Chapter 5

Scarlett stood nearby, watching us with a sweet smile.

The person taking photos teased:

"Look what I caught! Dylan and Summer! Are you guys on a date?"

Dylan fell silent.

He got off the treadmill and walked towards the group.

I thought he was going to grab their phones.

But to my surprise, he walked straight up to Scarlett, saying helplessly yet dotingly:

"Didn't you tell me to get close to her first? Why are you here?"

Scarlett wrapped her arms around his arm and smirked:

"Because I was jealous! Who could stand seeing their boyfriend working out with another girl?"

The others burst into laughter, seeing my stunned expression.

"How did you get exposed so quickly? We wanted to watch the show for a bit longer."

"Yeah, don't just shatter Summer's beautiful fantasy like that! She probably just thought Dylan liked her."

Dylan looked at me coldly and said:

"Summer, don't misunderstand. The person I like is Scarlett. I hope you don't harbor any unrealistic ideas about me."

My mouth twitched.

I started to wonder if they were missing a few brain cells.

Not wanting to deal with them, I decided to leave.

Scarlett suddenly walked over and grabbed my hand, saying guiltily:

"Summer, I'm so sorry! We didn't mean to!"

I pulled my hand away.

The next second, she wailed and fell to the ground.

Her eyes reddened as she said, "It hurts so much..."

Dylan angrily rushed forward and pushed me away.

"Summer, what are you doing?!"

Everyone in the gym stopped, looking over in surprise.

When they saw the pretty girl on the floor, seemingly pushed by me, a chorus of indignant voices rose:

"Ugly people always cause trouble. She's just jealous that Scarlett's prettier than her."

"She's trying to lose weight, but she won't ever be half as pretty as Scarlett."

Scarlett was helped up, looking at me with a mocking smirk.

I stared at her expressionlessly.

"Scarlett, is this fun?"

Scarlett leaned closer, whispering in my ear with a smile:

"Oh, it's a blast. You didn't know? Being pretty means you can get away with anything."

"Too bad you'll never get to experience it."

With that, she walked away triumphantly, surrounded by her adoring group.

She had once led the class in isolating a freckled girl, even bullying her in the girls' restroom.

I had stopped her.

After that girl transferred, Scarlett turned her animosity towards me.

There were still over two months until school started.

Scarlett would definitely find ways to cause me trouble.

I was afraid I'd eventually lose my temper and actually get into a fight with her.

I thought, maybe I should suggest to Mom that we go live at Grandma's in the countryside.

There was no gym there.

But there were natural lakes that could be used as swimming pools.

And all sorts of winding mountain paths for exercise.

The food was fresh fruits and vegetables Grandma picked from the garden, with no additives.

Nutritious and healthy.

For the next two months, I began intensive training.

The fat on my body shed at a visible rate.

Almost every so often, Grandma and Grandpa would stare at my face in a daze.

When I reached 140 pounds, Grandma held my hand, sounding a little panicked:

"Summer, that's enough. Any more and it'll be dangerous."

But I was already enjoying it, smiling, "Don't worry, Grandma, I won't get too thin. My goal is 125 pounds!"

Grandma sighed. She wasn't worried about me being too thin.

In a flash, it was enrollment day.

Scarlett confidently walked through the school gates, pulling her suitcase and flipping her hair.

As soon as she appeared, many upperclassmen eagerly rushed over to help her with her luggage.

She handed all her bags to them, idly scrolling through her phone.

Suddenly, a message popped up in the high school SnapChat group.

[OMG! Is this even Summer anymore?!]

Then someone posted a photo.

The moment she saw the picture, Scarlett froze.