On our second date, Tetsuki offered to hold my hand when we left the café. Though, sensing the eyes of the waitresses behind me, I had ignored his gesture. In a way, I could tell what they were thinking.

"What does he see in a fat girl like her?" One of my classmates said it when I came to school the next day.

I hid behind the classroom door.

"It's unfair," said her friend. "We have been in love with him far longer."

My friends told me later not to mind it. "Those girls just reveal their ugly side," they said. "Akane, you have a lot of good qualities, like you are big, not that kind of big, no. I mean you have this big personality. You are kind, considerate, and you have a nice smile. They have to accept that he chose you, not them."

Still, I couldn't stop thinking.

Tetsuki had been the most popular boy in our class, and someone like me dating him felt strange. It felt like I was doing an unfair thing to everybody, including him. So, when he suggested the next date, I turned him down.

"I am already happy, spending some time with you," I said. "But you should be with someone better."

"Like who?"

I found myself hunched by his tone.

"I want to be the one who decides which girl I like," he spoke, "so Akane, answer my this one question. Do you dislike me being your boyfriend?"

Since I couldn't lie, my answer revealed it. "There’s no way I would ever dislike you."

"Well then," he said, extending his hand my way. "You should trust me more for having chosen you. Shall we go back?"