chapter 3

(Author's note: I can't believe this is two years old!)

"What the hell, Jane?"
She curled deep into a ball. Who was talking to her?
"Jane!" Her mom shook her by the shoulder. "Wake up, baby."
Jane sat up, blinking. Then she saw the scattered remains of the previous night's binge.
"Oh, shit," she mumbled.
"Baby I didn't say anything when we were on vacation but this is not something you can get away with. You need to stop overeating like this. You've really put on a lot of weight."
Jane sat up slowly.
"Really?" she asked, looking up at her mother.
"Are you serious?" she retorted, "Can't you feel the way your clothes fit?"
Jane looked down. She was wearing a skin tight tank top which had ridden up past her belly button during the night, revealing three large rolls of fat. She pulled it down quickly.
"I haven't gained weight. I'm just bloated from eating a little too much last night," Jane mumbled, avoiding eye contact.
"Sweetheart you can't actually be in this much denial. Stand up, honey."
Jane stood, facing her mother. She looked directly in her eyes with a false confidence.
"Now look down at your tummy. Put your hand on it."
Jane did as instructed.
"Do you feel how soft that is?" her mother asked. "Let me show you, here, move your hand."
She reached over and gently jiggled Jane's belly fat.
"Bloat doesn't do that."
"Well it's only natural that I would be a little bigger than other girls since I have extra muscle from soccer."
"Muscle? You haven't exercised since spring. Sweetie that is fat! Pure fat!" she slapped Jane's belly for emphasis. "It's not just on your tummy but that's where it's the worst. Your thighs are huge, your ass is huge, even your face looks chubby."
"Mom, stop, I think you're just being critical. It's normal to have a little fat on your body, everybody does."
"This is not a little! I'm sorry if it's hard to hear but you have gotten seriously chubby and I just need you to stop before you can't turn back. Do you know how many women try to lose weight and then they just gain it back again? You still have time to go back to your old habits and keep from getting to that point."
"I am not chubby!"
Her mom raised an eyebrow. "You really think this is what you looked like before?"
"Yes!" Jane insisted, unsure why she was claiming this but unable to turn back.
"Stay here," her mother instructed, marching off.
Jane looked down at her body, running her hand over her stomach and pinching the fat tenderly. She had really gained a lot of weight, but she felt the humiliation of being called out on it so compelling. She heard her mom's footsteps approaching and moved her hand away from her stomach, pulling her hair into a ponytail. As her mom entered, she sat up straighter, feeling her tank top ride up her stomach, stretched tight against it.
Her mom eyed the visible skin on her belly with disgust. She presented Jane with a neatly folded outfit.
"You wore this last Thanksgiving. It fit you perfectly then. If you haven't gained weight, try it on and see how it fits."
Jane blushed a deep red. She picked up the clothing uncomfortably. "It will fit," she said meekly.
"Go on, try it on. You can change in the bathroom."
Jane walked to the bathroom, aware of how her thighs jiggled as she walked and the fat on her back just barely folded into love handles as she turned to close the door behind her. She looked in the mirror at her body as she undressed. She had gained a good deal of weight, but really she couldn't be more than a few pounds overweight. She enjoyed the humiliation, but logically she couldn't see why her mom was so worried. She had started on the low end of healthy, so it's not like she was obese.
In her underwear, she eyed the old clothes cautiously. There was no way she could get them to look right. There was a nice skirt and a button up blouse and camisole. She started with the skirt, which came on okay but which was challenging to zip up. She sucked in her belly as best she could and pulled it up almost to the top, but when she let her stomach back out it unzipped again. She had grown so much. She poked her stomach fat, intrigued.
"How's it going in there?" her mom called from the hallway.
"Fine! Just a minute please."
She sucked in her belly again and zipped it as high as she could, and just held her belly in so it would stay up.
Now for the shirt. She put her arms in, feeling how tight the fabric was now. It clung tight to her larger arms, and as she pulled it around to her already sucked in belly she was relieved to discover that she was able to button it fine-at first. As she made her way up to the larger part of her belly she found that she had to stretch the buttons tighter and tighter to fit until finally she reached one that just wouldn't go in. She paused, evaluating the situation in the mirror. Her belly fat spilled out over the buttons and stretched the higher ones almost comically. Her hips were far wider than the skirt around them and the fat above the waistline clearly stuck out over her skirt. Yikes. She had never felt more aroused.
She tried to suck in even more, but couldn't, and her stomach muscles were beginning to feel sore from the effort. She finally found that if she stuffed the stomach fat above the shirt into the already buttoned part she could get enough fabric to button the higher ones. Her breasts had grown too, but this shirt had never been meant to emphasize them as she only wore it to family events, and since she had gained so much more stomach fat she didn't find that part as hard to button.
With the worst behind her, she looked in the mirror again to survey the damage. She didn't realise that thirty pounds looked like so much on her. She was clearly much larger than when this shirt fit her well. Even with her belly sucked in as it was, the buttons stretched tight over her big stomach, and a few even revealed her skin between the gaps.
She winced. Her mother was going to be so smug and critical. Why did this kind of attention turn her on?
No matter. She slipped into the camisole, which had been fashionably baggy on her last year and now fit more snugly. She buttoned the camisole over the worst parts of her stomach, looked in the mirror, and sighed. Why was she doing this?
"If it doesn't fit, you don't need to show me. You can just come out and we'll talk about healthy eating."
"No, it fits fine," she said, and opened the bathroom door.
Her mom looked her up and down. "You're just covering up with that camisole. Obviously the buttons are stretched really tight. Take off the sweater babe."
"No, this is how it looked before."
"Take of the sweater."
She looked at her mom, blushing with shame, and slipped off the camisole, holding it in front of her.
"Move it. Stop hiding your tummy I need you to see this. You have gained so much weight and you need to know how to recognise that before you don't have me here to take care of you."
Jane sighed deeply and dropped the camisole on the floor.
"Oh my god," her mom murmured.
Jane stared down at her belly.
"Maybe I have gained a few pounds. Five or maybe ten, right?"
"No way. Five or ten pounds doesn't make this happen," her mother said, sticking her finger between one of the gaps between the buttons. "You must have gained at least twenty five."
"I don't eat that much!" Jane said quickly, stepping back. "These clothes were just a little tight to begin with."
"No they weren't! They were perfect!"
Jane put her hand on her stomach, squishing the fat a little. "I guess maybe I should try to lose a few pounds."
Her mom sighed with relief, smiling. "I know it's hard to acknowledge sweetie. I will help you lose the weight if you want."
Jane smiled up at her mom. "Thank you," she said, with no real intention of following through on this.
The two of them ate nonfat yogurt and tea for breakfast, and then went for a mile run. Jane made it, but in over thirteen minutes. She used to have a seven minute mile.
After their run, they ate open faced guacamole sandwiches with salad and fruit for lunch.
"See Jane? Healthy food is delicious. We'll get that fat off of you in no time, and you'll be back in shape for soccer, too. I've got to go to work now, don't ruin your hard work by having any unhealthy snacks! I'll get those out of the house later so they aren't there to tempt you, and I'll be back by dinner so we can eat together if you want. If you get hungry, try a handful of nuts or cheese and a piece of fruit. That will make you feel much more full for longer than the processed carbs you've been eating recently."
"Thanks Mom, you're right. I'm glad you pointed my weight out before it got out of control."
Her mom smiled. "I'll see you tonight."
"Have a good day at work."

Jane sat down at her desk, opening her summer reading book for the first time. She read a line, then heard her phone's text alert. She opened it. It was from Rae.
"Hey, you free today?"
She typed back, "yeah, wanna hang out?"
"Yes! I was thinking it would be fun to go for a hike. Do you want to join me?"
Jane paused. Was Rae inviting her for a hike because she had gained weight? Was this her friend's gentle way to get her to exercise?
"I'm a bit sore. Mom made me go for a run this morning- can you believe she said I'm getting fat?"
"How was the run?"
"Oh... well I guess I'm a little out of shape tbh. I was at a thirteen minute mile."
"How far did you go to average thirteen minutes?"
"Just a mile." Jane shifted in her seat. She gently began to touch her inner thighs, feeling how tight her shorts were on her legs.
A moment later, Rae had responded again. "Oh honey. I really hope you can play soccer still I honestly wouldn't even be on the team without you."
Jane stopped touching herself. She hadn't thought of this. Was she willing to give up this sport and her health for this weird kink she was discovering in herself? She wasn't sure.
"Let's hike, actually."