chapter 7

As I follow the other girls into the changing rooms of the floatation pool I see our carers already waiting for us, each with a trolley on which is laid a neatly folded towel, a bathing suit, hair brush and two bottles which look to be shampoo and conditioner. I notice Gurdeep standing by one of the benches along the side wall watching anxiously as the girls enter, and as soon as he spots me he immediately smiles and beckons me over.

"Hello Madam, how you do?" he asks in his soft voice, "I help you today. You stay with me please."

Without waiting he starts to undo my blouse, leaving me no time to consider using an alternative carer for this session.

I'm flattered that he's chosen me out of all the girls here, but still a bit unsure that we're allowed to pair up like this.

I lower my voice to a whisper, "Hi Gurdeep" I smile, but then add, "Aren't you supposed to rotate around all the girls?"

"No, is no problem."

He tries to reassure me, but I know that he is actually breaking the rules. I don't mind though, in fact I'm actually quite pleased. It's nice to see a familiar face again when everyone and everything is so new, and he's actually quite cute.

The teacher's voice echoes around the tiled room as she calls out, "Please could you make sure that you remove all items of jewellery from your persons. It should be bathing suits only please girls."

Gurdeep removes my top and bra and is about to start on my skirt, but instead steps back in astonishment as he takes in its tightness and the size of uncomfortably bloated belly stretching the material out.

He points and is about to speak but I cut him short. "Don't ask" I joke dismissively, and after a moments hesitation, he relaxes and steps round my back to undo the zip.

I'm so glad I have Gurdeep here to help me because after all I've eaten so far today I don't thing there's a hope I'd be able to bend far enough to dress myself. He can hardly ease my swimming costume up over my stomach it's so full, but eventually we manage to get my arms through the straps, and having finished his job for the time being, I leave him in the changing room while I head off out to the pool.

A wall of warm steamy air and a smell of what I guess must be mineral salts hits me as I enter the pool area. The pool itself is fairly small but must be at least 2m deep, and is laid out with 20 stations in five rows of four, each consisting of an orange floating collar and headrest, and as Rebecca had mentioned, what appears to be some sort of feeding tube hanging down from the ceiling. My heart sinks at the thought of having to use one of these tubes since my stomach still feels painfully stretched.

The girls are standing on a tiled area to the side of the pool, clustered in a group around the teacher, and I suddenly realise I must be the last out and seem to have missed the opening sentences.

"Come on please, hurry up!" The teacher glares at me.

Of all the rotten luck, it has to be Mrs. Foster the dragon from the Gym taking this afternoon's lesson! I try to quicken my pace, but with my stomach so full the undulating is just too painful to walk at all fast.

"It may seem a strange sensation at first," Mrs. Foster continues as I nestle myself behind two hefty girls, "but when you get in the pool please just try to relax as much as possible. You should find the water plenty warm enough, even for your pampered bodies, and it contains a high concentration of salts and minerals that will aid in your buoyancy. You will be attached to the floats, and once the feeding tubes are inserted you'll find the salts and minerals also help to keep your skin supple, allowing it to stretch as the fortified liquid fills your stomachs."

"Now are there any questions?"

There's silence as she looks around the group, and I notice several of the girls looking more than a little anxious. It makes me realise just how trusting we have to be towards our superiors, how dependant we are on them that they'll do the best by us and not bring us into harm. I wonder whether it's all part of our training, whether we'll be just as dependant on our rich princes once we get married an become their enormously fat wives.

I still want to voice my concerns to the teacher but I'm waiting for my moment, and leave it until the girls start heading off towards the pool before I approach her.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Foster" my voice sounds timid and awkward, "I think I may have eaten too much at lunchtime."

Mrs. Foster stares at me, raising an eyebrow.

"It was really silly of me. I went up for seconds when I was already full and I knew I shouldn't have eaten it, but I didn't want it all to go to waste."

She pauses for a moment as if waiting for more, then in her sharp voice just says "Did you now" and turns away.

I can't believe it! Does she really not care that I may be in danger, or worse that I may be dead! The warm tears stream down my plump cheeks as I bury my face in my hands, following reluctantly behind the other girls. Several of them ask me what's wrong, but I can't tell them for fear of being ridiculed. I join the queue, still quietly sobbing but resigned to my fate, as the girls are lead out each in turn by two carers in the pool and fixed up to a feeding station.

When it comes to my turn I can see myself visibly trembling as one of the carers takes my hand and gently leads me down the steps into the water. The pleasantness of the water helps calm me a little since it's like getting into a warm bath, and as I reach waist and then chest height and my belly and breast start to float, the pressure on my stomach finally eases off. Once I'm fully submerged I can't touch the bottom, but my head stays reassuringly above water. The two carers glide me into position, facing the front of the pool with the float around the back of my neck, and place two padded straps attached to a back harness under my arms to hold me in place.