chapter 1

Ray arrived first, early as always. Soon after, Fae, Marron, and Layal made their way in, breathing in the memories and muted stink of the locker room they hadn't seen since the end of last season. They had made second place in the region, barely losing to their rivals, the Oak Hill girls. This year they were going to crush regionals and move on to states, especially with Fae and Ruby Sue both being seniors. This was their last chance to make school history and win states.
"Who are we missing?" asked Rae seriously. She looked from teammate to teammate with a characteristic seriousness which would be overbearing if it wasn't endearing.
"Ruby Sue, Florence, Jasmine, and Jane," Fae replied, frowning. "Who else? There are twelve continuing from last year, right?"
"Also Lisa and Alex. Oh, Camille and Samantha too," Marron listed, "what's taking Coach so long?"
"I don't know, she's usually early."
Just then, Coach Johnson walked in.
"Sorry I'm late ladies, there's serious traffic coming from the East."
One by one the remaining team members took their seats on the benches. Each was wearing her uniform from the previous year. The girls chatted about their summers and about which junior varsity players they thought were cut out for the team. Jane was the only player missing. She played left center, but could make a mean defense as well if one of the go to defenders is out of commission. Unlike most varsity players, she had made the team sophomore year. Her one major problem was that she was routinely five to ten minutes late to practice, though she always managed to make it to games on time, largely because Rae helpfully texted her around the times she should be getting ready and leave. This would be annoying if Jane didn't feel it saved her the embarrassment of being reprimanded by Coach Johnson in front of the team and their families and boyfriends and girlfriends who had come to support them. Sometimes Coach started practice without her, but sometimes she made everyone wait in the hopes that this would cause Jane to be more mindful of how her punctuality affected others.
Seven minutes after the scheduled start time Jane slowly opened the door as if this would make her less noticeable.
"Come in then, we've been waiting!" Coach called impatiently.
She opened the door the rest of the way, holding her large athletic bag in front of her body as she walked to her seat. Jane had tried to hide behind her bag, but she saw her teammates eyes widen when she entered their vision. A few of them exchanged glances and then looked back at Coach, pretending not to have noticed.
Jane breathed a little heavily after speed walking from her car. Her red hair had been curled in an effort to make her cheeks look less chubby comparatively, but this did not hide the undeniable snugness of her uniform, which was clear even without the athletic bag she held systematically over her chubbiest parts. Her teammates couldn't see her midsection terribly well, but they all noticed that her arms had rounded to fill out her sleeves tightly, her thighs had grown to almost the exact radius of her previously baggy shorts, and even her calves looked considerably larger. She didn't quite have a double chin, but she certainly had a weaker one.
"Well," Coach said, breaking the silence nobody had really felt until that point, "who's ready for another season?"
The team cheered, and Jane relaxed, thinking her weight gain might go unaddressed. Coach talked about the importance of soccer, about how she's got players who went on to be doctors, actors, and college stars. She talked about the new players and how they must make them feel part of the team after tryouts. And then she walked a few feet over so she was still facing the group but her body was pointed right toward Jane.
"I know you've all been keeping up with your exercises, right?" She asked, smiling. She looked at the faces of each player in turn, finishing on Jane and lingering a moment longer than necessary. Jane blushed and stared at her lap.
She hadn't gotten that out of shape, she was sure of it. She'd been on a cruise with her family, and admittedly the cafeteria had been a welcome escape from her father. It couldn't be that bad.
Coach looked away from her again. *And you've all been eating healthy? I trust you've all been getting enough?"
This all seemed innocuous enough. A few girls did have trouble getting enough food, and over the years Coach had helped many players through eating disorders. Especially in such a running heavy sport skinniness is often prized to a dangerous extent. Marron avoided eye contact, and Coach noticed she was looking a little on the unhealthy side of thin again. But Coach didn't look at her for very long. She looked right into Jane's face, daring her to return the eye contact.
"But that's enough talk, girls. Why don't you all get your water bottles and balls and we can go out to the field? This'll be an easy practice, we start conditioning Wednesday, but we can just get back into the soccer spirit, huh? Leave your bags here, too."
Jane winced when she said that. The girls got up, locking their things up and filling water bottles. Many of them shot sideways glances at Jane, curious to see just how fat she'd gotten.
She slouched somewhat after she locked her bag away, but her belly had clearly grown substantially, and her hips and butt weren't far behind. Her shorts clung to her sides, creating a dent at her hips. Her stomach rolled over the front of her shorts. She kept pulling her shirt down and tugging at the sides as if that would make it stretch, make it a little less tight.
"Outside, girls! Let's go!" Coach called.
They filed out and lined up at their usual spot by the left goal post.
"Alright, let's have two easy laps to start."
The team began to jog around the field. Jane was last in the group, but she was keeping up. When she ran, her belly bounced, as if it were a step behind the rest of her. When the team finished their laps, Jane was panting and red in the face.
"Jane," coach said, "did you remember sunscreen? You look a little red."
"Um," Jane said between breaths, "I put. Some on. Just," she gasped, "tired."
"Oh, I see." Coach was playing dumb. She had to be. The team exchanged glances, uncomfortable with Jane's poor fitness and with the awkward attention given to it.
"Okay, everyone pair up. Time for sit ups."
They found partners. Rae took Jane, who had just about caught her breath.
"Are you doing alright, friend?" Rae asked gently.
Jane smiled, "I'm really excited for a new season. And I had a great summer. My family went on a cruise and it was so pretty!"
"Alright!" Coach interrupted, "no talking. Everyone in position? One minute, count for your partners. Ready? Go."
Jane held down Rae's feet as she did her sit ups. Coach called the end of a minute, and she congratulated her friend, "76! Nice job!"
Rae grinned proudly, "thanks! Your turn."
Jane looked nervous but laid down where Rae had been a minute before. "Alright girls: ready, set, begin," Coach called, pacing back in front of her girls and stopping to watch Jane specifically.
Jane was struggling. She had never been the best at sit ups, but she didn't used to be bad. Now her stomach just seemed to be in the way. It rolled into balls as she sat up, then relaxed into her sides when she laid back down. Her face was becoming red again with exertion and embarrassment, and she took fast, deep breaths. Coach squinted at her stomach. Her shirt had begun to ride up and her fat spilled over her waistband. How had she put on so much weight?
"Time!" Coach called.
"16," Rae informed her grimly. "Friend, I'm worried. What happened to you, here?" She gestured generally at Jane's midsection.
Jane blushed even deeper, "I haven't put on as much weight as the uniform makes it seem. There was a really good buffet on the cruise is all. I'll lose it in no time with conditioning. It's really only maybe ten pounds."
Rae looked dubious. In her experience with numerous sports, often overweight girls had proven to be much more athletic than they appeared, but she didn't think Jane had been gaining much muscle with the fat, and she was pretty sure she had put on more than just ten pounds.
The truth was that Jane had no idea how much weight she gained because she had been too afraid to weigh herself.
Practice continued in much the same way. Coach continued to select activities which most of the team found fairly easy, and which left Jane very apparently out of shape.
At the end of practice, after they'd had a water break, Coach called everyone in.
"Alright girls, time for our cool-down stretches," she said, just like she did at every practice. The girls waited for her to ask them who wanted to volunteer to lead the stretches, but instead they heard "Jane, would you please lead us tonight?"
The team exchanged glances and circled around her. She could feel eyes on her every angle of fat.