chapter 3- this means war (p5)

The next morning, Kate was up early for her classes but, before she left, she cooked up a dozen or so pancakes that she hoped Mia would gobble down whenever she woke up. Around 10AM, Mia groggily came to. She’d drank too much the night before. Probably from playing beer pong, but she’d won every game she played so in her mind it was worth it. Lying in bed and stretching her body, Mia felt bored. She had class in a few hours but nothing to do until then. She considered going for a jog, but she wasn’t really in the mood. She’d been way more motivated to hit the road when she had the urgency of racing Kate in the front of her mind. It had been a few days since Mia had even exercised. The near week of relaxation before the start of the semester had been very enjoyable. Mia’s legs felt well rested, yet as she rolled around in bed, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was somehow unsatisfied.

Throwing off her covers, Mia smelled something from the kitchen and hurried downstairs in nothing but panties and a t-shirt to see what it was. Pancakes. Fluffy pancakes with powdered sugar on top.. And there were no pears or bananas in the fruit bowl. What on earth was going on? It was one thing to stock the fridge with drinks for a party, it was another thing to skip out on the foods Mia was accustomed to eating. She was sure she had put fruit on the grocery list for Kate. She was slightly annoyed by Kate’s forgetfulness, but that feeling changed when she opened the pantry.

Mia’s eyes were treated to a startling truth. Kate had stocked the house with a fortuitous amount of goodies and junk food, it was literally everywhere. There were pop tarts, oreo cookies, breakfast danishes, peanut butter cups, and that was literally just scratching the surface of the crap Kate had bought. The pantry was loaded with various pasta, sugary snacks, and dessert ingredients had Kate purchased.

Mia’s stomach growled at the sight of everything. She was in a tough spot. On the one hand, she was annoyed Kate hadn’t gotten the food she’d requested on the grocery list, but she was feeling super hungry from last night and actually wanted to indulge her little sweet tooth a bit. Her eyes scanned her breakfast options while her mind policed her judgment every time her eyes lingered on something unhealthy for too long.

F*ck it. She’d heat up the pancakes.

While Mia chowed down on the pancakes Kate had made for her, she couldn’t help but ponder Kate’s recent behavior. Mia and Kate had lived together before as roommates during their freshman and sophomore years. They’d both been on the university meal plan back then and had no space to cook or prepare their own meals. Kate had always made healthy choices in the cafeteria, but now that they were living on their own, it seemed that everything Kate made was totally unhealthy. Mia didn’t think much of it, after all, Kate was kind enough to do all the cooking these first few days and, truth be told, Mia had never cooked for herself a day in her life. She wasn’t about to complain about a couple of free meals. However, Mia knew if Kate wasn’t careful she’d blow up again like she did toward the end of freshman year. That would be a laugh!

Feeling satisfied with her breakfast, Mia grabbed her plate and stood up from the table. Something felt odd. Her stomach felt.. bloated. Looking down passed her soft t-shirt, Mia could see she was sporting a little food-baby bump. It was odd. She normally only ever got that bloated during big holiday meals.. or after a night of heavy drinking. Oh right, drinking.. That would explain it. Looking over at the few remaining pancakes she didn’t eat, Mia wondered if she’d overeaten a bit. She never counted how many pancakes she’d put on her plate, but the stack she’d eaten hadn’t been that big, right?

Whatever, the house was still a mess from the party the night before and she figured cleaning up would be a good way to pass the time before class started. Mia began by cleaning the kitchen, and then moved on to the party room. She collected a couple big bags of trash that she planned to take outside once she was finished. The couch was still out of place in the living room, but Mia figured she’d wait for Kate to move it back. Instead, Mia took some clorox wipes and cleaned up the downstairs bathroom. It was probably the grosses thing Mia had done all summer. Gross enough that she felt she needed a shower when she was done. Mia made the trip upstairs, but something caught her attention as she glanced into Kate’s room. There was a pile of photos on the floor by Kate’s desk.