They Changed My Life, chapter 16

"It was this past year. My boyfriend and I, Stephen, had been dating for three years at that point. We had a decent relationship; for the most part he was a good boyfriend. He wasn't perfect though, he was into drugs and was definitely a control freak. At first he was just weird about stupid stuff, whether it was not liking what I was wearing, or not wanting me to hang out with friends. I pretty much ignored it, thinking that it was just signs of affection. But instead of getting better, he got worse and worse. He especially hated my best friend, who happened to be a guy.
"Darren was awesome. We had been best friends since second grade and had stuck together every minute of it. He made me feel better when my dad died, and I helped him through his parent's divorce. We did everything together, concerts, parties that we crashed. Stephen was always trying to compete with Darren. He was obsessive in trying to get me to stop being friends with him.
I should have known something was up when Stephen invited Darren and me to his friend's house for a party. Me, being naïve, I thought that Stephen was finally getting over his jealousy issue. Boy, was I wrong. We all piled into Stephen's jeep and headed to where the party was supposed to be. The first warning signals started going off in my head, I suppose, when we pulled into Jarrett's driveway and there was no one there. Jarrett had been waiting for us, and we all headed into the house, chatting like we normally would. Darren and I sat in the semi-darkness of the living room while Stephen and Jarrett 'called some people' in the kitchen. After awhile, they called Darren in. He left, with a final smile at me..." I closed my eyes and took a big gulp of coffee. I had started shaking again, and Tré put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I smiled at him feebly and started again.
"I waited for about fifteen minutes, and then I heard a crash and yell. More warning signals went off in my head, but I ran into the kitchen anyway. Stephen and Jarrett had gotten very drunk very quickly, and were standing above Darren, laughing. Darren had a butcher knife in his... in his stomach. I ran back into the living room and called 911 and just left Jarrett's address because I heard another crash and more laughing. I ran back in the kitchen picking up an umbrella because it was the only weapon type thing available. As I ran in, I saw Jarrett immediately in front of me, so I knocked him out. Then I ran over to Darren, who was slumped up against the sink. He was still alive and somewhat conscious, so I tried to get him out back onto the patio. Then came Stephen.
"His eyes were blood-shot and stared at me and Darren accusingly. His voice slurring he asked if that was who I chose. Then he shook his head and told me what a bad choice that was. His exact words were, 'I thought you were smart... but if you like him better, you can go with him.' I had thought that he was going to let us go! Stupid wishes. Then Stephen pulled out a steak knife. I told Darren that I loved him, which infuriated Stephen and caused him to lose it. I stood up then, trying to look authorative and told Stephen to stop and think about what he was doing. Then he swung the knife, catching me in the stomach and screamed 'shut up!' Then he bent over Darren and stabbed him viciously in the chest, three times. I remembered the way Darren's body shook each time the knife was plunged into it...then Stephen turned to me, grinning maliciously."