After I Became Pretty Chapter 03
The comments kept coming.
Elara’s jumping around like that—won’t she crack the gym floor?
Thought I felt an earthquake today.
Turns out it was just the pig jumping rope.
Someone turned my worst photos into stickers and flooded the group chat.
Seren tagged me.
“Elara, you look ridiculous flapping around at the gym.”
I swallowed the humiliation and looked at myself in the mirror for the first time in a while.
My face was covered in acne from hormone imbalance.
Stretch marks lined my body.
But my trainer had promised things would turn around quickly if I stuck to it.
From that day on, my life changed completely.
Morning routine:
No more three donuts.
Instead, I ran for forty minutes on an empty stomach.
After meals: no more collapsing on the couch.
I helped with chores, then took walks with my grandparents.
Dorian felt neglected and sent me a lot of money.
“Baby, you’ve been ignoring me lately. Did I do something wrong?”
I told him I wasn’t ignoring him—I was preparing a surprise.
“So when we meet, you’ll see the best version of me.”
He sent a Cartier bracelet—engraved with our initials.
“Wear this when we meet.”
I tried it on.
It didn’t fit.
I told myself it would look perfect once I was back to my old weight.
—
After finals, I went all in with my trainer.
The comments got nervous.
[She’s this determined? She might actually pull it off.]
[No way. Even if she loses weight, she’ll still be plain.]
[She’s a side character. She’ll never get a glow-up.]
My grandparents worried.
“We love you however you look. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
But I showed them my old photos.
“I want Mom and Dad in heaven to see me at my best.”
“I want to be healthy. I want to stand up for myself.”
They finally supported me—and started making healthy, home-cooked meals to help.
Once my hormones stabilized and the water weight dropped, I’d already lost thirty pounds by the end of finals.
I saw a doctor to make sure I was doing it safely, then planned the next phase.
Still wearing baggy clothes, no one noticed.
Before break, Seren mocked me again.
“All that gym time and you still haven’t lost an inch.”
“Are you really going to meet him looking like that?”
The group jumped in.
“I bet five hundred she won’t show at all.”
“A thousand says she chickens out.”
I looked Seren straight in the eye.
“Hope you’re all ready to pay up.”