They Called Me a Submarine. On Bid Day, I Stunned Them All Chapter 06

They Called Me a Submarine. On Bid Day, I Stunned Them All Chapter 06

The room went dead silent.

“What?”

“Allie? The one from the group?”

“For real?”

The buzz-cut guy stared, mouth open.

He pulled up the old photo on his phone, holding it up to compare.

In that picture, my neck was hidden in rolls of flesh.

My clothes were stretched to their limit.

In front of him, I was lean, tan, and smiling like I owned the room.

He swallowed hard. “Th-this is really the same person?”

No one answered him-

because everyone else was doing the same thing.

Look down at their phones.

Look up at me. Then back down again.

A girl in the corner whispered, “The eyes and nose are the same.”

“She just lost weight. Her whole face changed.”

“She’s more beautiful than a model.”

The guys who’d laughed the hardest were suddenly very quiet.

The one who’d made the “pig” joke raised his glass to hide his face.

The one who’d called me a “submarine” suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.

The cake with the red frosting sat awkwardly on the table.

Someone tried to grab it-too fast.

It spun around, and the red letters faced me again.

A guy rushed to block it.

“That was just a joke. We were trying to lighten the mood.”

I didn’t say anything.

If I were still 200 pounds, none of them would be this embarrassed.

They’d just be laughing harder.

Justin was the last to recover.

He stared at me, lips moving, testing my name before he said it aloud.

“Allie?”

I met his gaze.

He heard my voice and finally recognized me. He shot up.

“It’s really you?”

“When did you lose the weight? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He sounded almost accusatory-like I’d set him up to look stupid on purpose.

I didn’t answer.

From the moment he posted my photo to a hundred strangers, he’d already lost the right to ask me

anything.

Whispers spread around us.

“So she’s Justin’s online girlfriend?”

“And he gambled her away? With a face like that?”

“If he knew what she looked like now, he never would’ve.”

“Obviously. He’s probably regretting everything.”

Justin heard all of it. His face darkened.

But his eyes stayed on me-hungry.

Rachel noticed.

She leaned closer to him and smiled, smooth as ever.

“You’ve changed so much-no wonder no one recognized you.”

“But Justin didn’t mean any harm. It was just a joke between friends. You’re not mad, are you?”

Just like that, she swept every bit of malice under the rug.

Others latched on.

“Exactly. It was all in good fun.”

“We’re all classmates now. No hard feelings, right?”

“Come on-you’re gorgeous. You wouldn’t hold a grudge over something this small, would you?”

I looked at them and felt something close to pity.

If I were still 200 pounds, none of them would be trying to smooth things over.

They weren’t sorry for being cruel.

They were just sorry they’d picked the wrong person to laugh at.

I didn’t answer.

I turned and walked over to Finn.

“Don’t we still have a couple challenge to do?”

The room went quiet again.

Justin’s expression shifted fast.

Finn looked down at me. “You sure?”

I nodded. “A bet’s a bet.”

The words barely left my mouth when Justin’s fists clenched at his sides.