Bruised Not Broken

Chapter 5

" Oh my Gosh Joy, look at this dress. This would look so good on you. " Gushes Lisa, holding up a pink one-sleeve dress for Joy to see. Joy peeks out from the rack she was looking through.

" Um Lee I don't think this would quite fit me."

" Why not Joy Joy it's your size ?"

" I mean it just doesn't really look like me." Joy says shyly while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Joy stop it, You're beautiful, you have a beautiful shape, & this dress will look amazing on you" Lisa says in a matter of fact tone while putting the dress in the basket for her baby sister. 'She's getting this dress if I have to dress her myself' Lisa thought to herself. little did Joy know Lisa picked the dress for her to wear during the Talent portion of the She Reigns Pageant.

'I'll come back later with Dwayne to get her swimsuit & Ball gown so she won't get suspious of our plan' Lisa chuckled getting excited. She knew Joy had what it takes to be crowned Queen, Joy would too once she actually started competing.

Sam stood at a rack on the other side of the store with Joan watching Joy & Lisa on the low.

"ooou Sammy look at this dress it would be perfect for you to wear during the pageant." Joan says holding up a baby blue choker dress with a split up the thigh.

"It's cute" Sam replies kinda distant. Joan hears Sam's tone and looks up to catch her gazing at her sisters.

"Why don't you just go over there and you know actually engage with your sisters?" Joan suggests.

"Absolutely not" Sam retorts "why would I do that" she scoffs grabbing the dress and putting it in her basket.

"umm maybe because those are your sisters " Joan replies in a defeated tone.

"If they wanted me to Engage with them, they would've included me in their little sister huddle" Sam scoffs in an annoyed sarcastic voice. Joan just shakes her head " Sam you can't say they don't include you when you don't give the vibe that you actually want to be apart." as she rubs Sam's shoulder kindly continuing to shop for school clothes.

"Joan I don't care, there's nothing special about their little sister huddles anyway" Sam says wishing she could be nicer to her sisters but she just couldn't get over herself.

"Sammy did you find what you like for school & the pageant" asked Joy walking over to Sam & Joan.

"why are you pretending to care Joy, just worry about you and I'm glad you aren't registered for the pageant you have absolutely no sense of fashion" Sam laughs as she walks passed Joy towards the cash register to check out.

'Why is sam so mean to me when I'm only trying to love her' Joy wonders to herself sadly walking towards the register behind Sam.

"Don't worry about it Joy, Sam will come around one day" Joan offers Joy a supportive hug then heads to the register to check her stuff out too.

While standing at the register Sam got lost in her thoughts thinking about what on earth was she going to do for the talent portion of the pageant. Joy had music, Lisa had brains but Sam had no idea what her talent was and she was hoping to figure it out in time for the pageant. They rang up their things, paid, and headed out of the store to find shoes and Sam's gown for the formal scene.

"Wow Sam you look gorgeous" Lisa smiled at her sister as she tried on this beautiful Gold & silver body con dress with a slit up her thighs. She looked like a movie star.

Sam Blushed " Thank you Lee, you really think so?"

"The whole line up will be invisible standing next to you Sammy" Lisa replies.

"Don't gas me Lee" Sam laughs innocently

Joy stood off to the side watching the interaction wondering why Sam could never speak to her like that. It hurt her that her own sister couldn't see that she loved her more than anything and wished they could be close. She dare not even give her a compliment cause she had enough smart remarks for the day and she wasn't about to put herself in the line of dragon Sammy. She'd just enjoy seeing her sister be happy from the sidelines. It never even crossed her mind that Sam could ever possibly be jealous of her.

After spending the day getting everything they needed for school, the ladies headed back to the car.

"Hey Dwayne, Can we stop to get something to eat for dinner. It's late and I'm exhausted from store hopping with the kiddos" asked Ms. Jenn as they got in the car.

"Of course Ms. Jenn " said Dwayne pulling out of the mall parking lot and into the night traffic." Ladies, where to?"

"What about popeyes" drooled Lisa "I could go for some Red Beans & Rice. Ouu and Some Canjuan fries"

"Ouu that sounds delicous, add some cole slaw too " Joy added

"Mild chicken please " Says Sam suddenly all heads turn towards Sam's in an exhaggerated way

"Wow Did you just use your manners miss meany bo beany" teased joan sticking out her tongue

"shut up Joan I do have manners"

They pulled into the drive through grabbing some popeyes, then parked outside of the palace to eat in the car.

Dwayne puts on Joy's first ever recorded single while they ate.

There's No other Love (No)

There's No other Love (Like mine)

There's No other Love (You'll find)

There will Never be another Love like mine

There's No other Love (No)

There's No other Love (like mine)

There's No other Love (you'll find)

Cause Can't Nobody else Do the thngs I do

Baby can we talk just for a minute, I got something to say can you listen

I heard you had a girl just admit it, If you want to be my man we got to fix this

Ima let you find yourself boy I promise, We can fix our problems too we can to solve it

Love can get through anything if we try it so baby believe me when i tell you

"Dwayne" Joy wined "why do you always play my music in the car"

"Cause Baby Joy Joy, You're a Star and I'm you're number one fan" Dwayne replied seriously

"Actually sir" Lisa Clears her throat "that's impossible cause I am"

"Me too" chimes Joan " Joy you just don't know how amazing you truly are"

Sam says nothing but deep down inside she admires her baby sister and loves her more than anything but seeing her sister's talent, love, strength, and the fact that everyone loves her, makes her so jealous inside but she'd never admit it.

"Joy when you're ready to release your greatness to the world we'll be right here by your side cheering you on win, lose, or draw" Dwayne says sharing a sneaky smirk with Lisa. They were trying to build her confidence up for the pageant because whether she wanted to or not Joy was gonna compete in the She Reigns pageant and win it.

Sam sat lost in her thoughts wondering how does Joy always write these perfect love songs when she's never even had a boyfriend.

'I mean I've never been in love before except this little crush i've had on Dwayne for years, way before he even became our driver. Him and Lisa always seemed like a better fit, I'm surprised God didn't make them destined mates. Everyone wishes they were, I'm sure dad didn't betroth them cause he's a driver and not an heir. What if dwayne was really my destined mate. Shut up Sam you're being delusinal as if anything good ever happened for you. Besides you're already betrothed to Alpha jackass just stop torturing yourself.'

Everyone finished eating and chatting, cleaned their mess and headed into the palace while Sam was still fighting herself.

"Hey Sam are you okay ?" Dwayne came to her door

"yeah I'm fine" Sam snapped out of her thoughts realising everyone was already out of the car

"You sure ? you look kinda down, you know I'm here if you ever need to talk, I mean I know you got Joan but we're friends too" Dwayne was tryna cheer Sam up he felt her sadness all the time. He knew she was his mate but he couldn't tell her, until she became of age and got her wolf then she would feel the mate bond too, plus he didn't want to cause any trouble beings as though she was betrothed to that jerk Alpha heir from The neighboring alley pack. He Loved Sam and he could see that behind that mean girl mask all she wanted was to be Loved, He had faith God would somehow see the through and bless Sam with a Love that would change her life, The Love he made for her, His Love.