chapter 2

"Shoulder stretches!" She called too quickly, reaching her left arm across her chest and pressing it further with her right. This had felt like a safe plan, but she could sense the eyes of her teammates examining her larger body from every side. She switched arms, quickly adjusting the area where her shirt had ridden up, and her teammates followed.
She resigned herself to this embarrassment and gave her teammates a few more stretches before ending the session much earlier than usual. The team made their way into the locker room, and Jane felt sure they were all whispering about her.
"You okay?" Rae asked her.
"Kind of embarrassed. I really need to order a size up uniform I guess," she said.
Rae smiled gently, "That might be a good idea. Could I get a ride home? I can walk if not, it's just a bit hot."
"Sure!" Jane replied, smiling brightly. They all changed into their day clothes, Jane especially quickly. As she was leaving the locker room with Rae, Coach Johnson stopped her.
"Hey, can I see you in my office for a moment?"
Jane glanced at Rae, "I'm supposed to drive her home."
Coach turned to Rae, "can you wait five minutes?"
"Okay!" she responded.
"Let's go," she said, and Jane followed her in nervously.
Jane sat in the chair opposite her coach, uncomfortably shifting in too tight jean shorts. Her shirt now at least was large enough to cover her straining waistband.
"What do you think I want to talk about?" Coach asked sternly.
Jane blushed, "I don't know."
Coach stared at her stomach. "Really? There's nothing sizable that stands out to you?"
Jane silently examined the floor, on the verge of tears. She could feel every cubic centimeter of fat which hadn't been there last season.
The two were quiet for a moment, before Coach said, "do you even realize you've put on weight, Jane?"
"No I haven't!" she shot back, even though she knew this was almost certainly untrue. Her clothes were so tight.
"Jane, you know I have access to your P.E. records, right?"
"I weigh the same that I did before. I checked just a few weeks ago."
This was clearly a ludicrous claim, but Jane was too embarrassed to admit her weight gain.
"Really, now? Then I must have no need for concern," Coach responded softly, and for a moment Jane felt relieved. Could she be off the hook this easily? "Of course, I'll need to check on that."
Jane stared stubbornly, right into her face. "Fine."
She stood up and marched to the corner of the room with the electric scale. How much had she even weighed last year? She wasn't sure.
When she arrived at the scale she paused, then she kicked off her shoes and took off her purse. She considered taking off her shirt as well, but she decided that would invite some unwelcome comments. She breathed in deeply, and stepped forward onto the scale.
"153." She said firmly.
"Oh?" replied Coach, peering over her shoulder and reaching her hand around Jane's waist to set it firmly on her soft stomach, "Darling, I know this must obscure your vision, so I can't fault you for being so blatantly off. It says 188."
"Oh! Well that's what I was at last year, anyway." Jane insisted, squirming away from the uncomfortable touch on her belly.
"Of course," she said, giving Jane's stomach a gentle pinch before letting go, "This was always bouncing about in front of you, I just must not have noticed last year."
Jane glared at her silently.
Coach sat at her computer and pulled up Jane's records. "Here it says you were 151 at the end of last year."
"That's a mistake. I was 175."
"Really? Then why does it say you were only 148 at the beginning of last year? And 147 at the end of the year before?"
Jane couldn't respond. Coach had cornered her, but she wasn't ready to admit she had gotten fat.
"Honey, this wasn't here before," she said, gesturing first to Jane's belly, but then more broadly to include much more of her. "I mean you were certainly never skinny, but you weren't overweight, either!"
"I am not overweight!"
"Really now? Because for that to be true you would have also grown four inches this summer. Upwards, I mean."
"Overweight doesn't even mean anything. Muscle is heavier than fat, so BMI is an imperfect measurement."
"Would you prefer we do a body fat test? I have calipers here as well. But I assure you, muscle doesn't behave like this," she said icily, slapping Jane's belly to illustrate her point. It jiggled obediently in response.
"Rae is waiting for me, Coach. What do you want?"
Coach stepped back for a moment. She needed to slow this down. It wasn't professional.
"I just noticed you might be in need of a different size," she replied softly. "You were a medium last year?"
Jane nodded.
"I think an extra large might be your best bet. That uniform was quite snug today."
Jane considered arguing, but didn't want to risk repeating this conversation if a large did prove to be too small. "Okay, thank you," she replied.
"Rae is waiting. Have a safe ride home. Try to eat healthy, okay? And keep up with your exercises. The team is depending on you."
Jane nodded, and left without another word. Overweight. She was overweight. When she got home, she ate until she couldn't move, and then she slipped her hand under her biting waistband and came to the thought of Coach confronting her when she got even more fat.