Chapter 3

Gianna and I had originally met through an online game.

I was a senior in high school back then, weighing around 275 pounds. I was given the nickname "Porky" by the guys in my class, and while the girls didn't join in out in the open, whenever I walked past them, they'd whisper under their breath and burst out laughing together.

I remembered one P.E. class where we had a 1,000-meter run. I came in dead last, gasping so heavily that I felt like I was going to pass out.

I then recalled the girl I used to have a crush on, who was standing at the finish line, taking several steps back in horror as I staggered up to her. "You'd better stay away from me! You'll literally crush me to death with your weight!"

In that instant, the entire class roared with laughter.

I sought refuge in the online game that evening, having zero desire to talk to anyone.

That was when Gianna sent me an in-game friend request. She had heard my voice back then and kept pressing me. "Your voice sounds incredible! There's no way you're not a voice actor!"

Gianna and I ended up becoming regular gaming partners from that point onward.

If our teammates flamed me, Gianna would turn on her mic to back me up. "Isn't this just a game? Why are you snapping at my boyfriend?"

She would also keep me company and talk to me when I was feeling down. "Who says being fat makes you unattractive? Your chubby physique actually gives off such a comforting feeling! I like you regardless of how you look, Zachary!"

I genuinely believed her. I thought I might actually deserve to be loved for the very first time after hearing her "regardless of how you look" comment.

But that all changed six months ago when Gianna stumbled across my old social media profile linked to my gaming account, which listed my real name and high school name.

She started acting distant after that. She went from exchanging dozens of messages with me in one day to just sending me "good morning" and "good night" messages.

I asked her if something was bothering her, and she only said she was feeling a lot of pressure because of her exams.

I realized then that it was never about the exams. Gianna had obviously found out what I looked like in real life.

She didn't break up with me right away, though, since I could help her rank up in her games, sort out her study notes, and comfort her when she was upset.

She didn't want to lose a convenient emotional punching bag, so she waited until the day before the new semester started and used a dice game to pass me off to someone else while keeping her hands clean.

I suddenly heard my phone ring, and instead of ignoring it, I picked it up.

Gianna's voice was sharp with impatience. "What's up with you and Natalia tag-teaming in the group chat?"

"Natalia is just speaking up for me. How are we 'tag-teaming'?"

Gianna scoffed. "Do you really think someone like Natalia would ever stick up for a guy for no good reason? You'd better not think she's into you just because you have a nice voice. Natalia has ridiculously high standards. Cameron's been pursuing her for ages, and she still hasn't given him the time of day."

I fell silent for a moment before saying, "You seem to know Cameron pretty well."

Gianna paused momentarily, then said, "Cameron and I are in the same group chat. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to be acquainted with Cameron?"

"Is it to the point where you used matching profile pictures with him?"

Gianna was clearly caught off guard for a second. "Cameron was the one who insisted on doing it! We were just messing around, Zachary!"

"Isn't he interested in Natalia?"

"Just because Cameron likes Natalia doesn't mean they're an item."

Gianna froze the second she said that.

I chuckled to myself. It seemed like they talked to each other in private more than I had expected.

Gianna lost her temper. "You'd better stop shifting the blame to other people, Zachary! You're really going to force my hand here, aren't you? I've seen what you actually look like, so even though I'm fine with an online relationship, we'd never work out in real life.

"You can't really blame me for it. It's totally normal for women to like attractive men. I'm already being nice to you by not blocking you outright, Zachary."

I held my phone tightly as the dull ache in my chest finally faded completely. "I should really thank you for being so considerate, then."

Gianna completely missed the sarcastic note in my voice, her tone taking on a gentler edge as she said, "You shouldn't attend the gathering tomorrow. I'll pay you back the 450 dollars.

"Natalia will be attending as well. She's the undisputed beauty in the group chat, so you're just going to humiliate yourself even more by standing next to her."

I asked nonchalantly, "How about Cameron?"

Gianna sounded slightly uneasy as she replied, "Cameron will be attending as well. You shouldn't overthink it, Zachary. Nothing is going on between Cameron and me."

I hung up the phone. It seemed like tomorrow's gathering would be even livelier than I had anticipated.