What Simone Knego called her first serious boyfriend, when she was 15 years old, turned out to be a horrific, three-year mentally and physically abusive relationship.
It happened when she was in high school in the Gainesville area. She dated him through her first year of college. The abuse was a pattern and pathological. He would tell her she should eat more salads. Or lose weight. Or put more makeup on. One time he punched her so hard in the face, he gave her a black eye. Another time, drunk, he tried to choke her.
Knego eventually escaped the relationship. She began to rebuild her life…