Chapter 1 - out of school

Cynthia was an average teenager. She was above average by high school standards, actually. Always being the fittest and more laid back person around, she was envied by all. She had many friends but was never truly close to any of them. All of their connections were superficial but Cynthia was never aware of this because she never felt empty due to her massive ego. The truth was, she didn't have the time to build deep connections. She was always playing soccer or any other sport her mom forced her to do. Although she did dislike that her mom forced her to do sports, she was happy that it meant that she would always be skinny. She did not have an athletic build and was 5'2" inches of slim, very slightly toned body. She never bothered to weigh herself because she never felt the need to. To her, she had the "perfect" body. Her mom always pushed her to be stronger. Cynthia's mom was an athlete herself and ran track in college. She was never able to obtain a gold metal and didn't want her daughter to have the same fate. All through high school, Cynthia had no other option than to be fit but that was about to change.
The story begins 2 days after Cynthia graduated from high school. At this point, she was looking for her own apartment and job. She was only accepted into one college but she could not afford it based on her financial situation. Her priority was to find a job. Many resumes were written and only one was considered. Her only option was to start working at the fried chicken shop close three blocks from her house. This particular friend chicken shop was notorious for having some of the most greasy foods most people had ever eaten. The general crowd that is attracted were very, very obese. Unfortunately, this was her last choice for a job but it was still a source of income. Her mom wanted her to be independent so she could learn how to be an adult from the start. While Cynthia found this frustrating, she appreciated her mom's efforts to help her succeed. The major problem was that it meant that she was getting no money from her mom, only temporary housing. The plan was to move out as quickly as possible, not only because her mom was pressuring her into leaving, but also that she wanted to move on with her life. The job was set to start on the following thursday so Cynthia prepared herself for her first exposure to independence.
Cynthia arrived at the stop 15 minutes early so she would make a good impression. The owners and only workers were very welcoming and both oddly fit. They introduced themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Walker with big smiles of their faces. The man was slightly taller than average at what Cynthia estimated at 5'11" and with the body of a dedicated athlete. The was woman smaller than Cynthia and stood at about 5 feet.
"Hello, how are you today?" said the couple in unison.
"I'm well, thank you" replied Cynthia.
"I am so thankful that we finally have another worker here. It'll be nice to have another hand to help" said Mrs. Walker in a soft and gracious voice, "We've been getting really busy lately."
After being shown around and taught how to use the register where she would be working, they sat her down at the table.
"Aside from sticking to your job, the only rule here is that the only food you are allowed to eat has to come from inside this store while you are working. We are very committed to our job and feel that our employees should be too so we only ask that you are too. You can eat as much as you want, by the way." said Mr. Walker in an apologetic tone, as if she felt badly for the inconvenience.
The truth was that this was the best thing they could have said. The food that was being served, despite how greasy it may be, had to have tasted better than the cornerstore ramen she had been eating for the last week.
"For your first day," Mr. Walker continued, "we will give you a family portion for your time and get you family accustomed to the left over food you will bring home usually. We tend to cook more than needed and we certainly don't want it to go to waste." he said with a light chuckle.
He reached over the counter and pulled out a giant box in a doubled plastic bag. Cynthia stood and grabbed the bag. It must have weighed 10 pounds. Her small arms struggled to carry it out of the door. Cynthia's mom would never allow the fried chicken in her house. Because she was close to home and running out of ideas, she ultimately decided to take a seat in the nearby park and eat as much as she could and throw out what she could not finish. She sat in the park and opened the bags. When she opened the box, she could see that what she had heard about the food was no joke. There was pool of at least a half inch of grease at the bottom of the styrofoam container. She started to eat. After the first bite, she was in love. It was the most delicious food she had tasted in a long time. It occurred to her that she may like it so much because she was deprived of it her entire life up until that moment. She lost track of time. What felt like an hour of eating was actually 10 minutes of devouring the chicken ravenously. She only came back into awareness when she suddenly felt absolutely full. She looked down expecting to see half of the box missing but she found that only a quarter of the box looked remotely empty. Although she had eaten what she counted was 5 chicken legs, she had barely made a dent. She felt guilty for wasting so much food but she had to throw it away or else her mom would. Cynthia left the park empty handed and stuffed. She then went to the store to buy a quick soda to wash down all of the salt.
For the next week, Cynthia worked everyday except for sunday when the store was closed. Food was always being ordered and assistance was always needed. Her only break was the half hour when the store would close and she had her time to eat lunch. Cynthia pulled a chair up and sat behind the register to mindlessly ate the chicken until she was told to go back to work. She never counted how many pieces she ate, she just knew she was satisfied. After her shift ended, she took the leftovers because she did not want to offend the Walkers and went to the park to eat as much as she could. She tried to donate the extra food but the homeless shelters could not accept it because it was not packaged. She tried everything to not waste the food. She would throw the food away and go home.
The following week as Cynthia left for home, she got a call from her neighborhood friend asking what she was up to. They made plans to meet up later than evening and it suddenly occurred to Cynthia: she could give it to her friends. She approached her friend's house with the box of chicken. She waited for someone to respond to the door and out came her friend.
"Cynthia!" her friend exclaimed.
"Sarah!" replied Cynthia.
"Come in!" said Sarah ash she waved Cynthia in.
They both sat down on the couch that was facing the TV. All around was a mess of food wrappers and pizza boxes.
"My mom's graduation gift to me was that I got to order all the food I wanted for three weeks. She assumed that it would be a couple of fancy dinners here and there because I've always been worried about my weight but NOPE. I'm going all out. I'm taking this opportunity! I only have 6 more days but I'm gunna fill that and my stomach to the fullest!" said Sarah has she noticed Cynthia's wide eyes.
"Well I'm glad you're hungry 'cause I brought you some friend chicken" replied Cynthia, still staring at all of the food.
"I'm mostly doing this because it basically free money but okay, I guess I'll add that to my pile of trash" said Sarah in a really matter-of-fact tone.
Cynthia looked closer at her friend. She must have put on 5 pounds in 2 weeks. It was barely noticeable because she was on the cheer squad in high school and, like Cynthia, looked like a stick. If anything, the new weight made her look healthier. They sat next to each other while Sarah ate because Cynthia had already had her fair share. They were talking for a long time when Sarah abruptly said "that was good." Cynthia looked down to see the box completely empty for the first time. She looked up at her friend, wide eyed.
"You know every serving has like 2500 calories, right?" Cynthia said slowly to Sarah.
"That's cool to know" Sarah said in reply, then taking a sip of her cola.
"And I only ate one of those servings"
Sarah simply gave a slight nod
"You just ate like 10,000 in one sitting"
"Does is look like I care?!" Sarah exclaimed as she lifted up her shirt to expose her belly.
It was much more than 5 pounds. The loose fitting shirt she was wearing had concealed her added pounds well. She could have been 5 pounds heavier only on her belly and 10 pounds everywhere else. It was absolutely stuffed but still jiggled the smallest bit when it rubbed against the shirt.
"I've come this far and I'm not planning on stopping until my last week is up" said Sarah as Cynthia stared in amazement at her friend's transformation. "I'm going to take a nap or sleep until tomorrow. Who knows? I'll see you tomorrow and you better bring more chicken. That shit was good" called Sarah as she waddled up the stairs to her bedroom.
Cynthia left Sarah's house thinking, "Good thing I have a fast metabolism. I don't wanna end up like that."