Alice puffed out her cheeks in frustration. She had never been good at making decisions, and the one she currently faced was quite the dilemma indeed. As she peeked her baby blues through the thin sheet of glass, the vending machine uttered a random beep, as if encouraging her to make a choice. Alice bit her lip. She'd come out craving Skittles, but they machine had been restocked this morning, and there was a pack of Hostess swiss rolls tempting her resolve.
The machine beeped again, and Alice hurried to sate it with her quarters. As her hand hovered over the keypad, she heard the sound of a door opening behind her.
'Oh. Hey, Al. Whacha gettin?' Alice sighed in relief. It was Mel.
She turned, preparing to ask why she wasn't at lunch today, but froze mid-query. It was Mel alright, but not the Mel she was used to seeing. It was something about her - was it her clothes? She was dressed in standard Thursday night attire - a little white tank top and green-and-yellow plaid pajama pants. Nothing too unusual. But then what...?
Then Alice noticed it - that shirt wasn't loose on her. In fact, Alice noted with a jolt, she could see a small bulge where the fabric stretched over the small girl's stomach. That in itself was not too unusual, as Mel's stomach was known to grow far more than that after a night with Ronnie. However, Alice also noted two little love handles directly above her waistband and - was she imagining it, or did Mel's... assets... look a little bigger?
Mel smirked as she walked to the machine, cocking an eyebrow at Alice's undisguised stare. 'Hello? Earth to Alice?'
'O-oh, uh,' Alice blinked, blushing deeply. 'S-sorry, uh, Melissa, I was just, um...'
'Admiring my curves?' Mel put a hand on her newly-softened hip and struck a playful pose. 'Well, I'm here to feed 'em. So do your thing.'
'Uh. I... don't know what to get...' Alice admitted, head still a-whirl. While it was true she hadn't seen much of Mel in the last week, they'd still eaten lunch together. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed quite how soft her formerly scrawny friend was getting!
'Well, hurry up and choose. I've got a paper to write, and I need, like, all the chips.'
Alice turned back to the machine. This sudden shock of Mel's weight had only reminded her how much she shouldn't be getting snacks right now. But her money was in - what had less calories, skittles or swiss rolls? Panicking a little, she blindly punched in a number...
...and watched as the machine dutifully twisted off two pouches of Ho-ho's.
Alice looked at the pouches sadly as Mel punched in her own order.
'Hey, Mel... you want one of these?'
Mel groaned as she bent over to retrieve her potato chips. 'Ohh, Al. I dunno.' She straightened up, and clapped a hand to her little belly. 'I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the last week and a half hasn't exactly been kind to my waistline.'
'Yea, I know what you mean...' Alice grimaced, all too aware of how her own stomach was only barely concealed by her large bedtime shirt. She'd been trying to eat better - she really, really had - but she'd still managed to put on two whole pounds! Her tummy was beginning to press uncomfortably tightly against the buttons of her school blouse, no matter how she sat - if this kept up, she'd need a size up soon!
Mel huffed in amusement. 'No, Alice, I don't think you do. Compared to me, you've been fasting. You know I've been going to Ronnie for cooking lessons? Yea. Well, she makes me eat my bad ones. And my good ones. And her good ones. Apparently, she's on a 'diet'. Ohmygod, Alice, all I do is eat! And it's starting to show...'
Despite her friends complaints, Alice felt a flash of envy - if she ate like that, she would be Hillary-size by next semester, whereas Mel got off with only a few pounds of extra padding. 'That sounds... pretty bad. Is it helping, at least?'
'It actually is, weirdly enough. But Al, I dunno how much more I can take. I have to eat everything. Like, yesterday, I ate two and a half casseroles. My stomach hurt so bad, I felt like a water balloon about to pop. It was packed solid, and kept making these scary little noises - I couldn't even burp. Ronnie thought I was wimping out, but I actually thought I was gonna die.' She gripped at her stomach, as if just imagining it caused her pain.
Alice's eyes grew wide. 'That's horrible! You should... we should talk to her about that!'
Mel waved off the concern. 'No, no. She didn't do it on purpose. She felt really bad afterwards. Sometimes, I just think she has trouble remembering not everyone has a Ronnie-sized appetite. Still... I don't know what to do about it. I don't know if my stomach can handle her tutoring, but I don't know if my grades can handle not having it. And I've gotta learn how to make cheesecake this Saturday, too - we're baking them Monday! If only there was something...'
Alice suddenly felt uncomfortable as she felt her friends shockingly blue eyes look her up and down.
What... what was she thinking of?
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