My newfound home (discontinued)

This isn't my home

!!TW!! - mentions of abuse and ed.                              

RILEY'S POV                                                                                                                                              

I open my eyes, squeezing them shut almost instantly, my head is pounding and the light seeping through my ripped curtains doesn't seem to help. I grabbed my beaten up phone which was given to me by my best friend so that we could communicate about football. I'm surprised it still works with the screen shattered and the sides being held together by tape that I managed to steal from my local corner store.

As I read the time glowing from my phone screen it reads 5:48 am, Suddenly all the memories come flooding back to me from last night, the yelling, the slapping, the kicking, the punching. The list goes on. I lift my head off of my filthy pillow and sit up, ignoring the sharp pain growing in my ribs, I gently lift the towel that I use to keep my small fragile body warm at night and fold it up placing it into the back of my wardrobe. If my mum found out that I was using a towel as a bed sheet I don't even know what she would do to me.

I slowly walk myself to the bathroom. I dodge the rotten floorboard that squeaks every time you step on them. After living in this hell hole for 16 years I know it all off by heart. I know which stairs not to step on or else you'll fall through them as they're so rotten, I know what floorboards and tiles that squeak, I know which doors creak when you open them and I know how to open them certain ways so that they don't. All of this just to survive the women that I call my mother.

As I enter the old run down bathroom I start to assess the damage that was made last night. I lift my shirt up to see the purple and green bruising forming on my ribs, fuck how was I suppose to play football later? I quickly swallow 2 painkillers to get rid of the pain and move to fix the bruising on my face. I grab my cheap drugstore concealer and start applying a thick layer to the bruising around my face, I blend in the concealer to the point where my bruises can no longer be seen. Luckily I couldn't find any cuts on my body which I was thankful for as I have run out of bandages, making a mental note to get some before football this afternoon.

As I walk out of the bathroom and back to my bedroom carefully avoiding the squeaky floorboards to avoid waking up my mother. I quickly get dressed into my school uniform and grab my football kit from the back of my wardrobe. You see, football is my escape from my life. As soon as I step onto that field everything is silent and I'm no longer thinking about that hell of a home I live in. But the main issue is my mother doesn't know that I play football and she never will know. She thinks only men can play football and women shouldn't, which isn't true!

I started playing football when I trialled for my school football team which I ended up making it in with no experience. My coach put me in attack as their best attacker has been ruled out with an injury and since I had never played before and I had no preference on which position to play, so that's where I got put. It took me a while to understand how the game worked but once I understood there was no stopping me, I was scoring goals left right and centre. We ended up winning the school cup and that's where I found the love for this sport. My coach encouraged me to sign up to my local team but I knew my mum wouldn't approve but I couldn't tell my coach that so I told him that I'd think about it. I went home that night and after a beating I lay down on my bed which consisted of a thin mattress on the floor with an old pillow and a towel, I sat there thinking about what my coach said and realised that when I was out on the field playing I felt free, I felt the best I had in years. The next day after school I went to my local football club and asked to join. I was 10 at the time and they didn't have any girls teams so I had to join the boys but I didn't care, I knew I was strong and I knew I was capable. I got gifted a kit that was 2 sizes to small for me as well as some old worn out boots and some shin guards.

I played in this team until I was 14 where I got scouted at a game and got invited to play in the Sunderland U16's team. I knew my mum wouldn't support it but this was my dream and this was my escape so I accepted the offer. I would walk to training after school and I told my mum that I was doing study after school 3 times a week when instead I was training, after training I would catch the bus home and run to make it in time for my curfew, which I didn't always make which definitely ended up in a brutal beating but nothing I wasn't used to.

I was so happy to finally be at Sunderland playing in an all girls team. The boys were nothing but rude to me. I would barely get game time as I was a girl and wasn't seen to be as good as the boys and whenever I played the parents would yell from the side line, the other team would target me, my own team treated me unfairly just because I was a girl! But that didn't stop me from scoring goals and doing what I enjoyed most. I was lucky to get game time the day I got scouted even if it was only 20 mins but in that 20 mins I managed to score 2 goals and assist 1.

Anyways, enough of that I grabbed my school bag swinging it over my shoulder and quickly tiptoed down the stairs to get out of the house before my most likely hungover mother wakes up. I walked past the kitchen wondering if I should grab a protein bar for the walk to school but decided against it as I was already fat enough and walked out of the old front door of the place I call my home. But before I could start the walk to school I had to go around to the side of the house to the bushes where I stored my football boots and shin guards. It was too much of a risk to store them inside the house. If my mum found them I don't think I would live to see another day. Once I grabbed them out of the bush I shoved them into my backpack and started the walk off to school for the day.  

A/N

Hello!! This is my first book. Thank you for reading, I hope you have enjoyed the first chapter. I am looking forward to continuing to write this book. Let me know what you think so far. I love you all, have a great day!

-Oakley-

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