“I hate it when people look at me. I hate wondering whether they’re staring because they think I’m disgusting.”
Emma looked at his arm, then at his face.
“So you thought they’d stop teasing you if I shaved mine?”
He nodded.
“I thought if they didn’t have anything else to talk about, they’d leave us alone.”
“But they were making fun of you before we started dating.”
“I know.”
“So why did you make me responsible for stopping them?”
Tyler opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Emma waited.
Eventually, he whispered, “Because I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of them making fun of me even more. Of everyone thinking I was weird. Of them saying I couldn’t even get a girlfriend without people laughing at me.”
He wiped his palms on his jeans again.
“I thought if I acted like I agreed with them, they’d stop looking at me.”
