Chapter 1 - The hoilday

Chapter 1 - The Holiday

* Hannah: 92 kg
* Lauren: 61 kg

The Spanish sun was beating down on the hotel pool, making the tiles almost too hot to walk across. The family had been in Spain for several days, and everyone had settled into the lazy routine of breakfast, swimming, sunbathing and going out in the evening.
Hannah was floating in the pool on an inflatable lounger. At 5'6" and around 92 kg, Hannah had always been the larger of the two sisters. She wasn't enormous, but she was unmistakably overweight. Her weight was distributed particularly around her hips, thighs and bottom, giving her a very curvy figure.
In her bright pink textured bikini, she looked completely at ease floating under the glare of the afternoon sun, her blonde hair tied up in a messy bun.
Lauren, three years younger, was completely different. At around 61 kg, she had an average, relatively slim build. She was confident, energetic and rarely thought about her weight. She walked towards the pool wearing a black bikini and sunglasses.
She stopped at the edge.
"I see the whale's in the water."
Hannah immediately lifted her sunglasses.
"Very funny."
Their mum burst out laughing.
"Lauren!"
"What?" Lauren protested. "I'm joking."
Hannah splashed water towards her.
"Wait until you're older."
"That'll never happen."
Hannah smiled.
"Everybody says that."
Lauren jumped into the pool.
For the rest of the afternoon, the sisters were back to normal. They were close, despite constantly winding each other up. Lauren had always been the confident one-slimmer, energetic and naturally outgoing. Hannah sometimes felt that people noticed Lauren first. It was one reason Hannah had started becoming more conscious of her own weight.
That evening, the family went bowling. Hannah was normally quite good. She picked up her favourite bowling ball and walked towards the lane.
As she bent down slightly, there was a sudden ripping sound.
She froze.
Lauren immediately started laughing.
"Mum!"
Her mum looked over.
"What?"
"Look at Hannah!"
Hannah turned around. The inside of her jeans had ripped.
"Oh, brilliant."
Lauren was still laughing.
"They finally gave up."
"Shut up."
"It isn't funny!"
Hannah tried not to laugh herself.
"Come on," Mum said. "Let's get you home."
It was embarrassing, but Hannah tried to forget about it.
Then came the final morning. The sisters were packing their suitcases. Hannah picked out the white shorts she'd worn when they travelled to Spain. She hadn't worn them for several days.
She pulled them over her legs.
They stopped.
She tried again.
Nothing.
"Come on..."
Lauren looked over from her bed.
"What's wrong?"
"They've shrunk."
Lauren looked at the shorts.
"No, they haven't."
Hannah pulled harder.
"They have!"
"Your clothes don't randomly shrink in a suitcase."
Hannah jumped up and down, trying to get them over her hips.
Lauren started laughing.
"You're going to rip them."
"Thanks for the encouragement."
Eventually Hannah managed to get them on, although they were considerably tighter than before. She stared at herself in the mirror. She didn't want to admit it. Maybe she'd gained weight.
At the airport she barely ate. The teasing had got into her head.
When they returned home, things got worse. Their mum had uploaded photographs from Spain onto Facebook. One photograph showed both sisters standing together by the beach.
Lauren looked slim.
Hannah looked at herself. Her face fell.
"Why did she put that up?"
Lauren looked over.
"You look fine."
"I don't."
Hannah stared at the photograph.
"I look twice your size."
Lauren shrugged.
"So?"
"I hate looking like this."
That evening Hannah made a decision. She was going to change. The next morning she would start exercising.
And she did.
Lauren watched her sister become increasingly determined. But while Hannah was thinking about losing weight, Lauren was thinking about something completely different.
She began wondering what it would actually feel like to become the bigger sister. At first it was just a thought. Then it became curiosity. Eventually, sitting alone with her phone late that night, Lauren smiled.
"What if I actually did it?"
She had no idea where the idea would take her. But she had made her decision.
She was going to gain weight.