Four

In my life I have had about four relationships that have lasted longer than six months. Of course I had dates with numerous people during high school, but only about four have been rather serious.

The first one was when I was seventeen. It was a girl named Toni and we were together for eight months. We got along well despite our differences. She liked hip-hop and I liked pop-punk. She liked tragedies and I liked comedies. She liked being quiet and I liked being loud. But as time went on our differences got to the point where I wasn't sure we would last. I asked my best friend for advice, and they told me to talk to Toni about how I felt. Upon speaking to her, I discovered that she felt the same and we both agreed that we couldn't take the relationship any further. The two of us stayed friends once we broke up with no harsh feelings. To this day we still talk on a regular basis.

The second one was when I was eighteen. It was a guy named Ashley and we were together for fourteen months. The two of us had more in common. We both had similar tastes in music, television shows, and we both liked a good drink. The one problem was that Ashley liked drink a lot more than me, arguably too much. Every Friday night we would go round a friends house and have a drink. Every time without fail Ashley would get shitfaced and I would have to drag him back to mine (often with the help of my best friend) and let him sleep on the couch. The only reason I never let him sleep in my bed was because I could never drag his ass up the stairs whilst he was practically half asleep. About fourteen months in, his drinking got a bit worse. I stopped going for drinks with him because I just didn't want to deal with him in his drunken state. Usually he would go out Friday and finally answer my calls on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, and this seriously put a strain on our relationship. He thought everything was fine. One night I got a call from his mother telling me that he was driving whilst drunk and hit a pedestrian. I met with him before he got sentenced, and I flat out told him that I didn't think that we would work. Naturally he was upset, but thankfully he understood. It turned out that he got sentenced eight years in prison. I'm not sure if he is out yet. Come to think of it, I haven't heard from him at all.

The third one was when I was twenty. It was a guy named Casey and we were together for nearly two years. This was undoubtedly my worst relationship. At first Casey was really sweet. He would text me every night before I went to sleep and every morning when I woke up. We regularly went on dates and it was just great. I thought that our relationship would be wonderful and last. I realised too late how terrible Casey was. Around five months and onwards, whenever I was going out he would always ask where I was going, who I was going with, what time I would be back, things like that. At first I saw nothing wrong with that, he just cared about me. Things continued to get worse. Whenever I hung out with my best friend or any of my other friends he would shout at me, claim that I didn't care about him and that I was cheating on him. At eleven months I got sick of the accusations and told him that I was leaving. That was the first time he hit me. It gave me a black eye, and whenever someone asked me about it I just told them that I walked into a cupboard door. I stayed with him, though. Over time he refused to let me go out with my friends and he continued to litter my body in cuts and bruises. I should have left him; I know I should have when things initially started going downhill. I was too scared though. Things finally ended when I was hospitalised. He got angry at me for a stupid reason I can't remember. He hit me, pushed me down the stairs, and smashed a bottle over my head. With a final, angry stomp on my leg, he left the house. I had crawled over to my phone and immediately called my best friend who was the one who called an ambulance. I ended up with a cut on my head that needed stitches and a broken leg, among many other things such as bruises and a split lip. The police were called and Casey was arrested. I never saw him again.

That horrific experience put me off dating for quite some time. It took weeks for me to even agree to go for a night out with my friends. My friends and best friend completely understood though, and they would all make an effort to come round my house and hang out. It took time, but I finally became my old self once again.

The fourth one started when I was twenty-five. It was a guy named Alex and we are still together. Alex is rather different to my previous relationships, though. Alex wasn't some stranger I met in a bar or coffee shop, in fact Alex wasn't a stranger at all. I met Alex when we were eight years old, and ever since then he has been my best friend. He was the one I asked for advice about my relationship with Toni. He was the one who helped me drag Ashley's drunk ass home more often than not. He was the one that came over to my house and called an ambulance for me, staying by my side and always checking up on me for the few years after that. Through all the drama, all the tears, all the break-ups, he was there. Always.

I have so much in common with him, unlike Toni.

We go out drinking but he doesn't drink excessively, unlike Ashley.

He respects my independence and he is always caring, unlike Casey.

So out of all my partners, I like Alex the most.