This morning was just like any other July morning in north eastern Kentucky. The sun was up and gave a cozy tingle to your skin. I awoke discombobulated from sleeping on the unbearable air mattress that we had purchased on my arrival. I turned over to see the man, that I had came to this exasperating town for. “Good morning”, I said sweetly to him, looking at him and smiling. He made a slight grunt and rolled back over on his side. Sighing, I flipped over myself, sulking. I had been homesick for quite some time. I mostly missed my dogs, they were truly the only beings in this world that understood me. I'm from Des Moines, Iowa. You know that state everyone talks about being the “friendliest state in America” I mean, we have places like Hyvee with the slogan “helpful smile in every aisle”. Hopkinsville Kentucky felt a lot like home at first; endless roads of farmland and trees. Soon after moving here, I started my job at Logan's Roadhouse. The job started off great, I was really enjoying it. It was fast paced and the people I worked with were also from all over the world. We'd share stories of where we'd been; how Hopkinsville seemed so homely and how we were all homesick. The first month or so went well then there was this girl, Helen, who seemingly wanted to make every day of my life in this town a living nightmare. It first started out as little things; snarky remarks and long seemingly glares. She would play high school games, getting people to group up against me, befriending the managers so they would make me do all the unwanted tasks, putting me down with words every available moment. Every day I would go home from work distraught; wanting nothing more but to jump in my car and leave everything in this shit town behind, including the man I thought I loved. It wasn't just bad at work. When you're getting it from work and from the place you're supposed to call your home; it takes a toll on your self-respect. Things with my lover started going south a few months in. He was a 24 year old man-child with a low sex drive, unhealthy addiction to porn, and obtained the most ridiculous Idea that I was supposed to be some kind of “perfect housewife” at the age of 20. I would drive him to work at sunrise every morning, head to work myself around, and then not come home until nearly midnight. It was a stressful time; all I truly wanted was someone understanding, but you don't always get what you want. I have been struggling with my weight for the entirety of my life and he was set out to help me lose the weight like he had done himself. His idea of training was to belittle me and yell until I felt so small and unworthy that I would stop eating unhealthily. One day, I was just done with it all. I had just finished working 7 days in a row, most of them doubles, and I was tired, but ready to do some iron pumping. Once he finally decided to get out of bed, just to move to the bed where his aunt usually slept, I had lost all my patience. “Aren't we going to work out like we discussed yesterday”, I questioned, calmly but with a hint of irritation. “Nah, I don't feel like it today. Go by yourself, find you a new man”, which is something he always said. His self esteem so low, he thought I was always cheating. “Why does it always have to be this way”, I questioned with a slight tare in my voice, “I just want us to do things together as a couple and grow together”. What he did next was unexpected. He picked up the water bottle on the nightstand and chucked it at me, missing and hitting the cat. I instantly picked it up and said “I'm leaving you”. The decision wasn't hasty; this exact fight had happened a number of times, this time it was different. He left me alone until all my things were packed up in the living room. He then came into the room and acted like he wanted to make amends. “I'm sorry for the way I overreacted” he stated, opening his arms out as if to comfort me. That's when his open arms turned into a fist, before I knew it, he was swinging at my face. The first thing I felt was shock; how could someone who claimed to “love” me be hurting me like this. “STOP” I screamed out, blood streaming from my face and landing artistically on the white carpet of the duplex. Before I knew it, my feet were moving out the door and off the front lawn. “HELP ME SOMEONE, HELP ME”, I scream from the driveway of the cul-de-sac. A woman ran up to me in disarray. She grabbed me a towel and called the police. She stayed with me until I was assured everything would be okay. When I was put into the ambulance everything was a blur. I was then taken to a woman's shelter, not even allowed to pick up my belongings. I was there until my parents arrived in the middle of the night, yes they drove all the way from Des Moines to rescue me; I will forever be grateful. We arrived at the house where all the horror had happened. We shoved my belongings in the car and my father drove my car home. Home is where I was finally going to be.