Though Jenna had narrowly escaped being forced to flaunt her newly rounded figure in front of her two friends and anyone who was in the store at the time, she had not been able to elude the notice of her peers. About a week after the near-debacle, the hurried whispers began. Indeed, the ladies’ room at RFK High was aflutter over the fact that it could not be ignored that Jenna Shcherbatsky had gotten plumper. Indeed, the warm fall of Southern California lent itself to a certain fashion that accentuated all the curves that you had—no matter what curves they were. And heaven forbid that Jenna Shcherbatsky should ever be out of fashion!

“Oh. My. God. Did anyone else see Jenna out there?”

“Who could miss her?”

“Yeah, especially because red is certainly not her color.”

“Come on! It has nothing to do with color. Jenna’s definitely gotten bigger recently!”

“And to think it looked like she was over Craig. I guess it hit her harder than I thought.”

“She’s certainly not going to snag anyone if she keeps up the trend.”

“That’s for sure. But really, she could at least try to hide it! It looks like she doesn’t even care!”

“You’d think that she’d be a little more image conscious than this, wouldn’t you?”

“One would hope.”

“But really, have you heard? They say that it’s done between Jackie and Andrew!”

“No!”

And so they tittered onwards in the excoriating way that only high school teenage girls can. Though RFK was a decently sized school, social circles within each grade were small, and news traveled quickly enough. And it wasn’t too long before Jenna’s best friend, Justine, dutifully reported the news to the expanding nymphet. As Justine expected, it was not a pretty scene in young Miss Shcherbatsky’s room.

“They’re calling me fat?!” Jenna stormed, “What fickle bitches they are! Who did you hear this from?”

“Well…I heard it from Liz Stockton, but who could say where she got it from,” Justine said quietly. She was normally a rather outgoing girl, but Justine was more than slightly intimidated by Jenna’s wrath.

“Of course Liz Stockton would say something like this! She was always jealous of me and Craig,” Jenna said. In her fury that people were beginning to notice that she was getting larger, Jenna had forgotten that she really was putting on weight.

“That’s true…” Justine acquiesced, “but, Jenna?”

“Yes?” the blonde bombshell said, slightly vexed that her rant had been interrupted.

“Ummm…well…as a friend…”

Jenna paused for a second as she realized what her brown haired friend was going to say. “Justine…you’re not actually saying that I’m fat, are you?”

“Well, you have put on a little bit of weight,” Justine said, adding quickly, “but not much! You’re certainly not fat…but it does sort of show…”

Justine’s candor, though it obviously pained to read her friend the riot act, made Jenna take pause for a moment as she snapped back into the reality of her situation. She turned to the mirror in her room and took stock of her appearance. She wasn’t any larger than the near miss at the swimsuit store (well, maybe just a pound or two), but all the gossip almost made Jenna feel larger than she was. Her stomach was definitely larger, and wasn’t exactly flat anymore. There was more than a little more heft in her knockers as well when Jenna gently cupped them. A wiggle of her pretty little—well, maybe not quite so little—ass once again confirmed that Jenna had more junk in her trunk than she was used to. In fact, her thighs seemed to press against her jeans more than usual. But there was no more damning fact than the fact that Jenna had finally broken down a couple of days ago and gotten some pants in size 8 so as to relieve the pressure around her waist. And they [I]were[/I] more comfortable…

In a way, it was like a splash of cold water in the face for Jenna, awakening her to the reality of things. Sure, Jenna knew that she’d been getting rounder as proved by her near catastrophe while shopping. However, somehow Jenna hadn’t been prepared for this sort of a backlash from her peers. Much to her surprise, it hurt our blonde heroine that she was being derided for putting on a couple pounds (a couple meaning about twenty or so).

Jenna sat down on her bed with slumped shoulders, feeling the weight of her newly acquired poundage. Justine, who it should be noted was a lithe girl of no more than 117 pounds, sat down next to the forlorn blonde and gave her one of those big hugs that only real friends can.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Jenna. So what? I mean, being on the water polo team makes you instantly desirable, doesn’t it?” Justine said as she stroked her friend’s hair, “I mean, how many guys do you know who would pass up a girl who routinely beats up other women while wearing a swimsuit?”

They both had a good laugh over that. “Yeah, I know, but there’s more to it than that,” Jenna said with a sigh, “I mean, we’re both girls that guys always want, aren’t we?”

Justine giggled. They definitely were part of that elite social stratum where there was never a want of suitors. “You more than me, though.”

“But that’s just it, I feel like now that everyone thinks I’m fat—” Jenna glanced down at her belly, which had bunched up into emergent rolls as she sat “—that I won’t be able to get the time of day from a guy. Like I’m a has-been.”

“Oh come on Jenna, listen to yourself,” Justine chided, “It’s as if it’s the end of the world and everyone’s going to desert you! What did you tell me about Brian when we split and I wasn’t even getting out of bed in the morning?”

“That you were being an idiot because Brian was a jerk—he still is for a number of reasons, if you ask me—for not realizing what a catch you were,” Jenna replied, “Are you going to give me the same pep talk?”

“Well you were right. And anyone that is going to let a couple of pounds get between them and Jenna Shcherbatsky is an idiot,” Justine said, “Come on, you know you’re still the it girl, Jenna.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Thanks Justine,” Jenna said as she gave her friend another hug, “You’re the best.”

Justine left Jenna, who had found reassurance in the words of her friend, just like she had in those of her mother. As she sat on her bed, Jenna wondered what she should do. She got up and went to go examine herself again in the mirror, but stopped short. That wasn’t going to do anything. She already knew what she was going to see. Jenna thought for a moment, and then decided to sit back down.

All right so I’m…fat Jenna thought, No, that’s not right. Because I’m not. I mean, I’m not even 140 pounds! Chubby? No. Not chunky. Robust? No…pudgy? Ick! Heavier doesn’t feel right either. After another minute of hard thought as to how to precisely characterize her situation, Jenna got frustrated at having exhausted her entire vocabulary and said, “I just am!”

Jenna suddenly realized what that statement meant. She got up and went over to the mirror to look at her reflection again, despite her previous resolution. As she looked at her rounder frame, Jenna considered whether she aught to be ashamed of these new developments. After all, it did feel like her rack was larger. Her bras seemed to be stretched a little more than she remembered them. And what boy couldn’t resist a pair of large inviting melons? And didn’t her hips have more sway than before? Wasn’t that a good thing? To be honest and critical with herself, Jenna did note that her newly developed tummy probably wasn’t exactly going to be something that would get boys lining up at her door. Neither would those subtly larger thighs.

Jenna knew she had a decision to make right now. She could either conform to the strictures of the elite social circle she belonged in and force herself to diet so as to return to her clique’s definition of a beautiful girl, or she could say to hell with them. On one hand Jenna pictured her mother and Justine reaffirming the fact that she was beautiful. But next to that was the memory of how much the gossip had hurt her, and how secure she’d felt before she’d put on all this weight in the knowledge that she was undeniably hot. As she thought, Jenna’s eyes drifted to a Kit-Kat bar on her dresser, the remnants of a rather large purchase at the drugstore a few days back. Despite some gentle warning sirens in her head, Jenna picked up the candy bar.

Carefully holding it in her hand, Jenna thought to herself, This is it, right here. Eat it or throw it away.

Before she had even made her decision, Jenna gently peeled back the wrapper and her nostrils were assaulted with the wonderful aroma of chocolate. “Mmmmm…” Jenna said, and made her decision right then and there.

Throwing herself back onto her bed, Jenna unwrapped the Kit-Kat bar completely and took a bite of one of the bars, reveling in the taste of chocolate. What sort of life would it be without chocolate?

“I’m fine the way I am,” Jenna said, “And if everyone else has a problem with that, then that’s their problem.”

***

Though Jenna had thrown out the idea of dieting, that didn’t mean she was throwing everything out the window. Yes, she did neatly tuck her size 6 pants and shorts away into the back of her closet, replacing them with size 8s, and she bought clothing that didn’t draw quite as much attention to her stomach. Nor did she decide to institutionalize her recent craving for junk food. A little here and there wouldn’t hurt, Jenna told herself, but nothing in excess.

But after a while, Jenna seemed to have gone back to her old mindset. In fact, though her shirts were now designed to minimize the effect of her rounder belly, it was still noticeable. That and Jenna couldn’t stand wearing jeans, as Southern California is too pleasantly warm in early November for something like jeans. Every morning when Jenna got dressed, she noticed that her thighs were visibly plumper, and that one could still notice that she now sported a nice little belly, which was threatening to become more than just little if she wasn’t careful. But Jenna didn’t care. Nor did it bother her—if she even noticed at all—that she was still continuing her snacking, which was growing to be more than occasional. In fact, Jenna seemed to be subconsciously saying, “Up yours” to everyone who was critical of her newly garnered poundage. Jenna’s popularity hadn’t flagged at all, and she was still freely accepted with her friends and acquaintances, but her detractors were well outside her social group.

Jenna could (and did) care less about these people. Well, that was the case until Justine took Jenna aside one day during lunch, about a week later. Jenna had asked Justine to keep her apprised of any new developments in terms of gossip. As much as Jenna despised what she now saw as the vain tittering of self-absorbed coquettes, she still couldn’t resist but keep up with what people were saying about her.

“Bad news, eh?” Jenna said, looking at Justine’s face, which had a hangdog look on it.

“Look, are you really sure that this is healthy for you, Jenna? I mean, hearing all this gossip and such?”

“That bad?”

Justine nodded.

“Look, just tell me what it is,” Jenna said, “I’ll hear sooner or later.”

Justine mumbled something quickly that Jenna couldn’t understand.

“Huh?”

After taking a deep breath, Justine blurted, “They’re saying that you can’t get a guy anymore!” Jenna blinked as her eyes went wide. “Look, please don’t get mad—” Justine started.

“No, no,” Jenna said calmly, “If I didn’t want to hear it, I wouldn’t have asked. Thanks.”

Then with calm composure, Jenna left Justine and went back to where she’d left her backpack, and silently slipped out with poise and dignity, leaving the bustling quad behind to go to the bungalows, which were removed from the permanent, ugly concrete buildings that made up much of the school. Only couples looking for a secluded place to make out or introverts ever ate lunch near the bungalows.

As she searched for her slice of privacy, the tears were silently running down her face already. It was none too soon that Jenna found a properly isolated spot. She threw her stuff down and collapsed against the wall, sobbing outright. She buried her face in her knees and abandoned herself to her sorrow. It took a while for Jenna to stop crying, but that was probably because she’d run out of tears. For some reason whenever Jenna cried like this, she always felt that she’d feel better when she was done. But she never did. Instead she was still sad, but felt drained of energy as well.

This was the ultimate slap in the face to someone like Jenna. It was almost the pronouncement that you were washed up, a thought that didn’t appeal to Jenna in the slightest. She lifted her head slightly to make sure that there wasn’t a crowd gathered around her, wondering what was wrong. She thought she caught something out of the edge of her eye, but there wasn’t anything there.

“Hello?” Jenna’s voice squeaked. She knew she sounded like the wreck she was. No response.

Jenna was sort of happy that there was no one there to see the mighty brought so low, but she knew that she needed someone now. Not her friends. Not Justine. Not her mother. Just…someone. She didn’t even know whom. Maybe someone who still found her attractive and would hold her. Maybe someone else like her. But right now Jenna couldn’t quite tell.

Her sadness began to have its place taken by determination. I’ll show them, Jenna thought, still bleary eyed from her blubbering, They want to say I can’t get a guy? Then I’ll get one. Even if some of them are stupid enough to believe their malicious prattle, there are still dozens who couldn’t wait to get in the sack with me. Let’s just see what they’ll say then!

Realizing she must have looked like a mess, Jenna grabbed her stuff and scurried to the nearby restroom to fix her face. She hurried by the few isolated couples that were too absorbed in each other to notice her and got to the bathrooms out in the bungalows, which were, as usual, deserted. Just as she had expected, Jenna had found that she’d cried so much that her mascara and eyeshadow were in a deplorable state. After about five minutes, Jenna had returned her face to its former beauty.

“Chin up,” Jenna said to her reflection.

The bell marking the end of lunch sounded and Jenna left the women’s restroom and headed to class as if nothing had happened.

***

Jenna began her efforts the very next day, though acted as if she knew nothing about the vicious gossip swirling around her. Without being too overt about it, Jenna systematically tested out all of the guys in the broad upper circle of the Junior class, many of them having lusted over Jenna at one point or another. She carefully batted her eyelashes, leaned forward with one button too many undone on her blouse at the right moment, and sighed sweetly with perfect timing.

Unfortunately, her efforts were to no avail. Men who had previously drooled at the mere thought of attention from Jenna Shcherbatsky were now impervious to her charms. Some of them played along, but Jenna knew from experience when a man was interested and when he wasn’t. It was a depressing week and a half for Jenna, which didn’t help her waistline at all. It was becoming all too easy to turn to food as a source of comfort for Jenna, as well as another way of defying her critics.

Jenna sulked in front of her mirror and sized herself up. Was it just the light, or did her face look heavier? Were her cheeks a little softer? Such concerns only caused her to sink deeper into depression.

“What am I gonna do now?” Jenna asked her sullen reflection, which could give no answer.

She hated them all now. All of those people who were probably cackling at this very moment over Jenna’s fall from grace. All of those jocks who no were no longer entranced by her. She wished she could make all of those boys wish they hadn’t passed her up. But Jenna realized that might never happen. The best she could do right now was to somehow tell them that she didn’t care about them anymore. Unfortunately, by chasing after anything in her social circle with a moderate amount of testosterone, Jenna thought that trying to pretend that she didn’t care might seem a little hollow now.

But, then again, she hadn’t pursued every guy that she hung out with. Maybe a third of them. Well, when one actually did the math, Jenna found out, it turned out to be a little closer to half of them. Jenna lay down on her bed and reflected that everything she tried to do these days just seemed to backfire on her. Staring at the ceiling, Jenna waited for some inspiration to come to her, some divine inspiration to enlighten her as to how to get out of this rut. Jenna lay like this for about five minutes, trying to figure out what to do. Before she knew it, her mother was gently shaking her.

“Jenna dear,” Mrs. Shcherbatsky said.

“What Mom?” Jenna said.

“Didn’t you hear the phone?”

“The phone? The phone didn’t ring…”

“You were asleep, Jenna,” Mrs. Shcherbatsky said, “You dozed off a couple of hours ago. Emily Nyberg’s on the phone. You two were supposed to work on some project for Biology.”

Jenna spun around and looked at the clock. She’d been asleep for three hours! Jenna just barely checked herself from cursing in front of her mother and went to grab the phone by her bed. In the process, she accidentally rolled a little too far and as she clutched the phone spun right off the bed.

“Jenna! Are you all right?” her mother said, stooping over her daughter.

“Jenna? What’s going on?” the voice of Emily Nyberg said from the receiver.

“I’m all right!” Jenna said, entangled in her comforter, “I, uh, rolled off the bed getting the phone. Everything’s okay.”

Emily sighed at the other end. “Your mom said you slept through our meeting an hour ago.”

“Emily, I’m really sorry. I didn’t even know I’d fallen asleep until now,” Jenna protested as her mother withdrew, satisfied her daughter wasn’t harmed, “Look, give me ten minutes and I’ll be right over.”

“All right, I already started on some of the research.”

“Emily!” Jenna groaned. Emily Nyberg was a relatively popular girl, certainly far from Jenna’s league to be sure, but Emily’s real strong suit was her intellect. “I told you not to do that! I feel guilty now!”

“Well, the quicker you get over here the more work you can help with,” Emily said.

“I’ll be right over. I’m really sorry Emily,” Jenna said.

“No, really, it’s okay. See you soon.”

Jenna hurriedly fixed herself up and drove as fast as she could (which was roughly ten miles above the speed limit and through a couple stop signs where there was clearly no one coming towards them) to Emily’s house where the brunette girl of Norwegian Viking stock met her at the door.

“Hi Emily. I’m really sorry about this,” Jenna apologized as she stepped inside.

“Don’t worry about it,” Emily said as she led Jenna into the dinning room where she had laid out the poster project that they were supposed to have completed in three days. “Can I get you something to eat?”

“Sure,” Jenna said, before she knew it, “It smells like someone made cookies.”

Emily grinned. “Well, I got bored while I was waiting for you, so I made some oatmeal raisin cookies.”

“Oatmeal raisin?” Jenna said, “Blech.”

“I’ll bet you’ve never even had them before,” Emily challenged.

“No, but they sound icky,” Jenna replied before she could stop herself.

“Fine. Suit yourself.”

Jenna felt like she’d behaved inappropriately. Not only had she been late, but she’d just indirectly insulted Emily’s cooking abilities. On top of that, Emily and Jenna had never been real bosom friends, though they were on cordial terms. Jenna thought it might be wise to make amends.

“Well, I suppose I could have one,” Jenna said with apologetic, downcast eyes.

“Only if you want to,” Emily said, “I don’t want to force you into eating them.”

“No, really. I should at least try it,” Jenna said, “I mean, maybe I’ve been missing out on the most amazing cookies ever.”

“All right. Give me a second,” Emily said as she went into the kitchen. A few seconds later she came back with a plate of about two dozen oatmeal raisin cookies and a glass of water.

“The water’s in case you don’t like them,” Emily explained.

The buxom blonde smiled at the brunette’s consideration. Taking a cookie, Jenna carefully took a healthy bite from it and chewed it slowly, rolling it around in her mouth. After swallowing, Jenna said, “It’s pretty good.”

“Thanks,” Emily said with a smile that showed off her bright white teeth.

Jenna finished the cookie, which she really did enjoy. The two sat down to get to work on their project as Jenna reached for another cookie. It wasn’t until Jenna felt around an empty plate in search of another cookie that she gasped with the realization that in the span of forty-five minutes she’d eaten two dozen oatmeal raising cookies.

“Oh my God!” Jenna exclaimed before she could stop herself.

“What?” Emily said, surprised, “I didn’t think you were so passionate about ecology.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that I…ate all your cookies. Emily, I’m sorry. You must think I’m a real pig now,” Jenna said, slumping over. She couldn’t believe her own gluttony.

“Jenna! You? A pig?” Emily said, stunned at the fact that Jenna, who she thought was at the top of the social pyramid, would seriously refer to herself as such.

“Haven’t you heard the gossip?” Jenna said bitterly, “Jenna Shcherbatsky: the latest has-been of RFK High. She can’t even get a guy to go out with her on a date anymore.”

Tears once again began welling up in Jenna’s eyes, which she had not the willpower to dam. Emily was stunned by the sudden and unexpected series of events. However, her heart flew out to the young maiden and did what seemed natural: Emily grabbed Jenna in an embrace and hugged with as much strength as she could muster. Jenna—who had been desperate for someone she could truly share her woes with ever since the bungalows—clutched Emily Nyberg to try and alleviate her loneliness. Emily guided Jenna to the couch where they sunk into the cushions as Jenna continued the deluge of tears. When Jenna had finished crying, she told Emily with tear-filled eyes of her ordeal, from having been dumped by Craig to having been rejected by over a dozen different boys.

“I just don’t know what to do anymore, Emily,” Jenna said, tears threatening once more, “I used to belong, and now it feels like everyone I used to hang out with couldn’t be more foreign to me, even Justine.”

Emily took Jenna’s hands. “Perhaps this is banal of me,” Emily said, “but maybe you should rethink who your friends are.”

“That’s just it, Emily,” Jenna said, “I don’t have any other friends. If I stopped hanging out with them, I’d barely know anyone. I mean, so many of them are on the polo team and everything.”

“Forgive me if this seems like a stupid question, but Tara Kelly’s never told me about this sort of thing and we talk all the time. And she’s much…” Emily paused to find the right word, “…heavier than you are.”

“But Tara’s always been fat, and I’m piling on the pounds before the entire school’s eyes!” Jenna said, “People get some sort of perverse sadistic pleasure from it.”

“Schadenfreude,” Emily mumbled to herself.

“What?” Jenna said.

“Oh. It’s Schadenfreude. It means that other people derive pleasure from seeing your misfortune,” Emily explained.

“How perverse!” Jenna exclaimed, “People are so cruel!”

“Well, don’t you like it when someone gets convicted for a big crime?”

“Yeah. But they deserve it because they did it.”

“How about when you watch a TV game show and someone loses?”

“Well, okay, but—”

“Or how about when a younger brother gets busted for doing something wrong?”

“I don’t have any other siblings,” Jenna said.

“Bad example, but you see my point,” Emily said, “You enjoy it when bad things happen to other people. Therefore, other people enjoy watching you as you…round out.”

Jenna hung her head. “I should have guess this was the price of being on top. One day you had to get dragged down.”

“Cheer up, Jenna. I bet that everyone you hang out with doesn’t think worse of you. Sure, some boys might not want to go out with you—”

“Try a lot of boys,” Jenna interjected.

“All right, that might be so, but I bet everyone like Tina, Kelli, Tara, Katie, Jen Holmes, Christy, Morgan, and all the other girls you hang out with don’t think the worse of you,” Emily said, “You don’t have to find new friends at all, Jenna.”

Jenna nodded. “Except I think I just found one new friend.”

Emily blushed. “Really, Jenna, I think you’re being a little too kind. I—”

Jenna silenced the brunette with a hug. “No, really, Emily. I’ve wanted to tell someone all of this for so long, but I didn’t know who I could talk to. You’re sent from heaven, Emily. You really are.”

“Thanks Jenna,” Emily said as she hugged back.

“I think the only thing you haven’t done for me is get me a boyfriend again,” Jenna said as they broke apart.

“Oh that’s easy,” Emily said with a wave of her hand.

“Emily, that’s not funny. I’ve tried for a week and a half and had absolutely no luck,” Jenna said sternly.

“No, really! It’s very easy! Just stop caring about it,” Emily said.

This struck Jenna like a brick. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not kidding. Stop chasing boys and they’ll start swarming all over you,” Emily explained, “When I decided I wasn’t going to get a boyfriend, I had three guys who all of a sudden started paying attention to me. It was like magic. I figured out that if we try to force ourselves upon guys, they lose interest because it’s no longer fun for them. As much as they dislike the cat-and-mouse game of dating, there’s a certain satisfaction to being the cat and catching the mouse. Just like there’s something enjoyable about being chased as the mouse. You have to know when to let yourself be caught so that the cat doesn’t lose interest and go after easier prey.”

“Emily, I’m beginning to lose you,” Jenna said, her head spinning with the metaphor.

“Let me try it this way. There’s a certain mystique to a woman for boys. If we lay ourselves out there for them, we lose that mystique. So when you were actively going after those guys, the ones who had liked you before, regardless of what your body looked like and how they felt about that, they already had lost interest in you because it was no longer a challenge to get Jenna Shcherbatsky,” Emily said.

Jenna thought about this for a moment. “You know, it actually makes some sense now that you say it. Why didn’t I ever think of this before?”

“You knew this a long time ago without anyone telling you, Jenna,” Emily said, and then before she knew it, she said, “Everyone’s always called you a tease.” Emily’s hands flew to her mouth. “Jenna, I’m sorry, it just slipped out. Really, I am.”

Jenna smiled. “No, it’s okay. That was my strategy, you know. Get them just interested enough to start to make them really want me and then leave them hanging so they’d want more the next time around. But you could make it up to me, you know.”

“If it’s finishing the project all on my own, I’ll live with your wrath,” Emily said with a large grin.

“No. I was just wondering if you might have another plate of cookies in the kitchen.”