chapter 2 feels nice to be noticed

"I love this song," Maggie yelled, her drunkenness helping to block out the feeling of her new-found softness quivering under her low-cut dress as she swayed to the music. Her co-worker Michelle smiled back. Michelle was a few years older, but Maggie often struggled to keep up with her on these drunken Saturday nights given all the men vying for the pretty blonde's attention.

Through the crowded room, Maggie's wandering eyes caught sight of a guy standing at the bar. He looked to be in his mid-to-late-twenties, thicker than most guys she found attractive but kind of muscular, too. He was very handsome, and not just because of all the beer she had drank. There was a time when she would have been able to get a guy like that without even trying, though nowadays she figured she would probably have to sweet talk him for anything to happen. She wasn't about to try, though; she had little confidence, especially after that debacle at the doctor's office a few days before.

"That guy in the flannel shirt is hot," Michelle said loudly through the music, apparently spotting him as well. So much for that; if Michelle wanted him, Maggie knew she had no chance.

"Keep shaking your booty like that and he'll definitely come over," she laughed, masking her disappointment. Michelle laughed in response, gyrating in ways that begged to be noticed. Still, the guy remained at the bar.

"He must be shy... how cute!" Michelle yelled through the music before bounding over to the bar to talk to her mystery man. Maggie kept dancing with nobody in particular; she was used to this happening when they went out. It wasn't long before she felt someone grind up next to her, causing her head to swing around. It was Michelle.

"He's a jerk," she declared, leaving it at that and turning her attentions to a cute guy dancing nearby. Soon they were grinding on each other pretty good, apparently enough to get the attention of the flannel guy at the bar, who Maggie noticed was looking over again as she moved away from the dance floor to give Michelle some space with her new, uh, friend.

In a corner on the far side of the bar was a cluster of small tables where drunken fools could get some food after a night of drinking. As one of those fools, Maggie was beginning to know the area all too well. Tonight she got herself a greasy slice of pepperoni pizza and took a few sloppy bites, the alcohol making it a bit harder to find her mouth, before that guy from the bar took a seat across from her.

"Hi," he said casually, his voice not as deep as she had imagined. "I'm Luke. How are you?" He had a bit of a southern drawl.

Maggie covered her mouth, her face getting a bit red as they sat in silence while she tried to chew faster, finally getting it down. "I'm Maggie," she said with a nervous smile. Boys used to be nervous around her, not the other way around.

"Good pizza, huh?" he smirked, making light of the situation. She laughed in agreement, wiping away the bit of grease that had dribbled onto her lips.

He was different than she'd imagined when she first spied him at the bar but certainly pleasant to talk to, more southern manners than debonair charm. It turned out he was from North Carolina, where his family owned a lot of farmland. They had bought some farmland up here near the edge of town a few years ago and sent him north to watch over it. She actually knew where it was, about half an hour from her parents' house. Despite her initial nervousness, things were going well when Michelle interrupted, bumping into the table and dragging the guy she had been dancing with behind her. She didn't even acknowledge Luke there, instead drunkenly informing Maggie that she was leaving with her new guy friend before half dancing, half stumbling back out towards the dance floor and probably the door soon after.

"Well, she was my ride," Maggie said, digging through her purse for her phone. "I should probably call a cab before it gets too late..." This had happened before.

"Tell you what..." Luke offered. "How about I buy you another slice of pizza then wait for that cab with you?" He followed with that handsome smile.

Maggie smiled drunkenly back. It felt nice to be flirted with. "I'd appreciate the company, but I don't need the pizza," she laughed.

"Don't worry, it's on me," he insisted as he stood to make his way over to the counter. She followed behind him, calling for the cab while he ordered the pizza and taking the slice with a polite 'thank you' when he handed it to her. They made their way outside, standing out in the quiet summer air in front of the bar.

"So is Maggie short for Margaret?" he asked, rekindling the conversation.

"Yea, but I hate that name," she admitted. "It sounds so... snooty."

"I guess so," he said with a laugh. "What about Marge? Ever go by that?"

"Eww, that's even worse!" she chuckled. "It makes me sound like some frumpy old housewife or something." She took a big bite of her pizza, some of the grease oozing down towards her chin. She went to wipe it off but Luke snapped a picture on his phone first, a big grin on his face as he chuckled.

"You looked so pretty I just had to capture the moment," he smiled, turning the phone to show her the picture of her kind of laughing through a mouthful of pizza with grease on her face.

"Oh yeah, that's just lovely," she said sarcastically through a mouthful of cheese and crust. She would've been mortified normally, but things had been going so well that it just felt like dumb fun.

"So what did you say to my friend before?" Maggie had to ask. "She said you were a jerk," she giggled, knowing now just how untrue that was.

Luke laughed along with her. "Well, I basically told her she's not my type."

"Wow... I think you're the first guy who's ever said that about Michelle," she said, taking another, smaller bite of her pizza.

"Yea, well, I think you're more my type," he said, that southern charm coming through. "I'd sure love to see you again."

"Me too," she smiled, taking his phone and handing him her pizza to hold as she typed her number into his list of contacts. "I'd really like that." They switched back then, with her finishing off the last of the crust.

Their eyes were locked on each other as she chewed, and she hoped he was picking up on the signals she was sending. Apparently he did; as soon as she swallowed he leaned in, their lips pressing together sloppily as one of his hands gently felt up her rear end before moving to caress her stomach. While it felt nice despite how bloated she felt from all the beer and pizza, she was very shy about her belly and gently took his hand away from her soft stomach, bringing it down to her hip. It didn't linger there for long, though, soon returning to her backside. Maggie was no stranger to guys grabbing at her ass in her thinner days, but there was something different about the way Luke caressed her backside - squeezing it and gently palming her cheek as if to judge its heft. It felt good.

Soon, however, his hand returned to her slightly bloated belly, the beer and pizza inside sloshing around as he toyed with her softness. All the moving and shaking, combined with the gases building up in her stomach, ultimately became too much and she barely pulled her lips from his in time to drunkenly release a sharp belch almost against his cheek. She was instantly mortified, but his lips quickly found hers again and she drove her tongue into his mouth in a failed effort to make him forget about what just happened. He continued kneading her stomach until another half-belch slipped from her mouth against his lips.

"I told your friend I ain't into skinny chicks," he laughed in between kisses. "That's why she got pissed at me." With that he grabbed a handful of her belly and squeezed hard.

What should have been obvious all along finally struck Maggie; Luke was a chubby chaser. That's why he wanted her and not Ashley - not because she was cuter or funnier, but because she was... bigger. The cab mercifully pulled up then, and she mumbled "I, uh, I need to get home," before ducking into the cab. "Sorry." Luke watched in disappointment as the cab pulled away with the former cheerleader flustered and humiliated in the back seat, her legs clenched tight at the knees as she tried to take her mind off the things she was feeling.