Shattered Identity: The Unknown Luna Princess

Ding, Ding, Ding The judge and my lawyer broke out in applause. "Oh, sorry," the judge said, stopping for a moment. "This is a happy occasion, correct?" The judge asked. I smiled so big my cheeks hurt. "Oh yes. Happy day indeed!" "Then ring that bell again, young lady," the judge said as they all continued their applause. I rang the bell harder this time and felt the weight of the world being lifted off my shoulders. It's official. I'm divorced. I walked out of that courtroom with my head held high. I was finally free. My best friend Candice was waiting for me right outside the door even though I didn't bring her with me. She just showed up like she always does, knowing I needed her support. As soon as she spotted me walking out, she started blowing on a party blower and spinning a noisemaker over her head. I laughed. HARD. Partially from the theatrics of it all, but also from the mix of emotions running through me at the moment. Everyone in the hallways of the courthouse turned to look at us. Some gave us looks of annoyance, and others gave us looks of amusement, but we didn't care. This was the happiest day of my life so far. Once she was done causing a scene, she threw her arm over my shoulders. "Let's get out of here and go grab some food," she said as she turned us towards the door to head out. I didn't fight her. There was no point. We both knew I needed this time with her to unwind and decompress from the emotional turmoil I've been going through the last few months. Thankfully, we never had kids, so we were able to end the marriage pretty quickly once we put the D word on the table. It only took three months, to be exact. But now I was free, and I never had to see him again. He already had a new puppet to manipulate, so hopefully, he'll leave me alone now for good. Not even fifteen minutes later, we were sitting at the bar in our favorite local restaurant ordering food and a round of margaritas. "So," Candice started. "What's next?" she asked as we clinked our glasses together. "Now that you are free of that controlling as*hole, Trevor. I never liked him, you know." I laughed at her honesty. All through high school and while I was married to him, she bit her tongue so she could be there for me because she saw what he did to anyone who would talk badly about him to me. He'd slowly cut them out of my life, one manipulative way or another. "I know you didn't. And I don't think my parents really did either, although they didn't say those exact words." Thinking back on it, I should have listened to everyone when they voiced their concerns about our relationship. But I was young, dumb, and thought I was in love. "Honestly, I haven't really thought about it. I need to work more or find a better-paying job so I can keep my house. Or maybe a roommate. Hey! Wanna be roommates?" I was just spewing every thought that came to my head at the moment. I've had to filter myself for so long it was refreshing to just say whatever thought popped into my head with no judgment. I never expected her to respond how she did. "Actually, I was hoping you'd say that. Brian and I just broke up, and I packed all my stuff before I came here." I looked at her in shock. She had been with Brian for a few years, and I thought things were headed towards marriage. "Oh my god. Why didn't you say something sooner? Are you okay? And you can absolutely move in with me!" I put my margarita down and reached my hand over to her side of the table. She put her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. "Because today isn't about me. Today is about your freedom from someone who controlled you for years. From someone who never appreciated you and always made you feel like you weren't good enough, which you are, by the way. I'm fine. Honestly, I only stayed with him as long as I did because Trevor would keep you from seeing me when I was single," she said, shrugging her shoulders like it was nothing. She was right. He didn't let me hang out with single friends because he thought they'd put ideas in my head. "I'm so sorry," I said, looking across the table from her. I can't believe I let it get like this. She had been my best friend since grade school, and he had me shutting her out. Everyone out for that matter. Even my own parents. Thinking about it now, I can't believe I didn't see how manipulative he was. "How did I not see it? How did I let it get so bad?" She looked at me sympathetically over the rim of her glass as she took a long sip before answering. "We tend to overlook things when we think we're in love." Our food came, and I thought about what she had just said. It made sense. I overlooked so, so much. I started dating my now ex-husband as a first-year student in high school. I traveled on most weekends playing softball. On weekends I was home, he'd want to hang out. Just the two of us telling me he "wanted some alone time." I never got to see my friends outside of school. But I thought that was normal when you started dating someone. He was my first serious boyfriend, and I wanted to make him happy, so I went along with it. "Yea, well, I should have known better. While I was traveling playing softball, he was either going to parties or throwing them himself. I was never allowed to go to any when I was home. How many times did we hang out in high school if it wasn't softball related?" I didn't let her respond. We both knew the answer. Never. "We never hung out on weekends unless it was softball-related. I saw you come to some of my volleyball games with the football players, and I was so happy to see you there." Candice laughed. "It was nice at first. Trevor never came to the games, and I got to cheer you on and talk to you for a few minutes after the game. Until he overheard some of the football players talking about you in the hallways and how you looked hot in those tight uniforms. Then he started showing up to every game, and as soon as the game was over, he'd rush down the bleachers and stand by your side, basically keeping everyone else away from you." I rolled my eyes, thinking back at it and all the things he did over the years to keep people away from me. As we sat and ate our food, we talked about all the crap he had put me through over the years. Thankfully, I could laugh about it now since I was finally free of him for good. "Oh, so you remember our junior year when we broke up for a bit and I ended up going to prom with Mike?" She nodded while taking another sip of her margarita. "Turns out he showed up to the dance. Let's just say, he wasn't happy about my choice of dance partner's that night." Her eyes went big, but I laughed, remembering all the fun I had. She remembers that night because that was the first time we got to hang out in high school without Trevor there, and we had so much fun dancing and laughing. I danced with a lot of baseball players that had crushes on me for years, but never had the chance to get near me to make a move. "It was a fun night, but one I paid for that evening when he insisted I come over after the dance." "Did he hit you? Did he ever hit you?"