chapter 1

To Tell The Truth
Part 1
Kathrine sobbed again, her lithe body shaking as she tried to take a deep breath. "why? Why wouldn't he text me?" she ranted, wiping tears from her eyes. Ali just looked on, not terribly surprised at her best friend's antics. Kathrine was a sweet girl, but she had a tendency to assume the worst, and her boyfriend Jake tended to be the the source for most of her anxiety of late.
In as soothing voice as she could muster, Ali asked "Isn't he at work right now? You know he can't always answer the phone if the kitchen is busy." Kathrine managed to nod her head, but she didn't seem very convinced. Ali secretly rolled her eyes...she loved Katherine, but sometimes her immaturity grated on her nerves. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Cheer up! We'll see him tomorrow, I'm sure there's a good reason!".
Katherine just buried her head in the pillow. Signing, she gave her friend one pat on her shoulder and let herself out. Just as Ali left the room, she heard Katherine mumble "I wish he would just tell the truth tomorrow...". Had Ali waited any longer, she might have noticed the glimmer outside her friend's window, but it was late and she was eager to get home herself.

The next day was like most at Wakefield High, the usual bustle of people gossiping and horsing around, especially the senior class, of which they were all a part. Ali found Katherine near her locker, glumly grabbing notebooks from the stack inside. She looked like she hadn't slept at all, and her appearance had suffered from another night of fretting over her insecurities. Between her red eyes and limp blond hair, she, wasn't exactly going to be breaking any hearts today. A small part of Ali didn't mind...while she and katerine were about the same size, the truth was that there was always a bit of competition between them.
"Have you seen Jake yet?" asked Ali. Before Katherine could respond, they were interrupted by a tall,lanky boy that quickly kissed Katherine on the cheek. Seeing her lack of a response, he quickly said, "sorry I didn't text you last night, I dropped my phone at work and now it only types "A"." Her skepticism evident in Katherine's eyes, he pulled his phone from his pocket. The screen was destroyed, cracks running end to end. Katherine's expression eased, as Ali shot her an "I told you so" look. Sheepishly, Katherine looked at Jake, then looking down said "I'm sorry, I just didn't know what you were doing. And now I look awful!" She said, her voice starting to rise in pitch.
"Babe, come on," said Jake," you look great". Ali started to snort at this obvious attempt to butter up her friend, but before she could, Katherine's appearance changed, her hair taking on a lustrous appearance and her makeup becoming perfect. Even her clothes looked better...accentuating her slight curves and giving her a much hotter appearance. Ali stood slack jawed as Jake kissed his suddenly gorgeous girlfriend goodbye, then walked off to class.
Ali started to say something to Katherine, but caught herself. She had to have imagined it. Looking at Katherine, Ali slowly convinced herself that she had just seen Katherine in bad light this morning, or was just tired herself, or had accidentally inhaled paint fumes...there had to be some sort of reasonable explanation, hadn't there?


By the time lunch rolled around, the entire episode had been filed away to the back of Ali's mind. She usually ate with Jake and Katherine, along with a few other friends. Today was no exception, as Jake and then Katherine sat down across from her. Katherine's tray held only a few slices of fruit and some Lima beans. Ali could see that Katherine's anxiety, no longer having an outlet in her boyfriend, had apparently moved on to her weight, even though she was on the skinny side as it was. This was confirmed when Jake asked "Sweety, is that all you're going to eat?" with concern in his voice.
Katherine replied "I need to take it easy, I'm already feeling fat today." Jake was usually fairly patient with his girlfriend, but this time he just rolled his eyes and said sarcasticly "yeah babe, you've really packed on the pounds this year."
By this point, Ali had looked away, having been privy to and often a participant in numerous similar conversations. When she looked back, however, she nearly screamed. Katherine was bigger. She was chubby. Ali's mind raced. Looking at Katherine, she could see that her jawline was now undefined, with a second chin obvious whenever she looked down. While the table blocked much of Ali's view, Katherine's boobs (which were a new addition) stained her shirt, resting lightly on the edge of the cafeteria table.
Ali stammered, "Katherine, what happened?" Seeing a blank look from her friend, she said "you're fat!". Katherine started to tear up almost instantly, and Jake gave Ali a hard look. Katherine said, "I know, ok?! I'm sorry, I eat almost nothing, but look at me!".
Ali stared. What had happened? And how was she the only one who had noticed her friend packing on at least 40lbs?
Jake comforted his girlfriend, saying, " honey, I love you no matter what you weigh. You know that." Katherine nodded her head on his shoulder, looking much calmer than she had moments before. She smiled at Jake, and said simply "I do."
Jake smiled at her. He said "you're doing great. I see how little you eat, I know you're doing your best. You barely eat anything when you're here or with me. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you an Ali were stuffing yourselves when I'm not around, but..." Before Jake could finish the sentence, a commotion at the table next to them stopped him in his tracks. One of their classmates had tripped over a chair and tumbled, sending food flying. While most people were polite enough not to laugh too loudly, there were plenty of snickers.
For her part, Ali was struggling to not fall out of her chair. Her head swam. On one hand, her memories of hanging out with Katherine were completely normal...talking about boys, shopping at the mall, studying and the like. Yet a whole new set started to materialize in her head...memories of the two of them stuffing their faces with junk food, gorging on whatever they could steal form the fridge after their parents went to bed.
As Ali's vision started to clear, she looked down to see her once flat belly hanging over her shorts and resting on pale thighs that spread out over the edges of the plastic seat. At that point, Ali's head swam again, and she passed out, falling to the floor.