you still need to be taught a lesson.” RaeLynn’s eyes widened at her boyfriend’s words and she was scared shitless of what would come next.

“No. Chris, please. I won’t do it again, I promise. Please don’t do this.” Chris’s smirk disappeared and was replaced with an emotionless expression.

“You’re lying. I know you’re lying. Do you think I’m stupid?” RaeLynn shook her head vigorously and winced when Chris’s grip on her hair tightened.

“I do believe that you think I’m stupid. Am I not good enough for you? Huh? Is that it?” Chris whispered menacingly into his girlfriend’s ear. RaeLynn whimpered and knew that tonight was far from over.

“Baby, I love you. I love you with all my heart and no one is ever going to be better than you.” RaeLynn desperately tried to reassure him, but her attempt failed. She found herself doubled over on the floor again, crying from the painful punch Chris administered to her stomach. Another shower of punches and kicks were driven her way and RaeLynn couldn’t hold on any longer. Her brain was shutting down. Her eyes were drooping, on the verge of giving in. Her mind was disconnecting from her body. She couldn’t defend herself. She couldn’t make the situation better. She couldn’t do anything to help herself. RaeLynn blacked out.



RaeLynn groaned in pain as she horribly tried to walk to her bathroom. Her entire body was screaming in protest, a constant reminder of the events from the previous night. She knew there was nothing she could do about the pain. Painkillers no longer did the job and the hot showers only seemed to further the pain of the cuts and bruises.

RaeLynn winced when she saw her appearance in the bathroom mirror. Her right eye was completely swollen shut and a bruise was forming under her left eye from a cut residing there, causing her eye to swell slightly. Another cut presented itself on her right cheek and RaeLynn could immediately declare that both cuts were caused by Chris’s rings. More bruises and cuts were forming on her arms, but they would be easily concealable with one of RaeLynn’s many long-sleeved shirts. Her bruised eye would also be easy to hide from others, but she decided that sunglasses would be needed for extra precaution.

Her face contorted in pain as she dabbed hydrogen peroxide and alcohol on the cuts in hopes to keep the semi-deep gashes from succumbing to infection. One glance at the clock on the wall to her right informed RaeLynn that she had approximately 10 minutes left until 8 o’clock. This meant that if she didn’t hurry up, she would be late…again. RaeLynn quickly jumped in the shower and put on her clothes. The success of hiding the wounds that scarred her face and arms was beginning to diminish. The wounds were getting deeper. The pain was worsening along the continuous fall of RaeLynn’s emotional stability.



RaeLynn stumbled into AP Music Appreciation fifteen minutes later than usual, but at that point she didn’t give a damn. Her eye hurt like a bitch, her right cheek was throbbing along with her ribs and the entire left side of her body.

“Miss Meadows, what time do you think school starts? This is the second day you have been late to my class and you know I do not tolerate tardiness. Class started fifteen minutes ago.” RaeLynn rolled her eyes at Mrs. Rollins’s scolding, but quickly dismissed her frustration.

“Sorry, ma’am. It won’t happen again,” RaeLynn spoke, sending a forced smile towards the teacher who simply nodded. RaeLynn shuffled to her seat in the back of the class and painfully sat in her chair. A wince flashed across her face and slight hiss escaped her lips as pain raced up her spine. Her hands involuntarily clenched into fists and her eyes watered.

Matt, having noticed RaeLynn’s slightly pained expression as soon as she presented herself to the class, frowned when he saw a tear escape from RaeLynn’s eye. His curiosity increased when he took note of the sunglasses she wore. Obviously, RaeLynn was in some pain and was trying her best to keep it under wraps. Just as he was going to ask RaeLynn if she needed to go to the nurse, the teacher proceeded with the lesson.

“Today, we will be beginning the first project out of many for this year. I have chosen for this particular project to be a duet act only, so no barbershop quartets. You are required to write a song that reflects the personal feelings of yourself and your partner. This means that you both must focus on the same subject. Now, these feelings can reach out towards someone or something. I want to feel the emotion that you and your partner are portraying in your piece. You must record the song and provide me with a CD that contains your song along with a lyric booklet and cover art. You are allowed to use the recording studio here in the school. Use all the resources you have. I want to be speechless when I listen to these songs. Have fun with it! Don’t worry about grades, just go with the flow. Now for your partners.” The class groaned when realizing that they wouldn’t be allowed the freedom of picking their own partners.

“Melissa Turner, your partner is Caleb Moss. Kennedy Price, your partner is Jonathan Powers. Preston Brown, your partner is Jessica Willow. Veronica Hart, your partner is Brandon Fatone and RaeLynn Meadows, your partner is Matthew Sanders.” RaeLynn’s dark brown eyes locked with Matt’s hazel orbs at the mentioning of them being paired together for the project. RaeLynn looked away shyly and a blush crept into her cheeks when Matt’s amazing smile flashed her way. She was beet red by the time Matt moved his desk closer to hers in order to discuss the direction of their song.

“So, umm…what do you think we should sing about?” Matt asked curiously, causing his eyes to lock once more with RaeLynn’s.

“Umm…h-how about the classic l-love song?” RaeLynn stuttered. Matt smirked, knowing he was the only one to gain this reaction of the nervous girl sitting beside him. He chuckled and leaned closer towards her. RaeLynn whimpered slightly, a habit that had become involuntary. Matt frowned slightly when he heard this form of protest, but he refused to lengthen the distance between himself and the girl who had come to plague his mind with unanswered questions.

“Are you okay, RaeLynn? You seem somewhat on edge today. Are you feeling alright?” Matt asked, concerned laced heavily throughout his voice. RaeLynn simply nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. Matt, having witnessed that same smile 24 hours before, knew RaeLynn was lying. His confirmation was made certain when he noticed a faint line of bruising under RaeLynn’s left eye. That’s when he knew. Something was going on with RaeLynn and he was determined to discover the secret. He needed to get RaeLynn alone with him. As soon as possible.

“Mrs. Rollins?” Matt called out to his teacher, who was busy grading tests. She looked up from her task and gave an expectant look towards her student.

“RaeLynn is feeling a little dizzy and I don’t want her to faint in the middle of class. May I take her to the nurse?” RaeLynn’s head snapped towards Matt and her mouth was slightly parted from disbelief.

“Yes, you may. Hope you start feeling better soon, dear.” Matt nodded and grasped RaeLynn’s hand in his and proceeded to drag her out of the classroom.

“W-What are you doing? I feel absolutely fine. I don’t need to go to the nurse.” Matt ignored RaeLynn’s protests and continued walking towards the courtyard. Matt stood over RaeLynn against a wall and stared down at her. RaeLynn bit her lip and tried to look anywhere but in Matt’s eyes and failing miserably.

“RaeLynn…what’s going on with you? You’ve never been late to class. Hell, you would always get to every class at least 5 minutes before the bell. You can hardly even walk and I doubt you can stand right now. There’s a bruise under those sunglasses and that’s what concerns me the most. Please, RaeLynn. Please tell me what’s wrong.” Matt pleaded. He sighed when RaeLynn shook her head in refusal. Matt knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but part of him didn’t want it to be. He ran his hands through his hair and growled from frustration. Frustration that stemmed from his need to be overprotective and caring of the fragile girl who stood before him.

“RaeLynn…please. I just wanna know what’s causing you so much pain.” RaeLynn looked down and played with her fingers.

“I…I’m not in pain. I’m fine.” Matt sighed and tilted RaeLynn’s chin in order to look past the sunglasses and into her eyes. RaeLynn’s eyes filled to the brim of tears and she desperately tried to blink the pesky water away. Matt moved to gently pull the concealing sunglasses from RaeLynn’s face, but froze when RaeLynn flinched away from him. The tears spilled over and RaeLynn broke down. She slid down the wall and into Matt’s arms. He fell onto his knees to the ground with RaeLynn and held the wrecked girl firmly to his chest. RaeLynn shook violently from the sobs that racked through her body and Matt tried his best to soothe her. He rubbed gentle circles into her back and rocked her back and forth like a small child.

RaeLynn clutched Matt’s shirt tightly in her fists and cried. She let Matt hold her as if she were the most breakable object on the planet. She dwelled in the relaxing feeling that began to spread over her as she allowed herself to break down.

“RaeLynn…talk to me.” Matt whispered into her ear. RaeLynn looked up into Matt’s eyes. She nearly sobbed again when she saw the amount of concern etched across his facial features. The immense amount of care that dwelled in the liquid golden hazel pools that he called eyes. She nearly confessed everything out to the guy comforting her at that moment when a sudden, unfamiliar feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Her heart felt as if it would burst from the realization of what Matt was doing. He was actually being compassionate towards her, something that RaeLynn rarely experienced in the past two years. Matt was taking care of her, watching out for her, loving her in a way that RaeLynn only witnessed from her boyfriend on special occasions.

But, even that alone, even that feeling that RaeLynn’s craved from a guy for the longest, wasn’t enough to make her come clean. Nothing would be enough to make RaeLynn spill all the details about what happened behind closed doors. Nothing was going to make the truth come out of RaeLynn’s mouth, no matter how close she was to a full blown emotional and mental breakdown.

RaeLynn weaseled her way out of Matt’s grasp and wiped her tears. She gave Matt her best smile and gained a slight smile in return.

“I’m fine, Matt. Really. Thanks for…everything.” RaeLynn whispered and they both proceeded to walking back to class, just in time to gather their things 5 minutes before the bell rang for their next class. All the while, Matt couldn’t help but think that RaeLynn was lying to him, only digging herself a deeper grave and Matt was dead set on saving her.