chapter 1 let her eat cake

Danielle's stomach growled as she sat at the computer desk in her bedroom. It was 11:30 at night and she hadn't eaten anything since noon. She'd gotten in yet another fight with her overbearing mother as soon as she got home from school and locked herself in her room, missing dinner. This was a fairly common occurrence lately. She had never really gotten along with her mother, but things seemed even worse since she turned 18 a week ago. Maybe having an 18-year-old daughter made her mother feel old or something, but whatever the reason she had become more controlling than ever. And of course Danielle, who was in the second month of her senior year of high school, was going to rebel against her parent's wishes like most teenagers.

Other than her hectic home life, Danielle was a normal teenager. She was a cute girl with long blonde hair and a nice physique. Her mother had always forbade junk food, which kept Danielle in fairly good shape, weighing in at about 125 pounds. She was incredibly well-adjusted for someone who had been through the things she had lived through. Her father was killed in a car accident when she was 11 years old, the result of a manufacturer's defect. Her family was awarded a large settlement, which enabled them to live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood and not want for things despite the loss of the family's sole bread-winner. Her mother, who never had a job in her life, spent money left and right, which annoyed Danielle. She took comfort in the fact that she would soon graduate from high school, which meant that she would have access to the $30,000 trust set up for her as part of the settlement from her father's accident. With that money she would finally be able to move out of the house and away from her bitter, angry mother. Until then she tried her best to bite her tongue and lay low.

Once her mother had gone to bed, Danielle made her way downstairs to finally get something to eat. She opened the fridge in search of some leftovers to heat up, but there were not a lot of options as her fitness-conscious mother didn't keep a lot of food in the house. As she pulled out a plastic bowl of macaroni salad she caught site of the big chocolate cake hidden behind it. It was from her little brother Brian's 6th birthday party two days earlier, and there was still half of it left. Her mother must've forgotten it was still in there because she never let the kids eat cake or any other sweets outside of parties.

"Screw it," Danielle decided, putting back the macaroni salad in favor of the cake. "Nothing wrong with a little treat from time to time." She was about to cut off a small piece of the chocolate treat when she again corrected herself, taking a medium-sized slice.

She sat down at the kitchen table in the still-dark kitchen, afraid to turn on the lights and alert anyone of her presence. She took a bite of the cake and savored its chocolate goodness. She loved chocolate, probably because she rarely got to have any. She quickly went in for another bite, which was just as good as the first. Soon the cake was gone, but Danielle still wanted more.

"One more can't hurt," she said to herself, cutting another piece of cake, this one bigger than the last. She gobbled that piece down quickly as well, enjoying every bit of its yummy flavor. She had never been a big eater at all, but she still found herself wanting more after two pieces of cake, which was a lot for someone like her. She was hesitant to take another piece, however, knowing that there would be consequences if her mother found out she'd been sneaking sweets. She looked at the cake sitting on the counter.

"To hell with her," she finally said out loud.

Happy to spite her mother, she cut herself a third piece of cake. That piece was soon followed by a fourth. And a fifth. Before long Danielle was looking down at the crumbs in an otherwise empty box where half a cake once sat. Her belly had never felt this full before and she was feeling queasy as a result. This was definitely the most food she had ever eaten in one sitting by a long shot. Her normally flat stomach pushed outward, tenting out her shirt a little bit in front. Despite the churning in her stomach, it felt great to spite her mom and break one of her annoying rules.

Danielle put the empty cake box in the trash and covered it as best she could before returning to her bedroom. Once there, she stood sideways in front of her mirror and studied the way her belly poked outward just a little from all that cake. She'd never had anything other than a flat stomach, and it fascinated her to see her shirt pushed out in the front for once. Her belly didn't even stick out that far, really, but it was more than she was used to. She sucked in her stomach and then let it out again, marveling at how full she was. The sick feeling was still with her, but for some reason she didn't mind it so much anymore.

What started as a quick peek in the mirror before bed turned into a 45 minute study of her belly. She had never been this stuffed before and the whole thing just fascinated her. That feeling of utter fullness was a strange new concept to her, and she liked something about it. She had always been thin, and seeing herself with even this small bit of a belly felt rebellious in a way. She had never found fat people attractive before, and the thought of being fat was as unappealing to her as it would be to any teenage girl. But something about seeing that bump where her flat belly used to be felt... good.

After Danielle finally got into bed she struggled to find a comfortable position, ultimately laying on her side and cradling her swollen belly in her arms. As she closed her eyes she thought about the strange turn her night had taken. She wasn't sure what to make of it all. She thought about the way her belly stretched out in front of her, and how utterly full she felt, and wondered why those things made her feel so good.