Chapter 4 - lap of luxury (1/2)

The next few weeks were a blessing for Bethany. If she had ever been the type to look a gift horse in the mouth, then she might have been wary from the moment she was handed that first protein bar. But to Bethany, ignorance was bliss, and her new lifestyle kept her quite satisfied.

At the start of the year, Bethany was more than content to sit near the backmost edge of the classroom, often procuring an entire table to herself so she could sleep uninterrupted. She figured that her good looks and haughty aura would be enough to repel any peers who dared approach, and she had been right.

Until now.

"Today, class, we're learning about the social structure of an ANT COLONY. These insects may be small, but they can teach us some BIG lessons!"

Ever since she accepted food from that first girl (Bethany, of course, still hadn't bothered to learn her name), it triggered a strange chain of events. Like clockwork, once Bethany leaned back in her chair after another secretive in class stuffing, she felt that same familiar tap on the shoulder followed immediately by another scrumptious gift. Every day, without fail, this happened, until Bethany honestly couldn't imagine surviving until the end of class without that extra morsel.

After settling into what Bethany felt was a comfortable routine, she began bumping into her mysterious snack supplier between classes. In the hallways, bathrooms, and basically all over campus Bethany would cross paths with her. The girl only offered a cheery hello before passing off yet another calorific care package.

They might've exchanged names once, but it only registered vaguely. Bridget? Brittany? She couldn't be sure. But small talk was never the goal; any and all brief interactions they shared were always punctuated with food. It was a hand off, not a friendship.

Despite Bethany's dismissive attitude, these occurrences were becoming increasingly frequent, and for that she was secretly thankful. It got to the point where there wasn't a moment that Bethany wasn't hungrily scanning the hallways, hoping for another run in.

"The first stage of an ant's development is the LARVAE. These little buggers have very LIMITED movement, but will ALWAYS make their way towards any source of FOOD."

Bethany hating rushing around campus, and thus had scheduled every class in close proximity with one another. But as she came more and more to rely on her newfound food dispenser, she would sometimes wander the halls in search for her if she was hungry enough.

Fortunately, for Bethany, this strange trend began to metastasize.

More and more girls, most of whom Bethany had never even seen, would wave cheerily to her and depart with yet more goodies. Soon, Bethany had little need to venture out into the rest of the campus, as even travelling the short distance between her classes seemed to guarantee a treat.

She certainly wasn't complaining.

Regardless, the trek, however brief, to each subsequent class period was leaving her breathless more and more often. She, of course, simply chalked this up to the brisk Autumn air tampering with her lungs. This was despite the fact that she spent the whole day indoors, but any rationale was enough explanation for Bethany. She hoped that her parents would whisk her away to some tropical vacation where the invigorating warmth would reenergize her. She felt so sluggish these days.

"During this first stage, the future of the larvae is still UNKNOWN. Their next form is entirely dependent on the NOURISHMENT and CARE they receive. Only the well fed larvae can hope to become sexually MATURE."

The truth was, unbeknownst to Bethany, that she was very rapidly ballooning. Her icy, arrogant countenance that had so reliably separated her from the rabble was becoming soft and plush. Now, she found, wherever she sat she was invariably surrounded by the now familiar posse of girls who had so generously enabled her appetite. Even today, Bethany shared her table with several peers who smuggled her snacks every few minutes.

Such a rapid rate of indulgence would have surely spoiled her appetite, but by this point Bethany had adapted to being unable to walk more than a few paces before having food shoved in her face. Her stomach's capacity had increased so drastically that she would have to stuff herself nonstop until the end of class to be even close to full. The queen bee was quickly becoming a grazing cow.

"Sexually mature larvae will become PRINCESS ants, so to speak. These winged specimen will fly off to find a mate and then, once inseminated, will DETACH their wings and resign themselves to a life of breeding as a QUEEN."

Any rational person would have definitely known something was off. She was surrounded by hot, toned vixens (similar to how Bethany had looked on her first day of class) intent on feeding and doting on her. Certainly these young, vain social climbers were not acting selflessly. But alas, a life of luxury had spoiled Bethany to her very core. Was this not what she deserved? Servants waiting on her hand and foot? She was taken back to the days of her youth, playing dress up as a princess.

But no, this time, she was a queen.

"Although, the term QUEEN is not entirely accurate, students. A queen ant has NO CONTROL over her subjects. Her ONLY purpose is to maintain the colony through constant reproduction. Her worker ants exist simply to keep her FED and dispose of her WASTE."

Bethany's makeshift colony certainly was hellbent on disposing with her waist, so to speak; her hourglass figure was filling out by the day. One would think that with the massive influx of food that Bethany wouldn't bother to bring her own. On the contrary, Bethany needed to carry more snacks on her person to accommodate her expanded stomach and enlarged appetite. In fact, her morning alarm was rendered redundant as tremors of hunger awoke her bright and early for an extensive, pre-class feast.

It was approaching the point where she could track the hours, nay, even minutes by the rumbling of her stomach. And god, did it show. The results of her caloric intake were so blatant that even an airhead like Bethany should have noticed.