Rise Above Rejection

1

Carolyn's POV

(12 years)

"Daddy, it hurts a lot. Daddy!" My twin sister, Adelyn, cried on top of her voice.

Most of it sounded fake but our father, Alpha Benson- The Alpha of Night Storm Pack- hurried over to her and scooped her up in his lap and hugged her.

"Sweetie, how did you fall?" Dad asked furiously as he stared down at her reddening bruised knees.

"Carolyn... She pushed me off the horse." My twin pointed towards me and my heart capsized.

I seized all motions, my eyes freezing on her face, and my mouth hanging open. We've been sitting together on a horse and she just suddenly slipped and fell. It wasn't my fault.

"D-dad, I swear... I swear I didn't do that. I didn't even touch-" My further words were guzzled down by the sharp resounding slap he connected with my cheek.

It was powerful. He used all his might, which threw me off my balance. I fell on my side as tears streamed down my eyes.

"You pathetic overweight brat! When will you stop hurting your sister, huh?" He screamed.

I was trembling. My hands were shaking. Whenever dad raised his hands on me (it was rare but whenever he did, I faced hell) it meant I was in deep trouble. He expected me to stay quiet and accept my mistake.

But we were past that age. Both me and my twin. I've had enough of her scheming. She loved to see me getting bullied and pulled such stunts to make people hate me. But today I decided to take a stand for myself.

"Dad, trust me. I didn't do it this time... Or anytime. I never hurt my sister! Why don't you ever believe me?"

Dad's eyes darkened. He left Adelyn where she was sitting on the ground and seethed at me.

"How. Dare. You. Talk. Back?"

This was menacingly dangerous. But I've taken the first step. Hence, with a gulp, I looked straight in his eyes and spoke.

"I'm not talking back, dad. I'm just being honest. I have no reason to hurt my sister. Why do you always think that I'm after her life?"

"Maybe you don't have any reason, maybe you do. Look at you and look at your sister. There's a vast difference. If you weren't so fat, your sister wouldn't have fallen off the horse." His words cut deep.

I shrank my shoulders to make myself become smaller.

"I shouldn't have brought you to horse riding. Look what you've done!" I watched as dad blew air on my sister's scraped knees.

Seeing him care for her made my chest ache. It felt like someone was constantly hitting me with a hammer. I know I'm not as beautiful as my sister. I'm not as thin and fit as her. But I'm also a human. They don't see that.

Getting up, I ran back out the riding area while wiping my tears.

"Now where are you going? You want to run into other innocent kids and crush them under your weight?" Dad shouted. I heard my sister laugh and say, "Dad, don't joke. It hurts when I laugh."

I ran to the car and sat inside. Pulling my knees to my chest, I tried to put my hands around my legs. I couldn't do it, though. I couldn't put my hands around because of my weight.

I am fat. I'm just twelve but I'm fatter than a cow. Trust me, I didn't choose this fatness for me. I was just born healthy and I can't stop eating extra food. It's actually a habit. A bad and dangerous habit I developed over the years since the comparison between me and my twin sister began.

I eat when I am stressed.

"I will move out of the house when I grow up. I swear I will." I sobbed and fetched a big bag of Cheetós from my backpack.

~~~

(14 years)

I've grown double my size. So much so that when I settled down in a plastic chair in the science lab at school (after getting bullied during the short break in the canteen in the morning), it collapsed under my weight.

Laughter exploded around me while I tried to contain my cries. Even the teacher was covering her mouth. Nobody came to help me. Although I wished the earth to open up a portal and suck me in, I gathered myself on all fours to get up.

I caught a piece of broken chair under my foot and my leg glided back. I flattened forward and more laughter filled the room.

"This is soo bloody embarrassing. She looks like a cow trying to give birth!" Someone snickered loudly.

"Tony, Sshh! You don't say things like that about your classmate." The teacher glared at him but I saw laughter in her eyes. She was saying it just for the sake of it. She was enjoying it just as much as others.

"Carolyn! Carolyn!" Adelyn called me in a hushed tone. "Will you please get up now?"

I kept my head down and pulled my limbs in. It was difficult. The pieces had broken unevenly. The points were jabbing into my skin. Given my heavy weight, it was tough to move my body without falling back down.

After a long sigh, Adelyn came forward.

"Let me help." She sat down next to me.

I was already emotional and when she came to my side, my chest squeezed in pain and embarrassment. My sister has grown even more beautiful over these two years. While she looks like a child model, I look like an overly fed cow.

"Addy, move back. She'll crush you. If I were you, I wouldn't risk going around her." Someone commented.

"But the difference is so cunningly obvious. How can they both be twins? One is like a princess. The other is a piggy." Someone made a snorting sound to portray a pig.

I was shaking in embarrassment. But my twin didn't stop pulling me up.

"Come on, Carolyn. I can't pull you alone. You need to help me pull yourself." I was doing it. I was almost on my feet when it happened... My sister deliberately twisted her foot and I planted back on the floor. Adelyn fell forward on her elbow.

"Aaah. My elbow!" Adelyn winced.

"Addy, you okay?" The teacher rushed to her along with some of our classmates.

All of them picked her up. The teacher held her arm gently to examine it. Adelyn let out a louder moan.

"I think I fractured my elbow, ma'am."

"Oh dear, you should've... Listened to your friends. It's not advisable to help people their size." The teacher didn't realize what she was saying until it came out of her mouth.

"I... I mean, you are so thin and-"

"That's the truth, ma'am." Someone cut her in. "She's so big. She brings chaos wherever she goes."

The teacher didn't look at me again. She was anxious and regretful because at the end of the day I was still the Alpha's daughter.

"Come, honey. I'll take you to the medical room. Everyone else, you'll go back to your classroom until I come back. No need to stay back in the lab in my absence."

She helped Adelyn out. Others left after her as she wanted. Me? I sat there with my throbbing bum and aching heart.

This is my worthless life despite being the Alpha's daughter.

Tbc...

2

Carolyn's POV

(16 Years)

"Hey, you piggy! Our toilet was clogged and leaking the other day. Wanna come and take a dive. Oh! Sorry, I forgot that you won't fit in."

"She'll break the pot with her foot. But honestly, Adelyn, don't you feel ashamed? You're only sixteen and you look like... Like a mountain."

"Don't offend her, Peter. What if she comes at you? You won't be able to survive her push, let alone her fat body. Anyway, fatty, I've got some chips here. Take them."

A packet of chips came out of nowhere and hit my head. It dropped with a sound. I was glaring at it with stinging eyes.

This is the most painful time of school. Though every hour is painful, the lunch break is when all the doors of hell are sprung open. And these devil's come with their snide comments, hurling them at me from all the sides.

Nothing has changed in my life. I'm still pretty big. In fact, I've become bigger. I can barely fit into the backseat of my father's car. In the end he made me take the bus. But the kids in the bus are horrible. They wouldn't let me board. They say I'll break the bus with my weight. Even the driver didn't stop them. He rather looked at me like a juicy chunk of beef. You know what I mean, right?

"Where are you lost, baby whale?" A bottle hit my forehead and my head lolled to the side.

I raised my teary eyes to find Scott Blueburt, the new student. He joined last year and he's the cutest. His father is a successful businessman and owns a billion dollar huge empire. Scott is his only son. They had left the pack for business expansion and settled elsewhere. But his father was homesick after achieving all his goals and decided to return home i.e. The Night Storm Pack.

Every girl is crazy for Scott. He's got this cute smile and chiseled jaw that every girl drools over. You see, I am not immune to it like everybody else. I think I am in love with Scott. I never dared to tell him because a guy like him would never want a big chunky girl like me, will he?

Everything aside, he hasn't bullied me before.... Until today. And it hurts like someone shoved a hand down my throat and caught my heart in a squeezing hold.

"Sorry, Carolyn. I wanted to see if the bottle would come back to me. You know physics." He shrugged as my sister, who is his girlfriend, chuckled at his words.

I lowered my head and clutched the straps of my bag. I was about to turn and flee when Gemma, one of Adelyn's puppets, blocked my way.

"Where are you going, baby Elephant? Take the bag of chips with you. You'll need it after you run from here, won't you?" She came forward as I took steps backwards.

I opened my mouth to plead. But no words would come out. With my body, my tongue has also become thick over the years. I can't fight back. I'm no longer the girl I used to be. I can't stand against them all. Not when my own sister, my very twin sister, watches everything happily.

Years of body shaming has sealed my lips together. All I do is beg.

"P-please..." I whispered and trailed off as Scott came forward.

Adelyn was frowning at his back. She gritted her teeth when Scott pushed Gemma aside and wiped my tears.

"Hey, Carolyn! Stop crying. We're sorry. We didn't mean to hurt you. We're just having some fun." My heart thrummed in yummy delight at the sound of his words.

Did I mention that Scott was the very first person who agreed to do a group project with me so far? He helped me, unlike my sister.

"Are you okay?" He asked while cupping my cheek.

My face instantly heated up. This is the first time a guy is touching me. I observed Scott and felt my stomach overturn. He's the tallest guy in the school. We are the same age... All Sixteen. But still he overshadows all of us like a tree.

"I... I'm fine." I spoke in a small voice.

"Look, the piggy is blushing." Gemma snorted.

Scott narrowed his eyes with a barely there smile, "Blushing? I don't see much. And wait, you blush only when you like someone. Carolyn, does that mean... You like me?"

I bit my lip as I avoided his gaze. I don't know when and how it started. But I like him more than my own life.

"Yes, Carolyn... Do you like me?"

"I... I..."

"Don't be scared, love. Just tell me the truth."

Love? A-am I dreaming? Scott wouldn't... He couldn't... I'm the ugliest in the pack. I stand no chance in front of my sister.

Tbc...

3

"Yes, sist. Go on. Tell him." Adelyn stopped beside Scott with a smile that looked genuinely positive. "Let me tell you the truth... He likes you."

"R-really?"

"Trust me." Adelyn whispered. "He confessed it last night."

"H-he did. But he's your boyfriend. Aren't you mad?"

"I wanted to kill you when I got to know the truth. But love and feelings... Well, it can happen for anyone. Too bad it happened for you." She said with a bombastic side-eye cast towards Scott.

"Yeah! She's right. I couldn't help it." Scott winked at me.

My body was alight with happiness. I hesitantly took Scott's hands and smiled at him while all the students in the canteen stopped doing whatever they were doing.

"S-Scott, I d-didn't know you l-like me."

"So, is it true?" He raised an eyebrow.

I thought about it first. It doesn't happen normally that the school's most handsome guy likes you. It's happening to me. Maybe the Moon Goddess has finally cast her glance of mercy at me. She's finally looking at me and Scott is the first happiness in my otherwise vulnerable life.

Sucking in a deep breath, I looked into his eyes.

"Ever since you came to school." I confessed.

"See, she's blushing again." Adelyn said.

"Oh, I see it. It's still very less though. Let me darken it."

I wasn't prepared for what Scott did next- He clutched the back of my neck and shoved my face down into a plate of schezwan noodles.

"It's not enough. Let me add more blush." That was Adelyn's voice.

Then I had schezwan sauce squirted into my eyes. I screamed on top of my lungs. I screamed to let go. But my sister, my sister and the guy I loved were busy bathing my head with the burning spicy sauce.

Somehow I gathered courage and ran away from there. I came to the restroom and splashed water into my eyes back to back. The burning wouldn't subside. It was as if two burning coals were pushed into my eyes. I couldn't even see anything.

"Carolyn," Adelyn's voice boomed.

I turned to my left. I could hardly see her through my teary burning eyes.

"W-why? Why would you do that, Adelyn? W-we are sisters. Twins." I stammered past the lump in my throat.

"Twins? Haha, look at you and look at me. I'm far more beautiful. Whereas you... You look like an unhealthy, overweight baby elephant. You bring shame to me."

"I... I didn't want to be this way. I d-didn't choose this. S-so why would you pick on me, Adelyn? At your own sister." I couldn't see her face yet but I knew she was listening.

I've always loved Adelyn. I have very faint memories of us as toddlers. But I remember us taking each other's backs. She would support me and take a stand for me.

But while growing up, she changed somewhere. My lovely sweet twin sister changed. She started liking seeing me getting humiliated. Most of the time she's behind my pain. She eggs people on. From our parents to classmates, she goads everyone to hate me.

"Because it's fun." Adelyn quietly whispered.

Fun? Bullying me over my weight is fun?

She patted my big belly, "You look like a couch and it's embarrassing because we are twins. We are the Alpha's daughters. We're supposed to look good. Supposed to influence our pack towards a healthy future. But you mess everything up with your weight. Do you have any idea how badly you are influencing our peers? If everyone ends up looking like you, we'll never be able to save ourselves from sudden rogue attacks because everyone will be too big to move rapidly. You see how wrong that is."

"You're a bad influence and I'm only trying to force you to workout."

Is she kidding? She's killing my spirits little by little. That's all she's doing.

Ah, my eyes. I felt like someone pricked my eyeballs with a needle when I tried to open them. I immediately turned around and turned the faucet on again. I was collecting water in my palms when I felt Adelyn move closer.

Her breath fell over my ear as she leaned closer to whisper, "There's another reason. If you stay alive, you'll always be a threat."

Threat?

As if she read my mind she added again, "You'll stand between me and my position as the future Alpha Female."

My body trembled as I forced my eyes to spring open. I stared at Adelyn through the mirror. My eyeballs were red and swollen. I truly looked like a pig with my big pink face, double chin and tiny eyes.

I never wanted to be the Alpha female. As if I stand a chance against her. Dad would never give that to me. I'm not the favorite daughter, am I?

I wanted to tell my twin the same. But she beat me to it and whispered again, "I know dad will never make you the Alpha. But he will if you are what they think you are."

What does that mean? I was lost in my thoughts when she grabbed my hair and banged my face against the mirror.

It cracked with a deafening sound as my head spun. The pain was intolerable.

"You need to die, Carolyn. You must."

They're the last words I heard before I was sucked into oblivion.

Tbc...