"You like that, don't you?" Max smirks.
Before I can answer with 'Yeah', she slaps me in the face again. My head recoils to the side and I almost lose my balance.
I'm about to fall, but two hands grab my sides and keep me steady. Max's hands.
"Did you not hear me?" Max asks.
My heart is racing. "I was go-" I start, but I was cut off by another slap across my cheek. I fall toward the ground, but she catches me quickly. It wasn't to save me, however, it was to pull me back up to face her.
When I'm up again, she grabs my face with one hand, directing my face to hers and squeezing hard.
"Answer me." She commands.
"Yeah." I say almost instantly. I feel embarrassed and I can feel the tears coming.
She smirks at my response and slowly moves toward me. She closes her eyes, releases her grip on my face, and kisses me on the lips.
She puts her hands around my neck and holds my head against hers. I kiss her back, my own hands wrapping around her back and squeezing her.
We kiss like this for a minute before she slowly pulls away. She looks into my eyes but doesn't say anything. I look back at her, but she doesn't budge. She just stares at me, her face blank and, yet, determined.
"Are you okay?" I ask her.
She ignores me. Her eyes continue staring into mine.
"Max?" I ask quietly. She ignores me again. After a moment, I look down at the floor, wondering what else to say, but then the silence is broken.
"Am I scaring you?" Max asks. Her hand touches the side of my cheek. I look up at her, and she's smiling sweetly.
"A little." I admit.
Her smile grows. "Good".
Before I can respond to her, the hand on my cheek is drawn away and brought back with a harsh force! She had slapped me again, but this time, she wasn't letting up.
As I bring my head back up, her hand slaps my face again! And before I can even think about the next one, it has already come. She is slapping me repeatedly, and this time, I do lose my balance. I land on the floor and raise my arms to shield my face from her slaps.
She stops. "You better move those arms before I end up breaking them!" Max growls angrily.
A jolt of fear shoots through my body and, for some reason, I do exactly what she said I should do. My arms fall away from my face, and almost immediately her hand strikes my cheek again!
My head hits the floor and I close my eyes, preparing for the next hit, but it doesn't come. I brace myself for the next moment or two, but nothing happens. Max has stopped. I do not know if I should open my eyes or not, so I stay in my position...lying on the floor, my eyes closed in fear, and my cheek painfully stinging.
