Last Kiss

The fight or flight response theory was first discussed by a man by the name of Walter Cannon. He theorized that animals react to a given threat by discharging the sympathetic nervous system, causing the animal to be perfectly primed to either fight or flee. This is largely due to an increase in both stress and fear, and many physiological symptoms accompany this condition.

As Max walked calmly into my apartment, I could feel the panic bubbling threateningly behind my wall of self control. My breathing became ragged as my heart pounded furiously inside of my chest. Unconsciously, I took a step backwards, planting my feet underneath of me.

My mind raced frantically, searching for a way out—any way out. It scared me an unbelievable amount to discover that I couldn’t manage to come up with a single escape route. Living on the fourth floor and having no fire escape, I couldn’t climb out of a window. Screaming wasn’t an option; I lived in an apartment building primarily for college students, and random meaningless screams were common occurrences that were ignored. The only true exit was the door behind Max, and I knew that I could never get past him.

I could feel my face flushing warmly in a combination of anger and fear. There was no possible chance of me running away, so that meant I had to fight. But how could I, a completely average college girl, even begin to fight an NHL hockey player?

“Get out of my apartment,” I said darkly, narrowing my eyes at the man who stood before me. My hatred for him burned intensely through my veins, helping my voice to remain steady despite my trembling hands.

Max responded with a deep chuckle, amusement lighting up his famed blue eyes. “Or what?” he asked, taking a step towards me. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll make you regret the day you met me, pretty boy,” I replied, gritting my teeth together.

“Oh really?” he said, narrowing the distance between us yet again. A quick glance confirmed that he was a mere two feet away at this point. “Babe, I’m bigger, faster, and stronger. There’s nothing you could possibly do to make me leave.”

“What do you even want from me?” I asked angrily. “I don’t have the money for you, and Kris paid for the damage anyway.”

Max shrugged, seemingly nonchalantly. “I have power, you know. With that tape and a monetary donation to the police force, I could make sure you do some jail time for your erratic behavior.”

I felt my hands unconsciously clenching at my sides, my fingernails digging sharply into my palms. “Why are you doing this to me?” I cried, a little louder than I anticipated. Quieter, I continued, “What do you want from me?”

“You,” he murmured softly, raising one hand to lightly run his fingers along my cheek. “I want you.”

Repressing the urge to shudder, I met his lust-darkened gaze. “Why?” I asked, gritting my teeth. “You have plenty of other women falling head over heels for you, including that oh-so-lovely¬ brunette from the party.”

Max raised one eyebrow, a smirk playing across his face. “Jealous, are we?” he replied in amusement.

“No, ” I said with emphasis, “I definitely am not jealous.”

“Then why do you care about us dancing underneath the sheets?” Max said quickly, his eyes scrutinizing my face for a response.

I kept my expression as calm as I could manage, using every ounce of my will to keep from pushing him away. “First of all, I don’t. Second, she was Kris’s girlfriend before you took her away. And third, she was just an example.”

A light flickered behind Max’s eyes in understanding. “You have feelings for Kris,” he stated simply, a grin spreading across his face.

No amount of control would have been able to keep me from physically reacting to Max’s words. I flinched as though I had been splashed with ice water. “Absolutely not,” I finally managed to choke out. “I don’t even know him.”

“Oh?” he replied, getting comfortable in his game. “Then why is a blush creeping up onto your cheeks? Why does your pulse race when you hear his name? Don’t deny the obvious.”

I let out a long, overly-dramatic sigh. “Alright, fine. Let’s pretend for a minute that you’re right, which you’re not. If you were right, why would it be your business anyway?”

Max shrugged a little, that insufferable smirk still firmly planted on his face. “Because I want you, and he doesn’t.”

A small pang went through my heart at his words, but I quickly chose to ignore it. Personal feelings could be dealt with later. At the moment, there was a more pressing issue at hand. With that in mind, I replied “I just…don’t understand why you’re so persistent when I’m one of thousands.”

“That’s just it,” he said, trailing his finger lightly along my jaw. “I’ve never had a woman turn me down since making the NHL. You’re the first one. You fascinate me.”

“I already told you,” I said, clearly enunciating every syllable, “that I’m not a cheap whore who’s going to sleep with you because you’re a hockey star.”

“But are you a college girl who is willing to risk her future by having a criminal record?” Max said, slowly leaning in towards me.

Before I quite realized what I was doing, my right hand went sailing through the air and landed with a crack on the side of Max’s head.

Several things happened simultaneously after that. As soon as my mind wrapped around the fact that I had punched him, I tried to step away. Unfortunately, while one of Max’s hands clutched his jaw, the other had snaked out and grabbed my wrist before I could move. This caused me to stumble, and I found myself kneeling on the ground before him.

I looked up fearfully to meet his eyes and was terrified at what I saw. A thin line of blood trailed from Max’s ear to his jaw, and his cheek was already bruising. His entire face was flushed red in rage, causing the color of his bruise to be made even darker. His pupils had dilated, almost completely covering the blue irises. Truly, his eyes were almost completely black.

I knew in an instant that bad things were about to happen.

Max violently jerked me to my feet before I could react, his fingers digging painfully into my arm, leaving angry red welts. With an animalistic grunt, he shoved me roughly against the wall, using his entire body to pin mine.

I couldn’t breathe, let alone move, and I used the last of my breath to cry out in pain. Max quickly used his lips to stifle mine, roughly pulling my bottom lip into his mouth. His free hand knotted into my hair, refusing to allow me to pull away.

As stars began to twinkle in my peripheral vision from lack of oxygen, I wondered distantly if I was going to die. Max was clearly physically abusing me, and I had no doubt that I was about to be raped. In addition, I could feel the beginnings of unconsciousness swirling in the depths of my mind, tantalizingly calling my name.

It would be so easy to give in to the darkness. If I was lucky, I wouldn’t even remember what happened, and I could try to resume my broken life whenever I woke up. If I was unlucky, I would never have to deal with Max again, for I had no doubt he was going to Hell.

I could hear the echoes of unconsciousness softly calling my name, and I shut my unseeing eyes in hopes that it would claim me. That’s when I realized that it wasn’t my mind hearing my name—it was my ears.

My eyes shot open once again, and I used the little strength I didn’t know I still had to shove against Max’s chest as hard as I could. Caught off-guard, he stumbled backwards, and I fell to the floor, gasping frantically for air. Less than a second later, I heard the familiar squeak of my apartment door, and looked up to see Amanda taking in the scene.

I watched as her eyes focused first on me and my wounds, and then on Max. Her puzzled expression turned once again to me, and I saw comprehension click in her eyes. Crossing her arms, she leaned casually against my doorframe and simply raised an eyebrow at Max.

Max might have been a lot of things, but he was also smart enough to realize that Amanda knew what had been happening. Without a word, he took a step in my direction, hesitated, and slipped his hands into his pockets. “This isn’t the end,” he said quietly, making certain that I was the only one who could hear. With that, he turned on his heel, strode past Amanda without a glance, and walked down the hallway.

Amanda slowly walked over and crouched down beside me, gently resting one hand on my shoulder. She didn’t say a word, but I felt her eyes probing me, begging for answers. With a small sigh, I pulled my legs underneath me. I could only imagine what she saw—a broken girl with tangled hair, swollen lips, and bruises and welts, who couldn’t stand up and was still out of breath.

It took a few minutes to begin my story, but when I did, it was like a runaway train. I couldn’t have stopped, even if I wanted to. I babbled for close to an hour about everything that had happened from the night of my birthday to tonight, letting the emotions pour out of me.

Only after I had finished did I fully break down and cry.