I don’t crave much, just happiness. People tell me I should never settle for less in life but I find that hard to understand. “Buck up, lass!” my friends chorus as I decline yet another invitation on a ‘wild night out’. These don’t hold much fancy for me, and besides, I have him. He says I don’t need to go out with the girls on the piss because I alreadyhave a boyfriend, while none of them do, and the only reason any of them go out in the first place is to find boyfriends. He’s right of course. He’s right when he tells me not to wear makeup because it makes me look slutty and unatural. He was right to slap me the other night when I showed him the new dress I bought for dad’s birthday do. I thought it made me look pretty but he said it showed too much leg. He was right of course. He always is. I remember one of the girls giving me relationship advice nearly a year ago. “Don’t neglect your friends,” she said, “because they will love you no matter what.” Those kind words haunt me now because I have never felt so alone.