Tell Me Lies by Locklyn Marx

out,” he said, shaking his head sadly.

    “We’l be living in two different worlds.”
    So she moved in with him. At first, things were great. Leo had a new job at a computer software company, and so he was happy to pay the ful rent. Alexis’s classes were going wel , and she actual y enjoyed having a quiet place to come home to that was off campus.
    Leo was sweet and doting, cooking dinner for her almost every night while she studied.
    The trouble started halfway through her junior year. Leo began spending more and more time at the office and coming home from work later and later. One night, she’d cal ed him at work to see what time he was coming home, and she got his voicemail.
    Something wasn’t right, she felt it, and so she’d driven to his office. His car hadn’t been in the parking lot.
    When he final y got home at around nine, he told her he’d been in a meeting, and that he’d had to turn his cel phone off. But he smel ed like booze, and so Alexis confronted him, tel ing him she’d driven by the parking lot and that his car wasn’t there.
    He became enraged, screaming at her that she had no right to do that. The fight had escalated and he’d grabbed her wrists, pinning her arms to her body and then slamming her up against the wal .
    As soon as he’d done it, he immediately stepped back, a horrified look on his face. The next morning, she had bruises. Leo brought her flowers, and promised he’d never do anything like that again.
    Alexis told him she thought it would be a good idea if he moved out for a few days. He told her he’d do whatever she wanted, he’d go to counseling, anything. She cried al day, and Leo spent a few nights on a friend’s couch. When he came back, he was being so sweet Alexis thought that maybe they’d gotten past it.
    Leo treated her like a princess for the next few weeks, holding her close at night, cooking dinner for her, and never coming home late from work.
    And for the next year, things were back to being perfect.
    Until Alexis got the job working with Dr. Berry.
    It was another research position, only this time, it came with the added bonus of teaching a class and possibly working on a paper that would be published. She was ecstatic. She was a senior now, and had already been looking into grad schools so she could get her PhD. She wanted to stay at Temple if she could, and Dr. Barry seemed to think working with him would give her a great shot.

    Dr. Barry’s other research assistant was a grad student named Todd. He was likeable and easy-going, and he and Alexis began logging long hours together in the lab.
    One night, as Todd walked her to her car, Leo pul ed up next to them.
    “What are you doing here?” Alexis asked, confused. She turned to Todd to introduce them, but before she could, Leo slammed his car into park and came storming across the parking lot.
    “You stay the fuck away from her!” he screamed. His face was turning red, and he was so enraged he was shaking.
    Before Alexis could even process what was happening, he’d punched Todd in the face. Blood spurted from Todd’s nose, and Alexis screamed. “Leo!” she yel ed. “Stop!”
    But he didn’t. He punched Todd three more times, and by the time he was finished, he’d broken Todd’s nose.
    The police were cal ed, and Leo was arrested for assault.
    Since he had no prior record, he was put on probation.
    Alexis moved out of their apartment, and this time, she didn’t talk to Leo for two months. She’d had to quit her research assistant job. There was no way she wanted Todd to be put in any more danger, and so after a meeting with Dr. Barry, they’d agreed it was best.

    She applied to grad schools in New York and Boston, deciding it was time for a fresh start, time to get away from Leo and everything that was in Pennsylvania. She got accepted at Boston University, and she planned on leaving right after graduation.
    Her graduation day was painful. Alexis couldn’t help but feel as if she