What if the people you said goodbye to aren’t who you thought they were?

I’m a woman (23) and I have a bad habit of going for a run late at night just because I like the atmosphere. It’s a little scary but I feel more comfortable knowing I’m in shape and over the years I’ve gained a lot of insight on how to protect myself.<br><br>I moved away from my old town when I was 15 to a new state so I could be closer to my father’s side of the family. I graduated high school in my new town and stuck around. <br><br>With all that aside, I’ve always been a night runner. I don’t know why. There’s just something about it. Even when I was a kid I would run out of the house at like 12am and just run. At first my parents would wake up and go looking for me but then they just let me be. Then I started to run for sport. <br><br>Anyways, I was 21 when I started going to adult gymnastics. I’m not doing flips in my 20s, I promise. I did a lot of parkour with my friends when I was younger, and even hurt myself a few times, so I could never join cheer or dance because my joints didn’t like being slammed on the ground. I just did the gymnastics class for fun and when I turned 22 they asked me to help coach the 9-12 girls classes. It’s fun. I get to work out and I get to teach kids. It’s awesome. I didn’t do it for the money, I did it because I like being active and it was close to home. <br><br>You probably guessed it by now, I’m running a lot! But one night I decided to go for a run around 11:30pm. I had a lot on my mind and It was actually cold out so I decided to. It’s not everyday I was able to run without sweating so much. <br><br>While I’m running notice I know the streets like the back of my hand. I lived there for years so I had a bit of a routine. When I’m about 2 blocks from home I notice a guy walking towards me. I’m running at a steady pace and he approaches me, arms extended in an attempt to wrap them around me and pick me up. But to his surprise I’m not your average teen girl. I’m a gymnast, runner, athlete. I’m strong. <br><br>I pushed him to the ground and kicked him in the face. I started screaming at the top of my lungs and I ran home as fast as I could. When I got home I called the cops and reported the incident. <br><br>Days passed and nothing. Then weeks. Then months. Then I forgot about it. <br><br>Fast forward a year and I’m out with my gymnastics friends at a bar having drinks. One of my gymnastics friends who also coaches there has been with her boyfriend for a couple of years. They’re really happy and he’s also an athlete. I don’t want to say names but he’s very popular. <br><br>Anyways, I was a couple of drinks in and I started to talk about what happened last year. Just chatting amongst friends. And as I’m talking I realize my friend’s boyfriend is starting to act strange. He’s fidgeting, drinking more than usual, and just being awkward. <br><br>My friend asks me more questions about the situation. What did he look like, what did he say. I told her what I remember and he pipes up and said “I don’t think you know what you saw”. <br><br>I thought this was strange but I let it go and the night went on. Two weeks later and my friend is telling me her boyfriend said we shouldn’t hang out anymore. <br><br>He said that I’m an emotional danger to him. I was shocked. I said we don’t even talk that much, he can hang out with the other people and I’ll back off from the group. He said no. I was so confused. <br><br>Then my friend(23f) said she went digging through his phone and found the police report I filed last year. It was him. The same guy. <br><br>I was shocked. <br><br>Her boyfriend was my attacker.