chapter 4 (part 2)

A singular word from Liv made the crowd go quiet. The last girl to call the 'queen' a slut had her reputation run down in a week. Rachael's massive posse had shut that girl down. And her social status never recovered. Like a shitty high-school version of the mafia. Rachael turned to her crew.

"Don't let anyone follow us. I'm handling this myself," she ordered. "And you all know the plan." Rachael grabbed Liv by the back of her yellow blouse. The gym roared, and the phones came out. But they never caught any footage. Like clockwork, Rachael's shitty mafia barked at people, ordering them not to follow the two girls. They heeded. Social status was important.

"What do you think you're doing, you bitch?!" Liv shouted up at Rachael, desperately clawing at her to no avail.

"Keep your mouth shut," Rachael said, stoically all of the sudden. "Enjoy it while it lasts, because you're spending the rest of the night eating."

Liv's eyes widened. A horrified expression, mouth agape.



The fuck.



Rachael practically slammed Liv to the wall. She had been brought to the janitor's closet. A single dim light flickered above them. The ceiling was low. All the tension was packed into the tiny room. The walls were surrounded with cleaning equipment, leaving the smell of bleach lingering in the air.

"Okay, okay, wait a second," Liv frantically halted her, confused and scared. "What the hell are you doing-?" She was cut off.

"Here's the deal. And don't try to pull any shit, either. I'll snap you in half." Liv didn't interject. She was much bigger than her, and could easily overpower her.

"You're gonna stay here. Sit on the floor," Rachael ordered.

"Tell me what you-,"

"Hell did I just say?!" she barked back. Liv did as she was told.

"Basically, Jeanette is coming over here with a chair, and a few surprises. We're locking you in here."

"What the hell are you planning? Who the hell is Jeanette?!" Liv asked. Rachael simply smirked.

"You'll see soon enough. Oh, and don't even TRY telling anyone about this. I have ears around the damn campus. If word gets out about this fun little excursion, I'll tell the whole school about your gross little fetish." Liv stared back in disbelief in anger.

Rachael talked like she was running the CIA. And she practically was. You see, Rachael was a very important (or self-important) figure in the school. She was boosted to the top of the social ladder after becoming popular for, well, nothing. Rachael was hot. That's it. She looked like a typical copy-paste sexy girl. Long beach-blonde hair, blue eyes, and an ample chest. The kind of girl who could make any high school guy drool. This boost created a sort of mob around Rachael. Her 'friends' were able to leech off of her popularity. Anyone associated to her was engrained in the social climate. This is why people started calling her 'the queen'. She had her servants, but nobody could be above her. In queen's fashion, anyone who dare oppose her would be executed. And this is what Her Majesty wanted to do to Liv. Embarrass her, and badly. End her sociability. Rachael Luciana Venice was running her own monarchy in the middle of a suburban high school, and nobody could do a thing about it.

"You are fucking evil!" Liv shouted, trying to be heard from outside. Maybe someone would come and help. Anybody. It was no use. Rachael just scoffed.

"Oh, nobody can hear you. Stop," Rachael said. "She's here."

The door handle fidgeted for a second. Suddenly, a huge girl bursted through the door. She had to be at least six feet tall. And she was jacked. Like, really jacked.

"Liv," Rachael started. "Meet Jeanette. She's a member of our girls' wrestling team. Isn't that right, Jeanette?" Jeanette looked down and gave a solemn nod. "She's gonna stay outside and make sure nobody comes by here. And more importantly, that you don't escape."

If Liv was scared of Rachael, she was horrified of Jeanette. As she sat perched on the wall, mouth agape, her eyes drifted down to the things Jeanette were holding. A large bowl of pudding and a cardboard box that could be filled with anything. Liv just groaned.

"You're really gonna make me do this? You know there's no way you can make me physically eat anything against my will."

A devilish smile spread across Rachael's face.

"Here's the deal. If you can eat everything that you've got in front of you, I'll just let you off scot-free. Otherwise, Jeanette here will forcibly bring you back to the gym," Rachael announced. "Anyways, I've got a dance to go to. Jeanette, stay outside."

And Liv was alone.

"Aw, shit," Liv thought. "Here we go again."

She peered into the cardboard box that was dropped off. Inside, there were two large muffins, a couple doughnuts, and plenty of small assorted cakes. Just desserts. Liv was filled with anger. How could someone be so manipulative? So without shame? And for no personal gain, either. Only to watch others suffer.

"She must think I'm a goddamn idiot," Liv thought, seething in her mind. She pulled out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans, and began to text Emma an SOS.

"holy shit help im locked in the janitor's closet by the teachers' lounge. theres a girl guarding the door bring help please"

That should be enough of a warning. Less of a warning, more of an order. But that was necessary.

"While I wait, I guess there's nothing wrong with having just a little. As long as I don't go overboard, I guess," she thought. She lifted one of the muffins in the box, ready to indulge in her treats. Blueberry. Liv started to salivate as she bit into a corner of the muffin. The moist cake fell apart in her mouth. Liv laid back to the wall and sighed.

"Soo good," she moaned under her breath to nobody at all. She continued, each bite bigger than the last. The slight sour taste and sweetness of the muffin stuck with her as she finished off the first of her hefty snacks.

"I know I can't have just one... I never buy this stuff, anyways," Liv thought, taking another treat from her box of
confectionery. She held a powdered donut and started to wolf it down. So sweet. So soft. And so perfect. Powdered sugar collected on her fingers. Quickly enough, Liv had polished it off. She poked her stomach, still not feeling as full as she could.

"I really don't wanna stuff myself here, I know for my own sake I need to look presentable," Liv contemplated. "But I don't look too bloated right now, anyways." Her belly only poked out a tiny bit, and it wasn't exactly notable. "I know I bloat up extremely fast, but a few more couldn't hurt."

Liv took out the other muffin, this one coffee cake. "Ooh, I love these," she thought, beginning to happily munch on her guilty pleasure. "Guess desserts are my weakness."

She huffed after putting away that second muffin, curling between the wall and the floor. Laying a hand on her tummy, it had only stretched out a little more than before.

"If I start, I just can't stop, can I?" Liv thought, still salivating. She knew she wanted more, but she tried to suppress her greedy thoughts.

"When the hell is Emma coming? She'll break me away from these goodies... and soon, I hope!" She grabbed another doughnut. Still too good. Unbeknown to Liv, this one was jelly-filled. As she quickly tore a piece off with her teeth, a glob of jelly dropped to her yellow blouse. She quickly wiped it off.

"I'm such a slob," Liv thought, still taking large bites of her doughnut. She had now become a right mess, crumbs and powder decorated the cloth of her blouse. "That Rachael knows how to persuade a girl, for sure. Last doughnut of the bunch, I'm starting to feel full..." she thought, taking a creme doughnut. Chewing more slowly this time, Liv grew more concerned.

"Ok, something's up. Why the hell isn't Emma answering?!" As she began to ponder why her friend hadn't come for her, Rachael burst through the door.

"Christ, you done yet?! Hurry this up!" Liv was suddenly taken out of her sugar-induced trance. She gritted her teeth.

"Why are you doing this to me? Can't you just *** and torture somebody else?"

"Well, looks like you're 'torturing' yourself enough, tubby," Rachael teased. She gestured to her protruding gut, making a much more noticeable curve. Liv grabbed her own midsection, just then realizing how noisy it was, how loudly it groaned for help.

"I know how to speed this up, anyway. Emma told me you liked this method." Liv's eyes shot back up to the girl standing in front of her.

"What did you say?" Liv almost shouted. No. There's no way she could have found out anything about this. Impossible.

"Oh, she hasn't told you? Basically, I promised her tons of popularity, and I'd get my geeks to do some of her homework for her if she told me how to make you look bloated," Rachael said nonchalantly, not knowing what she had done. Liv quivered. She couldn't believe it.

Her friend of years and years.

Sold out on her.

The mafia had gotten to her.

No.

Tears started to well in her eyes.

For a couple extra people to praise her and some math homework.

How could she?

How could either of them?

"What the fuck is WRONG with you?!" Liv yelled back. "You're fucking sadistic!" Rachael was unenthused.

"Have your little crisis after you're done eating all of that." Liv stood up, shoving Rachael back.

"Why are you fucking doing this?!" Liv shouted. Rachael simply pushed her back to the floor, and left the closet. Tears began to stream down Liv's face. But she didn't make a sound.

"Those bitches," she thought, attempting to dry her tears. They kept coming. "Is there anyone for me? It feels like everyone is against me." Liv took a small piece of carrot cake from the box, and began eating her worries away. Dessert after dessert disappeared into her stomach. The more she cried, the more treats she shoved into her
mouth. Chocolate mousse, red velvet, lemon, every flavor