Chapter 1 - moving in

1.
Alexa Haring was going to college and she couldn't wait. She and her best friend Charlotte had both been accepted to Greenview College for their freshman year and would be studying history together. Getting in was already great enough; even better was that the two were going to be rooming together. Alexa was ready for parties, friends, and to begin this new phase of her life.
After being getting her stuff moved into the dorm, Alexa had said goodbye to her parents and started to get to know the place. Greenview was in central Ohio, and though she and Charlotte weren't out of state, she'd never been to the area before. The town seemed nice enough and the other people in the hall that had already moved in were all very friendly. Alexa really liked the place. As she was organizing some of her things, she heard a knock at the door. A shout, "Hello roomie!" came from the other side.
Charlotte had come about a month before Alexa. Her mom had gotten a new job in Tubton, the next town over from the college. Charlotte and her mother came early to settle in before the dorms opened up, and she'd been staying in Tubton for that time. Charlotte joked that she'd be here so much sooner than Alexa that she could be her tour guide. Alexa opened the door and was greeted with a massive bear hug. She squeezed her friend tight, it had been weeks since they'd seen each other. Strangely though, she felt a slight squish to her friend's arms. Charlotte was a small girl, both in height and in stature, and between her metabolism and her time in track, she'd always kept a pretty skinny frame.
Stepping back, Alexa's suspicions were proven. It seemed as though Charlotte actually had managed to put on some weight. It wasn't like it was a bad thing. Alexa never shamed anyone for how they looked. It was just odd to see on her friend.
"It's been too long!" Charlotte said with a smile.
Alexa grinned. "How's Tubton?"
"Oh it's pretty cool," Charlotte shrugged, "Pretty quiet. I try to get out for a run every morning, but I'm always the only one out there. Sleepy town."
"Sound's quaint."
Charlotte laughed. "That's the perfect word. Hopefully Greenview'll be more fun, huh?" She nudged her friend. "Mind helping me bring my stuff up? My mom's waiting outside."

The two girls headed downstairs to grab Charlotte's things. When they got through the doors, Alexa saw Charlotte's mom leaning against the car.
"Hi Mrs. Danson!" Alexa called out.
Mrs. Danson rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you Alexa, call me Donna!" She opened her arms and gave Alexa a big hug.
Alexa noticed that, strangely, Mrs. Danson seemed to have put on some pounds too. Charlotte's mom was never as slender as her daughter, but where previously had only been a slightly curved pooch was the beginnings of a potbelly peeking out over her skirt. Obviously, small town life was having an effect on the Dansons. Alexa simply chalked it up to settling in after a big move. Plus, Charlotte had told her on the phone that she wasn't able to find a gym anywhere in Tubton and had to order her own equipment.

The girls took out what was in Mrs. Danson's truck and brought it up to their room. They caught up with each other as they unpacked. Alexa told Charlotte about how her and her boyfriend had broken up. It was on good terms, both of them knew that it would be difficult to make long distance work in school and had vowed to stay friends. Charlotte made fun of Alexa for it, but they both ended up laughing about it. Charlotte told Alexa about some great places to eat on campus and let it slip that she'd already managed to sign them both up for several clubs. While they were talking though, Alexa found her gaze drifting back towards her friends midsection. Charlotte was wearing a red tank top, a shirt she'd had since high school. It was always a little loose, but now Alexa could see a slight bulge. It would have been inconspicuous to anyone who wouldn't have known Charlotte as well as she did, but it was still strange. She saw how it now pushed against the fabric of the shirt and though it was gentle, it still pulled the shirt taught.
"Hey, my eyes are up here," Charlotte said, snapping Alexa out of her stare. Alexa's face flushed with embarrassment but Charlotte only laughed. "Yeah, I told you there weren't any gyms in Tubton didn't I?" She pressed her index finger to her stomach and Alexa saw it push in, though only a tiny bit.
"Sorry Charlotte. I didn't mean to stare or anything," Alexa said sheepishly.
"S'okay. Me and Mom weren't sticking to any kind of diet the past month, we just wanted to spend the end of summer relaxing and getting to know the town. I'll probably work it off as school starts."
Alexa shrugged. "It actually doesn't look bad on you."
Charlotte grinned. "Yeah a lot of it went to good places," she said cupping a breast in one hand. "I've never had real boobs before. Maybe I'd even get a real ass if I kept going," she said with a wink.
Alexa snorted. "Well how is the town anyway," she said, trying to shift the subject from her faux pas.
"Tubton is actually... kinda weird," Charlotte answered, furrowing her brow. "I dunno. People there just really like to eat."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I told you we were trying to get to know the town right?"
Alexa nodded.
"The way to do that is through the restaurants apparently. The place is full of them. And they're all delicious."
As she said the word delicious, Alexa could swear she almost saw her friend drool.
"The people there really like to eat," Charlotte continued. "Like, literally the first night we were there, our neighbors, the lesbian couple down the street came over and invited us to their place for dinner? And it was like, a fucking feast! Like, there was legit a table covered with dishes"
Alexa's eyes widened. "Whoa, really?"
"Yeah dude! It was crazy. I mean, it was crazy good, but it was crazy. I didn't think that just the four of us would be able to finish it, but I guess we were all pretty hungry, because we blew through that and dessert."
Alexa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure the skinny track star was able to polish off a whole Beauty and the Beast spread."
Charlotte laughed. "Hey, I had help didn't I! But yeah, that was our introduction to the town and it was pretty much just eating and watching Netflix after that. We ordered some gym gear and it came in near the end of the month, but as you can see," Charlotte gestured to herself, "I didn't really get a chance to work with it before I came here. Hopefully Mom gets some use out of it. I mean, I was still going for runs, but she just totally blew off her diet and routines on day one," Charlotte said with a chuckle.
"She was probably just happy to enjoy the end of summer," Alexa said.
"Yeah, something like that. I dunno dude, the whole town is weird. I don't think I saw a single skinny person there. I mean they aren't all, like, fat. But there's no one that's not a little chubby," Charlotte sighed. "Anyway, I gotta get back in shape before I put on the freshman 15 before school even starts!"
The girls laughed. They finished up unpacking all of Charlotte's things and headed down to the dining hall for their first on campus meal. The food was great and Alexa couldn't help but notice Charlotte going back for seconds, thirds, and fourths before desserts.