Timidity to Strength

Jess huffed out a sigh and nervously pushed her hair back from her eyes. Though she loathed giving bad news to anyone, this particular situation filled her legs with lead and her heart birds. She pulled her Camry into his driveway, turned off the car, and tried to quiet her racing mind. Her breathing slowed as she closed her eyes and slowly wiped the sweat from her palms onto her jeans.
“Jess!”, his harsh voice barked as he rapped on her window, causing her to jump slightly. One corner of her mouth turned upward unconvincingly. As she reluctantly left the relative safety of her car, she finally whispered, “Hey, Tom.”
“You’re late. I told you to meet me here ten minutes ago.” He informed her edgily. Her eyes drifted towards her shoes.
“Uh, yeah, so...about that, Tom, I don’t really want to go out with you today, or, um, ever again, actually.” She shifted her weight back and forth, eyes locked on the ground, as she waited for him to say something to her. When it had become too long, she quickly allowed her eyes to dart to his face. Color leaked from her face as her stomach dropped to her feet. His scowl, characteristic as of late, had been replaced by a sort of cold amusement. She stumbled back towards her car, her gaze frozen ahead of her. He chuckled mirthlessly, his dark hair falling into his hardened eyes as he did so.
“Oh, Jess, so timid, so slight. I suspected this day would come. You do realize you’re mine, right?” His soft tone hardly concealed the hostility beneath his words. She reached for the door handle of her car, still facing him. His expression darkened still as he closed in on her, his breath hot on her gaunt face as he pinned her up against the side of the car, her arm bent in pain.
“You answer me when I speak to you!” he veritably growled. Suddenly, a white-hot rage replaced inside her what fear had stolen. As her free hand connected with his face, she wrenched her other arm from beneath her and slung open her car door, hitting his thigh with the edge as he attempted to grab hold of her once more. He hurled obscene insults at her as she slammed her car door, her heart pounding in her ears as she quickly turned the key and tore out of the neighborhood. Her phone vibrated constantly for the next two hours as she drove to the apartment. She was suddenly very thankful that she already moved her possessions to Philadelphia. Eventually, the phone silenced, which she took as an opportunity to pull over to the side of the road and dial a number.
“Hey, Mom.” she sighed. She paused as she was bombarded with questions about how her breakup went and if she would be visiting soon. “You know, it doesn’t matter how it went. I’ll see you soon. I’m coming home.” Then she genuinely smiled as she spoke, all her fear dissolved.