Chapter 1

The date is June 8th, 2005. I'm 15 now. It's been seven or so years since everything had officially changed. I'm still treated badly, I'm beaten every other day for little things, but that doesn't matter to them. My siblings watch and smile, doing nothing what so ever to help me. In a way I guess you could say I'm treated like Cinderella. I'm not waiting for my Prince Charming though. I don't think I have one to be honest. And if I do, he's not here.

Whenever I'd go to school I'd get hit with rumors left and right. Daniel wouldn't really do anything, for me or to me. And Sandra, she'd do anything to hurt me emotionally, mentally and/or physically. I guess it didn't really matter anyway. I would've been bullied anyway. But I live with them, it follows me everywhere now.

Daniel... He's different. I don't know what it is but he just doesn't like to hurt me but he doesn't do anything for others to stop hurting me either. Sometimes he stares at me, making me wonder what he's thinking of me.

I don't say anything. I've literally stopped talking years ago. I don't know why, I just stopped. It doesn't matter though, nobody talks to me and when they do it's just to make fun of me. What they say doesn't even hurt. You get so used to it. And then there's the fact that the insults get old. I just want to yell at them, tell them it doesn't hurt anymore, that it's stopped hurting when I stopped feeling anything. I don't even know what happiness, love, is. I'm not even sad anymore. I'm just full of void.

It is okay though, not even the teachers call on me. Which is fantastic every day, I can read all the time because of this. I can read books like To Kill a Mockingbird to Ender's Game. I can read the saddest of things hoping for something good to come out in the end, but I never hope that for myself. Because I know I'll never get that.

My all time favorite book though, is Harry Potter. It's magical, and I feel like I can connect to it for some reason. The love and passion almost each character holds; it's amazing. I'd have to say though, that my favorite characters would be Remus Lupin, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Sirius Black. Out of all of them though, I'd have to pick Remus Lupin. I just love him. He's amazing, he might be shy sometimes but I think that's what makes him so great to me. I wish I could meet someone like him sometimes…

What am I talking about? No one like Remus Lupin would want someone like me, little shy, nobody me, not even he would want me. I guess that doesn't matter, people as kind, as gentle, and as intelligent as Remus Lupin aren't real. I'm hoping for the unreal. But it doesn't mean I don't wish it wouldn't happen…

Back to present time…

I'm at school right now, head down, ear buds in. I'm listening to Youth by Daughter (Off to the side), right now I just want to hum, maybe even sing, but I can't do that here, not in-front of everyone… I'm walking slowly to my last class of the day, weaving through the crowd, not touching anyone, when all of a sudden my books are on the floor and I'm shoved into the lockers. I look up, seeing everyone point their fingers at me and laughing, I see my brother's whore of a girlfriend, Angela. She's no angel too. She smirks at me, finding it hilarious that she pushed me into the lockers. I look behind her, seeing my brother, standing there, staring at me. His face is blank but his eyes have the same emotion they always do when he sees me being bullied. An emotion I don't even know.

I turn away from him, looking back at Angela; I don't speak, but arch an eyebrow at her, basically asking if that's all she's got. She narrows her eyebrows, stepping up to me before slapping me, her nails scratching my cheek. All I hear is a resounding smack as my head flies to the side, my cheek slowly becoming numb with pain. I slowly turn my head towards her, my face passive. She continues to look at me with a smirk on her face. I lift my hand up, touching my cheek, wincing when I feel a sharp pain. I pull my hand away to see my fingers covered in blood.

I don't know why, but I feel anger course through me. I clench my hands into fists. I take a deep breath, relaxing as the anger soon turns into sadness. I don't do anything but crouch down and pick up my books. Everyone's staring, laughing, pointing. All of a sudden the laughing stops, their fingers drop and their mouths are open in shock. My brother has just kneeled down in front of me and helped me pick up the last few of my books, before standing and holding out his hand. I stare up at him in shock and suspicion, wondering what the hell was going on. I take his offered hand and he helps pull me up. As soon as I'm standing I drop his hand as if he had burned me and step back from him. He looks at me understandingly, which is strange.

He looks at Angela quietly, before speaking low, "We're over, this is over. Everything is over, no more bullying my little sister." I look up at him shocked, which everyone does to be honest. Angela's shocked and then slowly but surely she becomes pissed, not at my brother but at me.

She steps up to me, her heels clacking loudly in the silent hall. She spits in my face, hissing. "You're nothing. Absolutely nothing, a nobody. You could disappear and nobody would notice." With that she smirks one last time before turning, narrowing her eyes at my brother once, before she walks through the crowd surrounding us. The crowd soon disperses after.

After watching the crowd separate, I turn towards Daniel. I look at him blankly, basically asking him why he helped me. He stared at me for a while, just plain old staring me in the eyes. After a minute or two he stops, and just says "Because it's time." Without saying anything else he grabs free hand that isn't holding my books and drags me out and away from the school as the class bell rings, making us miss the last class.

I let him pull me along, though I pull my hand back as his hand slides up, his hold on my wrist starting to hurt. I gently rub my wrist through my jacket. He looks at me suspiciously, before stepping to me and pulling my sleeve down, revealing my wrist. He narrows his eyes; his jaw clenched in what I assumed was anger. He pulls my sleeve up even further, revealing all the cuts on my arms. I remember every single one of them too. I remember when I started cutting. I remember how one day I decided to dedicate practically every part of my body to cutting but one limb, my left arm. I felt like I needed to keep it safe, protected. I remember when I started cutting… I was only 10… I shake my head, biting my lip to bite back tears, and trying to rid myself of any flashbacks.

I yank my arm out of Daniel's grasp, jerking my sleeve down to cover my arm. He runs a hand through his hair, sighing as he does. I cross my arms over my chest, looking down at the floor. He turns his head to look at me, whispering so lowly, I almost didn't hear him, "I should've done something all these years… At home, at school… I should've helped; I should've gone against what dad said… I should've protected you like the big brother I am…" At this point he his shoulders were shaking violently, he turns away from me, holding his head in his hands.

I step around to face him, pulling his hands gently away from his face. He drops his hands to his sides, looking down at me with tears running down his cheeks. I slowly raise my hand to his cheek, wiping away his tears hesitantly but softly. He stares down at me, his eyes soft. I didn't understand what he was doing, how he felt. I step away from him quickly, dropping my hand. I look down at our shoes, my cheeks burning red.

"Thank you, Lyla…" He whispered. He smiles a half smile at me before taking a step towards his car, motioning for me to come forward. "Come on, get in. I have to get you ready; I have to explain everything to you." I look at him curiously, wondering what the hell he was talking about. I get in the car though, wanting to know what he meant. He smiled at me, turning the engine on before driving us home.

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