Chapter 2 - The project

Toby unlocked the door to his dorm room, the smell of cheap fast-food instantly flooding his nostrils. He had about 10 minutes until Ronnie would get here. 10 minutes for him to clean everything. On an initial inspection of his dorm, there must have been empty cans and Chinese boxes on every space of his coffee table, with some even on the floor. No wonder his clothes were more snug as of late. Even so, he was in total denial, blaming it on the dorm dryers, after all, his clothes fit before he moved in. Right?

-

After a while, the room was clean. Excluding the other rooms like his bedroom, which he knew for 100% was still full of empty food containers and drinks, but she wouldn't need to go in there. He must admit, it was nice seeing the living room so tidy. It wouldn't stay like it, though. He was disturbed from his thoughts by the sound of knocking. Ronnie. That was quick.

As he stood infront of the door, he remembered the state of his own figure. He had been so engulfed in tidying the room, he forgot about his tight shirt and trousers. What's more is that the cleaning process made him rather sweaty. Crap. He shouldn't make her wait more, though. With that, he opened the door, revealing a petite 5'3 Ronnie with a sweet smile, "Sorry for being a bit late, I got lost.."

"No, no, you're right on time.." Toby was instantly drawn to her outfit. She was wearing a tight pink tank top, but snug in all the right places, clinging to her ample breasts, revealing a noticeable amount of cleavage, causing Toby to pry his eyes away from it, leaving his face a flush of red. She must have been around 120lbs, making Toby quite literally twice her size.

Ronnie was luckily the first to break the silence, "Have you ordered food?" She smiled, "I'm hungry." She walked in, putting her bag neatly in the corner.

Toby bit his lip, he had failed to camouflage the smell, "Ummm.. No, I haven't. But we can if you.. Want?" Toby instantly regretted those words. Just what he didn't need, a reason to pig out in-front of Ronnie when he should be focusing on losing weight, "I'm not so hungry, though." However, with that, his stomach betrayed him, as a loud rumble declared his empty stomach

Ronnie giggled, "Sounds like your stomach disagrees." She patted his stomach in a friendly manner, "We shouldn't study on an empty stomach, right, Toby?"

"Umm.. Yeah, course, I know about that." He laughed, scratching the top of his head, causing his shirt to ride up just below his belly button without his knowledge.

Ronnie smiled at his obliviousness, "I'll order pizza." She got her phone out and began scrolling through the pizzas.

"I'm just going to change out of these clothes..." He smiled, "-Into something more comfortable." He scratched the bottom of his stomach.

"A bit small?" She smiled, looking down at his revealed midsection, her eyes absent of judgement.

Toby looked down, his face turning a shade of red, realising how much skin is on show for her to judge and ridicule. "Only a little.. The laundry room here shrunk them." He tugged down on the shirt.

"Really? I haven't heard any complaints before?" She tilted her head. Those words only made him more insecure. He couldn't have put on weight in such a small amount of time, at least not a noticeable amount, "Anywho, you change into something more comfortable whilst I order the pizzas."

Those words echoed in his head. 'Pizzas. Plural.' He nodded, "I'll be quick." He quickly walked into his room, stepping over the empty pizza boxes, rummaging through his wardrobe, looking for a t-shirt big enough to conceal his 230lbs frame. Picking out a top big enough seemed like an impossible task, as his main feature, his stomach always pressed up against the stretched fabric, revealing the pit of his belly button. Finally, he found a t-shirt roomy enough to conceal his swollen frame, and he came back out to greet Ronnie.

"I ordered three pizza's and some chicken wings, that should keep us going!" She smiled, "I've got all what we need set up." Pens and papers were displayed neatly on the coffee table with some of her own notes scattered along the side.

Toby couldn't help but notice how cute her handwriting was. He also couldn't help but think about the food she ordered. Three pizza's and wings? He already knew these study sessions were going to do a number on his waistline, "Sounds good!" He finally said, sitting down next to Ronnie, his t-shirt now more capable of containing his belly, "Mrs said we should be studying the increase of poor mental health." He spoke up, turning to Ronnie. He felt more confident in his own home, as well as psychology being his best course.

Ronnie nodded, "She gave us some starters." She picked up the paper with the teachers notes, "Divorce, social media, neglect, weight gain, poverty and discrimination." She looked up at him.

Toby paused, "Oh. We have to uhh.. Pick one of them?"

Ronnie nodded, "I was thinking weight gain, it's the easiest." She looked at him.

Toby looked at her, and covered up his stomach with his arms, "Or divorce..?" He looked at her, his eyes pleading. Sure, weight gain was the easiest option, I know about that, we'd easily get the top of the class.. But talking about weight gain to Ronnie? How humiliating.

Ronnie nodded, "Sure! That's a good one too." She smiled, then stopped, "Of course divorce isn't good! It's just a good theme for it, well, not good.. Just.."She continued to ramble.

"It's okay! I get where you're coming from, don't sweat it." He laughed.

She nodded, "That's good.. I need to stop using the word good." She laughed with him.

"No, it's okay, it's cute." He stopped. Why did he say that?! She must be so uncomfortable, the fat guy calling her cute... Not that she wasn't cute, she was gorgeous, absolutely his type. Long brown hair, with chocolate eyes to match, not to mention her body. Toby wasn't the one to admire girls and focus on their bodies, but Ronnie was different, "Anyway!" He finally spoke, not giving Ronnie the chance to reply, "We should probably start, right?"

-

"A-Absolutely!!& quot; Ronnie fanned her face. 'Wow. He thinks I'm cute?' She looked over his figure, his belly perfectly sitting in his lap. God, he was cute. It was a shame he changed out of his shirt, she enjoyed staring at the buttons straining against his stomach and softened pecs. That shirt must've outgrown him several pounds ago, but he thinks it's the dorm laundry utilities. That makes him more cute.

-

Within 20 minutes, the two had already finished a page of work. Toby enjoyed working with Ronnie, and he'd like to think she liked working with him too. Maybe the friend idea isn't so silly after all, he thought.

Ronnie groaned, her stomach rumbling, "When's the pizza getting here? I'm starved!" She laughed, gently slapping her own flat stomach.

Toby laughed, "Yeah, it's taking awhile... It shouldn't be too long now." With that, a knock from the door came. "I'll get it!" He got up, opening the door. It was Harry. He was the delivery guy. He gulped.

"Three large pizzas and some chicken wings-" He looked up, greeting Toby's worried face, "I thought todays wardrobe malfunction would've put you off from adding to it, eh, Tubby?"

Toby's heart sank. Is Ronnie hearing this? The friendly atmosphere instead of the dorm made Toby forgot about his size and actually made him feel comfortable, "Whatever, Harry.. They aren't all for me." He took the pizzas and wings, handing him the money.

Harry chuckled, "Sure, as if anybody would want to be friends with a *** like you." He slapped his belly, causing it to jiggle. "That top doesn't hide anything." He smirked, pocketing the money and leaving.

Toby stood at the empty door, ignoring his belly's cry for food. He looked down, I'll never hear the end of this tomorrow.

"Toby? You okay?" Ronnie spoke up, peering around the corner, "Toby?"

"Yep!" He smiled, "got the food.." He put the boxes down on the table, sitting back down, hiding his humiliation from Ronnie. He didn't want her to think he's a '***' too.

She glanced at his face, "I heard talking. Who was it?" She opened the pizza box, taking a slice.

"Oh, nobody, just talking to the pizza guy." He smiled, reluctantly taking a slice, eating it, "Mmph! Oh. Wow, that's good." He said, changing the subject.

"Yeah! I know, I love it. I don't have the chance to eat this stuff often." She smiled, getting another slice, "I do dance, I'm going into a tournament next week, so I have to stay in shape."

'So she's a dancer. Another reason why she's out of my league.' Ronnie actively keeps herself fit, whereas I'm just going to continue to blimp up. Then she'll want nothing to do with me.. "That's so cool, I should've known you were a dancer."

"Do you do any sports or activities, Toby?" She asked, leaning in for her third slice.

"Sports? Umm.. I used to do rugby.. Probably not as good anymore, though." He gently grabbed his love handles from his jeans. "I should probably get back into it, though." He said, getting his 5 slice despite beginning to bloat up after 4 slices. 'I should really cut back.' He thought. 'Harry was right. I really am just a ***.'

Ronnie patted his arm, "Your height and size would be great for rugby. You must be 6"4! About 210 pounds?"

Toby paused. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he actually weighs about 30 pounds extra, if not more, "Yeah, pretty much!" He smiled, opening the second pizza box and taking two slices subconsciously.

-

'His stomach must be a bottomless pit' Ronnie thought as she watched in awe. She knew he definitely weighed more than 210, seeing his bare stomach in class made sure of that. She had just hoped he would've told her the actual amount.

-

Toby continued to eat one slice after the other, until he had finished the second pizza box all on his own. He placed his hand on his stomach, he was still hungry.

Ronnie glanced at him, "It's getting late, Toby, I should get off." She smiled, and got up, "Thank you for the pizza, it was delicious. Are you free tomorrow? We can carry on!"

Toby paused. 'Did she get uncomfortable and leave? I ate too much, didn't I? God, I finished the second pizza.. No wonder.' Toby got up, and smiled, "Course! I'll be looking forward to it, thank you for coming. Let me walk you back?"

"Aww, Toby, you're too cute! It's okay, my brother is picking me up. Thank you anyway." She walked up to him, wrapping her arms around him, feeling the bottom of his bare stomach pressing up against her own. Toby flinched, attempting to suck in, but thanks to the pizza's, it was a harder task. She feels so good though, he thought, making the most out of the hug before he pulled away, getting too self conscious of his bulging belly pressing up against her flat stomach.

"B-Bye, Ronnie!" He smiled, opening the door for her.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Toby!" She left.

'She called me cute' He smiled.