Scales And Talons

❦ Chapter One; Happy Birthday, Fatty Phaedra!

Church bells rang loudly in the distance, startling a nearby murder of crows. Phaedra watched as they soared away, wishing that she was a part of their little family. She had a family once, but it seemed that they didn't want her. She looked down at her book once more, trying to read one of the more boring novels she was given. It was to no avail, of course, since she had more life-impacting things to think about. Phaedra is, as the other kids put it, a loony freak. While her name is interesting and certainly unique, nobody cares about you unless you fit in.

Phaedra frowned deeply and slammed her book shut. She couldn't focus on anything but her own thoughts, which frustrated her deeply. So much for a bit of light reading. She scoffed and stood up. Once she picked up her copy of Wuthering Heights, she chucked it into her leather handbag and set off toward home. Phaedra's one big predicament in life has always been effortlessly failing to fit. She'd tried joining after-school clubs, earning favors, lending money, and even pushing herself to pursue a bit of dance and theater. She soon stopped trying after Emily Bradbury called her an 'ungainly pig trying to dance with swans.'

Needless to say, she wasn't exactly having the best luck in finding friends or even acquaintances.

You'd think that, after years of learning and communicating together, surely someone would want to be her friend. Hell, some of these people even lived in the same orphanage as she did! It was embarrassing and humiliating. The worst thing was that she couldn't even figure out why they didn't like her! Sure, she isn't the most interesting person to talk to, but who is? It's not like most fifteen-year-olds have anything too interesting to talk about anyway. She slammed her buckled shoes down into the dirt with each step that she took, taking her frustration out on the innocent ground beneath her.

"I shouldn't even have to worry about any of this today," she muttered to herself softly, frowning down at her feet. She shouldn't have even had to worry about this at all! It wasn't fair for her to have to suffer through this, especially on her birthday. Once she reached the backdoor of 'Saint Mary's Orphanage' and crossed the threshold, she quickly avoided any contact with the nuns. They didn't like her very much, which was unsurprising. She thought that, since all Phaedra did was study and work hard, they'd at least be moderately kind.

Unfortunately, she was very wrong to assume that. While it was good that she focused more on her studies, they saw it as a failure since she could not manage to communicate with any boys. Father McCain said it was preposterous and unnatural for her to be this late in finding a suitor, effectively baffling Phaedra into never speaking to him again. While she did regularly attend church against her will, she focused a lot more on her studies rather than the word of God.

That seemed to solidify Father McCain's obvious dislike for her, causing him to spread these beliefs to the superfluity. While she was grateful that they still cared for her, it was not exactly a pleasant circumstance to stick around to do chores for everyone. She'd often overheard nasty conversations that involved her as the main topic.

Oh, if she had a coin for every remark made about her appearance, she'd be rich!

Phaedra weaved through the numerous hallways and headed straight to her dreary room. She managed to get the door open after slamming her full body force into it and quickly shut it. Phaedra heaved out a sigh and turned around, only for her eyes to widen in confusion as she spotted Eunice, her older roommate who wasn't supposed to be home until December, scrambling to cover herself and a strange blonde man she'd never seen before."Oh, heavens," She gasped quietly and averted her azure eyes. "Get out!" Eunice screeched at her, pale face turning redder than a beet, "Get out, you pervert!"

Phaedra quickly made her way out of the room, dodging a pink, polished shoe in the process, and slammed it shut behind her. She took a moment to herself, running her hands through her dark hair as her pimply cheeks turned bright pink. "That's gonna be rough to talk about later," she thought grimly, annoyed and flustered. So much for getting to relax and avoid social contact in her room. After she collected her thoughts and frantically tried to stop her blushing, she headed to the lunchroom to at least get something to eat. Hopefully, they'll have something appetizing instead of the usual, she thought dimly, grimacing at the thought of trying to eat stale bread again.