Abstract：Chapter 1~ ~ PHOENIX ~ ~The strong April wind assaulted me as I stepped out of the building. I had t realism in 18th century novel

Chapter 1

~ ~ PHOENIX ~ ~

Therealism in 18th century novel strong April wind assaulted me as I stepped out of the building. I had to hold my gown down before it exposes my underwear. I stared at the setting sun on the horizon with little interest and an empty stare. Many would find this beautiful as the sun dyed its surroundings golden brown but not me. I wasn't privileged enough to see the world the way others see it. All I saw was an entity which did its job and made way for another to continue. It was all for equal distribution of labour and nothing else.

I trudged down the short flight of stairs to the pavement and then took a left turn as I continued down the street. It was just like any other evening. There were kids playing on the sidewalk, running in and out of the alley without a care in the world. They hid away as I got closer to them, watching me with both fear and disgust as I walked past them.

It wasn't surprising that they reacted that way. I've been treated more or less like a plaque for as long as I can remember. It might be because the Alpha of the pack has a personal vendetta against me, with an intent to make my life as miserable as it can be or because my body was covered with scars. All they spared was my face which I was at least grateful for. I don't know how or why I got these scars but they've caused me even more trouble than anything else in my life. It's a.....

"Phoenix, you fvcking wench!" a hard punch to my jaw dragged me out of my reverie. I crashed on the pavement from the force of the punch, scalding my elbow as it dragged against the concrete.

I rolled my eyes. "Just great."

"You stupid..," my assailant yelled and dealt me a hard kick to my midsection. I folded my body, protecting my body with my hands and legs as kicks rained ceaselessly from more than one pair of legs. I could barely hear what they were saying as all I focus on was surviving the hits I was currently being dealt.

The kicks and stomps soon grew weaker as their dealers got tired until they slowly but surely gave up on it. I remained in the same position until they left, saying nothing and making no attempt to fight back.

I heard the one who punched me retch and soon after I could feel her warm sticky saliva on my hand before they turned on their heels and walked away. Only then did I look up but I wasn't surprised by the sight in front of me.

Brenna and her gang strolled away with a smile of satisfaction on their faces. She has been targeting me for years now after I beat her for the highest score in the cram school we both attended. It was a four-year study course I had to do since I missed high school for certain reasons.

Brenna was a delinquent who dropped out of school even though she was intelligent because of her inferiority complex and went to the cram which was known to be the home of dull students and delinquent dropouts. She expected to rule as the most brilliant in class but I, unfortunately, beat her to the first position. I haven't had a single day of peace ever since that day. She bullied me every chance she gets and beats me up whenever I beat her in academics. Yesterday just happens to be the day our test results came out.

I was ignored as I laid there bleeding on the sidewalk. Everyone walked past me like I was invisible, just like they've always done. I stood up slowly a few minutes after they left as all of my body ached from the repeated kicks and stomps dragging myself body along as I limped to work.

"Good evening," I smiled as I entered my workplace, Allison's Grove. It was a popular shop known for its diversity in the range of services. It was a diverse but precise order in which we operated. We serve strictly coffee, beverages and whatever else is related to breakfast in the mornings, snacks and food at noon and it is a bar in the evening. The order is never broken or bypassed as it would mean the loss of our job.

"You got jumped again?" my co-worker Adeline asked as I came in. "Why do you come in bruised to work almost every day? You really have it rough."

"Haha," I managed a small laugh as I made my way to the bathroom in the staff area and took a quick shower, then I wore my emergency stash of clothes which I usually kept in the staff in the event that I get jumped on my way to work like today. It was a pretty frequent occurrence and I didn't want to attend to customers all bruised and tattered so I had countermeasures in place for whenever it happened.

"Go get some first aid on those wounds," Adeline said as I came out. "You don't want any more scars than the ones you already have."

I had to go back into the staff area for the first aid box where I cleaned my wound and applied bandages to the open cuts before coming back out.

"What did you do this time?" she asked as I joined her at the counter.

"Nothing much," I shrugged. "Test results came out yesterday. I haven't seen mine but I guess I aced the test again."

"If you are gonna get battered up every time you top the class then why don't you just stop doing your best," she advised. "Make sure you do just enough to pass."

"No can do," I replied. "Only the top one percent of the cram school can be admitted to my dream university. I'm not giving that position up for anything."

"D*mn, you stubborn girl," she sighed. "Your attitude is true to your name. That stubbornness of yours never dies."