But still, saying that is hard. I'm 18, be 19 in just a few months. Too old for Child Services and young enough to be classified as an "unruly child". My mother doesn't support me, and neither does my younger brother. Which makes me feel that I won't get support from anywhere else. Or help, for that matter. The only person that can help me is myself and it seems like I'm just barely making it.

Few suspect that the girl with the 3.6 GPA and ranked 14th out of 86 has a problem. She runs track, she's very musical, she's been accepted into college, and she's going to basic training in the summer for the National Guard. Yeah, that girl's got her shit together. She'll make it in the real world.

That is only if she survives living at home.

It's not easy. He can outpower me. I'm never quick enough to make it to the door, and never have enough courage to call someone that can actually DO something. We live out in the country, too. Not really much to run to. No one outside of my family group and close friends know, either. I don't have a job, a car, or much money. It's scary not having much control at all.

I just want to feel safe. I don't want to watch what I say. I don't want to think of escape routes. I don't want to cover bruises or make up stories of how I got them.