Chapter 1

"No, Bella, that is the old you. That isn't who you are anymore!"

"Come on, Jen, it's just one week! You're talking like I'm never going back to the gym ever."

"Give yourself an out this week and soon you'll be finding one every week. You should know this by now."

Bella knew Jen had a point, but she didn't feel like being reasonable right now. Besides, she had been waiting years for the next Elder Age game to come out, so it wasn't like this was going become a regular thing. *And* she had just been homecoming queen, so she deserved a reward. Besides, she had lost more than 50 pounds over the last three years; even if she gained a couple back it was no big deal. She could lose it again like nothing.

"Seriously, Bell, remember how it was like before I found you freshman year? Trust us, we know what's best for you."

"Yeah. Whatever, Mom." Bella fumed as she walked away toward her car. So what if they helped her to lose weight and dress better, who were they to tell her she couldn't do with her own life?! After all, what's the point of looking fabulous if you can't even enjoy a single indulgence from time to time? It was Friday, and the game wasn't come out until Tuesday, but the thought of meeting up with Jen and the girls at the gym that night made her angrier still. It didn't matter, she would just go jogging by herself instead.

Half a mile into her three mile jog, Bella was already bored to frustration. Time went by at a crawl without friends to keep her company. Plus, the November air was already chilly as hell. Whatever, she had already gotten some exercise in, and she could just make up the difference tomorrow. As she reached the driveway to her house, a sprinkle of raindrops began to paint the sidewalk. Good thing she decided to head back, after all; the last thing she wanted was to get sick.

After making herself a health shake (she never ate her parents' "fat food" at dinner anymore), Bella went upstairs to re-watch the latest Elder Age trailer for twenty-something-th time and get some early studying done to clear up next week's schedule. Before going to bed she stopped to admire herself naked in her bathroom mirror, a habit she had developed to motivate her during her weight loss journey. Standing at a respectable 5'5" tall, she weighed an enviable 119 pounds, more than a bit of which was muscle. Her dark brown hair was cut just below her jaw line in a practical but cute bob style. Bright blue-green eyes shone out against her still tan skin. Moving down, her breasts were perky but small, barely making a B-cup. An acceptable cost of being thin, Bella had long since accepted, and her boyfriends never seemed to mind. Lower still was the faint but unmistakable form of a six-pack. Not even Jen looked as fit as she did these days. And between that and her well toned legs was her ass. If there was any excess fat to be found on her body, it was there; even now it still carried a hint of cellulite. But again, that was just genetics, and the boys certainly didn't seem to mind that either, so she tried not to as well.

Of course, that wasn't the case three years ago. As a new freshman at her high school, Bella was decidedly not a looker. With huge frizzy hair, thick glasses, and a belly bigger than her head, she was at best ignored and at worst cruelly teased. Then, a few months into the first semester she met Jen, one of the prettiest girls in her class. Unlike the other pretty girls, however, Jen was nice and even saw the potential for Bella to become even better than herself with the right tips and support. By the end of the year the two had started a fitness club on campus to help Bella and other girls like her to get in shape. Now it was senior year and Bella was probably the most adored girl in the entire school. Beauty, personality, and smarts; she had it all. So why worry over taking a single week off doing something I want? In fact, it was hard to believe that in almost three years she hadn't really taken a break before.

By Saturday morning the drizzle had become a storm, and the rain showed no sign of letting up before the weekend was over. Bella didn't get much exercise done, but she didn't really mind. She wasn't even angry; She was too excited over Elder Age for all of that. Yeah, she was still a gamer girl at heart, even if she didn't have much time for them anymore. Monday was awkward. Bella avoided Jen and the rest of the club, as much from guilt as from anger. Tuesday was the same, only most of her thoughts were of anticipation. She had had half a mind to skip school entirely. Picking up the game on her way, Bella rushed home after school and popped the disc into her PC. Choosing to play as a hot two-handed Norse warrior woman, she laughed at the thought of what Freud might have said.

The rest of the week was a blur. For the first time in months Bella had eaten dinner with her parents, if only to save herself the time of having to make her own meals. At school all she could think about were the things she had done in Elder Age and the quests she still hadn't got around to completing. Jen and the others had apparently given up on her for the time being, for which Bella was thankful. It wasn't like she was turning her back on them or anything, after all. Before long it was Sunday afternoon, and Bella had put more than 60 hours on her character. Well, it was time to pay the piper, she thought as she stepped onto her bathroom scale. The digital readout flashed for a few seconds before displaying the number: 118 pounds.

118?! Here she had been worrying about gaining weight, and she had actually lost a pound! It made sense now that she thought about it. Working out doesn't burn *that* many calories, and she had probably missed a few meals over the week, so it must have just evened out in her favor. She laughed at the thought of recommending the Elder Age diet to her friends. Maybe she should try rolling a mage character?