Every school has the "it" couple. This includes colleges, as well. Olivia Gordon was one of the students that attended Bearlin University of Florida and was also the most popular chick at the well-populated school. She was pretty, good at sports, and very smart (as some teachers put it, she was "good enough to go to Harvard"). People adored her long blonde hair that was often braided, and even still reached to her lower back. She had sparkly bluish-greenish eyes that were always complimented with mascara. She was also gracefully tall, blessed with long legs that sparked jealousy from many of the not-so-tall students.

Dorothy Winter, on the other hand, was not so popular. Was she pretty? Yes. She had hair the color of sweet, dark chocolate, that reached her collarbone, but grey eyes that made some people too bored to look at her. She also had soft, naturally glowing skin, that caught the eye of many boys. She was a few inches shorter, an average height for a woman her age. And was she good at sports? Yes. She was on the volleyball team, and her teammates venerated her for her skill with the volleyball. Was she smart? When it came to academics, yes, but there was one difference between Dorothy and Olivia; when it came to getting what they wanted, Olivia did whatever she could to get it. She could slither up and snatch it in the blink of an eye. That's why everyone liked her. She knew how to win. Dorothy was a little more shy and mindful of others, though. If she wanted something and somebody said no, that was it.

Still, despite that difference, they still found each other in a writing class and fell in love. Their hearts intertwined, wrapping around each other in joy, and found comfort in the other's beat. They both had a strong passion for the art of writing and often wrote each other cheesy poems. The couple was immediately adored by everyone in the school, the teachers and students, all alike, and Dorothy gained popularity, becoming loved by many. But, every couple has ups and downs, and every couple should know when it's not healthy.

Their first fight was on Christmas Day. It was almost their 6 month anniversary, and they were excited to spend their first Christmas together. They were at Olivia's home, and Dorothy was helping her make dinner.

The smell of Olivia's home was something Dottie appreciated greatly. It was a smell difficult to describe; almost like a mix of vanilla and rain. The color of her walls was also something Dorothy found pleasing; the walls were plastered with an elegant olive green, her favorite color. Dorothy definitely found comfort in her girlfriend's house, it was aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

"So," started Dottie, a nickname Olivia gave Dorothy (to which she dubbed Olivia "Olive Garden", a name that Olivia hates being called), "Madison wanted us to go to a concert with her and Kolbey." Madison had been Dottie's best friend since diapers, actually. Their parents were friends, so Maddy and Dottie naturally grew close. Kolbey was her boyfriend, who Dottie approved and also became best friends with.

"I don't like your friends," said Olivia, in a flat voice. "I want you to stop hanging out with them." This caused a wave of panic to pump through Dottie's veins, and she felt her heart sinking to her toes.

"Wh-what do you mean..?" She quickly inquired. "What's wrong with my friends?" She was unpleasantly appalled to hear such words from someone so close to her, and she had never heard Olivia say anything so negative about Maddy and Kolbey! She thought that they were getting along just fine...

"I think they're bad influences," said Olivia, spitting out her words like they were poison. Dorothy could tell this wasn't going to end good, noticing that Olivia was only getting angry, but she couldn't help but getting upset herself. "They're always going out late, and Maddy dresses like a stripper."

"Excuse me?" Retorted a now upset brunette, "That's so rude! She's allowed to go out as late as she wants and wear what she wants, she's a grown woman! You shouldn't dislike her for the way she dresses."

The fight continued, and boy, was it ugly. There was cursing and name-calling, and things nobody should say to someone they love. It ended a way it shouldn't have, with Dorothy agreeing to stop being friends with two people she really cared about whilst in tears, trying to understand where this side of Olivia suddenly appeared from. She loved her too much to lose her. It's only two friends anyway, right? She only cared about them a lot.

The next time something homogeneous like that happened was in March. Olivia was cutting up carrots and celery to make soup. She had decided to give up writing and instead started poking at her interest in fashion by taking a fashion designing class. She was urging Dorothy to do the same as Olivia's parents chatted happily in the other room.

"I think you would be good at fashion design," she suggested. "Writing is such a childish interest. You really think people are going to accept your stories? They're children's stories, for god's sake!"

Dorothy huffed, knowing she was probably right. Her specialty in writing was children's stories; that included poems, rhythmic stories, fairytales, and fantasy stories. Still, she couldn't help but defend herself.

"My siblings love my stories," she said, pathetically. Whenever she visited her brothers and sisters, she would read them to sleep. She even inspired her oldest brother to become a writer himself! Then again, her siblings loved everything she made. "And I love my stories! You don't like them?"

"I'm just saying that you're never gonna make it if your occupation is writing simple stories. We could be famous is we became designers!"

"But I don't want to be a designer!" Dorothy snapped. They could feel the house going silent, Olivia's parents now listening in on the conversation. The air became heavy, so heavy that it was crushing Dottie.

They were silent for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, Olivia spoke, continuing the chopping of the vegetables. "If you can't join me with fashion, then we can't be together." Once again, this caused Dottie's heart to break more.

"What..?" She said after a few minutes of silence. That's the last thing she wanted. She would die for Olivia, and Olivia knew that.

"You heard me," she said, eyeing Dottie from the side. "I want to be with someone who's successful and can provide a good home for both of us."

"Story writers can be successful, though!"

Olivia said nothing. She knew Dorothy, inside and out. She knew that she would get her way and win.

"Fine," said Dorothy, choking back tears. Olivia put down the knife and hugged her lover from behind.

"You know I love you and just want the best for you," she said, placing a quick peck on her earlobe, and then her temple. Dorothy knew this was true, or at least, really believed it was.

A couple months later, Dorothy was still studying designing in fashion successfully, yet unhappily. Olivia was very happy, on the other hand. She shared her love for clothes with someone she loved! Or... Did she really?

She always shot down Dorothy when she brought up her opinions, to the point where she just stopped talking about how she felt about certain subjects. She started making Dottie ask her for permission to go out. She always made fun of her choices. And when Dottie actually tried to defend herself, Olivia said she was overly sensitive, and it would spark into another fight. Dottie started feeling like she was being choked, like a boa constrictor was wrapped around her chest and neck, making her unable to think or breathe, and her heart was trying to beat so badly, but it was too broken.

Olivia (quite obviously) could tell she was hurting the one she loved. She could see the apathy in Dottie's eyes when they sat in her chair, pinning cloth to a mannequin, brick walls painted with a pink-tinted white, obviously by a different teacher than the one who taught the classroom at the current time, as there were plenty of spots missed that had yet to be expunged. Mannequins filled the room, one of the things that Dottie feared, as she had pediophobia (although lacked the fear children). The desks were all separated far apart, and each desk had enough space for two people. Of course, Olivia and Dorothy sat together, on the classic blue solid plastic school chairs, the kinds that you most likely sat in in elementary school.

Dorothy could feel she was starting to get depressed, and she knew why, but she didn't know how to fix everything. Olivia was the most important thing to her. Olivia was her top priority. She gave more love to Olivia than she preserved for herself. But every single day, she asked herself, 'If I love her so much, why is it so damaging?' She wondered if this was normal. She wondered if she should talk to someone. So, she decided to talk to her mom.

Nervously enveloping the school's new, yet old-fashioned, red phone cord around her index and middle finger, switching between the two digits, she listened as the phone rang for her mother, who she had forgotten to call for about two weeks, expecting to get an earful as soon as the phone clicked and her mother answered. She wasn't wrong; as soon as the woman answered, she started exploding angry words with her mouth, and Dottie stuttered as she tried to calm her down.
When she finally did, Dorothy cleared her throat and took a shaky breath. "Mom, I need to talk with you about something. I think it's serious."
Her mom, (whose name was Ashleigh Larrison Winter), who was clearly panting from yelling, paused for a moment. Finally, she spoke. "Okay, what is it?"
Dottie bit her lip nervously. "It's about Olivia."
"Okay, go on..?"

"She told me I can't be friends with Maddy and Kolbey, and then she made me quit writing," she whimpered, feeling herself getting upset. Writing was her everything. Her friends were family. She felt the pressure building up.

"Oh, Dory... You don't have to listen to her. You're free to do what YOU want."

"But-but she said that she'll leave me if I don't listen to her. I feel like a child being pushed around," she started choking on her tears. "I didn't know what to do so I just-just decided to call you. I'm sorry I haven't called. I've been taking fashion design classes. Mommy, I love her so much." They went silent for a few moments, and Dottie let out a few sobs.

"You should let her leave. Nobody should make you feel like this, it hurts me. I-," she paused, "I think that's considered abuse, Dory."

Dorothy felt her heart stop, and she immediately hung up. 'This isn't abuse,' she thought, 'abuse is like hitting the person you love. Mom's just being overdramatic.'

And so, Dorothy pretended nothing happened, walking out casually, but she immediately bumped into Olivia, who was grinding her teeth.

"I don't want you talking to your mom anymore."

Dorothy started nibbling on her lip. "Okay."

"If you ever, EVER leave me," Olivia snapped, her face flushing red, "I'll kill myself."

Dorothy started snivelling again. "Okay," she croaked.

Later that day, while Dottie was in her dorm, she decided to look up what she should do about Olivia making that threat. The article she opened read that it was, in fact, emotional abuse and that she should call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. She wondered if she should do that, but then decided, her face toughening with determination, that she could fix everything herself. She looked around the room, which was plastered with a trombone yellow; Dorothy's least favorite color, but Olivia's favorite. Olivia loved the color yellow with a fiery passion, but Dorothy really hated it. It was the color of bananas, another thing Dorothy hated. The accents of the dorm (window sills, doors, baseboards, etc.) were painted black, another color Dorothy detested. Olivia didn't let Dottie paint her favorite colors because Olivia didn't like her colors. Thinking about all of the thinks Olivia doesn't let her do, she felt herself getting upset. Angry, even. A cloud fogged all of her thoughts, allowing her to think nothing but furious thoughts. She took a deep breath and stood up, leaned against the wall, shooting Olivia a text.

"come to the dorm, please." Dorothy didn't type with caps when she texted close friends, she only used caps when writing for her classes, when she's writing stories, or when she's texting people who she doesn't know that well. She considered it her "writing style", but it annoyed Olivia because she found it "unprofessional".

"Y?" Olivia replied within minutes.

"we need to talk." Olivia read her text, but Dorothy waited two and a half hours before Olivia showed up, tipsy from alcohol and a little wobbly, but still aware of her surroundings.

"What's uppppp!" Olivia chortled happily, Dorothy unearthing that something was not right.

"Hey, what..." She immediately noticed that Olivia was unbalanced, wobbling from side to side as she walked. "What the hell? Are you drunk?"

"Nooo," Olivia snorted, "Okay, maybe a little."

"I can't believe this. You're underage!"

"Oh, shush," Olivia said, attempting to extinguish Dorothy, "It's fine! It was only like, a few bottles of beer."
Dorothy's mouth hung open, dangling like a vine in the wind. She was in shock; Olivia had never had a drop of alcohol before. "Olivia," she muttered, and then cleared her throat, "Olivia, I can't be with you. This is too much, you're not the person I loved."

"Woah, what? You've been a pain in the ass the whole time we've been dating! You never listen to me!" Olivia retorted, spitting as the words came out.

"Maybe I don't want to listen to you! I'm my own person, I should live my life, not yours!" Dottie felt herself growing louder, and this time she was the one whose face was turning red out of anger, and maybe even slight embarrassment.

"The minute we started dating was the minute you sold your soul to me," Olivia growled, her face turning a violent red- no, actually, was it turning into a purple? "You owe me. I made your life better."

"I don't owe you anything," shot back a defensive brunette. "The only thing I owe anyone is an apology to myself for letting you do this to me. For letting you hurt me and control me."

"Just- just shut up!" Olivia shouted, swinging her arm quickly and landing her fist right on Dorothy's left eye, Dorothy stumbling back and falling on her behind. She took a moment to process what had happened, and then picked herself right up.

"No more," she mumbled, walking out. Olivia stood there, puffing heavily, in heavy silence, and finally, in a moment of bare regret and sorrow, fell to the ground and wept.

Dorothy called the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, and the police arrived. They asked Olivia if she was suicidal, and took her to the hospital as a precaution. Olivia was expelled from Bearlin for drinking. Dottie found another person who respected her as a person and loved her for who she was and what she did. This person's name was Gracie Elizabeth. Gracie supported Dorothy's writing and, as an artist, even illustrated some of her stories.

Dorothy gained Maddy and Kolbey's forgiveness, and they all became a happy group of friends. Gracie's younger brother David joined the group when he started college, and they always hung out together when they had the chance.

Dorothy's siblings were starting to get older, and her eldest (but younger) brother was pursuing his dream to be a writer. He texted Dorothy for writing tips, and learned a lot from him. When he turned 15, one of his stories was published in a newspaper for the first time! Dorothy and Gracie were so proud of him, so they celebrated together with a party.

Maddy graduated college and became a firefighter, Kolbey got his degrees necessary to be a zoologist, Gracie became a storyboard animator for a popular cartoon on a popular channel and a children's story illustrator, Dorothy's mom retired happily and lives with her husband in a lovely house, and Dorothy became a famous children's book writer.

Now, you may ask, what about Olivia?
When she got out of the hospital for suicide watch years before everyone's success, she lived with her mom and dad for a while. She finally was able to get into another college after months. It was a college for cosmetology. Getting everything together again was tough for her, especially since her world had fallen apart. But, she stayed strong and managed.

Many years after graduating school, she worked at a salon and crossed paths with Dorothy once again. Dorothy was open to talking and had already forgiven her. Olivia apologized for how she treated her, and they talked about their success and how life was going. Olivia told her how she got her own place, and Dorothy told her about her wife, Gracie Winter, and their adopted baby, Harry. Olivia was not angry, but instead was happy that she moved on, as Olivia found a girlfriend, Emily June, and they were engaged! Dorothy was invited to the wedding, and they became close again.

Of course, Olivia could have chosen to be bitter and unhappy because she lost someone and it was her fault, but she instead worked hard to be better, and when she found Emily, she was the best she could be.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

Even if someone only threatens to kill themselves, or says they want to, you should get them help. If you notice that they're getting worse every day, you should get them help. If they're hurting you or other people including themselves, you should get them help. Suicide is not the right option when in a tough relationship, or any tough situation in general.

Author's Note: I'm not very happy with how this ended, but this was for a school project and I had to hurry up and finish it. It's very apparent that it was rushed. But, I did work hard on it, and I didn't half-ass anything else, so I can't help but be a little proud.