Chapter 5

Alisson’s hands trembled as she slipped her arms out of her jacket and put it into her bag. Before her insecurities could get to her, she continued by getting out of her sweatpants, cringing when her belly formed a roll that hung over her waistband while she bent over.

Then she stood in her too-tight workout clothes, showing off her newly grown, chubby body.

She hated the feeling of her exposed flabby midriff but forced herself to ignore her discomfort. While approaching the treadmill, she tried ignoring the laughter around her. Still, she felt her face turning red from embarrassment.

Once she got on the treadmill, she turned it to her warm-up speed and started running. Once again, she regretted wearing her old, skimpy clothes as her entire body began to jiggle, making her want to stop immediately. Her thighs clapped against each other with every step, and her exposed belly and love handles shook all over the place. She even felt her chubby cheeks and little double chin jiggle slightly.

While Alisson fought to get used to the alien feeling of her flabby parts in motion, she noticed two girls walking to the treadmills to her left and right. Her panic rose as she recognized them as girls she used to mock when they started out. They set the treadmills to the same speed Alisson used and began jogging while chatting as if Alisson wasn’t between them.

Alisson wasn’t used to feeling this uncomfortable in public. She acted like they weren’t there, clearly trying to mock her. But her discomfort grew as she realized that her former warm-up speed wasn’t a light jog anymore. Sure, she didn’t lose all her hard-earned muscles during the last eight months. But in addition to the 60 extra pounds she carried, they had become too weak to support her former running habits. After only a few minutes, Alisson fought hard not to start panting loudly.

It was a lost cause. As the fat on her body made Alisson break out in a sweat, she could no longer hold back and began to pant. She heard the girls to her sides giggle as they realized that she was starting to struggle. Meanwhile, they still kept on jogging along with no trouble chatting.

As her body grew tired, Alisson’s movements got less coordinated and sloppy. She desperately wanted to get off the treadmill but was too scared of what the girls would say about her. So she kept running, hoping they would get bored and leave her alone.

As the minutes passed and her running turned into desperate stumbling, Alisson knew there wasn’t much hope for that.

She didn’t remember ever being this sweaty, even during her hardest workouts. Now, her face was covered in sweat running into her eyes, making her vision blurry. She felt like she was losing control over her body as exhaustion washed over her. She had pushed herself to her limits before. But that was when she was fit enough to handle it. When she could still elegantly carry herself, even when her muscles were tired. But her flabby body robbed her of any grace as she struggled to continue, her panting growing louder, almost drowning out the girls’ conversation.

When Alisson started getting black spots in her vision, she knew she had lost the fight. Fainting on the treadmill would be even more embarrassing than her bad workout attempt.

She stopped the treadmill and immediately doubled over, gasping for air. Many minutes passed while Alisson was desperately not to collapse and regain some control over her body.

Once she felt the worst was over, Alisson looked up to find the two girls smirking down at her. Both looked like the run had barely cost them any effort.

“What’s wrong, tubby? You look so tired after your warm-up run. Skipping the weight training today, I guess?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Just look at her belly! That thing must weigh quite a lot. She’s doing weight training every time she stands up.”

Alisson didn’t know what to say. She let the girls berate her, knowing she would have done the same a year ago. It felt surreal to be at the receiving end of the mocking she had loved dishing out. Alisson only found her voice when one of the girls stepped forward and pinched her belly.

“Don’t touch me!” she tried to yell but was too weak to make it sound threatening.

“Or what?” The girl walked right up to Alisson and looked her straight in the eyes, radiating superiority.

She was right. There was nothing Alisson could do. All the advantages her fit body had brought Alisson were long gone. Now, she was just a tubby girl, desperately trying to get a fit body like the girl opposite her.

And failing.

Alisson turned around and hastily grabbed her bag while the girl laughed. The bag’s weight was enough to make her weak muscles lose balance. She stumbled and fell to her knees, prompting more laughter around her.

“I don’t think we will see this porker here again,” she heard someone say as she got back on her feet and left the room.

Alisson didn’t bother to put her jacket and sweatpants back on before hurrying by the reception.

Lisa looked at her in shock as she saw the full extent of her weight gain.

“Oh my god. Look at that ass jiggle!”

But Alisson didn’t bother to respond. She just wanted to get out of there to never return.