Prologue

In a little orphanage near London, lived a girl no older than 10. The young girls name was Maya Kapoor. She was scrubbing the floors of the whole orphanage. Why was she scrubbing the floors you may ask? Well, in all the 2 years she has been living in the orphanage, she has somehow made the head matron utterly despise her. She took one look at Maya and decided she didn't like her.

To her, Maya didn't belong because of the color of her skin, her accent, and most of all her religion. You see, Maya was brown, American, and Muslim. Her father was Indian, so she was basically in the middle. In the middle meaning she could date without kissing if you get the gist. She also kept her American accent, which she believed kept her tied to her parents. Since Maya came to the orphanage, it was a little difficult to eat. She couldn't eat the meat because she was sure it wasn't halal. She also didn't trust what the matron was feeding her, because she always threatened Maya with alcohol, which also wasn't allowed.

Maya had almost finished scrubbing the last of the floor when Emery came in. You see, Emery was the bully. She always had to thugs around her, following her every command as if she was the most important person in the world. Emery was also treated the best because the matrons all saw how perfect she was.

She had Golden hair up to her waist, piercing blue eyes, and a slim figure with an average height. But Maya had dark brown hair, almost black, with boring brown eyes. She had a bulkier, tall figure. Maya was easily 5' 7 already and was still growing. She was also chubbier in some places, but she never gave a thought to that.

When Emery walked in, Maya awaited with a bated breath hoping she wasn't seen. But of course, luck wasn't on Maya's side. Emery shuffled towards Maya and kicked the dirty bucket of water next to Maya on the ground. Maya gasped, and quickly got up, not wanted the only pair of decent clothes she had, to get more wet. And that of course is when the head matron decided to make her dramatic entrance.

The head matron put a hand to her heart and looked flabbergasted. That's when Emery decided to play victim.

"Did you see Miss, did you see," Emery started dramatically. "She's ruined my dress." Emery 'cried'.

"I didn't Ma'am," Maya said in the strongest voice she could muster.

That's when she felt the first smack.

"You dare talk back child!" the head matron screamed.

Maya kept quiet. She had so many snarky replies, but she knew it would do no good. She saw the matron whisper to Emery, and Maya instantly knew what was coming. The matrons couldn't harm student, other than smack them, so Emery's gang did it for them. Their favorite target was Maya of course. She was their favorite to pick on, just because she was different.

In a second, Maya felt two pairs of hands surround her. She was trapped. That's when the first punch flew. Crack. She knew her nose had been broken. The matrons didn't pay for doctors, so if somethings broken, you have to fix it yourself. If it's too bad, you have to live with it. Then, she was thrown on the floor. 1, 2, 3 kicks, she felt. She felt her ribs cracking and/or breaking. She couldn't tell. Maya was blinded with tears, just hoping that somehow the empty bucket would fill and get dumped on Emery's head. She knew it wouldn't happen, but then heard a shriek. She looked up and saw that Emery had been drenched. That's when the beatings got worse.

It went on for hours? Minutes? Maya couldn't tell. She couldn't move. Emery and her gang had left a while ago. Maya thought she was going to die. There was blood seeping out of her skull, nose, basically everywhere. She was slipping into unconsciousness when there was a shrill voice yelling at her. She jolted up, but then groaned in pain.

"Get up freak," a matron growled at her. "There's someone here to see you."