"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" The blow hit me from behind, knocking me onto the sidewalk. Tears rolled down my face as I looked at my scraped up hands and felt his heels digging into my thighs.
"I have to go," I whisper, my brown hair falling in front of my face. My eyeliner begins to coat my cheeks as he kicks my legs covered by my skinny jeans.
"You're not leaving Becca," he says. "You're not going to leave me."
"Yes I am Dan! I am going to leave you, and you can't stop me." I slowly rise from the sidewalk, only to be pushed down again, my face stopping centimeters above the concrete. But it slams into the sidewalk as his hand forces my face down.
Blood flows freely from my nose and I can't breathe. I can only breathe in the stench of my only red blood. "Will you come back tomorrow?" he growls. I slowly nod and he lets me stand up.
But he doesn't kiss me, or comfort me, or wipe away the blood. He just kicks me one last time before I stagger home. As I enter my house I realize I'm alone, my mom probably isn't home from work yet. I know I have to hurry and clean myself up or else she would start asking question.
*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey babe," his voice sends chills up and down my back. I just want to run away and hide, hide from him. His arm snakes around my waist and he kisses my neck gently. I let out a sigh of pleasure, and it reminds me why I am dating him. He loves me, he loves me.
But on the way home from school it changes, just like the day before, I can't breathe, I'm drowning in my own blood, I'm suffocating. I can't breathe. I can't call through the liquid surrounding me, I can't tell anyone. I can't let him get hurt, I have to protect him, because he loves me.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
The dream is terrifying. I have had it for the past four months, ever since Dan started abusing me. But in the dream, I can't breathe. He's always there, loving me, then shoving me down and breaking me. I love him, and he's the only one in the world who loves me. I want love, and he can give it to me. But inside, I'm suffocating.
*Dedicated to all those girls who have been abused, don't suffocate, breathe the air, and tell.

. I shall review today.
