Salina Stone When I was thirteen I met a guy named Jack, who was about a year older than me. We spent all our time together, which is wonderful when getting to know someone, but it became obsessive; I was either with him or talking to him on the phone. At one point, I even had to be on the phone with him when I went to sleep so he knew I was at home at night. I was allowed to talk to only two people at school – both were girls, and he had his friends watch me to make sure I was obedient. The first time Jack was physically violent was on the day he came to school to walk me home. He grabbed me by the wrists and dragged me outside and into the woods behind the school. He set me on a log and wrapped a dog’s choke chain around my neck. He told me he was going to kill me and started choking me with the chain. Suddenly, he stopped, giggled, and said, “Come on, let’s go get something to eat.” It was so weird and extreme that I thought maybe I just took it wrong or read too much into it. A few months later he raped me for the first time. He would beat me then rape me. It was supposed to be a loving gesture to make up for when he beat me. That was when I started trying to break up with him, but he would come back crying, “I love you. I’ll never hurt you again.” I loved him. Compared to the other men in my life, he was wonderful. At least, sometimes he was really good to me. When I’d see him cry, I’d remember the softness and gentleness he could show, and how much I loved him. It would give me hope that we could work it out. After five more years of abuse from Jack, Salina had to move out of state to save herself from Jack’s horrible attacks. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to keep Jack away from Salina . A few years after she began moving, Salina was still being stalked by her abuser. She now tells her story in schools, “hoping for change.”   Levy, Barrie , ed. Dating Violence: Young Women in Danger. Seal Press, Seattle: 1991.