chapter 3 - year one part 3

It was May, the last full month of the school year, and Chloe began to the feel the stress of her job. The students were becoming increasingly restless as they eagerly awaited the start of summer. It seemed like every day Chloe was either sending someone to the office or assigning a detention. One day, while eating lunch in the school cafeteria, she felt the need to vent to Lisa.

"Ugh, my kids are out of control and getting worse. This summer can't come soon enough" she said, clearly exhausted.

"Speaking of which, what are your plans for summer? I've traditionally spent them lounging at the pool and watching crappy day-time soap operas; General Hospital is my favorite guilty pleasure. Think you might be interested in coming over to my place and being a couch potato this summer?" asked Lisa.

"I hadn't really thought of any plans until now, but I love GH so count me in!" replied Chloe.

Chloe then shifted her eyes downward to her nearly finished meal, the remnants of paltry chicken fajita salad. "I get that we need to cut down on school lunch size, but this just isn't doing it for me. I'm going to need more energy if I want to survive these kids" she thought to herself. That's when she noticed Lisa's lunch: it was comprised of two grilled cheese sandwiches, a bowl of tomato soup, and chocolate brownie for good measure.

"Hey, how did you manage to get all that?" said Chloe, gesturing to Lisa's hearty lunch spread. "That isn't the student lunch, is it?"

"Ah, that's a good observation. This is what I call the "double lunch", which is just what it sounds like - an extra helping of the regular student lunch. I found that the student lunch portions just weren't filling, so I started asking for more and viola - the double lunch was born. After all, we teachers need to keep up our strength and there are no restrictions on what they can serve us. It costs an extra dollar and the trick is that you just need to ask for it; they won't give it to you automatically" explained Lisa.

"Oh, well that's good to know" said Chloe.

A few days later, Chloe was standing in the cafeteria line with Lisa. As before, it had been another stressful day and Chloe was famished. She debated whether now was a good time to go in on the "double lunch" that Lisa had described. They were serving spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread, a classic, and one of Chloe's favorite meals. She had the passing thought that if she asked, the cafeteria worker might not take her seriously and even refuse to give her the extra food. Chloe watched as the cafeteria worker placed a modest amount of spaghetti on the plate and ladled just a bit of sauce. Now was her chance to ask, so she mustered her courage.

"Um, excuse me. C-could you make that a double lunch, please?" she asked hesitantly.

The wizened cafeteria worker looked Chloe in the eye for half a second and then quickly replied, with a smile, "Well, sure sweetie. Here you go."

"That's my girl! Double lunch for the win!" shouted Lisa who stood right behind Chloe in line.

Chloe felt her face redden. She wasn't thrilled that Lisa drew attention to her greediness. At the same time though, being able to ask for and receive what she wanted brought her a strong degree of self-satisfaction. She liked that feeling and decided that it was worth pursuing despite any possible social derision (which of course she had yet to experience). With this mindset, Chloe quickly overcame her initial apprehension and ended up ordering double lunches each day for the remaining three weeks of the school year.

At long last, Chloe's first summer as a teacher arrived. She and Lisa enacted their plan to watch day-time soap operas. As Jeremy and Mike both maintained full-time jobs, the two friends had most of the day to laze about. They decided to meet every weekday from 1 to 3 PM at Lisa's house.

On the first day of summer, Chloe arrived at Lisa's house and walked into the living room to discover her friend sitting on the sofa, waiting for her. She had never seen Lisa dressed so casually. Lisa wore a pair of athletic shorts that barely covered her waist and thighs. In fact, as she sat on the sofa, her massive thighs swallowed up her shorts, causing them to bunch up in the front. She wore a yellow t-shirt that said "William Taft Middle School 2012" and Chloe remembered that was the year after Lisa started teaching, after she gained 30 pounds. The shirt was incredibly small on Lisa, highlighting just how much she had grown over the past 5 years. It was tight on her skin, providing a clear outline of her swollen gut and deep navel. She sat of the sofa with a large bowl of potato chips and soda.

"Hey friend, come on in. I just planted my big butt on the sofa so I'd rather not get up to greet you if that's alright. Grab yourself a soda over there if you'd like and come sit down."

Chloe grabbed a Pepsi and joined Lisa on the sofa. She was still trying to adjust to her friend's slovenly appearance. Lisa's girth was on full display as her tiny shorts did nothing to hide the cellulite in her meaty thighs; for the first time, Chloe noticed her friend's prominent double chin. Chloe also noted how supremely comfortable Lisa appeared, as though she didn't even give her appearance a second thought.

"Let's put the chips here between us. So, are you comfortable? Ready to begin this summer of awesomeness?"

Chloe realized that she was ogling her friend's body and quickly snapped back into reality. "Yeah, let's get this party started!" she said.

The two friends spent the afternoon mocking the soap operas for their overly dramatic performances and ridiculous plot lines. While they watched, they gorged themselves on chips, eventually finishing an entire bag, and drank two sodas a piece. They continued this routine, more or less, for the next couple of weeks. Chloe became an eager participant in the whole affair by sometimes supplying the snacks, soda, or even baking brownies on occasion. She really looked forward to their daily hangouts and the two friends grew even closer together.

One day, after using the bathroom at Lisa's house, Chloe noticed that it was a little more difficult than usual for her to button her shorts. She was able to do so, but only after sucking in her belly, something she had never needed to do before. She hadn't weighed herself since April and actively avoided spending time in front of the mirror, but now, however, she was starting to run into consequences of her overindulgence with Lisa. Chloe had been in denial about her growing midsection and waist for months now and this latest incident with her shorts was the straw that broke the camel's back. A feeling of dread entered her mind. She panicked and ran out of the bathroom. She hoped that Lisa would understand why she needed to do this.

"I don't think I'll be able to come over anymore. I'm sorry, Lisa"

"Whoa where is this coming from girl? I thought we've had a lot of fun these past few weeks. What's going on? Did something happen?" said Lisa with genuine concern.

Chloe took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She also tried to prepare herself for what she was about to say.

"Look, I haven't weighed myself recently but the last time I did I was up 7 pounds from my wedding weight. I was able to push that aside because nobody seemed to notice but now I'm afraid I've gone too far" she then paused, "I'm getting fat and I think I need to stop tempting myself by coming here".

"Chloe, I know I've joked about you gaining as much weight as I did after my wedding, but the most important thing for me is that you feel comfortable with yourself. Spending time with you has been awesome and eating together has been a great part of that. But, if you feel like you need to do this for yourself then so be it" said a mournful Lisa.

"You are a great friend, Lisa. I think I just need to sort some things out with myself...I'm sorry." said Chloe as she turned and left to return home with tears in her eyes.