chapter 3

Samantha opened the door, and Emma could tell that she'd grown even more since spring. She smiled as she saw her old friend. "Hey, you're here! We're at the same school again!"

Emma tried to smile, but she knew Samantha had changed. Ms. Cole brought her suitcase inside, and left the two girls to catch up.

Samantha plopped herself down onto her bed. Emma awkwardly stood by hers.

"Sam, what the hell is going on?" Emma finally opened up. "What happened to you? What's with this school?"

Samantha grabbed a half-eaten bag of candy from her night table and started to snack. "It's good here, you'll like it. Way better than those other schools."

"Are there even classes?" For the first time in her life, Emma just wanted to be a regular student.

"Well yeah, but they're different. More fun. I'm doing really good. Ms. Cole said I could be late for the morning class since you were coming."

Emma sat down on her bed and sighed. "Do we have to go now?"

Samantha glanced over at the clock. "We can stay here for a few more minutes." She finished the candy and went for a box of cookies in her drawer.

She didn't want to admit it, but Emma hadn't eaten breakfast and she was hungry. "Can I have one?"

Samantha smiled wide. "Yeah, sure!" She gave Emma a handful.

The cookies were incredible, and the two girls quickly finished the box together. Emma was feeling much fuller than she normally would have been after a snack like this. Samantha looked at the clock again and slowly lifted herself off the bed.

"We've got to go, come on!" She waddled to the elevator with Emma following after her.

They went down to the 2nd floor, and the classroom was right in front of them when they got off. Samantha took a seat near the front and Emma sat next to her. Her chair felt like a couch.

The morning teacher was tall and thin like Ms. Cole. She had black hair and was wearing a green dress. She smiled at Samantha and knelt down beside Emma.

"I'm Ms. Baker, it's great to have you here! I know you had some trouble in your other schools, but you're going to do wonderful here." She stood up before the class.

"Since Emma's new here, we should introduce ourselves! You don't have to stand up, just tell Emma your name and your favorite food!"

Emma hadn't seen her classmates yet. She turned around in her seat and her jaw dropped.

An enormous blonde girl sitting in the back corner behind spoke first. "I'm Kelly, I love pizza!"

One by one, every single girl did the same. And every single one of them had a BMI well over 30. Samantha was last, and she laughed as she told Emma her name and just how much she loved cookies.

Ms. Baker had been smiling the whole time. "Now you! We know you're Emma, what's your favorite food?"

Emma paused. "Uh, cake?..." she said quietly.

The teacher silently left the room and came back a few moments later, holding a large chocolate cake. She placed it on Emma's desk.

"Okay, dig in!" All eyes in the room were on Emma.

She didn't know what to do. "I-I don't have a fork..."

"Just use your hands!" Ms. Baker watched her intently.

Emma hesitantly took a small bite, and then a large one. This was the best cake she'd ever had, by far.

The other girls crowded around her, cheering her on as she kept eating. Emma quickly grew full, but found herself unable to stop shoving handfuls of cake into her mouth.

After finishing about a quarter of it, she knew it wasn't like any other cake she'd had. It must have been fattening beyond belief, as she was already sporting a pretty chubby potbelly and she still had much more to eat. Emma seriously regretted wearing jeans today, but for some reason, she felt more concerned with finishing the cake than about just how much weight it was putting on her. She ate ravenously, and it showed.

When she had finished about half of the cake, the button on her jeans finally gave way, and a newly fattened belly spilled out over her lap. Ms. Baker beamed with delight as Emma kept eating.

With just a few more handfuls to go, Emma leaned back in her chair and groaned, too full to keep going. Ms. Baker took over, helping her finish every last crumb. Emma felt huge, but she was still the smallest girl in the class. Samantha was staring at her, impressed.

"Samantha, will you help Emma back to your room? She did amazing!" The other girls clapped as Samantha waddled out of the classroom with Emma leaning on her shoulder, dazed from being so full.

"Em, that was crazy... I had to eat a ton of cookies, but I've never seen someone eat so much on their first day!" The two girls took the elevator up and went to their dorm.

Emma fell asleep almost instantly as Samantha let her fall onto her bed.