"Why the fuck were you on Liberty Avenue at two in the morning?" Brian asked when he saw me. "I was just walking like I do every night when you and Justin leave." I said. "Brian calm down and let Morgana talk and tell us why she's at the hospital." Justin said softly. So I sat there and retold my story and halfway through it I realized that I was crying and that Brian, my strong brother, looked so upset and hurt. Ben left a little after that and told me to call him if I needed to talk or anything.
"I'm sorry Bri. I just get bored and nothing has ever happened to me and I plan to keep walking Liberty Avenue till I move or die." I said as strength filled my body. I just wished that the same strength would fill my heart and mend my broken soul. I knew that the cops wouldn't find the boys that did this to me and even if they did they would say that I had asked for it and then claimed rape to cover for it.
I've talked to a bunch of therapists and counselors but they said it would take time and now back at school I've been avoiding some of my friends. I also dropped off the swim team and out of drama because the guys kept looking at me. Most of my friends dropped me cause I had been acting weird and so now most of my time is spent either at home with Brian and Justin or over at Michael and Ben's place. Those are two of the places I feel the safest and they treat me like a normal teenager and not a broken soul.
One day while I was chilling at Michael's I ran into Hunter a boy that Ben and Michael had just recently adopted. He had been living with them for a few years after Michael found him on the streets turning tricks on Liberty. This was a few weeks after my sixteenth birthday and I was finally putting the rape behind me. When Hunter came into my life I just knew that everything would be different.
"Hi Hunter. How are you and what are you doing?" I asked sounding like the biggest dork. "I'm fine just grabbing something to eat before heading to swim practice." He replied. "Shit is that today." I had completely forgotten about it since I had just rejoined the team when school had restarted.
"Yeah it starts in an hour better get your stuff together and I'll see you there." Hunter told me with a smile and I realized that I was falling in love with him. Brian had bought me a light purple jeep for my birthday so I got to practice on time but I had also acquired a speeding ticket driving from the loft to practice. We started off with the basics: warm-ups, laps, and such, then we progressed into our own special methods. I did the 500-meter in both freestyle and backstroke. Hunter did his laps and finally the coach told us to shower and go home; I offered Hunter a ride but he declined.