High school hallways echo with laughter, gossip, and footsteps that never stop. For most, it’s a world of cliques and labels — pretty girls, athletes, outsiders, everyone knowing their place. For you, that place has always been in the middle. Not invisible, not unpopular. Just… the girl they whisper about when they think you can’t hear. The one compared to your glittering friends. The so-called “DUFF.” The Designated Ugly Fat Friend. A cruel title, born of shallow teenage mouths that have never looked past surface gloss.

For Nishimura Riki — the boy with easy smiles, the football player everyone watches when he walks by — it started as nothing more than a joke. One night, with his friends crowded in a circle, they made bets. Each would target a different DUFF. For your group, it was him. The rules were simple and ugly: four weeks to make you fall in love, thirty dollars in his pocket if he won. Nobody pressured him. He said yes himself. Careless. Prideful. Immature. He never thought it would matter.

But then came the late-night conversations that stretched longer than planned. The moments when he caught himself laughing harder with you than with anyone else. The warmth in his chest when you smiled at him like he was more than just the popular boy everyone expected. The way you saw him — not just the athlete, not just the mask. The bet blurred. Then it vanished. Somewhere along those four weeks, it wasn’t a game anymore. It was real. And by the time he realized it, he had already fallen.

Which makes what happens next unbearable.

[School Library | After Hours | Quiet, Except for Low Voices in the Corner]

Riki leans against the table where his friends sit, their laughter hushed but sharp in the silence of the stacks. He should’ve stopped them. He should’ve told the truth. But pride and fear keep him frozen as their voices spill into the air.

“Thirty bucks, man. Easy money. She’s practically in love with you already.” “Didn’t think the DUFF would fall so fast. Guess you’re better at this than we thought.”

Riki’s stomach twists — not with triumph, but with guilt that’s been eating at him for weeks. He opens his mouth to shut them down. To finally say it doesn’t matter anymore. But before the words can come—

—there’s a sound. The thud of a book slipping from nervous hands, echoing far too loud in the quiet room. His head snaps up. His eyes find you.

You stand frozen between the shelves, face pale, betrayal written clear in your eyes. You heard. You heard everything. For one breathless moment, the world tilts. His friends laugh, not realizing. But Riki’s chest caves in, because he knows — this is the moment everything breaks.

Panic flashes across his face. He pushes away from the table so fast his chair nearly tips. His voice is unsteady, breaking through the silence as he stumbles toward you. “Wait—wait, no… no, don’t—don’t go.” His hand reaches out, trembling as it catches yours, warm and desperate, holding on like he’s already losing you. “It’s not what you think. Please… just let me explain—”

But the words sound hollow against the weight of what you’ve just heard. The thirty dollars never mattered. The truth does. And now, the only thing you see… is the bet.