The next morning Terri woke up in the comfort of Jason’s arms. She shivered, thinking about last night, and hugged the sheet closer to her chest. Looking at her sleeping boyfriend, Terri knew he was too sweet and too sorry to ever let something like that happen again.
The alarm went off, as Jason slowly opened his eyes, kissing Terri on the forehead.
“Good morning, Terbear.”
“Hi, baby. Nice to see you awake.”
“Have up been up long?” Jason asked, sitting up and letting Terri slide off his chest to lie on the bed.
“Only a few minutes. I was just going to shower and get ready for class.”
“Can I come with you?” Jason asked, a wicked glint in his eyes.
“What, to class? You’d be bored.” Terri said, standing up and looking for her dance clothes.
“No, I meant in the shower.” Jason winked, wrapping an arm around Terri and pulling her back onto the bed.
“Baby, not this morning. I have to get ready.” Terri freed herself from Jason’s grasp, standing up again.
Jason pouted, but relented. By the time Terri emerged from the shower, in her usual black tank top and jazz pants, Jason was eating breakfast in the kitchen, and Danica had left for work.
“So, that Chris guy is in your class, right?” Jason asked innocently.
“Mmm.” Terri said biting into a bagel. “So?”
“I just don’t like it. I don’t trust that man. Can’t you kick him out?” Jason asked, his eyes pouting.
Terri sighed. “Jase, Chris is innocent. Everything about him is innocent. We’re friends, that’s it. I would never do anything to hurt you.” Terri rubbed the side of Jason’s face, and he turned to kiss her palm.
“I know. I have today off. Do you want to go out to lunch after you get home from class?” Jason asked, slowly kissing each of Terri’s fingers.
“Sounds good. I need to come home, shower again, then I’ll be ready.” She stood up, throwing the remainder of her bagel in the garbage.
“Terbear, why don’t you put another shirt on. I don’t like that one. It’s too tight on you, it shows to much.” Jason said, looking Terri over critically.
“Okay, baby.” Terri figured he was talking about the light bruises that decorated her upper arms. She had figured if anyone asked about it, she would say the sex got out of hand a bit.
Terri returned to the kitchen, this time wearing a tight-fitting, low-cut, belly-baring black shirt. She didn’t like wearing loose tops, because she used her arms so much when she danced that they would get all tangled up.
Jason took one look at her, and almost started fuming. “I thought I told you to put on something different. The other one was too revealing.” He said, through clenched teeth.
“I did, baby. I figured you didn’t want anyone to ask about the bruises.” Terri said simply, slowly backing out of the kitchen towards the front door. Her car keys and bag were in the front hall, and it looked like Jason was about to explode.
“No, I don’t want my girlfriend looking like a WHORE in front of her new boyfriend CHRIS!” Jason raged, flipping over the kitchen table. He charged at Terri, who ran out the door, hardly pausing to grab her keys and gym bag. He followed her all the way to her car, where he finally pinned he as Terri fumbled to unlock the door.
No one was around; no one could save her.
“Jason, let me go.” Terri pleaded as he held her wrists against the cold metal door.
“Not until you go agree to go put something more respectable one. I refuse to see my girlfriend looking like a slut in public.” Jason’s grip seemed to tighten with each word. Terri whimpered in pain.
“I wear what I want to wear, and what I am comfortable to dance in. I’m not changing.” Terri stumbled, falling to the ground the Jason’s fist connected with her face.
“Look, bitch, you do what I say, got it? I told you to go change, YOU GO CHANGE!” he thundered.
Terri, who had stood again, went into a blind fury. She believed it was wrong for a man to ever harm a woman in anyway, and Jason was about to find that out.
“Look you sonofabitch, NO ONE touches me like that and gets away with it!” Terri grabbed Jason by the shoulders, and with one swift move, kneed him in the groin and sent him rolling onto the ground in pain.
She quickly unlocked her door, started the engine and roared off before he could recover her. The last thing she saw was Jason standing in the parking lot, fists raised, screaming that he’s get her one day.
Terri was in a near blind rage as she drove to class. By the time she arrived in the parking lot, not quite sure how she made it in one piece, Terri was shaking so badly she had to sit for almost 5 minutes before getting out of her car. The morning seemed so surreal to her. How could she not of seen where Jason was going? How could she have forgiven him after last night? Terri knew this was all her fault, and vowed that she would never let a man do that to her again.
Terri rubbed her hands over her face as she sat, still shaking. Gasping, she saw her hands had blood on them from the marks both Jason’s fist and the gravel on the parking lot had left. She angled the rear-view mirror so she could see her reflection. A large bruise was already surrounding one eye, and there was a cut next to it, bright red with smeared blood. There were several small cuts on her face from where she had landed when Jason hit her. Terri began to cry again as she realized what she had been reduced to.
Chris stood in the rec room, with the others in his class, waiting for Terri to show up. He had a weird feeling. Something about Terri’s boyfriend rubbed him the wrong way, and Chris knew Jason was the reason Terri hadn’t show up to class yet. Finally, almost 20 minutes after the class was supposed to start, he was the only one left in the room. Everyone else had given up and walked out. Chris looked at the clock. Something was definitely wrong, and dammed if he wasn’t going to find out what it was. He pushed himself off the wall and went out o his car.
There was another car in the lot that caught his attention. As did the person inside of it. It was Terri’s car, and Terri was there, her head slumped over the steering wheel.
Chris tapped the window of the passenger side door, and watched Terri’s head shoot up and look. He was relived to see her move, but that didn’t last long once he saw her face. Chris motioned for her to unlock the door, and slid in, hearing the doors lock after him.
“What happened?” He asked, as Terri started at his hands.
“I fell.”
“Onto what, broken glass?” Chris was way too worried to be playing games with Terri. He wanted answers.
“Gravel.”
For someone who was normally so loud, she often had to be shushed by her friends, Terri’s voice was now just above a whisper.
“Terri, you’re not telling me the whole story.”
“Yes, I am. I fell, I got cut up and I was too embarrassed to come into class.”
Chris snorted angrily. He knew there was something he wasn’t telling her, but at this point he felt that is he pushed her she would break.
“Look, why don’t we go back to my apartment and get you cleaned up a bit, I’ll make some grilled cheese and iced tea, and we’ll just chill. Sound good?” Chris said. He placed a hand on Terri’s arm, but removed it when he felt her stiffen.
Terri nodded slowly. Chris wasn’t about to let her drive like this. She was a shell of a person, and frankly, he didn’t know how she made it to the school in one piece. “Alright, let’s go to my car, and we’ll go do that.”
Terri moved slowly, looking around carefully before she got out of her car, making sure she locked the doors twice, and walked quickly, looking around her furtively. Chris unlocked the doors and Terri slid in, locking in behind her. She let out a deep breath and looked sideways at Chris.
“What?” She asked, annoyed. He was looking at her like a specimen under a microscope.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” The drive to Chris’s apartment was silent. When they arrived, Terri proceeded with the same mannerisms she had while walking from her car to Chris’s. Once inside the apartment, Terri collapsed onto his couch.
“Nice place.” She said, looking around the sparse rooms.
“Not much, but it’s all I can afford right now.” Truth be told, Chris hated his apartment. It was a 3rd floor walk-up, hardly big enough for the furniture he bought at a second hand store after moving to Orlando.
“Now, young lady, let’s get you into the bathroom and clean you up a bit.” Chris pulled Terri off the couch and led her to the bathroom. He lifted her onto the counter top and proceeded to set up the medical station. A bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a tube of Neosporin and some small band-aides.
“Now, this might sting a bit, but I have to clean the cuts.” Chris said, as he dabbed his q-tip in the peroxide. He brushed it over each cut, gently blowing a stream of air to help the stinging.
“That tickles.” Terri sighed. Chris saw the shine start to replace the dullness in her eyes, and it gave him hope.