Chapter 3 - finals week

3.
The first semester of school had gone amazingly. Alexa was meeting new people, she'd done fantastic in all her classes, and she was loving her time at Greenview. However, while she was more than a little sad that she'd have to go home for the next month, it would be a great relief to take a deserved break after finals week. It was the last day before she drove home and she was spending the evening with a friend from across the hall, Ella. Ella was an out of state student and had become fast friends with Alexa and Charlotte. They were grabbing dinner together, and as this was one of the last days of finals, the dining hall was mostly empty.
"You're headed back home tomorrow right?" Ella asked.
Alexa nodded. "You?"
Ella sighed. "I still have a few days to go. Where's Charlotte, I haven't seen her around?"
"She finished last week."
"Wow. Lucky her."
"Yeah I guess," Alexa responded. "It's not like she's going far though. Her mom lives in Tubton."
Ella's eyes widened.
"What?" Alexa asked.
"Nothing." Ella paused. "It's just..."
"Tubton is weird?" Alexa finished for her.
"Yeah. Tubton is weird," she agreed. She looked around the dining hall, making sure no one was listening. "Like, what's up with all the kids from there? Is the whole fucking town fat?"
Alexa shrugged. "Never been, but Charlotte said that seems to be the case."
Ella snorted. "Well she'd better be careful she doesn't pork up like the rest of them then. Y'know that does explain the extra fluff on her. Thought she was packing on a few."
"C'mon don't be mean Ella."
Ella put her hands up in defense. "I just call 'em like I see 'em! And what I see is chubby."

Ella could be a little rude, but Alexa knew she didn't mean any harm by it. In fact, she thought Ella could be a little too critical of herself sometimes. Either way, she wasn't going to tell Charlotte about that conversation. As Alexa was putting away some of her stuff, she heard a knock at the door. She got up and opened it, not expecting any visitors at that time of night and found her friend Charlotte on the other side. She looked worried.
"Hey," she started. "Can we talk?"

The first thing Charlotte did was take off her shirt. Alexa's hands flew up to her eyes. "Whoa!"
"No, look at me," Charlotte demanded. "Look and tell me what you see."
Alexa complied. She removed her hands and looked at her friend. She was wearing jeans to keep warm in the cold and the first thing she noticed was how far her stomach was sticking out over them. Charlotte was stuffed to the brim. Though her belly had certainly softened over the months it was distended far beyond anything Alexa had previously observed. It must have been hanging out at least 2 inches beyond her belt, which was already unbuckled and loose. Her breasts were struggling against her bra and Alexa could see them beginning to spill out of the cups.
"Well, you look fine Charlotte," Alexa lied.
Charlotte grabbed Alexa's wrist and pushed her hand onto her stomach. Alexa felt it dip into soft flesh. "Is that fine? No, I'm getting fucking fat!" Charlotte yelled.
Alexa cringed. "It's not really noticeable..."
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Maybe I should ask Ella."
"No!" Alexa cried. She wasn't sure Charlotte would be able to take Ella's criticisms.
"I knew it. I knew you could tell I was getting fat," Charlotte said. She sat down on her bed with a thump and Alexa saw her friend's belly bounce before settling into a folded form.
Alexa sighed and sat next to her. "Okay, look. Yes you put on some weight, but it's really not that bad. It really isn't that noticeable." Alexa paused. "Although..."
"Although what?"
"Well... It really does look bigger than when I saw you last week."
Charlotte put her head in her hands in a pout. Alexa moved her hand to the small of her friend's back to comfort her.
"I haven't been able to stop myself all week," Charlotte said, muffled by her hands. "Ever since I got home I've just been so hungry for everything. Like, there's just been no limit. Chips, cookies, cakes, ice cream, anything I can get my hands on I just cram into my stomach. And mom's been no fucking help, that's for sure. I don't know if it's her new office job or what, but she's let herself go more than me! She's too busy to cook so we order out for every meal and the house is just full of pizza, Chinese, Italian, everything! I mean, she'll order a family sized meal for each of us every night! And even if I try not to, I somehow end up eating it all every time and I'm still looking for midnight snacks! She must have been doing this alone for months too. I mean, I'm lucky I'm just starting to get chunky, but she's just a straight up fattie at this point! It's crazy!"
Alexa was shocked. "How are you even eating that much?"
"I don't know! I just always want more, more, more! Something about that place makes me snack morning, noon, and night."
"Have you tried exercising a bit to keep the weight off?"
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I told you, there's no gyms there! And it's too cold to go for runs anyway. I just end up laying in bed or on the couch watching TV all day with one hand in a chip bag and the other in an Oreo box."
"What about the treadmill you guys got?"
"What treadmill?"
"At the end of the summer?"
"Oh. No, mom had to throw that out."
"It broke?"
"No, no, it was just in the way of the basement fridge."
"The what?"
"Y'know, the fridge where you can keep extra ice cream and shit so you don't have to go all the way up the stairs to get something to eat."
Alexa stared at her blankly.
"C'mon, everyone has a basement fridge. Or at least, everyone in Tubton does." Charlotte stopped for a moment, as if piecing something together. "Oh shit, what the fuck is a basement fridge. What the fuck is happening in Tubton!"
Alexa put her hands on her friends shoulders to calm her. "Look. You're right, Tubton does seem pretty weird, but... you can get through this, right? You just need to keep yourself a little in check. And now that you know its weird, you can do that better right?"
Charlotte took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I should have known from the start with how chubby everyone was."
"Are you gonna be okay?" Alexa asked.
"Yeah. I am, thanks for talking me out of this craziness. And besides, a little extra stuff won't hurt me. I know I'm turning more heads at parties with these," Charlotte said, grabbing her breasts.
Alexa laughed. "Glad to see you're feeling better."
"Yeah..." Charlotte said tentatively. "I think... I think I might spend the night here though. If that's okay?"
"Of course!"
"Great."
Charlotte got ready for bed and drifted off to sleep. Alexa reached up to turn off the lights but before she did, she couldn't help but sneak one more glance at her friend's swollen belly.