Rejected And Favored

Prologue

When Lyra Mason woke up that morning, she felt a tinge of happiness in her spirit, unlike other days, she was quite hopeful about how the day would go, it was her eighteenth birthday after all, maybe things would begin to change from there for the better.

she was very sure that she would soon gain her freedom from her abusive foster parents and she was also quite confident about the letter she would give to her one true love that day.

Her instincts had told her that he would greatly appreciate it and if things went very well, he may even asked her to be his girlfriend and her instincts never lie.

She caressed the paper in her hand gently as she walked down the school hallway that day, smiling sheepishly to herself at the very thought of handing it to her crush.

"Hey you! Yes you, the ugly bitch, what have you got there huh? Why are you smiling like a fool?." A voice heading towards her direction had startled her and she looked up to find Olivia, the school's self acclaimed queen bee and also the stereotypical bully who has made Lyra her main target.

Just like very other day she completely ignored her, she has no strength to withstand all her insults that day because she was saving it for more important things like handing over her love note to Josh Hunter.

She was about to walk away when the girl caught her by the hair and dragged her backward, together with her minions, they harassed her and yet no one came to her rescue.

It didn't matter, she wouldn't succumb to their wishes either way, her note would be read by her and Josh alone, no one else.

It was like a dream when she saw him from her peripheral, he waltzed into the place like a knight in shining armor and he pulled her back up, gave all her bullies a stern warning including Olivia and then walked out of the place with her hand firmly grasped in his.

Lyra followed him like a love sick puppy, instantly forgetting all that had gone wrong that day. it was indeed a sign from above, he had never helped her before, why would he then if not that it was destiny that she would tell him her true feelings.

She gave him a long hug immediately they got outside and away from everyone else. The fact that he was not as passionate as she was didn't matter, what mattered was the words she had made up her mind to say to him next.

"I have always liked you Josh and I've been looking for the opportunity to say this for a while now. I... I..." she cleared her throat.

"Here." She said handing him the note. When he delayed and didn't collect it for a while, she felt he had been taken unawares.

She looked up at him with expectation expecting him to accept the letter from her and finally see what it was that she had been keeping in her heart about all her feelings for him but he surprised her with what he did next.

He pushed the letter away from her hand and it fell to the ground, it was just a piece of paper that fell but for her, it felt like her heart had broken into tiny pieces.

She blinked in disbelief and then rushed to where the paper was and picked it up again, it was probably by mistake, he didn't mean to do it. She picked it up and rushed to give it to him again.

"Lyra, please, I don't want to see it." He yelled. "I don't want to have anything to do with you!" He let those words out of his mouth before he would rethink it.

Lyra tried to control herself but no tactic was working, the tears still flowed at will.

"W-" she started but choked on her words, "Why?" She managed to speak at last.

"Because there is nothing special about you." He said coldly with his hands clenched by his side.

"You are weak! You can't even stand up for yourself and you let people walk all over you. You are not even beautiful. What would I want to do with you?" Her heart was breaking with each word he spoke but he didn't seem to care.

"Now listen to me and listen good, don't think because I saved you from Olivia and her friends, I care about you or something because I don't, not at all! And don't get any ideas in your head, in fact from now on, I don't want to see you anywhere around me, If I do then I won't be responsible for what happens." He walked away after that with anger boiling in his heart, he walked past his friends when he got to them and found his way home immediately.

Lyra didn't know how she would move on after what happened, all her dreams and fantasies destroyed in the blink of an eye. She was grateful for the fact that till the end he tried to be a gentleman and didn't humiliate her in front of the whole school. Josh was nice, he wasn't at all mean, so what happened? Was she really that bad? Maybe she was.

In the quiet of the place, she sank to the floor and wept. She cried for her dignity which had been trampled and for lost love.

She felt so alone at that point and she couldn't help but remember her mother, at least she would have someone to cry to and her Dad? All his funny jokes would get her to forget her sorrows like magic. But they weren't there and she would have to bear the burden of her pain all alone,

She didn't know how long she stayed there but she knew she had had it when the day began to darken. It was not night time yet but it was way beyond school hours and she needed to get home, at least before her Pa and Ma got too angry.

She had already gathered her things and prepared to leave when she saw the note that was probably the genesis of all her current problems, probably her worst mistake. She was about to walk right by it but then a thought flashed through her mind, what if someone saw it? That was what made her pick it up quickly.

For whatever reason, she was prompted to open it up and she did. Who knew her own words staring back at her would break her so much?

"Dear Josh, I have been wanting to say these words to you since the first day I met you but I had never found the courage to do so..." the tears started leaving her eyes again as she read,

"You are the most handsome boy I have ever met..." She burst into full on sobs and collapsed to the floor once again, leaving the note to slide across the floor.

She heaved as she struggled to breath through the ball of tears in her throat. The loud noises she was making didn't stop her from hearing the signature 'click clack' sound that was a tell tale sign of Olivia's presence.

She rushed to hide the letter which was a few feet away from her even as she cried but she was too late. What were those girls even doing in school at that hour?

"Well, well, well, look who we have here girls." Olivia announced with a very fake, plastic smile. "If it isn't little miss desperate"

She walked towards Lyra as she spoke. "The pathetic fool was on the floor once again, crying her eyes out like she was about to die, she could take a wild guess of what happened, she had been delusional enough to think that Josh cared so much about her and would probably reciprocate her feelings for him just because he was being nice.

Oh Josh, that was what Olivia loved the most about him, that kindness and sweetness never failed to turn her on. She smiled a wicked smile just thinking about him and about all the times she was sure she had the boy in her grasp so she could do with him whatever she wanted yet he always managed to slip away. He could run as long as he pleased but she would get him eventually.

One of her minions handed her the letter and she took it like it was piece of shit, holding it with only two fingers. It was already a bit soggy and had an absurd feel to it, but for the fact that she was extremely curious, she would have never even dreamt of touching the piece of paper. She laughed out loud as she read the note, she was right all along, the foolish girl thought she had a chance.

"...the truth is, I've been so scared to tell you because I didn't know how you would react, I would rather you never notice me so I can continue to admire you from afar..."

She couldn't read it anymore, those words sounded so foreign and baseless and she couldn't for the life of her imagine how someone would find that sweet.

"Girls you will never believe it, this little witch thought she could have a chance with Josh!" She exclaimed and they began laughing again.

"Oh Josh I love you, oh I can literally melt at your feet, oh, you're so handsome..." She mimicked in a high pitched voice and they all laughed at Lyra's expense, tossing her around whenever they got the chance.

Lyra didn't want to feel that way, she felt useless and weak, she wanted to yell at them, tell them to leave her alone and mind their business but she couldn't, she just sat there and let them mess with her.

Olivia suddenly got mad, just rethinking what had happened. The fool was making passes at her man? She squeezed the paper in her clenched fist and grabbed Lyra's jaw bringing her closer.

"Look here you ugly bitch, let this be the last time you pull any stunt like this, Josh is mine and mine alone. You hear me?" She yelled, spitting in her face in the process.

All the girls strutted away after that and as Lyra watched them go, the burning fire of pain reignited in her heart, it was so much, she couldn't contain it. She could almost feel the physical pain gnawing on her chest.

She had to get out of that place quick before the memories of their humiliation would eat her up so she ran, she ran like someone who was stepping on hot coal, she ran and didn't look back, it didn't matter that she didn't know where she was going.

She just kept running with hope she would leave it all behind and she did.