The One with the Rude Boyfriend (Chapter 5)

That night, Debra called the police on Travis. She finally realized that it was time to take action since she unleashed some on Travis before the cops could. They revealed that they would be going through an investigation but while they did, Travis stayed locked up in a jail cell. Debra went to school on Monday as a new girl. She was back to normal, just the way she liked it. Her friends greeted her with open arms and agreed to talk about everything during lunch. So when lunchtime finally came and the girls got situated in the cafeteria, they were all ready to talk.
"Travis is behind bars until further notice," said Debra.
"Further notice?" inquired Andrea. "We noticed him being a criminal, therefore he should stay in jail."
"But it's good that he's locked up for now," commented Madeline. "If he wasn't, he would still be abusing you, Debra."
"I know," Debra looked down. "It feels good to breathe."
"I don't know if you're ready to answer questions like these," started Andrea, "but why let him keep it up for so long?"
"He was too strong. And he threatened to hurt me, you know, even more."
"That is not love," said Lizzie.
"I know that now."
"But why have a girlfriend just to punch around?"
"I don't know. Maybe he was repressing some feelings and handling them wrong."
"I don't care if he has issues," said Andrea. "What he did was not right and he should've known that."
"I feel like he never knew that. I wanted to help him; that's why I stayed."
"So what made you change your mind?" asked Madeline.
"The fact that he would never listen to me, hear me out. I was tired of getting hurt and he would go home, feeling great without pain."
"You made a great decision to stand up for yourself," commented Lizzie. "How long were you with him again?"
"Two months, but it felt like years."
"When did he start hitting you?" asked Madeline.
"Three weeks after our first date. I thought it was a mistake and he did say sorry after. But the more he did it, the less he said sorry."
"I hate him for doing this to you," said Andrea. "If I ever see him walking around, I swear I will tear him to shreds."
"I'm just so glad you guys saw what I was going through so you could help me."
"We wouldn't have if it wasn't for Skye," admitted Madeline.
"You saw it first, Skye?"
"Yeah," answered Skye. "I knew something was wrong so I called on it. If I didn't, I don't think the other girls would've seen it or at least see it quickly. You're my sister, Debra, and I know you."
"Oh, Skye."
"We're sorry that the rest of us didn't see it immediately," apologized Madeline.
"That's okay. I should've said something about my relationship once it began. I didn't want help because I was afraid of going away. But I learned that if people you can truly trust want to help you, you should let them."
"Just know that you don't need to fight your battles because I can fight them for you," said Andrea.
Debra chuckled. "I know, Andrea."
Her attention shifted to someone else when one of her male friends stood behind herself. She was scared for a short second and felt ultimately relieved.
"Hi, Debra," her fellow with dyed purple hair greeted.
Debra quickly clambered out of the table and stood up. "Hey, Kyle," she smiled.
"I hope this doesn't make things awkward but I heard what happened."
"Oh, you did?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay."
"I mean you don't deserve to go through what you did. You're a good person, Debra, and I want you to know that."
"Thank you, Kyle."
"So what is the next chapter for you?"
"Well, the police are still under investigation so they have to ask me and my friends questions about the whole event."
"Well, I hope it turns well for you."
"Thank you, Kyle. You're a good guy."
"Just wanted to make sure you were alright. Wanna talk later?"
"Of course."
"Cool. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Okay."
Kyle walked away, almost not wanting to. Debra watched him walk for a little bit before sitting back down into her seat.
"I got my eye on him," said Andrea.
"Kyle is my friend," Debra clarified.
"I can't trust people who wear motorcycle jackets and have dyed hair."
Debra sniggered.
"Hey!" Skye scrunched her forehead, crossing her arms which were in the sleeves of a black motorcycle jacket. Plus, she savvied her day-to-day hairdo which had bubblegum pink streaks.
That made Debra laugh: a noise that the girls thought was becoming impossible. It gave them permission to laugh as well.
"Sorry," Andrea held in a laugh. "But you know how Asians are into martial arts."
Debra laughed harder. "That is racist, Andy!" she tried to keep a straight face.
"Probably because I've been watching way too many Bruce Lee films, basically trying to learn how to walk on walls."
Debra chortled, wrapping her arm around Andrea's neck in an embrace. Her eyes suddenly went from red with fatigue to clear with happiness. And the exhausted bags from under her eyes had finally disappeared. Debra was unbroken.