Chapter 4

Walking towards me was Scarlett, dressed in a workout outfit, her hair slightly damp, clearly having just finished a run herself.

She looked me up and down, suspiciously asking, "You're not on a diet, are you?"

I ignored her. After resting for a few minutes, I started running again.

She stared at my retreating back, a dark current swirling in her eyes.

A few days later.

Someone in the high school SnapChat group suddenly posted a video.

In the clip, I was running by the river.

Sweat drenched my top, and the fat on my body jiggled slightly with each stride.

I was so tired my lips were pale, and my bangs stuck to my forehead, looking quite disheveled.

Soon, someone turned the video into a GIF, and then someone else made it into a meme.

[What is Summer doing?!]

[Isn't it obvious? Summer's obviously dieting!]

[OMG, I never saw her diet for three years in high school. Now that college entrance exams are over, she's dieting? Did our words get to her?]

[Summer, sorry! We really didn't mean to say you were fat!]

After sending that message, the person followed it with another meme of me, captioned, "I truly regret it."

Then, the screen was filled with "hahahahas."

Suddenly, someone posted:

[What else could she be dieting for at this crucial moment? To find a boyfriend in college, duh.]

[I thought Summer only cared about food! Turns out she actually listened to our advice!]

I knew immediately that Scarlett had told everyone about my morning run.

And then a bunch of bored guys came to stake me out.

No wonder I felt like someone was watching me this morning.

I was unaffected by their mockery.

Instead, I felt a little grateful for the motivation they gave me to keep going.

Although I didn't know what I would look like when I lost weight.

But based on what my parents occasionally said about my childhood, I thought I was... not ugly.

For a while after that, whenever I passed that park during my morning runs, I would always see a few classmates.

They would shout at me: "Go, Summer! Believe in yourself, you're a diamond in the rough!"

If you ignored the mockery in their eyes, you might actually think they were cheering me on.

But their interest came and went quickly; they were soon distracted by other things and stopped appearing.

After consistently doing this for a month, I successfully lost ten pounds.

Although my face was still chubby, my features and contours looked much smoother than before.

My body also felt lighter.

Sometimes, my parents would stare at my face, a worried expression inexplicably appearing.

I scratched my head. Were they worried I was taking diet pills?

In mid-July, I got a gym membership.

I would go there to work out for three hours every day.

One day, as I left the house, I unexpectedly ran into Dylan, whom I hadn't seen in a long time.

He was just coming out to take out the trash, and he paused when he saw me, blurting out:

"Summer, you've lost some weight."

I gave him a distant nod.

And walked towards the bus stop.

He hesitated, then followed me.

"Summer, I've been wanting to apologize to you about that day. I'm sorry... I really wasn't thinking."

I hummed in acknowledgment.

His words hadn't actually hurt me much.

I had just used them to see someone's true colors.

He continued to follow me.

"My school is right next to NYU. We can still hang out during college, right?"

Seeing his face full of guilt and his sincere attitude, I suddenly remembered what my mom had told me.

Dylan's family situation wasn't just that his parents were busy with work.

His parents had divorced a long time ago, and neither of them really wanted to take care of him.

He had an aloof personality and few friends; I was one of the few people he could talk to.

I sighed and didn't stop him from continuing to follow me.

He followed me to the gym and watched me expertly turn on the treadmill, surprised.

"Summer, it looks like you're really determined."

Then he also turned on the treadmill next to mine and smiled.

"I've been wanting to work out lately too. I'll join you."

I didn't refuse. He paid for his own membership, so it wasn't my business.

After that, he chatted with me intermittently.

I occasionally responded with a few bland words.

I had only been working out for a while when I heard several "click-click" sounds nearby.

I turned my head and saw a few familiar faces – Scarlett's crew.