Chapter 2 - setting the stage

At the end of July, Scott's lease expired and he moved into Piper's townhouse. He was eager to begin fattening up Piper, but knew that a calculated approach was required. While he didn't doubt that she would fulfill her end of the bargain, he wanted to shift her attitude on weight gain; otherwise she might simply drop the pounds in the following year. Scott knew that he now had the opportunity to break Piper down, piece by piece, and rebuild her, physically and mentally, into a more perfect woman. It was a tall task, but Scott was confident in his plan. The first step required patience and observation.

During the first month of their cohabitation, Scott studied Piper's habits with an intense curiosity, similar to that of a zoologist analyzing the behavior of a wild animal. He wanted to learn what what he could exploit to make her overeat. He noticed that she grazed on healthy snack foods like blueberries, carrots, and almonds and kept almost no junk food in the house. She also only drank water. Scott realized that taking control of the grocery shopping would be a logical next step.

"Hey, Earth to Scott!" shouted Piper as she caught Scott staring into space; she was dressed in tight spandex workout clothes. "Thinking about how you'll fatten me up? Well keep dreaming, honey. I may have agreed to put on 30 pounds, but you never said it couldn't be part muscle! Too bad you won't have a flabby and soft marshmallow for a girlfriend. I'm going to lift at the gym."

"Damn her!" Scott thought to himself. Although Piper was intelligent, Scott hadn't anticipated this amount of tact from her. "Well, looks like this will be a challenge after all" he thought.

A few weeks after Scott moved in, Piper was going through some stress at work. There was a lot of staff turnover and she was forced to work a bit more than usual. Piper was really annoyed and Scott noticed that she had become more irritable even on her days off.

"Goddamn this blender, it keeps jamming!" yelled Piper. She had just returned from the gym and was trying make a smoothie. She smacked the blender violently in a vain attempt to restart it.

"Woah, relax. Let me take a look" said Scott calmly. He discovered the problem a moment later. "Ah, see, this is causing the blades to stick. It'll take a few minutes but I should be able to fix it..."

"I don't have time for this! I'm supposed to meet a friend in 10 minutes!" exclaimed Piper. She grabbed a bag of peanut M & M's, tore it open, and poured a fourth of the contents into her mouth. After a few chews, she managed to say with a mouthful: "Mmm, thank God for M & M's. I feel better already."

As Piper ran off to meet her friend, the proverbial wheels in Scott's mind began to turn. That day he went to the grocery store to stock up on peanut M & Ms. He also bought some of Piper's usual foods, realizing that she would likely reject any over-the-top reversal of her diet. Instead, Scott planned to slowly change her diet over the coming year. Soon enough, Piper would come to find that anytime she became upset, her favorite candy would be there, waiting to console her.

Weeks passed and summer slipped into autumn. Piper's gym routine was still going strong and the effects of her workout were evident. She looked slightly bulkier as her arms, legs, and back became more sculpted and muscular. Strands of her tousled, black hair dangled between her chin and shoulders, hiding the more well-defined features of her face and adding a sporty touch to her increasingly athletic frame. Although Piper had added mass, she was turning into a hard body.

Scott knew he had to put an end to Piper's workout routine. He figured that if he could somehow disrupt it for a considerable time, chances were good that she might quit it altogether. He started to accompany her to the gym, which was located in their townhouse community. He observed her weightlifting routine, taking note of how she used the machines. One exercise required her to pull a bar raised high above her head down to her chest; the bar was connected to a pulley system that lifted metal plates with each repetition. The plates had stickers that displayed the various weight amounts. As he watched Piper lift, a devious idea entered Scott's mind. A few days later, when they were the only two people at the gym, Scott decided to enact his plan.

"Bet you can't do 10 reps of 60 pounds on the pulldown" said Scott.

"Ha, that's only 10 pounds more than I usually do" scoffed Piper. "Seventy is a better challenge. What shall we wager?"

"How about if you win, I drop 5 pounds off the deal and if you lose I add 5 pounds to the deal."

Piper felt extremely confident in her strength, so she decided to push her luck. "A mere 5 pounds? Pshh. How about 10 pounds?"

Scott feigned deliberation for a moment. "How about this: you can take off 10 pounds if you win and because I'm so nice I'll keep it at a 5 pound addition if you lose. But, Halloween is coming up and so if you lose you also have to wear this." Scott pulled out his phone and showed Piper a picture of a beautiful model in a shimmering pink dress, however, on her face she wore a flesh-colored snout made of velvet and atop her hair sat a headband with two small, cropped pig ears.

"A sexy pig costume!? Haha, you are incorrigible! Fine, it's a deal. But don't get your hopes up because I'm about to crush this bet" she replied.

Piper walked over to the machine, adjusted the weight to 70 pounds, and sat down. She gripped the bar above her head and began to pull it down to her chest. She was immediately surprised by how heavy it was; perhaps she had overestimated her strength? After 5 reps she began to struggle; her pace slowed and her movements became less fluid. At 7 reps she strained heavily and her muscles began to quickly fatigue. She was on her last rep when she suddenly felt a shooting pain in her shoulder.

"Unnngghh! Damn it!" yelled Piper as she let go over the overhanging bar, unable to complete the final rep. After regaining her composure, she said disappointingly: "I thought I was strong enough..."

"Well, you know what they say: Pride comes before the fall" said Scott smugly.

"I can't believe I need to get even fatter and dress like a pig now. Ugh and my shoulder is killing me" she said with a mix of dejection and irritation.

"C'mon, let's get you back home and maybe we can go to the doctor later."

As they walked back to their townhouse, Scott was in awe of how well his planned worked. The night before, he had secretly switched the stickers on the machine, moving them down so that each weight plate was labeled 10 pounds lighter than it actually was. Thus, when Piper thought she was lifting 70 pounds, it was actually 80. Moreover, he was able to use her competitiveness to goad her into upping the ante! He felt bad that she hurt herself, but his guilt quickly faded after they went to the doctor's that night.

"Doc says I have 'shoulder impingement syndrome', which is basically a slight tearing and inflammation of my rotator cuff" said Piper as she walked back into the waiting room. "I need to take some meds, ice it, and limit physical activity for the next month. So, no more lifting for me."

"I'm sorry to hear that, babe" replied Scott in the sincerest tone he could muster.

"Yeah, yeah" said Piper sarcastically. "You're just happy that I'll soften up now. I see through your fake sympathy. C'mon, let's go home and order that pig costume..." she said, resigning herself to the consequences of her foolish bet.

Halloween arrived two weeks later and the young couple were prepared to hand out candy to trick or treaters. Piper's slipped on the dress of her "sexy pig" costume and watched its glistening pink fabric sparkle as she stood alone in front of the mirror.

"I would actually look really cute if not for these" she said aloud, looking at the velvet snout and ears. "Well, a bet's a bet". She took a deep sigh and put on the costume's accessories. She went to the front porch, set up two chairs, and wondered where Scott was. Soon afterwards, Scott opened the front door and stepped onto the porch. In one hand he carried a 6 pack of bottled beer and in the other was a plastic bowl filled with fun-sized M & Ms; he was dressed in long blue jean overalls, working boots, and a straw hat.

"Are...are you dressed as a farmer?" asked Piper incredulously. Scott merely nodded in reply. "You have such a depraved mind, Scott Bridgeman!"

Scott shrugged off Piper's comments, knowing that her disgust was mostly feigned. "Here, have a cold one" he said, opening the top of one of beers and passing it to her. "You're looking pretty sexy in that costume by the way."

"Oh shut up!" she shouted playfully.

The two of them sat on the porch waiting for trick or treaters, but no one was in sight. After about 30 minutes Piper, who had finished about half of her beer and was starting to feel a little buzzed, said: "It's Halloween, somebody should be eating this candy".

"Well, I think you should be the one to do so. After all, you are a pig who needs to gain 35 pounds" Scott deadpanned.

Piper laughed aloud. "These are my favorite. Ah, what the heck" she said as she stood up and grabbed a handful of the fun sized packages. "Just don't judge me when I eat half the bowl, ok?"

The night continued on with nary a trick or treater. Hours passed and Piper, nearly true to her word, ate 12 fun sized packs of peanut M & Ms as she guzzled down three beers. Scott kept her entertained while noting how the alcohol seemed to enable her gluttony. At 11:00, they both stumbled off to bed with Piper being too drunk to take off her costume. Scott watched his lovely girlfriend, dressed as a pig, snuggle up to him in bed. Her breath smelled of alcohol and he saw chocolate stains around her mouth. Piper fell asleep and Scott watched her bloated belly rise and fall with each breath.