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My Adopted Sister Bet I’d Get Dumped for Being Plus-Size—She Didn’t Know I Was the VA Everyone Loved
Novelix
new
Completed
My adopted sister turned my old plus-size photo into a bet, convinced my online boyfriend would dump me the second we met in person. What she didn’t know was that during my year away, I got healthy, rebuilt my life, and became Violet Echo, a voiceover artist with three million followers. At her birthday party, everyone shows up expecting to watch me get rejected. Instead, they realize me, the girl they mocked, is the voice star they already love.
Chapters (3)
Chapter 1
I'm the biological daughter the Emerson family lost twenty years ago.
They find me when I'm nineteen, fresh out of foster care, sick, nearly 190 pounds from steroids, and covered in acne.
One look at me, and I can tell I'm not the daughter they pictured bringing home.
A few months later, I'm gone.
Sabrina stays.
Then somehow, both of us end up at Westbridge School of Cinematic Arts.
Sabrina fits right in.
Of course she does.
She's pretty, polished, and has been living the Emerson life since she was a baby.
I get into the School of Cinematic Arts, but before I can finish my freshman year, my health gets worse and I take medical leave.
That's when I start doing voice work online to help pay my tuition.
And that's how I meet Chase Nolan.
Chase has brutal insomnia.
The first time he hears me on a late-night stream, he messages me afterward.
Can you talk for another ten minutes?
Ten minutes turns into an hour.
Then another night.
Then every night.
Somewhere along the way, he starts calling me baby.
Almost a year later, we're dating.
At least, that's what I think we're doing.
Chase has never seen me in person.
He knows what I looked like before I left Westbridge School of Cinematic Arts, but he has no idea how much I've changed since then.
We make plans to finally meet when I come back to campus.
Three days before I'm supposed to return, Sabrina drops an old picture of me into a Westbridge School of Cinematic Arts group chat.
My hair is a mess.
My face is swollen from medication, my skin is breaking out, and I'm wearing an old T-shirt that hangs off me in all the wrong places.
Then she tags me.
Sabrina: Avery, I know you're the girl Chase has been talking to.
Another message pops up before I can answer.
Sabrina: Wanna make a bet?
The chat immediately starts moving.
Wait. That's Chase's girl?
THAT Chase Nolan?
No fucking way.
Sabrina sends a laughing emoji.
Sabrina: My birthday party is Friday. Chase is coming.
Sabrina: If he sees you and still wants you, I'll admit I was wrong.
Someone replies:
And if he doesn't?
Sabrina answers almost immediately.
Sabrina: Avery posts a face reveal on her public account.
Sabrina: Caption has to say, “Yeah, I catfished my boyfriend.”
Sabrina: And she leaves it up for a week.
The chat explodes.
Girl don't do it 😭
Chase is gonna see her and suddenly remember he has somewhere else to be.
Be serious. He could date literally anyone.
I'd fake my own death before showing up.
Sabrina adds one more message.
Sabrina: It's okay if you're scared, Avery. Nobody's forcing you.
I stare at the screen.
She still thinks I look like that picture.
So does everyone else in the chat.
None of them knows I've spent the past year recovering, training, and losing almost fifty pounds.
None of them has seen me since I left Westbridge School of Cinematic Arts.
And Sabrina definitely doesn't know what I've been doing while she's been busy laughing at my old pictures.
Last month, Violet Echo passed three million followers.
Last week, I won one of the biggest voice acting awards of my career.
Two days ago, I signed the biggest contract I've ever had.
Chase knows Violet Echo.
Actually, he's a fan.
He just has no idea the girl whose voice he listens to online and the girl he calls every night are the same person.
I read Sabrina's message again.
Nobody's forcing you.
I almost laugh.
Then I tap the link to join the bet.
Avery: I'm in.
I type one more message.
Avery: And when Chase doesn't dump me, you can post the apology yourself.
Chapter 2
The second I join the bet, the group chat loses its mind.
She actually said yes.
There is no way she's showing up Friday.
She's gonna turn her phone off and disappear.
Someone takes my old picture and adds pig ears.
Another person puts my face on a hippo.
The caption says:
WHEN YOUR ONLINE GIRLFRIEND FINALLY LOADS IN
I stare at it for a second, then lock my phone.
Sabrina's always been good at this.
When the Emersons first brought me home, she was sweet for maybe three days.
Then my birthday came around.
She walked into my room carrying a slice of cake.
“Peace offering.”
I actually smiled.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Try it.”
I took one bite and immediately spit it back out.
The frosting was sour.
There were tiny white worms moving inside the cake.
Sabrina had her phone out before I even stopped gagging.
“Oh my God.” She started laughing. “Avery, your face.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Relax. It's old cake.”
“There are bugs in it.”
“Extra protein.”
She posted the video before dinner.
A few weeks later, she found a picture of me outside after a workout, sweaty and sunburned, and posted that too.
By the time I moved out of the Emerson house, half the people around Sabrina already knew me as the ugly biological daughter nobody wanted.
I tell myself I don't care anymore.
Most days, I mean it.
My phone buzzes.
Sabrina.
Of course.
She sends me a video.
I almost delete it without watching.
Then I see Chase in the thumbnail.
I press play.
They're at a coffee shop.
Sabrina is filming herself, but Chase is sitting right beside her, looking down at his phone.
He's smiling.
She leans over and puts her chin on his shoulder.
“What are you looking at?”
Chase locks his phone.
“Nothing.”
“That's not nothing.”
“Just some girl online.”
My stomach drops.
Because I know exactly what he was looking at.
Me.
Sabrina zooms in on his screen for half a second before he turns it over.
My messages are still open.
And at the top, right where my name should be, is his contact name for me.
Sleep Fix.
I stare at it.
Then Sabrina sends a screenshot.
It's from their private chat.
She sent him the same old picture she dropped into the Westbridge School of Cinematic Arts group.
Sabrina: This is seriously the girl you've been talking to?
Chase doesn't answer for almost five minutes.
Then:
Chase: Her voice is hot.
Sabrina: That's not what I asked.
Chase: If she still looks like that, I'm obviously not serious.
Another message.
Chase: I'm just having fun.
I read it twice.
Then once more, because apparently I hate myself.
A voice message from Sabrina comes in.
I play it.
“Aww, Avery. He won't even call you his girlfriend.”
She laughs softly.
“Friday's gonna be rough.”
I don't answer.
A year ago, getting healthy felt impossible.
Some mornings I woke up sore from training and wanted to quit.
Some nights I stood in front of the fridge, exhausted and starving, wondering why I was putting myself through any of it.
Then my medication changed.
The swelling started going down.
I got stronger.
I started lifting.
Then running.
Then actually liking the person looking back at me in the mirror again.
I lose almost fifty pounds.
My skin clears.
My body changes.
So does my life.
Violet Echo takes off.
Three million followers.
An award.
A career I built without the Emersons, Sabrina, or anyone else handing it to me.
Chase is one of Violet Echo's biggest fans.
He sends me clips sometimes.
You have to hear this. Her voice is insane.
I've almost told him the truth more than once.
I kept stopping myself because I wanted to see his face when we finally met.
I thought it would be a surprise.
Now I know better.
Friday isn't a date.
It's a setup.
And Chase has already decided what he's going to do if the girl walking through that door still looks like the picture on his phone.
Fine.
Let him.
Chapter 3
Maya shows up at my apartment the next morning while I'm packing for Westbridge.
She lets herself in, looks at me, then stops.
“Okay, this is rude.”
I glance over. “What is?”
“You disappeared for a year and came back looking like this.”
“Looking like what?”
She points at my waist. “Like you secretly hired a trainer and forgot to tell me.”
“I did hire a trainer.”
“That would've been useful information.”
I laugh and toss another sweater into my suitcase.
Maya and I met in foster care when we were kids, so she's seen me through pretty much everything, including the year I got sick and somehow convinced myself moving in with the Emersons might finally give me a family.
That didn't last long.
She drops onto the edge of my bed.
“So, I saw the group chat.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be. I muted it after someone put your face on a hippo.”
“Smart.”
She watches me fold a pair of jeans.
“What about Chase?”
I stop for half a second, then hand her my phone.
She reads the screenshots Sabrina sent me.
Her expression changes almost immediately.
“I'm just having fun?”
“Yeah.”
“He actually said that?”
“Apparently.”
Maya keeps reading.
Then she looks up. “Please tell me you're done with him.”
“I am.”
“Then why haven't you blocked him?”
“Because I want to see what he does Friday when I'm standing right in front of him.”
She studies my face for a second.
“Okay. I can work with that.”
My phone buzzes before I can answer.
It's a notification from Westbridge Confessions, one of those anonymous campus gossip accounts people pretend not to follow.
The post already has hundreds of comments.
Someone put my old picture next to a photo of Chase at a party.
The caption says:
WESTBRIDGE'S FAVORITE GOLDEN BOY HAS A SECRET ONLINE GIRLFRIEND
Under it:
And apparently they're meeting in person Friday.
Maya leans over my shoulder.
“These people seriously need hobbies.”
I scroll through the comments.
There is no way he knew what she looked like.
Voice catfishing is actually insane.
Imagine pulling Chase Nolan and refusing to FaceTime.
Then I see a comment from Chase himself.
Chase Nolan: We're just friends.
I stare at it.
Last night he called me baby.
A few days ago he told me he couldn't wait to see me.
Now, in front of everyone at school, I'm just a friend.
Maya reads over my shoulder and lets out a short laugh.
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“That man has confidence for someone this stupid.”
Before I can answer, my phone buzzes again.
Chase.
A voice message.
I press play.
“Baby, you around? I barely slept last night.”
Another message comes in.
Can you send me one of your recordings?
Maya looks at the screen, then at me.
“He really just told the whole school you're his friend and came straight back asking you to put him to sleep.”
“That's about right.”
“What are you gonna say?”
I think about all the recordings I've made for him over the past year.
I used to redo them if there was too much background noise. I bought better equipment after he complained once that my mic sounded fuzzy. I even learned guided breathing exercises because he said they helped.
At the time, I thought I was taking care of someone I loved.
Now it just feels embarrassing.
I type back.
Can't tonight. I'm packing.
He replies almost immediately.
You're being cold.
Then:
Call me later?
I lock my phone without answering.
Maya watches me for a moment.
“You still going Friday?”
“Oh, definitely.”
“To her birthday party?”
“Yes.”
She smiles a little. “Good. Because after everything she posted, I really want to see her face when you walk in.”
I zip my suitcase shut.
“So do I.”
