chapter 3

They went on a few dates over the next few weeks. The dates were pretty platonic, but they really enjoyed each other's company. But in between dates Ella noticed that Ian was becoming more distant, even broody. She had no idea why, but she could tell it didn't have anything to do with her, so she didn't press him on it. But eventually he stopped returning her calls and only texted her once in a while. Ella was a history major while Ian was a geology major, so they rarely saw each other on campus during class hours anyway, but it seemed like anyone else she asked hadn't heard from him either. She resisted the urge to go to his house. This was his own deal to work out, not, mine, she thought. Maybe he's avoiding me.
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In mid-November, Ella got a call from Lewis, Ian's roommate, inviting her over to their house for a dinner. Lewis explained that Ian had pretty much been holed up in the house for the past month, not socializing or barely getting out of bed. "Maybe he's kind of depressed" explained Lewis, "but I think it would help him to just see and talk to someone for a while. And I think that someone should be you."
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Ella was nervous. Something about this is weird, she thought. She wore brown leggings with a long-sleeved white dress that had a deep cut showing off her chest. She almost decided against this, but then thought it would be even weirder if she dressed modestly, which would be so unlike her usual self. She wore bright red lips which accented her dark hair perfectly. She was never shy about wearing red lips. When Ella rang their doorbell, Lewis was the one to let her inside. "Did you tell him I was coming over?" Ella whispered.

"No, I told him it was one of my friends coming over, but that he should look nice" Lewis winked.

Ohh that's horrible, Ella groaned internally, this is going to be terribly painful and awkward.

Ian was setting the table. He was wearing a red sweater layered on top of a collared button-up. He had his grey corduroys on, Ella's favorite. But she barely noticed this. What she noticed instantly was how strained these pants looked around his hips. She noticed how the sweater he wore was so obviously something new he had just bought, probably because his other sweaters no longer fit him. His gain wasn't a huge amount, but it was noticeable, at least to her.

Ian grinned, surprised. "Ella, I am so glad to see you. It's been way too long." He shot a confused glance at Lewis.
"Yeah I've missed you!"

"I've just been so busy..." he paused, "I wasn't trying to ignore you directly."

Ella nodded. "I know, Ian."

"Well let's eat!" Lewis interjected. "This pasta's going to get cold."

Lewis and Ian had made chicken alfredo, and everyone agreed it was delicious. Ella barely looked at Ian the whole time because she knew she would give herself away if she had. She was feeling so wet for him. She couldn't help it. He has these perfect new rolls above his plump love handles, I can tell even with his thick sweater. She noticed that he didn't eat as much as she expected that he would. He was probably trying to restrain himself, she thought, making herself even more wet.

Lewis suggested that they all go see a movie, he'd bring his girlfriend and they could have a sort of double-date. Ella and Ian chose not to get any snacks, but during the film, all Ella could think about was how cute Ian's newly grown stomach looked in the dark light of the theatre. As the movie was ending, Lewis leaned over to them and told them he was going home in his girlfriend's car. They could take his. Ella took advantage of this.

"I'm really craving something sweet," she told Ian quietly. "Let's go to the Safeway across the lot. I want a candy bar or something so badly." She snickered.

Ian smiled shyly. "This is so embarrassing. But I'm like starving. I thought that pasta would bloat me up so I didn't eat much. I wouldn't mind getting stuff to make brownies at the store. Does that sound good to you?"

They agreed and went over to Safeway. They had all night to kill so they just walked up and down the aisles looking at stuff and picking up beer and brownie mix. They were considering ice cream when Ian just flat out shook his head.

"I've gained so much weight."

Ella tried to sound surprised "Really?"

He looked at her straight on. "Can't you tell I'm fatter?"

Ella looked at the floor and thought about this hard. She wanted to be honest without being harsh. "Yes," she looked him in the eye "I can see that you're heavier than you were only a month ago. Do you know how much heavier you are?"

"Fifteen pounds, in one month," he sighed. "I'm not sure why this happened, but I've just been really tired. One of the only things that gets me out of bed is the thought of eating until I'm stuffed and then getting back in bed and falling asleep. I was pretty alarmed when I realized I had fallen into this pattern, so I stopped buying food, only to find myself giving in at one in the morning and buying all the tastiest foods at three different grocery stores to binge on."

"Is something bothering you? Like besides the weight, you know."

"I don't know. But I'm sorry that I haven't been talking to you. I guess I felt that I wasn't worth anyone's time."