The Popular Girl Mocked My Weight, Until I Became a Total Knockout Chapter 04

The Popular Girl Mocked My Weight, Until I Became a Total Knockout Chapter 04

Brittany stood among them, smiling sweetly.

The one holding the phone teased, “Look what I caught, Derek and Emma on a date?”

Derek went silent.

He stepped off the treadmill and walked straight toward them.

I thought he was going to grab their phones.

Instead, he stopped right in front of Brittany, sighed, and said with exaggerated exasperation, “I thought we agreed I’d get close to her first. Why’d you have to show up?”

Brittany looped her arm through his and pouted. “Because I got jealous, silly. My own boyfriend working out with another girl? How could I stand that?”

The rest of the group howled with laughter at my stunned expression.

“Aw, we blew the surprise too soon. We wanted to see her daydream a little longer.”

“Yeah, don’t crush Emma’s illusions just yet. She probably thought Derek actually liked her.”

Derek shot me a cold look. “Emma, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m with Brittany. Don’t go having any unrealistic expectations.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if these people had lost their minds.

I turned to leave.

Brittany darted forward and grabbed my wrist. “Emma, we’re so sorry! We didn’t mean to—”

I pulled my arm free.

The next second, she let out a shriek and crumpled to the floor, eyes watering. “That hurts….”

Derek shoved me back, furious. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Every head in the gym swiveled our way.

When they saw the pretty girl on the ground and me standing over her, murmurs of indignation rippled through the crowd.

Someone muttered, “Some people are just ugly inside and out. She’s jealous because that other girl is way prettier.”

“And she thinks losing weight will help? She won’t ever be half as good-looking.”

Brittany let Derek help her up, a smug glint in her teary eyes.

I stared at her, face blank. “Brittany, was that fun?”

She leaned in and whispered, “It was a blast. You know what the best part is? Being pretty lets you do whatever you want. Too bad you’ll never get to find out.”

Then she strutted off, surrounded by her entourage.

Back in high school, she’d led a campaign to isolate a girl with freckles, once even cornering her in the bathroom. I stepped in and stopped it. After that girl transferred, Brittany turned her sights on me.

With more than two months left before college, she’d keep coming after me.

I was this close to knocking her lights out.

So I suggested to my mom that I spend the rest of summer at Lake Pines with Grandma Helen.

No gym there, but there was a natural lake for swimming, plenty of rugged trails for running, and fresh-picked produce straight from the garden.

Healthy, clean, and delicious.

For the next two months, I went into full training mode.

The weight melted off faster than I’d expected.

Almost every time my grandparents looked at me, they’d stare a beat too long.

When I hit a hundred and forty, Grandma Helen grabbed my hand, a little frantic. “Emma, that’s enough. Any more and you’ll be too thin.”

But I was having too much fun. “Relax, Grandma. I’m stopping at a hundred and twenty-five.”

She sighed, not for the reason I thought.

Then came move-in day.

Brittany strode through the Westbrook gates, suitcase in hand, flipping her hair like she owned the place.

Upperclassmen swarmed her, offering to carry her luggage. She handed it all over without a second thought and scrolled idly through her phone.

Then a message popped up in the high school group chat.

[Holy crap. Is this really Emma Carlson?]

Followed by a photo.

The second Brittany saw it, she froze.