Chapter 2 - a change of heart

Chapter 2

Like the day before, Elizabeth slept very well. And this time, very long. “Shit, I’m way too late for my lecture!” The girl freshened up, put on her clothes, fixed her hair and rushed out the door, skipping breakfast entirely. Some bus stops later, she arrived at her university, just a few minutes too late. She entered the lecture hall; fortunately, the class seemed to have started right before she came in. It was one of her preferred subjects: religions of nature. Elizabeth took out her notebook and paid close attention.

Several slides had passed. The girl was about to forget her unfortunate morning, when at that moment, the hunger started. Her stomach growled. This had never happened before – was it because she skipped breakfast? That seemed unlikely. Her hunger was growing insane. Not even the lecture could get her mind off of it. Her stomach growled even louder now, and she felt awkward.

“Okay class, time for a short break.” Elizabeth was relieved, and she couldn’t get out of her seat fast enough. She made her way to the cafeteria, where she went to order some food. Usually, she opted for a small salad or a healthy sandwich. This time around, she felt that wouldn’t be enough. “I can afford something more than that. I know I need it.” She thought to herself, and she ordered two chocolate muffins and some coffee. After paying for her order, she couldn’t help but devour the food. It tasted so good! She had almost forgotten how much she loved chocolate. She went for the counter again, and ordered another muffin. “It’s uhh.. for a friend!” she explained awkwardly. The lady didn’t seem to mind and handed her the tasty snack.

Walking back to the lecture hall, she relished in its taste. “It’s so good..” she thought. However, her hunger wasn’t stilled yet. “Odd.. I’m still craving food?” It had to wait, as her lecture was about to continue. The subject matter seemed irrelevant compared to Elizabeth’s next meal, though. It was all she could think about.

After the class was over, the hungry girl went home straight away. She dumped her bag, took her wallet and went back to the grocery store. Instead of choosing her standard, healthy items though, she let her appetite guide her. For some strange reason, all she wanted was unhealthy food. And for an even stranger reason, she didn’t care at all. Her cart was loaded with chocolate cookies, potato chips, a cake, a crate of beer, several chocolate bars and a bottle of wine. She hardly felt embarrassed this time around, as she just couldn’t wait to go home.

When she arrived, she put most of her stuff away, except for the cookies. She dug right in, and ate every single one of them. The first pack was finished within the minute – the second followed suit. When she wanted to open the third pack, she finally slowed down a little. “What.. what am I even doing? This can’t be right..” She gave it some thought. Then, her stomach growled again, and she didn’t hesitate anymore.
Four packs of chocolate cookies later, Elizabeth laid flat on the floor, nearly passed out. She ate every single one, as well as most of the crumbs. She had never experienced such a frenzy. After a while she slowly got up. It was at that moment she noticed her insane food baby. “Oh.. wow. I can’t believe it.” When she stood up, she let out a loud burp. “Ooh.. I can’t believe that either!” The floor was scattered with cookie crumbs and plastic wrappers. Elizabeth wanted to reach down to clean it up, but her belly was straining too much. She loosened the top button of her pants, making way for her soft tummy. “Oh dear.. that can’t be good.”

The girl laid down on the couch. “What caused this?” she wondered. “I never eat this much, let alone this unhealthy.” She was truly confused, so she decided to google it. ‘what can cause increased hunger’. “Well, I’m not pregnant for sure.. nor am I exercising heavily. Hmm.. none of this either.” She browsed through several pages, but her search yielded no results.
At that moment, her stomach started growling again.

Elizabeth mindlessly put away her phone and headed for the fridge.

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