17-year-old Briseyda Ponce makes it a point to go on a run every day — but one day, her 8-year-old cousin, Allysson Baires, asked to join her. When Ponce asked her cousin why she took up running, Baires had a heartbreaking answer: her classmates, including her crush, Hector, had called her fat.
"I [explained] to her how beauty isn't physical, and if she wants to work out or run it has to because she wants to be healthy, not because of others' opinions about her body," Ponce told BuzzFeed. "We [laughed] it off."
But mid-run, Baires got tired and did exactly what we all want to do during a workout: take out a snack.
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"I turn around to check on her and she's munching on a Rice Krispie [Treat]," Briseyda told BuzzFeed. "I couldn't stop laughing."
The girls in her class & her crush Hector called her fat so she told me to take her on my run ? but mid run she pulls out a snack ? pic.twitter.com/S94Egx15jG
— Briseyda (@briseydahh) March 23, 2017
That's when Ponce decided to put a halt to the run.
"Instead we just walked around the block talking, trying to make her understand how beautiful she is," she told BuzzFeed.
Ponce, of course, posted photos of her cousin on Twitter, where they have received over 12,000 retweets and 43,000 likes.
Many Twitter users took the opportunity to show their love for Baires.
@briseydahh that lil baby can keep eatin cause shes perfect
— chicana ? (@lolssabrina) March 25, 2017
@briseydahh and please tell her, she's beautiful just the way she is. Hector's standard may just be blind or whatevu
— brian (@_yourstrolly) March 25, 2017
@briseydahh You tell that lil one to keep on snackin if it makes her happy! Hector can rot!
— satu ? #BEAUTIFUL (@satuwilhelmiina) March 24, 2017
And many just wanted to "talk" to Hector.
@briseydahh WHERE HECTOR AT I JUST WANNA TaLK
— liz (@elizabethyesong) March 24, 2017
@briseydahh hector where you at ? pic.twitter.com/rX6FFXz7Si
— #NOTMYRODRICK Astrid (@tweetingmongeau) March 25, 2017
@briseydahh at hector house like pic.twitter.com/f6tAE8VPE6
— DOpe$oulO (@GalActicSolO) March 25, 2017
In the end, however, Ponce said that her cousin will be just fine.
"She kind of brushed everything off and forgot about it," she told BuzzFeed.