The Popular Girl Mocked My Weight, Until I Became a Total Knockout Chapter 03

The Popular Girl Mocked My Weight, Until I Became a Total Knockout Chapter 03

Brittany was walking toward me, decked out in workout gear, her hair slightly damp from a run.

She gave me a long, slow once-over. “Don’t tell me you’re actually trying to lose weight.”

I ignored her, rested a few minutes, then took off again.

Her eyes stayed glued to my back, something dark churning beneath the surface.

A few days later, a video popped up in the class group chat.

It showed me running along Riverside Trail. Sweat had soaked through my shirt, and with every stride, my excess weight jiggled.

My face was pale from exhaustion, bangs plastered to my forehead. I looked genuinely rough.

Soon, someone turned it into a GIF. Then someone else made it into a reaction sticker.

[LMAO this is hilarious! What’s Emma even doing?]

[Isn’t it obvious? She’s on a diet, duh.]

[Wait, she never tried to lose weight in three years of high school, and now she’s doing it right after graduation? Did our comments get to her or something?]

[Sorry, Emma. We really didn’t mean to call you fat.]

That last poster followed up with my reaction sticker captioned “I’ve learned my lesson.”

Followed by another wall of laughter.

Then someone dropped this gem:

[Why else would she be dieting right now? She wants a boyfriend in college, obviously.]

[I thought all Emma cared about was food. Guess she actually took our advice to heart LOL.]

I knew right away that Brittany had told everyone about my morning runs. Then a bunch of bored idiots decided to stake me out.

That explained why I’d felt eyes on my back all morning.

Their mockery didn’t bother me.

If anything, it gave me extra motivation.

I had no idea what I’d look like thinner. But from the way my parents occasionally talked about my early childhood, I figured I couldn’t be that ugly.

For a while after that, I’d spot a few of those same classmates at Pioneer Park whenever I ran past. They’d yell things like, “Go Emma! We believe in you, hidden gem!”

If you ignored the sneers in their eyes, you might’ve thought they were actually cheering me on.

But their interest fizzled out fast. They found something else to obsess over and stopped showing up.

After a month of sticking with it, I’d dropped ten pounds.

My face was still round, but my features looked sharper, my jawline more defined. I felt lighter on my feet, too.

Sometimes I’d catch my parents staring at me with this strange, worried look.

What were they afraid of? That I was taking diet pills?

In mid-July, I signed up at Ironworks Fitness and started going for three hours a day.

One day, as I stepped out of the house, I ran into Derek, who I hadn’t seen in a while.

He was taking out the trash. He did a double take. “Emma… you’ve lost weight.”

I nodded coolly and headed for the bus stop.

He hesitated, then fell into step beside me. “About that dinner, I’ve wanted to apologize. I was an idiot. I’m really sorry.”

“Okay,” I said.

The truth was, his words hadn’t wounded me that badly. They’d just helped me see who he really was.

He kept walking with me. “My college is right next to Westbrook. We could still hang out, right?”

He looked genuinely guilty, almost pitiful. And then I remembered what my mom had told me, that his parents weren’t actually “too busy.” They’d divorced, and neither wanted much to do with him.

He was proud and lonely, and I’d been one of the few people he could talk to.

I sighed and didn’t tell him to leave.

He followed me to the gym and watched me step onto the treadmill, impressed. “Looks like you’re really committed.”

Then he hopped onto the machine next to mine. “I’ve been meaning to get back in shape anyway. I’ll keep you company.”

I didn’t say no; he’d paid for his own membership, after all.

We chatted on and off. I kept my replies brief.

I’d barely broken a sweat when I heard the click of phone cameras from nearby.

I turned my head and saw familiar faces, Brittany’s loyal followers.