My Not Yet Mate novel Chapter 4

Lily

“Lilianna, breakfast,” her mother called up the stairs.

She stood in front of the mirror in the corner of her room. She studied her face. Her blond hair was in high pigtail braids. She ran her hands over her hair, smoothing the loose pieces. Her blue shirt and blue jeans were simple, making her look plain. She nervously rubbed her hands down her pants. She didn’t want to go to school. She had been home for a week and she had no idea why, but Lukas had ordered it. Her father had listened. No matter how much begging she had done, she had been locked in her tiny room everyday, while her parents handled pack business. She didn’t understand why they had put a lock on the outside of her door. She wondered if it had anything to do with the king. Everything had changed after he came to their clan.

She touched her face in the reflection. Goddess, how she hated it. She could see out of her blind eye more now, but it was super cloudy and blurry. She hated the whiteness in it and the way blood filled it sometimes. She loathed the way her nose was too big for her face and her lips were too thin. Her cheeks were chubby and her skin was covered in acne. She could hear the kids at school now. Pizza face. One eye. Cyclops. Ugly. That one hurt her the most. She knew without a doubt in her mind that she was hideous to look at. She had been told countless times. Everyday at school, she was tormented. At home it was worse. It seemed like no matter how ugly she was, she was the favorite toy that was used by her parents, their men, and everyone else in the castle.

There was no way she could fight back. With the way her leg dragged, it was impossible to run away. Even the teachers didn’t try to help her. They joined in instead, throwing things at her and berating her in front of the class. Her parents always treated her better when people were around and made her gush about them to everyone. She wanted to tell Lukas, and his sisters, everything, but something held her back.

It wasn’t until Lukas had shown up that she thought she was worth anything. He had been so kind to her, and hadn’t shunned her. He had walked beside her and defended her. She touched her cheek and closed her eyes. She missed the sparks his touch sent through her. They relaxed her and made her feel safe and confident. She missed him and being stuck in her room for a week had made it more obvious. Now, she had to go back to school… oh, Goddess. Everyone probably knew by now that the king had taken her away. She leaned her face against the mirror as a fat tear rolled down her face. What was wrong with her? She needed to focus on getting through the day. She already didn’t want to go to school. This was not helping her feel better at all.

“LILIANNA!l I SAID BREAKFAST! GET A MOVE ON!”

“I’M COMING!,” she yelled back, before flinching.

She sighed, knowing there was a beating coming for being disrespectful, but she didn’t care. She grabbed her backpack off of her table and headed down the stairs. She entered the kitchen and her eyes widened when she saw Jo. She glanced around, her heart pounding hard.

“Beta Jo? Is Lukas with you?”

She shook her head. “No. He sent me to bring a message to your father.”

Her mother smiled at her. “Your father asked her to escort you to school today. Is that okay?”

“Mom, do I have to go? I don’t feel good.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“I was… my stomach hurts?”

Her mother set a bowl of cereal in front of her chair and sat down at the table. “Lilianna, what’s going on?”

She glanced at Jo. “Nothing.”

Her mother pointed to her chair. “Sit.”

Lily dropped her bag on the floor and sank into her chair, defeated.

“Why don’t you want to go to school, Lily? Surely, you miss your friends,” Jo inquired.

“I don’t have any friends. Besides, everyone is mean to me.”

“Sweetie, kids are cruel. You have to ignore them,” her mother said.

“It’s not just them, Mom. It’s the teachers, too. Even the lunch ladies pick on me. They give me the burned pieces and one time she spit on it, before she gave it to me. The teachers give me detention for every little thing I do, and don’t do. It doesn’t matter. They laugh when the other kids hit me and yell at me in front of the class.”

“I’m sure you are misunderstanding what is going on. Your father-”

Lily gave a bark of harsh laughter. “Yeah, I don’t know what else Mrs. Jones holding my head in a toilet in the gym locker rooms could mean.”

She got up, snatched her bag up and tried to storm out of the room, which of course was ruined by her stupid leg. As soon as the door shut behind her, she punched the offending appendage. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run away and never come back. She wanted away from this place. It was never going to end and her parents had never protected her. She slammed the door behind her and began to walk the mile to the bus stop.

If her parents weren’t going to care, then why should she? She heard yelling from inside the house and she paused to glance over her shoulder. She couldn’t make out what was being said by Jo, so she shrugged and continued on her way. What was one more reason for a beating? She was almost to the gate when Lukas’s charger pulled in front of her and Jo hopped out. She rushed around to the passenger side of the car and opened the backseat door.

“Please, Princess, allow me to give you a ride to school.”

She glared at Jo. “If I don’t, are you going to tell the king?”

She shook her head. “Nope, but it seems like you need a friend right now.”

Lily hesitated, before climbing into the passenger seat. Jo shut the back door and got comfortable in the driver’s seat.

“So, Lily, you have a lot of mean people at school?”