The Phoenix

Rebecca Panes groped hopelessly around her bedside table in a futile attempt to scilence the oppressive beeping of her alarm clock. Though unsuccessful, she did manage to knock her water glass off the table. It hit the floor with a bang, making her shoot up in her bed. She peered down to see of the glass had broken. Thank god, it hadn't. 

BEEP BEEP. The alarm clock went, as if trying to help.

Becca mumbled something along the lines of "fuck mornings" and hit her alarm clock as hard as she could. 

She then stepped out of bed, letting her wings out. Yes, wings. 

Becca was half phoenix. She really hated it. She hated having to shapeshift just to fit in. She hated having powers that she didn't understand. But here she was.

Shuddering, she quickly retracted her wings. She couldn't let anyone see. She never used her powers. Period. 

 Becca swung her bare legs out of bed and stood up, letting the oversized tie-dye t-shirt she had worn to bed the previous night fall down to her knees. 

She did a quick survey of her room, only to confirm that nothing had moved. The laundry still sat on the floor in large, disorganized heaps, giant stacks of books towered up to her waist and her desk was still covered in empty coffee mugs, half-full takeout boxes and her many sketchbooks. 

Becca gave out a long sigh before moving to her wardrobe. She pulled the large dark brown doors open and stared the heap of old jeans and mismatched socks that was the inside of her closet. 

She grabbed a pair of her nicer jeans and a white, collared, button-up t-shirt off the top of the pile and pulled them on. She then grabbed a hairbrush and gave it a few good-natured tugs through her brown curls before giving up and pulling it back with a black hair tie.

She walked out into the main room, slipping her feet into a pair of tan ankle boots and pulling her large tan trench coat around her. She grabbed her red scarf from its place on the counter and wrapped it around her neck. 

She then grabbed her bag, a large, tan shoulder bag, and gave a quick check to see of she had everything. Phone, computer, book, pen, notebook, purse, yesterday's newspaper... Lunch! What the fuck was she she going to eat for lunch?

 Becca scurried across the room to her large, oppressive looking black fridge, her heels clocking gently on the unpolished wooden floor. She pulled it open and grabbed a box of leftover Chinese noodles and a pair of chopsticks and threw them in her bag before heading for the door. 

She peeled out into the hallway before slipping down to the stairs. There was, theoretically, an elevator, but it was old and slow and smelly and barely worked. And the building was only four stories tall anyway. She rand down the stairs and slipped into the alley that the door to the apartments was wedged in. She walked down, old fast food wrappers that had escaped the dumpster on one end blowing up against her ankles like a dog. 

She slipped out onto the street and into the cafe that sat on the first floor of her building.  

 Becca stepped in, taking a deep breath of that familiar coffee shop scent. New York May be an unfriendly, cold, smoggy place full of shouts and trash, But Cafe Italy was like an oasis. The air always smelt of fresh brewed coffee and baking bread. The shop was always packed with people talking and writing and just being generally nice. The walls were panels with dark wood and lined with framed paintings of beautiful Italian streets. The sound of upbeat jazz music seated out of hidden speakers and hung like a comforting cloud around the shop.

Becca stepped up to the counter and Megan slammed a drink in a large white to-go cup down on the counter. Megan was one of Becca's few friends. She might be four years younger and still in college, but they still shared the third floor of the apartment building and talked a lot.

"One large black coffee to go with four shots of espresso, three sugars and enough cream to put someone into cardiac arrest." The sharp sound of Megan's slightly accented voice snapped Becca out of her train of thought. "Anything else?"

"Um, a bagel. Not toasted, with cream cheese." Becca smiled.

"Gotcha." Megan grabbed a bagel out of the display and sliced it open. 

Megan and Becca might be similar in interests, as they both loved to write and draw, but they looked nothing alike. Becca had gently curling brown hair that ended at her shoulders while Megan's hair was strait, black, and waist-length. All of Becca's features were reasonably soft. Her cheeks were round, her body fit curvy, and her eyes large and about as close to circles as eyes can get. Megan on the other hand, was extremely angular. Her cheekbones muted out, her eyes were sharp and almond shaped, and her body, though fit, was much more slim and angular. 

The sound of Megan's warm voice once again brought Becca out of her thoughts." And there's your bagel. Have a good day at work!"

Becca smiled and picked the coffee cup up as well as the brown pastry bag. "You too! Good luck on your Spanish test!" 

Becca walked out of the door and onto the street, pulling out her phone. She began scrolling through her Instagram, not really paying attention. She was almost all the way through her coffee when she bumped into someone.

"Oh God I'm so sorry!" Becca looked up to see She bumped into a woman. She was wearing a long back dress and a hooded black cloak over to. Strange, Becca thought. But then again, this is New York. She looked Becca up and down, her face coming to a strange sense of realization. 

"You're The Girl." She says in a tone that sound like it cannot be questioned.

"I'm sorry, what?" What the fuck is this woman talking about?

The woman mutters something to herself before walking swiftly down the street, not looking back.

Crazy old lady. Becca thought. Probably drunk or Something.

So that's the first chapter.

I promise Loki will be here soon. Well, in chapter 11, but still. I promise it's worth it! The other avengers come up sooner. 

I will be updating every Wednesday, so look forward to that. 

Again if you see a spelling or grammatical error, tell me so I can fix it, please!

Lots of love, ❤️ 💕 💗 

-Beepbookgirl