The Water Faucet

I'm sitting on the floor of the living room at my friend Tyler's house with him and Jacob, my best friend since elementary school. I'm holding my ears to block out the noise of the couple yelling at each other, hitting each other. I hear glass shattering from the mirror breaking. I scream as loud and close my eyes as tight as I can while I feel my body taking me back to the place I hated the most. My own personal hell.

He's yelling at me, calling me hurtful things as he fills the bathroom sink with hot water. I'm sitting on the floor, like I was at Tylers, still holding my ears. I keep my eyes closed. ¨He can't hurt me, he can't hurt me, he can't hurt me." I repeat to myself.

¨Now." He starts. ¨Are you going to do what I tell you, or are you just going to keep sitting there?¨ He asks as he turns off the faucet.

¨No. You can't touch me. You're not real. This is all in my head.¨ I say. He gets angry and punches the mirror, like Tyler's brother did when him and his girlfriend were fighting, and it shatters. Nothing I haven't seen before. It was normal for him to get angry at me when I told him ¨no¨ and break things, like glass. He starts walking towards me. I start shaking as he grabs the hood of my hoodie.

¨Let me ask you again." He said. ¨Are you going to do what I tell you, or are you just going to keep sitting here?¨ I wince at the pain from him pulling on my hoodie, making it tighter around my throat.

¨N-no." I choked out. He lets out a groan and pulls even harder to where my head leans back. He grabs a hold of my hair and forces my head in the steaming hot water. I expected this, so I gasped for air before my head touched the water. I dont scream, I don't cry, I just let it happen for a few seconds until I start to feel my body shut down. I swallow some water. Then I start screaming. It burns.

¨Hey, whoa are you okay?¨ Jacob asked me as he shook me back to reality. I was out. I was safe. He's gone.

¨ W-we need to leave.¨ I stuttered ¨Like n-now."

We get in the car and go. I was quiet the entire way back to his house. ¨Are you okay? What was that?¨ He asked me again. I stayed quiet. He looked over at me and waved his hand in front of my face. ¨Hello? Earth to Bailey."

I snapped back into reality. ¨I-Im fine." I said. I-I just want to go home." He nods his head and turns the car around. My stomach starts churning.

I get home and walk straight upstairs to my bathroom. I sit on the floor against the wall and start bawling my eyes out as my stomach starts hurting even more. I start coughing. Coughing up hot water. It burns.