Painful Rejection - Fate in Blood Trilogy: Book One

Painful Rejection - Early Stage Rewrite Sample

Chapter One - The Twist In Our Fate

The early summer humidity hung heavily in the air as Harmony walked through Midvalley High School, bringing a sigh to her lips and a grimace to her face as beads of sweat formed along her forehead alongside the occasional blemish dotting her skin and the heat swelled under her sweatshirt. The suffocating insecurity of her thicker form ensured that a dark sweatshirt was also draped over her paired with an oversized tee shirt. She peered down at her beaten, out of date phone held loosely in her grasp while her other hand was occupied by a homemade coffee that had long since lost its steam, her focus centered on the text messages she exchanged with her best and seemingly only friend, Michael.

Since the age of about thirteen, it had become increasingly difficult for her to find companionship amongst her fellow small town inhabitants, particularly with the rising desire to establish dominance and higher rankings as the younger generation grew older. It was over a free online video game where Harmony ran around as a goofy looking character following a less than impressive quest line that she ran into Michael. They immediately established a friendship as they bonded over obscure mutual interests and later on, they bonded over the feeling of drowning in their own stress and expectations.

A small smile danced gently across her lips as her focus remained on the cracked screen shining their never ending conversation but her mind drifted to the overwhelming sense of gratefulness she felt having met him when she did. It was in this same moment that her shoulder was struck by someone walking in the opposite direction from her, sending her off balance and her messenger bag sliding off her shoulder to the floor, landing in a geyser of papers and books. After regaining her balance, she stood staring at the mess sprawled across the linoleum in disbelief before glancing over her shoulder to see who had brought this misfortune to her only to see they were long gone among the few teenagers standing along lockers, chatting about their usual nonsense. Releasing a frustrated groan, she sent a quick text to Michael complaining of yet another "bag explosion" as she had come to call the all too common occurrence before kneeling onto the cool ground, gathering her possessions are quickly as she could.

The eyes fixating on her as they passed could not go unnoticed by her nor could the chatter and laughter she knew was directed at her situation, an overwhelming heat filling her cheeks as she picked up her pace. Anxiety curled itself into a knot deep in her chest as she pushed herself to complete her task faster, willing herself to take deep breaths to loosen the knot only to be startled by the vibration of her phone beside her. Releasing a sigh, she scooped the dusty remnants of her school work into her bag, she stood up and opened her phone.

"You shouldn't have to put up with them, Mony. You don't deserve the way they treat you. My offer still stands," read the response from Michael, dotted with an angry emoji icon between each sentence.

She gnawed at her lip a bit as she read over the message/ The offer her referred to was his suggestion that she abandon her current home and family behind to live with him, an offer she knew he was very serious about. Hearing of her situation made no one more angry than Michael as he accused her people of being corrupt and that a pack should never bully a fellow member. He insisted that this was not the way of werewolves to live and certainly not how they survived so long. However, this is how things had been for so long, she did not know any other way of things being.

Another sigh passing her lips, she gripped the strap of her bag tightly as her thumb hovered over the keyboard of her phone but no words came to mind. The idea of starting things over and being part of a group that accepted her regardless of her flaws and reputation seemed too good to be true but she also could not bring herself to imagine leaving the place she had grown up in. Her mind drifted to unrealistic possibilities of change over time and imaginary fantasy places as she approached her locker only to come to a halt as she glanced up from her phone and saw her locker neighbor, Marissa, pinned against both of their lockers. A gleaming smile spread beautifully across her perfectly ample, rose tinted lips as her long, elegantly tanned arms were draped around the broad shoulders of the tall, well built Archer.