He’d Marry Me Only If His Friends Gave Me a Perfect Score, So I Quit the Game Chapter 01
In my fifth year with Ethan Walker, I once again found myself sitting in front of his friends, waiting for them to rate me.
Ethan was the captain of our university football team.
I was just an ordinary girl who always wore black-rimmed glasses.
The only thing anyone ever really praised me for was my grades.
But to Ethan’s friends, being good at school was hardly anything worth showing off about.
They preferred parties, games, and socialising, and they preferred Claire Morgan, the sort of girl who always became the centre of attention wherever she went.
Claire was the cheerleading captain.
She was beautiful, outgoing, and knew how to keep everyone entertained.
She had also known Ethan since they were kids.
Ethan had once said to me with a smile, “The day you finally get a perfect score from this lot, I’ll propose to you properly.”
I took him at his word.
So for five straight years, I tried to become the kind of person they would like.
But during the rating game in our fifth year together, they still fired question after question at me.
“Erin, you’re always so quiet. Did no one ever ask you out before Ethan?”
“She goes from class to the library and back again. Who’s even going to notice her?”
“Come on, Erin. You tell us. Who do you reckon is a better fit for Ethan, you or Claire?”
The whole group immediately broke into laughter and teasing.
I tightened my grip on the hem of my dress and tried not to let my discomfort show.
I knew that if I frowned even once, they would say I couldn’t take a joke.
If I let even the slightest edge into my voice, they would dock points.
So just like I had in previous years, I forced myself to answer every question.
When the game ended, everyone held up their scorecards.
Once again, I got a zero.
Claire got a perfect score.
Everyone crowded around her, laughing.
Someone handed her a drink, someone praised her performance on the field earlier, and someone else asked what new routine she had planned for the next game.
No one looked at me.
I sat at the very edge of the group and suddenly felt exhausted.
It wasn’t just this score that upset me.
I had finally realised something.
No matter how hard I had tried over the past five years, they had never truly accepted me.
…
After five years of dating Ethan, this was the first time I had got a zero without crying.
His teammates noticed almost immediately.
“What’s going on today? Erin didn’t cry.”
“Looks like all those years of practice finally paid off. A few comments don’t set her off anymore.”
“Ethan used to tell us to go easy on her. Seems she manages perfectly well when we don’t.”
They kept talking about me right in front of me, without the slightest concern for how I felt.
Ethan heard every word, but he didn’t even react.
He never took my side against his friends.
His friends always came first.
The first year they rated me, I had got a zero too.
I hadn’t been able to hold it in. I cried right there in front of everyone.
Someone pulled out a phone and took a picture.
In it, my glasses were crooked and my makeup was smeared.
Even now, they still used that photo as a reaction meme in their private group chat.
Ethan hadn’t even tried to block the camera for me.
Claire had been the one to speak up with a smile.
“All right, stop picking on Erin.”
She pushed a plate towards me.
“Have a taste. Still not as good as Ethan’s cooking, though.”
I froze for a moment.
“I’ve never had anything he’s cooked.”
The table went silent for a second.
Ethan had never cooked for me.
He always said he hated cooking and couldn’t be bothered with the washing-up afterwards.
Once, when my stomach was playing up, I asked him to make me a simple bowl of soup.
He said he was exhausted from practice and told me to order delivery instead.
Claire stared at him with wide eyes.
“What sort of boyfriend are you? Go home and cook for Erin at least once, or I’ll start wondering if you’re any good at this boyfriend business.”
There was no real anger in her voice.
Ethan actually laughed, then reached out and pinched her cheek.
“Well, if Claire says so, I’d better do as I’m told.”
I watched the two of them for a few seconds before lowering my eyes.
“It’s fine. My stomach still hasn’t been great lately anyway.”
Claire immediately said, “Then let’s ask the kitchen to make you something else.”
But Ethan stopped her.
“No need to make everyone else bend over backwards for her.”
Someone beside him laughed.
“Exactly. It’s not as if she’s never eaten out with us before.”
Back then, because I wanted so badly to fit in, I would force myself to eat with them even when food that was too spicy or greasy didn’t agree with me.
Once, I had just come back from the campus health centre when they happened to choose a restaurant that served mostly light, simple food.
I had been so pleased.
I thought Ethan had finally remembered that certain foods upset my stomach.
I had even gone out of my way to apologise to everyone else.
“Sorry. I thought you all had to change restaurants because I wasn’t feeling well.”
They all laughed.
“You’re overthinking it. Claire’s fancied something lighter lately.”
“Since when has Ethan ever changed where we eat because of you?”
The meal had been mild, but my stomach still felt awful afterwards.
Only now did I finally understand why.
It wasn’t that Ethan didn’t know how to look after someone.
The person he looked after had simply never been me.
I looked down at the food on the table and said quietly, “Ethan, I don’t want to eat.”
Laughter rose around me again and swallowed my voice.
No one heard me.
No one cared.
