So, this is the preview of my second tory, which will come out after I am mostly finished with my current one. You have no idea how long it took to write this.

Chapter 13

Story Preview

There were no windows in the school. No windows meant the lack of fresh air and the increased possibility of suffocation of the new freshmen. Yesterday, two of them were sent to the hospital from choking and the addition of beatings. They were suffering so much that I almost felt bad for them. Almost. I, currently as a junior, had it much worse back three years ago when teachers still used canes instead of brooms. The man next to me on the bus rolled his eyes at me, seeing I was deep in thought. I looked to him.

        “What are you looking at?!” He grumbled. I looked down, and shook my head. “Well obviously you were looking at something.”

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     “PARK. HAE. JU! What the hell is this?!” My foster care parent boomed, stomping over to me as I opened the front door.

    “Yes, Mrs. Shin, I am very sorry for the test marks I have received today. I will not let it happen again.” I said, my head bowed down.

     “Park Haeju, this is the third time this month. You apologized last week, and the week before.” Ms. Shin scolded, her eyes narrowed. “Your apologies don’t mean anything anymore. The first and second time, I endured it. I thought you would learn by now.”

     I solemnly nodded.

     “No, you obviously haven’t.  Why else would you have received a seventy-six on this test!?” She screeched.

     “Mrs. Shin, I was busy washing the dishes last night.”

     “You had a whole day to improve your mark, therefore, last night doesn’t mean anything. Now, how many do you think you deserve?!”

      Frantically, I shook my head.

     “Kneel down here! Take thirty!” Mrs. Shin pointed to the hard wooden floor underneath her feet. I stayed put. I wasn’t about to take on another round of slaps and kicks right after yesterday.

      “I SAID KNEEL DOWN!”

Placing one knee on the floor, I was suddenly taken aghast as a hard kick landed in my stomach. One.  Suddenly, I started to choke as scarlet blood seeped through my mouth. Two. Three.

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Setting down my rinsing cup, I scrubbed my teeth again, to rid the blood that was still stuck in my teeth. Yes, I tolerated Mrs. Shin. She’s been the one beside me ever since my mother was moved to the hospital. But somewhere inside, I always knew that Mrs. Shin, my foster parent and guardian, always thought of the as the same as everyone else; dirt. I winced. My purple and blue stomach ached whenever I tried to take a step.

   “Park Haeju!” I suddenly heard shouting from downstairs. “Go buy the groceries for dinner! I expect something good to eat!” I heard noises from downstairs. She was probably watching T.V. again. Slowly making my way downstairs, I quietly opened the door, not to distract her from her program, and walked outside, regardless to the pain brought to my stomach. I had to look normal, or Mrs. Shin’s reputation would be ruined. Swinging open the door to the local grocery shop, I took a step inside, and immediately slipped into a pool of water. The impact of the slip didn’t affect me much, although now my knee was bruised. For a second or two, I just sat there, spluttering out water from my mouth, until I finally had the willpower to stand up. And boy, did it hurt. Suddenly, I noticed a few grey blotches from under my shirt. Crap. The bruises were evident from under the shirt.

     “.” I heard someone mumble behind me. “What are we going to do? I never knew a water spill would cause harm.”

     “Then go help her, Kevin.”

 “B-But Kiseop…”

 “Just do it.”

I saw a figure walk up to me. I tried to hurry away, but my stomach obviously didn’t allow that. The figure behind me tapped on my shoulder. I ignored it, but he kept on tapping, so I had to turn around. It was Kevin Woo, one of the boys in our grade who didn’t receive pleasure in hurting others, so I was surprised it was him who made me slip He was actually sort-of my friend.

“Sorry for that, Haeju, but I accidentally spilled water on the ground and there was no mop around, but I never knew it would cause an injury.” He muttered, looking down. I could see his friend stifling a laugh from behind.

“Its fine, Kevin. It’s just a slip, not much of a deal, anyways.” I quietly said, not looking at him. After a few minutes of waiting, I walked away, and so did he. Guess we were still awkward in public. Heaving a sigh, I walked around the store, buying whatever I needed to.

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I could hear from upstairs that Soohyun was home, due to the continuous and screaming of