chapter 3

Brandon went over to Harvey's and they ordered pizza and played some games for a few hours. He didn't eat all of his pizza because his jeans were surprisingly tight after a few slices. He powered through for a few more but then it got a little painful.

Luckily, Harvey didn't notice anything at all.

A little while later, Harvey got a call from a mutual friend who said he was having a few people over. It was explicitly not a party, because it was Sunday and some people didn't want to get kicked out of college but Brandon knew it was still likely to get out of hand.

Brandon was convinced Harvey was only friends with Simon because he didn't live on campus and could actually throw parties. The guy was weird. When they got there, they saw Simon and his girlfriend making out on the couch and a few other people. Brandon knew the girlfriend, she was in his study group but they'd never really talked.

They spent a few hours there, drinking a little and playing a few games. Simon tried talking to him a few times but Brandon made excuses and then was a little more direct at avoiding him. Simon looked a little hurt but Brandon didn't care. He just didn't like the guy.

That night, when he got home, there was another note. It simply said:

"Another act of unkindness. That's double again."

He ignored it and went to sleep.

The next week was pretty uneventful. He hit the gym once and actually went to class. By the next monday, however, he was convinced that someone was playing a trick on him. All of his clothes were tight, like really tight but he hadn't eaten anything that significant.

He wasn't stupid, he knew that weight gain was almost directly tied to food consumption and energy use. He'd been to the gym five mornings out of seven and hadn't eaten any junk food.

When he looked in the mirror, though, he knew that it wasn't a joke. His stomach was definitely pudgy. Any hint of definition was gone.

How was that possible in only a week?

He tried not to think about it and downloaded a fitness app on his phone. The next morning he logged his breakfast before heading out to class. Maybe he'd been overeating without thinking.

He tried to concentrate in class but he couldn't. He was hungry and uncomfortable in his tight clothes.

He looked around the class and nearly jumped out of his chair when he saw someone staring at him. It was that girl from the party. Meadow.

She was a small smirk on her face as she looked him up and down. It was unnerving. He ignored her, focusing on anything else.

When class was over, he was straight out of the door. He resisted heading over to McDonald's for lunch, knowing that he just had to curb his eating for a few weeks before he could go back to eating whatever he wanted.

He decided to get a salad from the deli across campus so he turned around to walk in the other direction. He froze. Meadow was a few paces behind him.

"What do you want?" he asked.

If it came out a little harsh, he was irritable and hungry and she was creeping him out.

"Hey," she said. "I just wanted to say, no hard feelings about the other night."

"Uh, yeah? Okay?"

"Did you maybe want to go get lunch?" she asked.

"No thanks," he said.

The girl was creepy. Like, really creepy. He couldn't stop thinking about how she'd been staring at him in class.

"Oh, oka-"

"Leave. Me. Alone." he demanded and walked past her.

The note he found in his dorm that night was short and just as incomprehensible as the others:

"Total: x 8"