Obedience

Chapter 1

"Come on, Lana!" Persephone said. "You knew what you were getting into when you moved in here with me."

Lana let out a strained groan and leaned back in her chair. The wood creaked beneath her shifting weight. One hand rested on the curve of her swollen stomach while the other remained draped over the armrest, too tired to move much farther.

"Okay, Persephone," Lana pleaded. "Just give me -hiccup!- a second to breathe!"

The dining room looked like a hurricane had blown through it. Evidence of a super-fattening meal was strewn about. Empty plates and half-finished serving dishes crowded the table between them. The air was warm with the lingering scent of roasted meat, fresh bread, and sweet desserts. A dim light from a soft lamp danced across the polished wood surfaces, lending the room an almost dreamlike quality.

Lana drew a slow breath, feeling the pressure inside her abdomen as her stomach stretched painfully against the waistband of her leggings. Every inch of her felt heavy and sluggish. Even so, her eyes drifted toward the untouched dessert waiting near Persephone's elbow.

Standing above her, hovering over her menacingly, Persephone looked calm and collected amid this chaos. Moving into Persephone's apartment had seemed like a practical decision when first proposed, like it was an answer to a prayer.

Perhaps this time, though, Lana had bitten off a bit more than she could chew.

The truth was that Lana had always been a glutton, going back as far as her early childhood. Family gatherings, birthday parties, school events-it hardly mattered-whenever food was involved, Lana wanted more of it. She wanted second helpings, she wanted dessert, she wanted to know if there were leftovers waiting in the kitchen after everyone else had gone home.

She wanted it all, and she could never get enough.

She just loved to eat; she couldn't help herself. She loved the flavors, the textures, the warmth of a freshly prepared meal. Most of all, she loved the feeling of abundance. A full plate made her happy. A second full plate made her happier.

Over the years she developed a habit of testing her own limits. Whenever she felt comfortably full, a small voice in the back of her mind would ask a simple question: What if you could have a little more?

The answer was almost always the same-Lana would keep eating.

Lana would push herself, forcing herself to eat as much as she possibly could, expanding her stomach out until she was in genuine discomfort. Her rounded belly would feel stretched tight beneath her clothes. Afterward, she would sink into a chair, moving slowly and breathing a little heavier as her body struggled to cope with everything she had consumed. Common sense should have told her to stop long before reaching that point-instead, she found herself chasing it.

The discomfort of indigestion carried with it a strange sense of satisfaction. It felt like proof that she had indulged completely, that she had wrung every last bit of pleasure from the meal in front of her. The heavier she felt, the more content she became. There was something deeply comforting about surrendering to that sensation and allowing it to wash over her.

By the time she reached college, Lana had become remarkably good at eating far more than anyone expected. Friends would stare in amazement as she polished off portions that should have fed several people.

She garnered a lot of attention for her gastronomical exploits, and soon, she found that she loved that feeling as well.
It wasn't long before Lana had developed something of a reputation as "the Campus Pig." It started after a few girls in her dorm witnessed her devour an entire large pizza by herself during a movie night. The feat quickly became the stuff of dormitory legend. Stories spread. More people began paying attention. Before long, students seemed to be keeping an eye out for whatever ridiculous amount of food Lana might tackle next.

Whenever she found herself in possession of a particularly large meal, an audience often wasn't far behind. Whether it was a giant burrito from a restaurant near campus, a gallon tub of ice cream, or several orders of takeout meant for an entire group, word would somehow spread through the building, and curious students would drift into the common area to see if Lana could actually finish it all. Most of them arrived expecting to watch her fail, but most of them would leave feeling impressed by her piggish abilities.

As time went on, people began to talk about this girl on campus with an endless appetite. Whether it was a bag of donuts, a carton of leftover Chinese food, or a plate of brownies left over from a study group, Lana rarely turned anything down. The attention became part of the experience. She loved the anticipation of having an audience. She loved the excitement that filled the room whenever people wondered whether she could finish one more slice, one more bowl, one more helping.

Most of all, she loved the feeling afterward. She loved sitting amid the wreckage after an enormous pig-out session, her stomach swollen and painfully full, her body heavy with food. She would sink into a chair and listen to the laughter and chatter around her while a pleasant haze settled over her mind. The discomfort was real, yet so was the satisfaction. The fuller she became, the happier she seemed to feel.
As Lana's reputation around campus as an eating machine continued to grow, people eventually started bringing her food simply because they wanted to watch her eat it. Whether it was pizza, burgers, cookies, or snack cakes, Lana was never one to refuse anything. The attention was flattering, and the free food made that feeling of warm satisfaction she got from stuffing herself all the more accessible and addicting.

Among the throngs of admirers who became fascinated by Lana's appetite, none seemed more interested than her roommate Persephone.

The two could not have been more different. While Lana often found herself surrounded by people, Persephone tended to keep to herself. She was quiet, reserved, and rarely spoke unless she felt she had something worth saying. At parties and dorm gatherings, she was usually content to remain in the background, observing rather than participating.
Even so, she always seemed to be there whenever Lana was chowing down.

Whenever a crowd gathered to watch Lana tackle some absurd quantity of food, Persephone could almost always be found somewhere nearby. She rarely joined in with the cheering or laughter. Instead, she would sit quietly and watch intently as Lana worked her way through another oversized portion of something rich and fattening.

At first, Lana barely noticed, but as time went on, she began to realize that Persephone's attention never seemed to wander. While everyone else eventually became distracted by conversations, phones, or whatever else was happening around them, Persephone remained focused on Lana.

Persephone rarely had much to say about anything, but on the rare occasions when she did speak, her praise for Lana had a peculiar intensity to it. She would wait until the others had wandered away or until the noise in the room had softened, then offer some quiet observation that left Lana feeling both flattered and slightly exposed.

"You do realize how extraordinary this is, don't you?" Persephone once said after watching Lana finish the better part of a party-sized tray of pasta.

"Eh, I don't know if it's really all that extraordinary," Lana quipped modestly. "People watch me pig out because it's like a car wreck; they just can't look away."

"No!" Persephone fired back sharply in an uncharacteristically forceful tone. "I mean," she went on, cooling herself down a bit, "people don't gather around to watch just anyone eat-they gather because it's you, Lana. There's something almost thrilling about seeing how much you can put away."

Lana laughed awkwardly, unsure how else to respond. "Um, thanks-I guess."

Persephone's eyes had drifted for just a moment toward Lana's stomach, which was pressing tightly against the front of her shirt.

"I mean, it's really incredible," Persephone continued. "You keep on eating, and somehow your body just keeps making room for more. It's like your stomach can just expand infinitely to accommodate your glut-like your appetite is larger than whatever limit your body thinks it has."

At the time, Lana didn't think much of Persephone's awkwardness, assuming that she was only trying to compliment her in her own unique way.

Looking back now, Lana could plainly see just how much more to it there really was.