three

                                    

                                          
Seraphine
The next day, Tuesday, is a rough one for Seraphine. It starts off fine: she wakes up late with Derek nowhere to be found, so she gets to do her morning routine sluggishly and enjoy herself without him protesting or complaining that she's taking too long. She makes herself a smoothie for breakfast and organizes her assignments in her planner, laying out her plan for the rest of the week. 
It's around 4 o'clock when Derek comes home, slamming the door shut and throwing his keys on the counter, wild eyes seeking out Seraphine's figure. She's sitting at the dining table, in the middle of a timed quiz for her metaphysical philosophy class when he storms towards her, not even bothering with a 'hello' before he fists her hair and yanks her up out of her chair. 
She cries out, hands flying to the crown of her head as tears sting her eyes, but Derek pays no mind to that as he presses his lips to hers and kisses her harshly. 
"Take off your clothes and get on the couch." He demands once he pulls away, and Seraphine makes the mistake of opening her mouth to protest, her eyes darting to the timer on the quiz she is in the middle of. Derek grunts and tightens his grip on her hair, bringing her gaze back to him.
"What did I say?" He rasps, and Seraphine gives up the hope that her quiz will ever be finished. She makes a mental note to apologize to Dr. Wern when she sees him the next day, and maybe ask for an extension. 
"I-I'm sorry, I just--" Seraphine gasps as his hand flies to her face, slapping her cheek with a defeaning smack.
"I didn't ask for an apology, little girl. I told you to get undressed. Now, go do as I said." More tears spring to her eyes, but not from the pain. As she walks to the couch on unsteady feet, she tilts her gaze up towards the ceiling and starts asking, why? What have I done to deserve this? What happened to him?
This time, when he fucks her, she tries to block out as much as she can. 
When she wakes up Wednesday morning, it's next to a sleeping Derek. He looks so peaceful when he's asleep that she almost forgets what happened the day before, but then she reaches up to her chest and winces. 
After he'd finished, he'd crushed her in a hug so devastating it had bruised her ribs and made her mind swirl with confusion. He'd told her repeatedly that he loved her, that she was perfect for him, that he was so glad he was the only one to receive her love. 
Seraphine was getting tired of this game of his. 
She gets ready fairly quickly, thinking that her enjoyment of her morning routine yesterday was too much peace and relaxation for her to experience at one time. Maybe that was why she was being punished with Derek's two-faced personality. 
She steps out of their apartment into the cool September air, and begins the walk to the Psychology building. 
The apartment the two bought after they completed their sophomore year wasn't too far from campus, but just far enough for Seraphine to get her daily exercise walking to her classes. She was grateful to only have four classes this semester, each an interesting subject that tested the strength of her brain. She'd always loved a challenge. 
Seraphine makes it across campus to the building where her first class is in record time, having a good fifteen minutes to kill before it starts. She looks down, rummaging through her bag to find an assignment to work on in the mean time when something bumps into her quite harshly. 
An oomph escapes her lips as she's shoved backwards, and a hiss follows as her arms slinks around her middle, cradling her bruised ribs. 
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" A feminine voice reaches Seraphine's ears, and she looks up to see a small girl with bright blue and purple hair. Her makeup is done to match her hair, lashes long and blush a bright pink. She looks like a mermaid, and Seraphine can't help the confused smile that ghosts her lips.