From 280 Pounds To The Red Carpet Chapter 07
The Hug
The room lost it.
“Tyler, pay up!”
“One fifteen and you can’t even pick her up? Hit the gym bro.”
“Who said he was scared of the ER? She’s lighter than your girlfriend lmaooo.”
Every single person staring at Tyler now.
Before, they wanted to see a 280-pound girl get humiliated. Now they were jealous he got to put his hands on me.
Tyler heard it too. He fixed his collar, looking kind of proud of himself.
“I said I’d do it. I’m not backing out.”
He stepped toward me. Kayla grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Tyler frowned.
“It’s just a hug.”
“Didn’t you just say you wouldn’t get jealous?”
Kayla’s face went white.
“I said that when she was two hundred and eighty pounds!”
The words came out before she could stop them. The whole room went dead quiet.
I smiled.
“So when I was two-eighty, you didn’t care.”
“Now that I’m one-fifteen, suddenly it’s a problem?”
Kayla couldn’t get a single word out.
Tyler shook her hand off.
“Stop it. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
He walked up to me and reached out to hug me.
I stepped back.
His hand froze in midair.
“What?”
“You owe me an apology before you owe me a hug.”
His face went stiff.
The people who’d been cheering went quiet too.
Tyler lowered his voice.
“Sera, come on. Don’t push it.”
“I’m willing to hug you. What more do you want?”
I looked at his face and realized how stupid I’d been all those years.
Three years in love with him. And I never once saw how full of himself he really was.
“You screenshotted my letter and sent it to the whole school.”
“You tripped me on purpose.”
“You stood in front of the whole class and asked if I’d crush you to death.”
“And now one hug is supposed to make it all okay?”
Tyler’s face kept getting darker.
“We were kids. Everyone says dumb stuff when they’re young.”
“You really wanna dig all this up? What’s the point?”
“There is a point.”
I pulled out my phone.
“Because you all forgot. I didn’t.”
Jessica shot up from her seat.
“Sera, this is a reunion, not a trial.”
“Tyler’s offering you a hug. That’s him giving you a chance.”
“Don’t think just because you lost some weight you’re suddenly somebody.”
I turned to look at her.
“Relax.”
“Your turn’s coming.”
Jessica’s face changed instantly.
I opened the betting pool page.
The clock had just hit seven-thirty. The system started settling bets.
My fifty grand came back with interest. Plus another forty-something grand from everyone who bet wrong.
Matt saw the number and couldn’t help it.
“Ninety grand??”
“Sera just cleaned house tonight.”
The group chat was full of people crying about their losses. Some lost a few hundred, some lost a few grand.
Jessica lost the most.
She was staring at her phone, face like stone.
I flashed the payout screen.
“Thanks, everyone.”
“Came to laugh at me and ended up funding my night out.”
Someone in the back actually laughed.
Tyler couldn’t take it. Tried to save face.
“It’s just money.”
“If you need cash that bad, you could’ve just asked me.”
I almost thought I heard him wrong.
“Does your monthly paycheck even cover this dress?”
Tyler’s face went red instantly.
Kayla sneered.
“Please. It’s just a black dress.”
She reached out to flip the tag on my gown.
Before she could touch it, someone knocked on the door.
The hotel manager walked in with two staff members behind him. He came straight to me.
“Ms. Malone, Director Kross and Ms. Castelli are on the top floor.”
“The announcement goes live in ten minutes. When would you like to head up?”