Blood Lies & Alibis

Hey there! Happy Review Day! I am going to review this wonderful story. Spelling corrections will be in bold. Grammar correction as well.

I strained my eyes against the morning light that shone through my window as I looked over at my phone for the time, 11:38, along with 4 missed calls from Ty and a string of threatening texts that followed the calls. I sighed and closed my eyes again but it did not last for long, echoing in my ears was his screaming, I couldn't do it any more, I had to get up, I had to do something.

Ty was my ex. I broke up with him after putting up with months of abuse. Some girls say they will never get caught up in an abusive relationship, but all it takes is the right guy with the right words floating in his head. My abusive relationship was gradual, we were happy for a few weeks, I didn't even realize what was happening at first. The fights started small, over something stupid, something as simple as not answering him right away whether it was a text or a question that he said aloud. Then it moved to things he would bluntly accuse me of, cheating was a big one, which was stupid. He knew I wasn't cheating. Sometimes I figured by his paranoia he was the one cheating and just wanted me to break it off so he could go be with whoever she was, but that wasn't the case. He just wanted control over me, over my life.

I took a deep breath and ignored the pain that radiated from my right side and started to get up. I ached. The night before I broke it off with Ty. I finally had the courage, finally had enough in me to stand up and fight for myself. That’s when the first real blow came. He had grabbed a hold of me before, left finger like bruises across my pale skin but never hit me like that. I squeezed my eyes shut as the memories of last night hit me like a ton of bricks.

“No, you’re not leaving. You’re not going to fucking leave me.” I was standing in the hallway by the door of my house. Ty was coming over to pick me up so we could go out, but I finally decided that today was the day that I would finally stand up for myself. My parents were gone for the weekend and decided this was our best bet for having an actual conversation about this without anyone else getting in the way, I was wrong about that.

“I’m not happy anymore Ty…I just can’t do it. I still care for you just…not in the same ways anymore.” I whispered meekly, trying to sound confident.

“Who in the fuck is he, Ella?” He grabbed a hold of my arm, “Who is he?!” He screamed

“Ouch Ty let go…” I feebly tried to pry his grip from my arm, “I’m not with anyone else!”

“Bullshit.” Ty spat, “I want to know who the sorry mother fucker is that’s going to be stuck with you now.”

He shoved me away from him and I hit my right side off of the corner of the table that normally held an assortment of keys or bags that my mom left there when she walked into the door, but now it was empty. I held back my tears and tried to stay strong as I held my side and tried to stand. “There’s no one else Ty. I’m just not happy any more. I can’t keep faking it. Is that what you fucking want? Me to fake my happiness so you can have yours? That’s not a real relationship.”

He glared at me as I moved to get up and then I felt it. The crack of his palm against my cheek. It hurt. I steadied myself against the table as my thoughts swirled and I watched black circles spot my vision as I looked up at him with disgust. “You are nothing to me. You hear that? Fucking nothing. Have fun with whatever guy you've moved onto now. You’re lucky you even had me. No one else will put up with your shit.”

I watched as he grabbed his coat and slammed the door shut. I stood there for a second, waiting for the air to come back to my lungs, I felt a single tear run down my cheek. I started to move and support my own weight as I walked over to lock the door. The tears finally overwhelmed me as I slumped down the door, hugging my knees and I began to cry. I cried for the happiness that he was finally gone, cried for being too weak to end this when the bad things started, cried for me.

Since last night Ty has been trying to get ahold of me. Saying things from “I’m sorry I didn’t mean it” to “I’ll make your life a living hell”. Then he would tell me that the only reason he would threaten me was to make me talk to him because that’s all he wants to do, talk. I wasn’t having it. I just wanted him out of my life for good. It was almost the end of our senior year, only 3 more months to go. I can survive this. I thought as I stretched my hands forward and moved out of my bed. The cool morning air stung my legs as I slowly moved my blanket back and moved my feet to the cold wood floor of my bedroom.

I stood up and walked over to the full length mirror that stood across from my bed. I was wearing a pair of short orange shorts and a tank top. My ringlet curls were in a mess of a ponytail and I gasped when I saw the sight of my cheek and arm. My cheek was turned a dark shade of brown, my arm was worse, nearly purple. I began to lift my tank top and my breath hitched as I saw the dark purple bruise that was forming on my ribcage. That’s when I heard my phone buzz. I walked over to grab it and breathed a sigh of relief, it was just Claire.

Claire and I had been best friends since we started grade school. She was the only person I trusted with my deepest secrets, but I hadn’t told her the extent of how Ty acted. I looked at my glowing screen and opened the message Claire had sent me, Hey darling! Movie Night tonight? Or maybe a party? I hear there’s going to be one over in Rome. Message me when you decide! Rome was a half hour or so away from our small town. We lived in a rural town in New York where everyone knows everyone and their business. Small towns were boring for the most part, boring and judgmental.

I put my phone into my pocket figuring I would answer her later, probably after my shower. I didn’t feel like going out though, but I figured maybe I should just suck it up and act happy. Well I was happy, but I just wasn’t feeling up to a night of drinking, at this point all I wanted to do was to sit under my covers until the bruises faded and he was finally out of my life.

I sighed again as I walked out of my doorway and down the hall into my bathroom. I grabbed a towel from the closet behind my door and threw it onto the counter beside my sink and I turned on the hot water of my shower. I slowly undressed and threw my clothes into the hamper nearby. Steam slowly rose and curled around the edges of the mirror. I looked up at my face and sighed as I grabbed a make up wipe to gently remove the smudged eyeliner from underneath my eyes.

I hooked my phone up to the iHome that I kept on the counter and moved across the cool floor to the hot shower as Let Her Go by Passenger echoed off the walls of my bathroom and my mind slipped away as the hot water slowly washed away all of my problems.

Well you only need the light when it’s burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low

Only hate the road when you’re missing home

Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

This stories sad & good. Good details & emotion.


Claire and I had been best friends since we started grade school. She was the only person I trusted with my deepest secrets, but I hadn't told her the extent of how Ty acted. I looked at my glowing screen and opened the message Claire had sent me, Hey darling! Movie Night tonight? Or maybe a party? I hear there’s going to be one over in Rome. Message me when you decide! Rome was a half hour or so away from our small town. We lived in a rural town in New York where everyone knows everyone and their business. Small towns were boring for the most part, boring and judgmental.
> I like this part/paragraph of the story. She said she 'trusted' Claire, but if she really trusted her, why wouldn't she tell her about Ty? Interesting.
>Second, I like how you put a song into the picture, that really went well with the stories theme.


Keep it up, I love this work and i'm sure the rest are even better:)