Don't Let Them Stop You

This is the story of a boy and a girl.
The boy was 18 when the girl met him.
The girl was 17.
They met on a website.

The first day they met, they ate pizza, went bowling, played air hockey, sat in a car park listening to Radiohead long after it closed. They went to the sea where she lives and watch the stars glitter over the inky blackness of the still sea.

They huddled close for warmth in the 2am winds. They held eachother like the world depended on it.

The girl met with the boy again. They wasted a weekend together. He drove at 60 in a 30 zone, high on the sense of their affection for one another, only to buy cling film and contact lense solution from a Tesco so they could spend one more night together, intoxicated with the adoration they held.

They spent weekends in eachothers arms.
The girl got a part time job in the evenings in order to stay at college. He collected her faithfully every Wednesday.

One Wednesday, the boy invited the girl to the pub... She was tired, but agreed to it for him. Unbeknownst to her, it was for the birthday of one of his friends. The boy drops her with his friends that she's never met before, before sidelling off to play darts, not even offering the skint girl a drink as to appear sociable.

The girl decides to ring her mum and sit in the cold for the next three hours, instead of facing the social embarrassement.
The girl is very angry.
The boy exits, thinking nonetheless expecting to return to his place, the girl en tow. All his friends leave as well... They are all high.
The girl cries herself to sleep. The boy has no concept of her feelings any more.
They resolve, mostly.

Fast forward, its October now. They've been together two months. Its the girls 18th... Her friends say the boy cannot come to their drink evening in celebration. She agrees. He's not been that nice, and has taken nearly all her money.

He buys gifts... The first she's ever received from him. He makes her feel bad for him having to do so.
He demands she quit college and work at the supermarket to pay for the both of them... He's at university, with a rich mother. The mother brought his car, gives him nearly £40 a week to do what he wants with. She stands up and says no.
He is angry, but stays with her.

Fast forward, its Christmas. The girl has to work all of it, apart from Christmas day. The boys dad gets angry that the girl cannot join their festivities. She doesn't give a crap. She has her own loving family to go home to.
She agrees to attend the boys new years eve party, even with work at 8am the next morning.
The party was rubbish. All his friends got high, whilst he tries to get her completely drunk.

The girl never new whether he was high or drunk, but that night sex is not pleasant.
She's angry... She's in pain at work the next day.
She needs him to pick her up from work on that weeknight that she has to work to gain an education.
So, he does his best to make it up to her, and she gives in. She needs to work.

Two weeks later, he has sex with her, its unpleasant and verbally abuses her. She sends him home at 1am.
She gives in to his families advice that they're going through a rough patch, and things will get better. She still needs to work in the week anyway. And her mother thinks he's good for her.
Fast forward two months. Its valentines. She cooks a 'posh meal' with her savings and hours of labour... He asks to leave the TV on whilst he eats.
Sex is, again, unpleasant.

Fast forward another week... He doesn't want to see her any night, and only comes over to open his birthday presents. He demands more money. He always demands money from her.
She stays the Friday night. Sex hasn't been pleasant in a long time now.

He demands she does not wear what she wanted to wear to his birthday meal and celebration. She wanted to wear a t shirt and skirt, but with a corset over the top. He says she wants to pull guys that night. He won't wash or shave unless she does what he says.
He says if she can't get into the nightclub with her ID, he shall leave her in the middle of the city centre and asks whether her parents will get her instead of him staying with her. She says maybe. She doesn't want to ruin his birthday. He shouts at her, saying he just wants his birthday over and done with...

She doesn't know why he can't enjoy it.
He then says she shouldn't stay longer than his meal... Just to go home and leave him with his mates.
She's had enough.
She packs her bags.
She tells him he will not see her again.
She tells him to go and enjoy his evening.
She locks his door behind her, he has long left for his evening.
She returns home.
She may lose her job. She cannot work during the week.
She might have lost her family because of him, the fights he caused. But they love her and welcome her back with open arms.
He has probably stolen £700 she earn't in a minimum wage supermarket job.
She has a place in a university a 100 miles away. She is going to succeed in her life.
He nearly took that from her.
She is me.