Amber 6 “Okay. Um, bye.” Megan put down her cell phone and sat herself down on her bed. She hadn’t even heard from Amber since graduation, and now she’s acting as her counselor. Megan wasn’t too annoyed; she always thought Amber was a sweet girl, although every so often deadlines transformed that sweetness into an anxiety that caused her to stress-eat tremendously. This was Megan’s theory for why Amber had gotten so big just over the year they worked together, although she heard rumors that Amber’s girlfriend was purposely making her fat. It seemed a little farfetched for Megan to believe, but was that why Amber made the call?

Thinking about her large former classmate caused Megan to reflect on her own time in college. Her experience as TA for Prof. Addleson’s cooking class quickly became legend at Viridian University. Nobody had ever seen a girl double her size in one semester, even a girl forced to eat considerable amounts cake four days a week. Megan went from mildly chubby to round and flabby in the space of three months, and the school’s physicians couldn’t explain it. As much as she looked forward to going back home for Christmas break (due to how much she hated school), Megan was scared of coming home a complete fatass and facing…she didn’t even know what. Megan feigned illness and spent the next five months eating almost nothing (because she was too lazy to actually go on a diet plan) and walking the long route to her classes (a minor concession). By the time graduation rolled around, Megan was only about 20 lbs. heavier than her old self, largely in her hefty knockers for which she was very grateful. This was an amount which she felt she could chock up to the stress surrounding writing her thesis (completed the night before it was due) and be done with it.

In the ensuing eight months, Megan had met a nice young man named Rick in line at the grocery store and now sported an diamond engagement ring, along with another 10 lbs. and the beginnings of a spare tire now that she didn’t feel the need to impress anyone. Megan was glad her fiancée was understanding about her complete lack of drive to get a job or lose weight or doing anything with herself, but she knew that that patience wouldn’t last forever.

As Megan got up, she walked past the mirror in her apartment hallway. Not only was she wearing pink Hello Kitty pajama pants, but they were obviously an old pair. Her belly flab oozed over waistband, as did her love handles, and her butt cheeks were attached to the seat of the trousers like a second skin. Megan undid the drawstring, and felt relief to have the extra room. She thought her big boobs looked great in the Weezer t-shirt she had on, though her belly kept it about a half-inch from meeting with her waist. Megan leaned over to the mirror and kissed her reflection, a quirk she’d been doing in front of reflective surfaces for years, and smiled. Megan could see a hint of a double chin as she straightened up, but decided not to give it a thought as she walked over to her kitchen.

Right as Megan was taking a coffee mug out of the cupboard, she heard the doorbell ring. Did her reminiscing that long? She made her way to the door, almost tripping on a Subway wrapper, and seeing a blonde girl through the keyhole, let her in.

Amber said hi, and walked right in. Megan saw the entire girl for the first time in eight months; she tried to speak, but words couldn’t come out. Amber must have put on over a hundred pounds since the last time they talked. Her huge belly swayed as she walked (or rather, waddled) in, and her wide backside seemed to be on the verge of destroying what must have been size 28 jeans. Megan had never seen a person this big, and was fearful as Amber sat down on the couch whether it would even support the girl. Megan breathed a sigh of relief as Amber sat her voluminous backside down and she only heard minor creaks; nothing broken. She still hadn’t moved.

Breaking the silence, Amber asked nicely, “Can you make me some coffee, Meg? And a muffin, too? I’m so exhausted after the trip.” As Amber shifted herself on the couch to get comfortable, the furniture continued to creak.

Megan laughed nervously. “Sure! Um, sure thing.”

*****

Sally sniffed a few times as she used her hand to wipe the tears form her cheeks. She had been crying for over an hour on her bed after Amber had left, clutching to her favorite panda stuffed animal, Mr. Fluff. Sally never foresaw Amber leaving; it seemed to come completely out of nowhere. In her head, Sally lashed out at Amber, for ruining their relationship by acting like this, by walking out on her. Sally had been feeding her years, and was she getting anything in return?

After awhile of this, Sally came to realize that the argument wasn’t about any of that. It would have been easier for Sally to deal with Amber being just angry with her. No, Amber was disappointed in her girlfriend for being used. Sally knew she made no effort in school, and guilted Amber into do her work for her. Sally got to live out her secret desires by fattening Amber, while at the same time saddling her closest companion with double the pressures she already faced. When she realized this, Sally felt sick to her stomach. How could she fix this? Maybe…

Sally picked up her European History textbook and flipped to a page with one of Amber’s post-it notes on it. “Chapter Eight: French’s Third Republic.” Sally began to read aloud, to no one in particular.

*****

Megan poured the brewed coffee into two mugs and pulled a box of muffins from the cupboard. As she walked over with the refreshments, Amber smiled, accentuating her very chubby cheeks. "You could tell what I really wanted right? Good detective work." Amber stuck her tongue out in a playful way as patted her enormous belly, causing it to jiggle for a few seconds. Amber snatched away the box and immediately began devouring each of the muffins almost whole. Megan sat down next to her, and she could feel Amber’s flab touching her side.

"So…" Megan began. "What’s, um, up?"

Amber finished swallowing her eighth muffin, and after a small groan as she digested the food, she replied, "Oh, lord. It’s my girlfriend. We had this huge fight; we’ve never even fought before! It was horrible…we said all these things…"

"Like what? " Megan inquired, sipping her coffee.

Amber said, "Like, just her taking advantage of me and all this other stuff. Actually, can I tell you a secret?" Amber leaned in closer to Megan’s ear. "She’s the reason I’m this fat." Amber blushed saying this, not something she did very often.

"Ha, I knew it!" Megan said with a laugh. "I knew it wasn’t just Freshman 15 or 30 or whatever. Of course, you guys certainly weren’t being very subtle about it." Megan patted one of Amber’s side rolls, which made the larger girl blush even further.

Amber rubbed her wide stomach, commenting, "Yeah, not bad progress at all." She leaned forward to get the rest of the muffins from the table, and was chewing as she continued talking. "Though I hardly think you’re one to talk about blimping out. Last winter, you were almost as huge as me!"

"Hey look, it wasn’t my fault! It was the damn cake!" Megan said, almost yelling. "A bajillion calories a day, of course I was gonna turn into a whale. Though I’ve got to admit, it was great being able to push people around with my blubber. A hundred or so pounds in the right places make for a great smothering weapon," Megan added."

"With a huge butt like mine, I’m quite familiar with that tactic." Amber said with a grin that showed off her significant double chin. "So why did you lose it? Well, most of it anyway." Amber teasingly poked Megan in her pudgy stomach, which was resting a few inches onto her lap.

Megan cupped her hand on her own belly. "It was hard carrying that much flab all around campus; I don’t even know how you do it. I think that stupid class has ruined my metabolism or whatever, but this…" Megan jiggled her belly fat for emphasis, "just won’t go away. Needless to say, my overeating credentials are quite firmly established."

Amber laughed. "Ha, right! You’re talking to a 350 lb. girl and you go making that kind of claim? Bring it on!"

Megan was puzzled. "You mean like a contest or something?"

"Just some friendly competition, what do ya say?” Amber offered. “You don’t really want to hear any more whiny drama from me, do you? An excuse to eat, and I’m as quiet as a mouse."

"Excellent point," Megan replied. She helped Amber to her feet, and once they got to the kitchen, the larger girl began tearing through all of the shelves, unearthing a treasure trove of snacks. "They’re for, um, winter hibernation," Megan said in defense.

Amber carried the snacks into the living room and spread them on the surface of the table. Amber immediately looked down at her the overburdened waist of her jeans, and began undoing her belt. "Not taking a chance with these," she said. As Amber managed to unbutton her jeans, and Megan’s mouth was agape as she saw the girl’s tremendous stomach pour out onto her lap. Amber sighed relief and patted her newly free belly as she turned to Megan. "Jealous much?"

"Hardly," Megan replied with a smirk. "This is a one-time thing, right?"

Amber replied, "Of course," as she dug into a bag of mini-chocolate chip cookies. Megan took a tray of Bagel Bites she’d quickly microwaved and started with one, and quickly devoured the rest individually.

****

The girls spent the next few hours like this, in a starch and sugar-filled haze. By midnight, the food was entirely gone, and both girls were nearly sedate. Megan was clutching her very swollen tummy, her mouth smeared with an odd mixture of tomato sauce and peanut butter; she couldn’t believe she’d gone along with something this insane. Amber merely sat content with a smile, her hand draped over her enormous stomach; she loved gorging like this, it made her feel absolutely enormous.

Amber turned over to her side with great effort, her belly almost spilling over the side of the couch. She poked Megan’s shoulder with one pudgy finger. "Not so bad now, was it? I believe I won, by the way."

Megan groaned as she attempted to sit up steadying her gurgling stomach. "Those results may be disputed; I feel like I ate a Buick. At least there was no cake in sight."

Amber thought for a second, then asked, "Hey, do you mind if I stay here for awhile? I don’t think I’m ready to go back to school and everything."

"Sure, I just lost my roommate, so I’ve got room. Going to have to share a bed, if you don’t mind."

"Gotta make the fiancée jealous, right?" Amber replied with a devilish smile. "Tomorrow, we should probably go to the grocery store or something ‘cause I think we completely cleared out your place. But for now let’s—" Megan looked over and saw that Amber had immediately fallen asleep. Megan decided to do the same, and after eating a spare KitKat that she saw lying next to Amber, she turned out the light.