Crossing The Line

Chapter Eight

Morgan's POV

I woke up and I stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling. I slowly sat up, my entire body was aching, but why?

Then I remembered last night. How this man my mom brought home beat me up until I could no longer stand. I felt my wrist, thinking that the rope he tied were still on my hands.

I slowly lifted up my shirt and different colored bruises filled my entire stomach and abdomen.

Then, I remembered that I called Kelley, my coach. But that was it. I couldn't remember much of anything else.

But, where was I? I looked around the room and it was honestly a pretty big room that was decorated nicely.

I slowly got up and walked over to the door. Instantly, a headache began to pound through my head, I felt absolutely miserable.

I gripped onto the railing as I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen when I saw my coach, Kelley O'Hara at the kitchen table.

"Morgan... how are you?" She asks as she sets down her cup of coffee. She walks over to me and looks me in the eyes.

"Fine... I guess."

"We need to talk." She says. I follow her to her couch and she sits right next to me.

"Who lives with you?" Coach O'Hara asked me. I knew that I had to tell her, but she would be the first person to know and I wasn't a hundred percent sure that I could trust her.

I barely know her.

"No one." I whisper, as I look away from my coach with tears forming in my eyes but I refused to let them fall.

"Grandma? Aunt? Uncle?" She suggested but I shook my head no.

"My mom is a drug addict, she comes home occasionally and steals or begs for money that I don't have just so she can buy more drugs."

"Morgan... I didn't know."

"I don't tell anyone it's... personal and it's not like telling someone is going to fix things."

Kelley let out a sigh as she ran her hand through her light brown hair.

"What happened last night?" She asked and this time she moved a little closer to me.

"My mom came home with a man that I didn't recognize, then... he beat me." Tears rolled down my cheek as I wiped them with the back of my hand.

"Kelley, you will never understand what I went through and I'm just tired of living this kind of life. I'm tired of being me and trying to be a successful person when no even cares about what I do. That's the thing... no one has ever cared for me and loved me. I don't even know what love is."

"Morgan... I'm so sorry." Kelley said. I knew that she didn't know how to respond to the things that I just told her.

How could anyone respond to that? Everyone in St. Simons Island were good people with good kids and for half my life I tried fitting in. I tried acting like the good kids, I tried acting like my mom raised me the proper way.

"I don't know much about you, Morgan. But I do know that you're a talented and intelligent and a beautiful person. And I know that we don't know much about each other, but I want you to know that I care... I care about you Morgan."

"I don't need any pity, Coach O'Hara." I say as I look down at the floor.

"It's not pity, Morgan. It's the truth."

"Why? Why would you even bother to care about me?" I ask.

I knew that she was only being the kind coach that she was but I didn't need any sympathy. I didn't need any of the attention.

"Because you care for people no matter what."

I looked at Kelley and looked into her beautiful eyes. I knew that she meant every word that she said but for some reason, I didn't feel comfortable.

"I have to go." I stand up and walk towards the door. She had a pretty large house for one person.

"Where are you going?" Kelley asked as she followed me towards the door.

"I don't know." I reply. I honestly didn't know where I was going. My home wasn't even a home to me.

I didn't have a home.

"I don't have a place to call home."

That's when Kelley pulled me in for a tight hug. For the first time I felt safe. It was the first time in a while that I was being embraced.

For the first time, I felt like I was home.