Teenage Advice

"Sarah, there is no point in trying to change because of him. He shouldn’t rule your life. Stop living for him, live for yourself. He doesn’t even truly love you. He is only using you. He says he loves you but he tried to cheat on you with me. I’m your best friend and I care about you, so please trust me on this. This is serious. Has he hit you again?"
"Jasmine, stop worrying about me. I’m fine, I said something wrong and he got angry, it’s no big deal."
"Yes it is a big deal. Usually, once they start hitting they don’t stop. It will gradually increase till you die one day from the worst beating yet. You have to do something before it's too late. You need to break up with him. You can't say your'e happy with the way things are right now? And I'm telling you right now it will get worse. You need to stand up for yourself and do something before it's too late."
"But I love him. I don’t want to break up with him. It's not a big deal, he only hit me twice."
"You have a week. If you don’t do something about it then I will have to. I'll tell your parents or the school, and they'll deal with him. But I'm giving you a chance to do something yourself. This is Important ok? Believe me, it's for your own good."
"Leave me alone, it's my life and I can live it the way I want too. Stay out of it."
"Fine, I'll leave you in your world and never talk to you again!" Jasmine said and ran way angry. I'm sure she didn’t mean it, she'll probably come back tomorrow to walk me to school again like nothing happened today, I thought as I continued walking to school.
When I got to class Jasmine was not in the usual spot. She sat far away from my seat, far in the back in the right corner. Sighing I sat down and in my seat, the one in the front left corner. Brian sat next to me in the spot Jasmine usually sits.
"Hey, what's up? Why is Jasmine all the way over there today?" he said
"We had a fight and she said she would never talk to me again. I'm sure it will all blow over tomorrow, though. Thanks for caring."
Smiling sweetly, he said "you're welcome. I'm here for you, baby." For some reason, I couldn't put words to I got this uneasy feeling when he smiled and said those words. Could it be because….? No. No way. He said he loves me. He wouldn’t hurt me. But he did hurt you. He hurt you twice. Saying you love someone is one thing, and actually loving someone is another. The voice in my head said. No. No, he loves me, Go away. I pushed all those thoughts out of my head and tuned into the teacher.
School went by fast, a whole week has gone by and Jasmine hasn't talked to me. I guess she was serious. The last class was already over and I was at my locker getting my things and almost ready to go. I decided that if Brian hit me five times over the week then I would agree with what Jasmine said, that this is serious and I need to do something. It's scary because I'm beginning to think she was right. he hit me 4 times already. But that’s not all, he forced me to do some things I didn’t want to do. I'm ashamed and I just want to hide. I can't face my parents anymore and I can't even look jasmine in the eye when we pass each other in the halls. But most of all I can't forgive myself. If he hits me today for whatever reason then I will have to do something. I can't let this go one. I am scared Jasmine was right. What if it does get worse? I'm not sure if he loves me anymore. I'm not sure if I can forgive him for the things he did to me. But maybe that's just what I need, Angry to give me the strength I need to end this. After a while, I realized I was done at my locker and just standing there, and I needed to go right now, Brian was waiting for me in his car to give me a ride home. I can't be late, I can't anger him. I ran to outside into the cold. It had recently snowed, and the was ice covering the driveway of the school, but I didn’t have time to be careful, I ran on. I got to his car, trying to look inside to see his face, but it was useless, I couldn't see through the dark windows. I can't prepare myself for what he might look like. I can't see if he is angry. I felt fear seep into my bones, my bones started to shake, my knees wobble and I felt like I was going to collapse if I didn’t run. But I kept on moving. I opened the door. I sat on my seat in the front passenger side and I closed the door, at the same time I closed my eyes and braced for what might happen. At first, all that filled the car was silence and a sign from him. when he didn’t do anything but sit there I turned around and looked at him. He turned too, and I could see know that he was angry and he was waiting for my excuse.
Nervously I stuttered, "I… I… I'm sorry I'm late. I lost track of time and spaced out. It won't happen again." I cowered a little and backed a little into the door behind me. My heart was beating out of my chest and I felt like I was going to die. Even then I was trying to hold on to him, hoping he wouldn’t hit me and force me to end it. Even now, I feel like I love him still. Even after all he did to me. Why? My thoughts were interrupted by him slapping me on the cheek. my cheek stung, and I knew it was red. I started to cry. He hit me for the 5th time this week. It's over.
"You stupid girl! Pay attention next time! Think of more than just yourself for once! I was waiting for you for way to long! If you do this again I'll do worse than slap you in the face! Get that!?"
I sucked in a deep breath to give me strength and said, "No! There won't be a next time. I'm done with you. You can go die for all I care. This is the end, Brian." then I opened the door, slammed it on his face and walked away. Walking into the school again, I took out my cell phone and called Jasmine for the first time since our fight on Monday.
I started crying again as Jasmine answered. "Jasmine, I…."
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"I… I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before. But I listened to you now. It's over."
"That’s good. Good for you. I'm happy for you. Where are you now?"
"Still in school."
"Kay, stay there. I'm coming to get you."
"Kay, bye."
"Bye."
A few minutes later Jasmine came with the police. They asked me a few questions about Brian and then went to arrest him over at his house. Jasmine and I went out and ate burgers in the local restaurant like nothing had changed. I laughed for the first time in months with the carefree feelings I used to have. I can finally move forward. I can finally just live. No more fear. Just happiness. While I can't erase the past, at least, I can look forward to the future.