US

Chapter 6.

"The day after the fight he came over and he was upset that I wasn't standing up for him, and apparently for not being a good girlfriend. He now hits me when he's mad. Or when he just feels like it. Afterwards, he'll always say I love you and I'm sorry. How does he love me but he hurts me?" I broke down crying.

"He has no right to put his hands on you. It doesn't matter if he was angry or not, it's not okay. The fight was not your fault. You told me you had a talk with him before the party. You did your part. You gave him the reassurance but it was something else to him."

I felt Alex put his arm around me. He stayed for the whole night holding me until I fell asleep in his arms. I felt safe in his arms.

The next morning I woke up and he wasn't here. I honestly was a little upset that he wasn't but I knew he had a game tomorrow and that he was probably at the gym doing drills. I got up and did my morning hygiene. I got dressed of course in something comfortable. I put on some makeup not too much though. I checked my phone seeing a message from Alex.

I thought about what he said, he's right I shouldn't let him continue hurting me. And that was the first time he told me he loved me. I'm happy me and him are on the same page. But I was realizing with Jeremiah it could get worse or he can lose control and I end up dead because of it. I can say I'm safe with Alex. He makes me feel at home. He's easy to talk to I just get scared to open up. I don't want to be judged. He doesn't judge me. He just tries and be there for me. He shows me love. But why can't my own boyfriend do that? What will happen when I tell him I don't want to be with him anymore?

I left my dorm heading to my first class. I zoned out a lot today due to everything that's been going on. I wonder why he's starting to put his hands on me. What made him do that? Because I don't believe it's just because I have a guy bestfriend. When I was in Tennessee and we were dating I had a guy friends there. Was it the distance as Alex said? Or did he just not trust me enough?

I headed back to my dorm after I finished all my classes for the day. I walked into my dorm going straight to my desk and doing homework. I know that I'll be free of Jeremiah today because of basketball. Since he is new they have him in the gym all day doing drills. And his homework afterward. As soon as I finished my homework. Alex texted me saying he was outside. I went outside getting in his car. He looked at me and smiled.

"Hey bestie." He said as he started driving.

"Hi, how was practice? Excited for the game tomorrow?"

"Practice was the same and of course I am, I know you go be good today because homie is in the gym doing drills. How are you doing?" I thought about it for a second.

"I'm okay for now. I want to break up with him. I'm thinking about doing it after the game instead of before just in case. I wanted you to be there with me as protection because I know he'll be angry about it. And I don't want to get hurt."

"I'll be there don't worry about it, I'm with you every step of the way like I said."

We pulled up to the art studio, and we both went inside and started painting. With the music in the background and me being in my zone I actually felt okay. I knew I'll be okay without him. I'm just scared of the aftermath who knows what he'll do? I wanna hope the best but I know I can't. I looked up to see Alex's painting.

I'm happy I met him. He's just like a kid, he's fun to be around. He's easy to talk to. He accepts people for them. Not once has he judged me. I'm happy to say he's my bestfriend. We made plans to go back home Thanksgiving break. I'll be meeting his family and he'll be meeting mines. I remember him saying he didn't want me to meet his father but never gave me a reason on why. I believe my family will like him and accept him with open arms. We both finished painting. Now we are on the floor talking.

"Whose your favorite basketball team?" I asked.

"Warriors."

"Why?"

"The Warriors are damned near in the top five of nearly every statistical category. They lead the league in assists, points, field goal percentage, rebounds, defensive rating, and adjusted net rating, while they have the third-best offense. They had the best players when Kevin Durant was on the team. They were killing them niggas on the court."

"Whose your favorite player?"

"Kobe."

"I feel like a lot of people say that. He was really good though I can give him that. But what made him your favorite player? You even wearing a hoodie with his number on the back, that I'm stealing later." I noticed he started thinking then he said.

"He was 18x All-Star, won five championships, was MVP once, and averaged 25 points per game he's the Goat. He also was named to the All-Defensive team 12 times, second-most in league history. He's one of the most greatest players that's why it was so hard to see him go. They are people who knew him personally. I actually met him once. I got tickets to a Lakers game. And we met. Why do you keep taking my hoodies?"

"They are comfortable and really? Do you have a picture?" I seen him pull out his phone. Showing me the picture.

"Wow, at least you were able to meet him. That's nice." I said as he smiled. Seeing him smile just makes me smile. Everytime too. We ended up packing up everything and cleaning up. We left and he walked me to my dorm as always. We hugged and said goodnight. I walked into my dorm. I took a shower and then went to bed.