/0/81650/coverorgin.jpg?v=6e4487b5edd0ed017fe09f8ca0166339&imageMogr2/format/webp)
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.
/0/33272/coverorgin.jpg?v=e94de0a63a5b0d40185431ee8d1e9062&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/19297/coverorgin.jpg?v=9296eb56ffa73e97084100d84950554c&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/44942/coverorgin.jpg?v=4a8a94cbaaae364396e240c0f8c7b8f4&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/7668/coverorgin.jpg?v=7d852143f5f717baa28a00fce7d94e97&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/40648/coverorgin.jpg?v=9e882bd656ff9889fd64a11d9dced1eb&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/56003/coverorgin.jpg?v=1a3084a14b5d695987acbcdf99602a8a&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/17228/coverorgin.jpg?v=ff45b76f42390f4f7295b99439baa31e&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/33026/coverorgin.jpg?v=14b6468f8d8d3eb6fae7b21313e20da6&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/1778/coverorgin.jpg?v=20171121195121&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/86503/coverorgin.jpg?v=39499d8b05d28b2c530519345de54190&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/24668/coverorgin.jpg?v=05fa3f6ee91f6985b9c130ece374231b&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/38200/coverorgin.jpg?v=c2d374e84ef623a66864e2bfc7a51e21&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/44100/coverorgin.jpg?v=41963fbbc72ba2b0efa49fe7e76c3682&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/5335/coverorgin.jpg?v=20210813190142&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/78608/coverorgin.jpg?v=c5ca7bfcb2d7c2d911ed5ac95a9fcedb&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/81652/coverorgin.jpg?v=cd33421d8732b5430a185b388c29197b&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/77957/coverorgin.jpg?v=54df2406b1e0013f62d0fd4163c86b75&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/1727/coverorgin.jpg?v=551a1e645b4a949555a4c92aadc5c8cd&imageMogr2/format/webp)