No Longer Your Joke: A Luna’s Exit Chapter 01

No Longer Your Joke: A Luna’s Exit Chapter 01

When I showed up to register with my Ravencrest Academy acceptance letter, I was stopped at the gates.

My adopted sister laughed over the phone.

“Isolde, the acceptance letter you took was a fake I made. The real one is still at home.”

I immediately bought a ticket back.

Halfway there, Nessa called again: “Isolde, I had Declan bring your acceptance letter to you. Neighboring city.”

I changed my ticket right away.

But the moment I stepped out of the station, Nessa video-called me.

“You fool, did you actually go look for Declan?”

“Actually, you were kicked out because I told them you had explosives on you…”

She flipped the camera—my childhood friend and my brother were right beside her.

The three of them burst out laughing.

My panic, my humiliation, my pain?

All just a game to them.

Suddenly, I was just exhausted.

I pulled out my phone and accepted the admission offer from Silverlake Elite Academy from.

This eighteen-year game where I was nothing but their punchline–

It’s time to end it.

…

Later, when I dragged my sixty-six-pound suitcase and arrived alone at the Ravencrest Academy gates again, Lucian and Declan were already doubled over laughing.

One was my own brother, the other my childhood sweetheart.

But they were both crowded around Nessa’s phone, mercilessly mocking the embarrassing photo of me that had just been taken.

Nessa pulled out a tissue and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

“Isolde, honestly, with your IQ, how did you even get into Ravencrest Academy?” she said.

“I just made a casual joke, and you took it seriously?”

I bit my lower lip and glanced down at the shoe I’d lost while rushing around.

My voice came out hoarse with anger and hurt.

“Nessa, that’s not funny at all.”

After all that back-and-forth, my two hundred bucks were down to twenty. How was I supposed to get through the next twenty-nine days?

“Are you blaming me?” Nessa stared at me in disbelief. “But it was just a joke.”

Declan came over and put his arm around Nessa’s shoulder.

“Isolde, it’s a good day. Don’t be so sensitive.”

Lucian frowned at me. “Isolde, don’t be a sore loser. With that uptight personality, you won’t be popular at school.”

Again with the jokes.

Again with the sensitivity.

“Okay,” Nessa said, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me toward the school. “I didn’t mean anything by it—you’re overthinking.”

“And I’m not trying to steal your brother, because he’s already my brother.”

I stopped in my tracks.

“What… what do you mean?”

She leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “You’re not the real daughter of the Veyra family—I am. Why else would they treat me better?”

My mind went blank.

At the Hunting Festival, when they divided the meat, Nessa and Declan each got a moon elk steak, while I got the leftovers.

On birthdays, Nessa and Declan each got a five-thousand-dollar Pack gift card, and I got fifty.

So that was the reason?

“Idiot, you actually believed that again?”

Nessa suddenly slapped me hard on the back.

Lucian snorted with laughter.

Declan gave a helpless smirk and ruffled my hair.

“Look at that dumb look,” he said.

“Getting into Ravencrest Academy was pure luck. If you tried again, you’d probably end up at community college.”

I looked up and glared at Declan.

How could he say that?

He’d sat next to me for three years in high school—he knew exactly how hard I worked.

I woke up at five, studied till midnight every day, wore out a hundred and sixty-seven pens, and filled sixteen notebooks with scratch paper.

My Combat Rating and Academic Rating were both A+.

And now he said I only got into Ravencrest Elite Academy by luck?

My wolf let out a low growl.

She remembered.

Every pain, every wound, every early morning.

“Enough!” I couldn’t hold it in anymore, practically shouting. “Ever since I was little, I’ve never liked these kinds of jokes.”

“Don’t do this anymore, or else… we’re done.”

I treasured our relationship—that was the harshest thing I’d ever said.

The air went silent for a few seconds.

The next moment—harsh laughter erupted all around.