This choice: Chel stays frosty—Covert digging into personal lives to sniff out the story • Go Back... There had been a lot that Chel wanted to talk about.
All through the plane ride back to the States, and even a few days beforehand, she had been sort of "rehearsing" the topics of conversation that she would discuss with her roommates; embellishing a bit to make her time abroad seem more glamorous than it really had been of course, but without being entirely untruthful. After all, she had expected a big Coming Home party! She wanted to have things to discuss that didn't bring everybody down...
But the big coming home party that she had gotten hadn't been at all like she was expecting. And all of those things that she wanted to talk about, maybe even her entire trip to Mexico, had flown out one ear as her brain struggled to comprehend the change that had awaited her when she'd set foot through the door...
Instead of bragging about what may (or may not) have happened while she was away, Ixchel had become much more concerned with what had been going on while she'd been gone!
***
"It's such a relief to have you home, Chel." Audrey smiled weakly as she dunked her chip in queso, "It'll be so nice to have another adult in the house..."
Audrey had apparently been the one to suggest the Mexican theme for Chel's welcome home party. A little tongue-in-cheek reference to where she'd been for the past year. Luckily for her, chips and salsa were always a winner, and Chel's favorite non-authentic Mexican food place was just up the way. All of the imitation cuisine had been loaded up on the kitchen counter, though there was no doubt in Chel's mind that it wouldn't last the night.
"You've been getting my share of the rent, right?" Chel blinked worriedly from behind her glasses, "Because I've been sending it, and I know the exchange rates aren't great but—"
"No, it's not about that." Audrey chuckled, but unmistakably lowered her voice, "It's just... you know, I'm the only one who does anything around here... you know?"
Audrey took a nervous glance around the room to make sure that none of the other residents had heard her say that. As she did, she raised a cheesy chip to her mouth and took a crunchy chomp as her fingers dangled down for another one. It seemed safe to say that Audrey's gains had come from stress eating, surprising absolutely nobody. Certainly not Chel.
"N-Not that I want to put you to work or anything!" Audrey exclaimed a little loudly, her dimples showing as she smiled awkwardly, "It'll just be nice to have a more mature voice around here again."
At her faux pas, Audrey seemed to nibble a little more. Her swollen upper arms forced her breasts together into a tight cleavage. Audrey was already about Chel's size before she'd been relocated to Mexico. Now she outweighed her by a good ten pounds or so, just by Ixchel's best guess. Most of it had settled up top; the soft fold of her double chin more prominent and her tummy spreading a bit wider underneath her blouse.
"Ugh, I'm being rude. c'mere." Audrey wrapped her cousin in a hug, "I'm just happy you're back, Chel."
***
"So, d'you hook up with anyone while you were over there?"
Uma had clearly been pregaming before Chel had walked through the door. And she obviously hadn't been worried about spoiling her appetite. The round brown belly that peeked out from underneath her black tank looked firmer than the squishy stomachs of her cousins, and not in the way that Uma had been firmer than before Chel had left for Mexico.
"Um... once." Chel squeaked awkwardly, having totally forgotten the little white lie about the amount of attention she'd gotten at bars, "It, uh... didn't go anywhere."
"Oh." Uma sneered with a sort of tipsy confidence, "Well, I mean... I for sure did while you were gone..."
Clearly that hadn't been the only thing Uma had been doing since Chel was away.
"...yeah?"
"Yup." Uma reached for a fistful of chips and dunked them on her plate, "Do you know her? Me and Audrey used to hang out with her a while back, but I don't know if you know her."
It would have been accurate to say that, out of the rest of the gains, Uma's had shocked her the most. Formerly fit (actually, formerly an athelete!) Uma had been the one with the hardest body under their shared roof. But now she looked just as plump as anyone else had. Her muscle definition had softened and given way to a thick layer of dark-skinned pudge. With the way she was making her way through beer and the takeout food, Chel could hardly say that she was surprised...
"Audrey has friends?" Chel joked
"Where's the lie though?" Uma tittered sloppily, "Anyway, Nat's the best. She's so cute, and she gives me discounts at her bar... I'll have to show you a picture, here hand me my phone..."
***
"Ugh, those two?" Reagan scoffed as Uma (still) scrolled through pics of her and her girlfriend on her phone, "Totally gross."
"Yeah, and those two like Audrey and Uma too" Phoebe whined, "They've been no help in college!"
Phoebe stamped her foot, making her little pot belly bounce as her thighs rippled with impact. Honestly, getting this close and personal with her other roommates had been enough of a shock. Chel had always figured that one of the twins would get fat eventually. Those girls did absolutely nothing at all with their time except for...
Wait, what did Phoebe and Reagan do for fun? Besides annoy everyone else in the house anyway...
"Ever since you left it's been totally boring, Chel." Reagan rolled her eyes, shifting on one hammy hip, "There's nothing to do here."
"I made this place fun?" Chel snorted in disbelief, "What do you want, Reagan?"
"It's true though! You're always like super nice to us." Phoebe whined, "Audrey and Uma just gang up on us because they went to college together."
Arms crossed over chubby tummys as they pouted in their own respective ways.
"It's totally not fair." Phoebe huffed, "We need someone closer to our own age to stick up for us."
"Awwww." Chel crossed her hands over her chest playfully, "You guys are cute."
"It's true though. You're like... the middle ground between the four of us." Reagan said, clearly a little more tipsy than her twin, "We need you around here so that things can be cool again."
"Yeah, you're our cool cousin Chelly." maybe Phoebe was a little drunk too, "And we're like soooo happy you're back!"
***
It had become clear that, in the time that Chel was away, plenty of things had changed. But then, it was also clear that plenty had stayed the same too. The status quo hadn't been shaken up so much as it had been... widened a little.
But coming home again was the easy part, nothing could prepare her for...   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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