"Hello?" It wasn't Zac at all but Taylor, the last person I wanted to answer the phone at that moment.

"Is Zac there?" I asked, my voice quivering as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Yeah, he's in the living room. What's wrong?" Taylor's voice was almost concerned.

"None of your business. Just put Zac on the phone, will you?"

"Fine." The next voice I heard was Zac's.

"Hey, Tay said he thinks there's something wrong. What's up?" I smiled at the sound of his voice. He was my savior in a time of war. He always held my comfort.

"I have a problem." I answered softly.

"What is it? Maybe I can help."

"It's Kyle.. He did something today that you aren't going to like very much..."

"Seeing as I don't like that kid breathing, I'm thinking I'm not going to like anything he does..."

I curled up into a ball on my bed, cradling the phone to my ear, and whispered softly, "He hit me."

"HE WHAT?!" Zac shouted into the phone angrily. I recoiled even though I knew he couldn't hurt me and even if he was in the room with me, he'd hit his own mother before he hit me. I heard him take a deep breath and let it out in an attempt to calm down. "Did you say he hit you?" he asked, a bit more calm now.

"Yes, he slapped me." I lied. He'd done a lot more than slap me. I knew Zac wouldn't be back to visit until well after the bruises healed so I saw no harm in lying. I'd done it before. This was, in fact, the first time I told Zac about Kyle hitting me. "It's my fault really, I guess. I deserved it. And he said he was sorry afterwards. I guess I'm really crying for nothing..."

"Gya, there is nothing in this world that you can do to deserve getting slapped. And especially not by a guy, your �boyfriend' at that. I want you to break up with him and I want you to do it now before he hits you again." His voice was firm and I knew he would not let me argue back.

"He said he was sorry. He won't hit me again, he promised."

"That doesn't mean anything. He'll still do it again. Don't let it have a chance to happen again. Just break up with him now. Please. For me." His voice was almost begging. I sighed and gave in.

"I'll do it later."

"Promise?"

"I promise." I whispered softly.

"Thank you. What did you do to even make him want to hit you?"

"I told him I didn't like his shirt.. He's been under a lot of stress lately from school and stuff. I shouldn't have set him off like that..."

"Would you stop blaming yourself for once? You didn't do anything wrong here, Sweetie. It's his fault for being an asshole. I'd kill him if I lived close enough to you to do that."

"Just don't do anything, ok? I can deal with this on my own.."

"Then, why did you call me? You can't deal with this alone. You need someone to be there for you and I'm right here. I promise."

"Thank you, Zac. You always do so much for me. I don't deserve a friend like you. You're too good."

"You deserve every good thing you get and don't tell yourself anything different, do you hear me?"

"I hear you."

"Good. Keep listening. I have to go now, though. We have a flight to catch to Honolulu. I'll call you when I get there, ok?"

"Promise?"

"Definitely. Miss you."

"Miss you more."

"Love you."

"Love you more, bye." I hung up and sighed, staring at the wall. What was I going to do? I couldn't break up with Kyle. I'd tried it before and he'd only hit me then too and told me to shut up. Now I was at loss for an idea.


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