Chapter 1 : A child of misfortune

My body felt hurt and heavy. The cold breeze blowing from the air ventilation made me want to curl myself into a ball. I tried to move my lower body, but the stinging pain in my stomach prevented me to do so.

They got me in the stomach so bad, huh.

With a groan, I slowly forced myself to sit up. Now that I feel again, the stinging pain not only came from my stomach but from all over my body. I glanced at my exposed legs and saw few bruises with different colors on my skin. I felt something trickled down my face and lift my hand to wipe it, only to find the blood flowing from a wound on my forehead. My white shirt and long skirt are dirty and disheveled.

In short, I must look terrible.

I just came back from buying groceries when Carla texted me, asking me to come to a park. I didn't have any obligation to answer her call, but I worried she will get back to me at school tomorrow. So, despite the darkening sky, I dragged my feet to the park. It didn't take a long time, since the park is pretty close to my house. When I arrived, the park is quiet without a sign of people.

That's when I realized something unpleasant will happen. I consider myself as a person with great patience. No, rather than patience, let's just say I mostly don't care about many things. So making me label something as unpleasant is quite a difficult task.

The bad premonition came true as always.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked on it and found I got a new message from Carla, telling me to go to the public bathroom. As soon as I stepped into the women's bathroom, I felt a kick on my back. I fell unceremoniously to the dirty bathroom floor. Aside from the pain in my back, I was relieved I had left my groceries at home beforehand.

"You got guts, I give you that."

I slowly raised my head to see three girls and two boys looking down at me coldly. The tall girl with long blonde hair is Carla, and I recognized the other girls as Carla's peers. They often watched or sometimes participated in bullying me like this. I don't know their names, though. As for the boys, it was my first time seeing them.

"Carla, so this is the girl you mentioned? The cute and generous girl you want to introduce to us?" asked one of the boys, without even trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

Carla smirked as she flicked her hair. "That is right. Ain't she cute?"

"Don't joke around. I don't have time for ugly girls," said the other boy.

One of the girls, the one with ponytails grabbed me by the hair and forced me to stand up. "Does the floor feels comfortable to you? That place suits you, but Carla went through the trouble to bring two boys for you and you aren't even going to greet them?"

I winced at the sudden pain. What makes her think she deserves to speak so righteously? It's not like I ask them to do it. I could see the blatantly disgusted look from the boys upon seeing my appearance, but their eyes curved slightly, waiting for "fun" things to happen. Their thoughts couldn't be any clearer.

Carla didn't say anything, so I took the ponytail girl's words as hers. From my experience with Carla, this should end more quickly as long as I obediently follow what she said.

"Nice to meet you, I am Eirlys Williams."

The ponytail girls snickered at my greeting. I think I did it normally, but she laughed as if I said something funny.

"You truly are an idiot. Is this a situation where you would normally introduce yourself? Do you not understand this situation or are you secretly enjoying this?"

"Forget it, Bea. She is a lunatic. She is a misfortune child and people hate her. Let's just finish this quickly. I feel uncomfortable just looking at her," said the other girl with short black hair with a scowl on her face.

"Since Carla is kind enough to bring two guys for you, why don't you entertain them!" said the ponytail girl as she kicked me on my butt.

I let myself fell forward in the boys' direction. Not that I deliberately did that, but sometimes there are things you couldn't control and this situation was one of them. I rather follow what they said so things can be over quickly.

I instinctively opened my arms to grab one of them, but he swiftly dodged me. I never expected him to catch me, but I certainly didn't expect he will shove me to the side so roughly. With my position, it's hard for me to find balance. Not to mention, the floor was dirty and slippery. I hissed in pain when my forehead collided with the wall with a loud thump.

Carla laughed so hard at this. Her laughter echoed within the bathroom space, followed by snickers and laughter from the others as well.

"Are you alright, Eirlys? Poor you. You should be careful when you walk."

"Gosh, thank god I evaded just in time. What's the deal, Bea? Don't throw that thing to me so suddenly!"

"She is too shy to approach a guy first, can you blame me for wanting to give her a little push?"

I felt dizzy after the collision. I could barely register what they were talking about. I tried to stand up by leaning myself to the wall, but someone yanked my hair so hard I thought my scalp would tear.

"You better not have any weird idea. I don't come here for an ugly girl like you," said a boy with a freckled face.

I don't have anything against a freckled face, but this boy does have a disgusting personality. It's not like I voluntarily threw myself at you. What's with that smug look? And his breath stinks of alcohol!

I unconsciously winced and try to distance my face from his.

"Now don't be rude, guys. Eirlys is obedient, but it doesn't mean you can bully her," said Carla. Her words sounded gentle and affectionate, but her hand was busy taking pictures of my shameful appearance using her phone. Humph, talked about inconsistent behavior.

The girl with short hair impatiently pulled the freckled guy's hand away from my hair, making a few strands of my hair forcefully pulled out. Ouch, that hurt!

"Let's just get this one done quickly."

She roughly pulled my arms to the middle of the bathroom, then she tried to take my clothes off by unbuttoning them impatiently. Okay, now this is a new bullying method. I can allow them to mock me or beat me, but not humiliate me like this!

I grabbed her hand and stopped her from unbuttoning my shirt, then I pushed her away by the shoulder. The girl's face turned ugly almost instantly. She was very angry at my retaliation, so she yanked my collar forcefully. A tearing sound of fabric can be heard inside the bathroom, but I managed to fend her off before it tore completely. With strength I rarely used, I pushed her hard, making her fell on her butt.

It was kind of refreshing looking down at that furious face from above. However, my train of thought stopped by a tug on my collar again from the back. Seriously, do they have a grudge against my collar or something?

"You bitch! How dare you!" Bea roared at me, as she slapped me across my face.

I had yet to register the burning and stinging sensation on my cheek when a painful kick landed on my stomach. The short hair girl didn't give me any mercy and furiously gave me consecutive kicks all over my body. Her eyes shone dangerously as she glared at me.

"You should just accept it like a pest you are! How dare you push me?! You are just the illegitimate child of a murderer! You sure are thick-skinned showing your hideous face everywhere!"

I covered my head and curled my body in a feeble attempt to protect my body under barrages of kicks. This short hair girl has a serious temper issue. She was relentless on her attack. She kicked on the same spot many times. The pain was something I couldn't describe, but I knew better not provoke her too much.

I silently accepted the beatings for a while until one of the boy's hesitant voices was heard. "Hey, that's enough. She could die if you continue to hit her."

"Shut up! I am not done with this bitch!"

"Lory, I understand your feeling, but he is right. She could die at this rate," said Bea.

"Then she deserves it! Who asked her to be born from a slut and a murderer? A disgusting being like her deserves to be beaten! She corrupts the air just by breathing!"

My body twitched hearing that hurtful words. I didn't feel sad or anything, but it certainly made me feel unpleasant inside. She is not the first person hurling those kinds of words at me, and I used to it by now.

However, it does not make those lines any less unpleasant.

I pressed my lips tightly. I shouldn't make any noise. If I couldn't fight back, I at least won't give them satisfaction of seeing me moaning in pain or crying.

After some time, my body became numb to pain. The girl called Lory still looked furious, but she stopped kicking me while panting. I guessed she was tired as well.

She spitted on me before giving me one last kick on my abdomen.

"Fucking bitch. Do us a favor and just kill yourself!"

After that, I seemed to remember hearing Carla's light voice bidding me farewell with an amused tone before I blacked out.