Chapter 1 - Keeping the pledge

Hailey parked and walked, maybe waddled up to the front door. She had gained weight since she had last weight herself, she knew. The sorority couldn't keep track of wether or not she weighed herself at home on break, but they did insist that she wear a pedometer and keep her activity to a bare minimum. She was trying to hide her new pounds with a sweatsuit with her school logo on the pants and hoodie, but she may have also been accentuating it. She blamed the pocket and felt better about herself.
She hoped none of the neighbors saw her as she walked in, having last been there at least 90 pounds lighter, in great physical shape. She had her hands in the belly pocket of her hoody, attempting to hold it in, but knowing it was just making it more pronounced. Just as she was sure that this was the half-way point, and that she'd never make it into the sorority, it was occurring to her as she was opening the door that her mother had been in the same sorority. She was suddenly more worried than before.
Instantly, she was being hugged by a number of people, and felt at least a few hands touch her belly. She tried to pull away, but had nowhere to go. She was led by her family to their large dining room table. She started to blubber a thanks, but I'll eat with the rest of you, but the entire family jumped on her almost literally, urging her to eat in silence.
Hailey obediently dished up some mashed potatoes and turkey, and watched as melted butter was poured all over the potatoes, and gravy over the turkey, and sighed, digging in. Her mother was clearly in on this, and had gotten the rest of the family in as well. She should have figured. Years of being pushed into the same sorority... of course her mother was in on it. Hailey had simply always thought herself lucky, born into a wealthy family, and had never gone hungry, really. She was thankful for that, but at the same time, wished she had an easier time losing weight. Then her mother brought out the birthday contraption, and si
Weighing well over 300 pounds herself, her mother seemed to take immense joy in feeding her children. One switch attatched the suction mouth piece, and another began the flow of high-calory food of one sort or another. Hailey felt the choice of the day was mac and cheese, almost certainly with extra butter and cheese, and simply grimmaced when proven right.
"Looks like your sisters have been taking good care of you." she said, with maybe a little too much enjoyment. She set down the pan of brownies she was about to put in the oven, and came over to give Hailey a hug- right around the most swollen part of her middle. "It's amazing they've let you continue to try to pledge. You have to be the tiniest one trying." Hailey opened her mouth to refute it, but decided it was pointless. She'd probably just be punished for arguing with an alum. "I just want you to know, I'm here to help." She sounded so proud, so happy, it was hard to imagine she was talking about making her little girl obese, but she reached up into a cupboard in the kitchen and tossed a couple glass jars at Hailey. She guessed neither were more recent than the late 70s, but apparently they were both FDA approved. One shut off the hunger response, and the other multiplied it, according to the packaging. The weight loss pills were still sealed with celophane- the weight gain pills seemed half gone.
"I don't know that these are allowed, Mom." Hailey began to protest, holding up the jar of weight gain pills. Her mother just stared at her for a moment, then laughed.
"Allowed? Sweetheart, you're trying to become one of the most powerful women in America. Nobody just has the control over their weight that they ask of you. The key is to learn which rules you can break, when, and how, and then you're in." She reached out and pinched a handful of Hailey's new blubber. "I'm going to guess you're either at 250 or getting close. Should I call Ben over?" Ben had been Hailey's high school sweetheart, prom date, and was still, maybe technically, her long-distance boyfriend, finishing his last year of high school.
"Mom, no. I'm going to have lost this weight by the time I see Ben again." She hoped her voice had the qualities expected of the power players of Mu Mu Mu. Her mother was grinning widely and already had the phone in hand.
"Remember that time when you were young when you got a bit chubby? I believe at one point you ate an entire tray of brownies. Sweet memories for me, though I remember it being painful for you." Hailey swallowed hard. In a second, a glass of off-white full-cream milk was in front of her, and she watched as her mother, herself in perfect physical condition, pulled a plate of brownies out of the oven and placed another in.
"Mom, this isn't necessary. Believe me, I'm already the fattest of the pledges. My-" she wanted to tell her mother of how sadistic and mean her mentor was, and how she had to eat constantly, but her mouth was filled with incredibly hot brownie. Seeing her daughter's pained face, Hailey's mom began pouring the full-fat milk down her throat.
"I'm trying to help you, Hailey. If you don't want help, fine. You'll end up fat and with no friends, no more self-control, and certainly no man like your father." She suddenly realized her father had been responsible for keeping her mother's weight down.
"I don't care where you got this eating disorder or who helped you get away from it. I don't want it for myself." The words took Hailey as a surprise, and her mother looked as though she'd been slapped.
"Hailey. We will always love you. Sometimes the way we show our love isn't appreciated. The fact is, you'll never be anybody unless you can show you can gain AND lose weight. The more the better. We live in a patriarchal society, sweety, and men want to know they have control. That who they have contol over controls themselves. So for god's sake, eat a brownie." Her mother was smiling at her in a way she couldn't just refuse. Hailey nodded, and reached for a brownie. Her mother met her halfway, with what must have been the biggest in the pan. "Start with this one. The whole pan is for you and don't skimp." she gave Hailey a wicked grin, and flicked a finger into her soft, growing gut.
The brownies had something in them. Hailey knew immediately from the bitter taste. But she knew she had no real options. They were very strange- the more she ate, the hungrier she got. She kept trying to ask about them, but her mouth was always too full of thick, gooey chocolate.
"You probably want to know how many calories were in those brownies. Maybe why you couldn't stop eating them. Forget all those questions. The fact is, the power Tri-Mu wants you to find isn't the power to diet. It's the power to project yourself as beautiful regardless. Did you really think that the reason you don't see fat old Mus around is because they die early or something?" Her mother smiled sweetly at her poor naive daughter and she shoved the last brownie into her open, waiting mouth, returning a look of wide-eyed horror with one of love. "No, they simply got what they wanted from the sorority and were done. That's it. They still donate, maybe attend an occasional function, but the skinny ones you always see there? They're the ones that don't get it. But you? If you come back from break and really helped achieve the weight limit, everyone will know that. And the real secret is, that counts for more than even losing the weight. As long as you act confident and beautiful." Hailey hugged her mother, inspired by her kind words, and as her mother smiled at her and passed the jug of heavy cream, Hailey smiled and took a long pull.
Hailey needed an entirely new wardrobe to go back to school. She had outgrown every pair of pants she owned. The diet her mother had put her on was so rich as to be punishing, and her mother had her doing more than just eating tons of fattening foods. For one, she was required to drink 2 beers immediately before each of her four daily meals. She worried about becoming an alcoholic, but she did notice that soon, she was able to eat more, and suspected the drowsiness caused by it was helping to keep her sedentary. The break passed quickly, and Hailey returned wearing a sweatsuit with her school logo all over it, trying to hide her new pounds from all but her sisters, but really emphasizing it no less than her pig suit.
She of course needed a new pig suit as well, and some commotion occurred when it was discovered they didn't have one big enough. The girls all seemed to respect that, except, of course, for her mentor.
"It doesn't matter what you wear. You're still a piggy. We'll get a bigger suit for you, but don't diet to fit into one of these." and indeed, the next day, three pairs of pig suits, complete with noses and hoods with ears and curly tails, were delivered to her. She noticed they were all different sizes, increasing from what she was wearing. She put on the smallest of them, and felt it was actually rather nice to have the soft fabric of the suit supporting her now fleshy belly instead of a belt or waistband. As she heard the dinner bell, her mother's words resounded in her, and she proudly walked into the dining room and proceeded to stuff herself at such a pace, even her mentor simply watched, shocked, with none of the usual criticism and urging.