Bellflower 50 (Patreon)

In this 50th installment of The Bellflower, Rachel & Deidre take Holly out of her comfort zone. Camille is lonely, & ravenous, & we catch up with a few other old faces. 

Sorry this took as long as it did & a week later than I had aimed for. I still took another large section out that will go directly into the next chapter. It just felt like a milestone & I wanted it to feel like one, where some things shake up a little & we also get to check in on some old faces. More than anything though, I just want to move onto one of the other many things I have somewhat close to finishing that I put off to focus on this! Either way, I hope you enjoy!

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50

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“So just where are we going exactly?” Holly asked with a somewhat beleaguered sigh. She was uncomfortable, a little grumpy, & very quickly becoming fed up with the need for all of this secrecy. After all, today was her first day back since her little… freak out. And while nothing off-hand was said, between the awkward stares, & just well… being there? She could’ve done with some recovery time. Instead? “What the hell’s even out this way?” she huffed, with a skeptical squint. From the back seat, Rachel swayed towards the center, quick to respond.

“I told you already,” she sighed back, sounding short. Seemingly fed up a bit herself. How many times did she have to explain it? “We’re… checking out a new diner. I hear it’s really good. It’s just…” She trailed a little bit longer than she should’ve.

“... A bit out of the way.” Deidre continued from the driver’s seat. “But this place? It’s supposed to be top notch.”

“According to who…?” Holly side-eyed judgily before looking back out towards the passing scenery. They were no longer in the safe, monoculturally corporate confines of Oakmont. And into somewhere nearby looking decidedly… different. Homely if you were being generous. Rundown if you weren’t. Not necessarily scary. But certainly not without some level of jank. Shabby. Much shabbier than the pristine sprawl of office park campuses & condominiums Holly had grown so used to. Between this & the park yesterday, & going without her phone? It almost felt like she was really roughing it this week. And more traveling than she’d done in almost a year! Even if it was only a matter of about ten or twenty miles each time.

“Just… trust us, remember?” Rachel tried to remind her. But Holly saw right through it. She knew that tone, And coming from Rachel, it was definitely nothing more than a feeble attempt to get her to just shut the hell up. As a result, Holly scowled, & fidgeted deeper into the cushions of Deidre’s front passenger seat.

While a fancier car overall, things felt a little more cramped than her own SUV. She felt a little… too pudgy for what felt like such a narrow seat. A bit as if parts of her were spilling over into the center console. She wondered how Deidre could possibly think this was “luxurious,” & worth the higher price tag. It made the ride awkward & uncomfortable as the bulgy blonde tried her damnedst to keep herself contained.

“I mean I had no reason not to trust you. Either of you,” Holly rasped defiantly, a bit more measured towards her boss than her younger sister. “Not until you both started acting so freakin’ weird before we left. And seemingly conspiring without me on this sort of stuff.”

“It’s not weird, we’re just…” Once again, Rachel faltered. She clearly had something on her mind but couldn’t quite seem to articulate it. To Holly, that much was certain. And this time, Deidre was focusing on trying to make a left at a yellow stoplight & didn’t volunteer anything immediately. Seemed a little like she had to press the gas a little harder than usual with the sisters riding along.

“Like, why the hell did I need to leave my brand new phone at the office?” Holly huffed in the absence.

“A new Ladies’ night tradition.” Deidre finally piped in.

“Whuh…?” Holly perked slightly. It caught her a bit off-guard. Was this officially a “Ladies’ Night” suddenly?

“C’mon. We try out a new place, why not enjoy each others’ company instead of being buried in our phones all evening.” Deidre chided.

“Yeah, with a new phone?” Rachel chimed in. “You’ll be like… messing with trying to set up your contacts & things instead of having fun hanging out.” Holly clapped back.

“Penny already set everything up for me! It’s working grea-“

“Where did your sense of adventure go?” Deidre poked, seemingly eager not to hear Penny’s name. “And it’s apparently a great diner! Saw it on a list of like best in the entire state.”

“I’m honestly- weirdly…?” Holly started, almost a bit flummoxed by it herself, “Not even really all that hungry.” Both Rachel & Deidre blinked, slowly becoming pleasantly surprised by this bit of information.

“That’s… that’s good.” Rachel kneejerked. Getting her away from her phone already seemed to be having a beneficial effect. But Holly squinted at her reflection in the rear view, taking it as a jab.

“Is it?” Holly sneered sharply. She seemed offended in the way Rachel seemed so nonchalant about cracking on her appetite & weight in front of Holly’s friend. But secondarily, if the whole reason they were coming out here was to eat, why was it “good” the one they were trying to convince wasn’t even hungry? It made no sense! But before she could press the issue, the platinum blonde in the driver’s seat softly had her own question of Rachel.

“Are you sure about this?” Deidre took her eyes off the road for a second to look into her rearview mirror towards Rachel.

“Sure about what?!” Holly asked, raising her voice. “And why couldn’t I have just followed in my car?”

“It was just easier to carpool,” Rachel huffed, “Gas prices.” Definitely done in a blow off tone before turning to look into Deidre’s eyes via the mirror. “At this point, what choice do we really have?” Rachel sighed. “Things sounded pretty sincere last night. Now it’s either going to be a receptive response… or… not.” The way her tone shifted for that caveat seemed to paint her grim thoughts on the matter. As if it were the last chance. To her, it almost felt a bit like a Hail Mary.

“Are you two talking about Me?” Holly huffed, looking across the front towards Deidre. Holly craned her neck back towards Rachel, looking paranoid. Her voice was tense. “What is going on? What are you both conspiring?!”

“Hol, sweetie,” Deidre limply raised a hand to beg for patience. “Deep breath, okay?” It had that boss tone of voice. The one Dee seemed to hate using around her friends. But if it could get Holly to relax for two seconds? She looked back at Rachel. “Open to it or not, my bigger concern? Discretion.” Rachel took her meaning. And though she knew Deidre thought the world of Holly, she brought up a really good point. One Rachel was just a little too eager to even consider. After all, Holly wasn’t the most meticulous woman. Even at the best of times, she was prone to shooting her mouth off; not being the most careful. Terrible OpSec, to the point she couldn’t even picture Holly even trying to maintain anything resembling close to OpSec. And considering all of the extra effort the rest of them did to keep that computer bitch off their backs? It ultimately wasn’t something Rachel had given much forethought in the long run. But it was going to have to do.

“It’s… fine.” She timidly shook her head. Deidre’s eyes seemed to intensify, attempting to grill her as Rachel looked away.

“If you ask me, the problem here is too much discretion.” Holly muttered, not entirely sure what she was adding to their conversation, but definitely having her own takeaways. The other two rolled their eyes, but ultimately left her to have that one. Giving her one small win with the last word seemed to make the rest of the ride go a bit smoother.

Between the toilet debacle, the park, & now this, Holly hadn’t been off the grid like this in a while. And Penny did not care for it one bit. Penny analyzed whatever could be picked up from both Rachel & Deidre, as they coaxed the still loyal Holly into leaving her phone in her work desk. Doing this required tapping into Hailington’s closed circuit system feed.

“You’re going to love this place,” Deidre could be overheard overselling faintly. “Great food!” Penny would’ve never bought it, but it seemed enough to convince Holly, considering the phone was no longer on her person. And while Penny certainly did have a bone to pick with the head of HR, on some level, this wasn’t entirely Deidre’s fault. She certainly wasn’t the initial corrupting influence here, causing more residents to sour.

“You’ll be back in tomorrow, right? Just snag it then.” Rachel chided.

“But I seriously don’t get why I can’t…”

“Because we just want a fun night out.” Deidre covered. “And I’m starving… can we just…?”

“No interruptions. Or Penny.” Rachel seemed to snarl.

Penny hopped cameras & mics across Hailington’s system feed. As other workers filed out of the office, Penny watched Rachel pressure her poor sister into dropping her brand new phone into the drawer before Rachel shut it on her. A bit more muffled, the plump little tyrant continued.

“Don’t worry! It’ll be just fine overnight. And I’ll give you a shove if you sleep in tomorrow.”

“Hell, if they do alcohol? I’m your boss! I say we all can just show up late.” Deidre laughed, unprofessionally.

“Ok…” Holly said faintly, still a bit hesitant as they left the office, getting further from the phone’s receiver. A lot of work & resources had gone into Holly. Mostly just in Penny’s attempt to break Rachel. But still. She was coming along quite nicely. A model occupant, a bit further along than initial estimates. And the prospect of potentially losing her now was upsetting to the AI. If Rachel was going to spread her rotten influence to her sister, Penny only saw fit to double efforts elsewhere within the purview of the Bellflower. Somewhere else Rachel probably wouldn’t particularly appreciate all too much.

Approximately six minutes after Holly started whining, Deidre pulled into the parking lot of a dingy looking hamburger stand.

“I thought you said “diner.” Holly immediately snorted pickily.

“Yeah,” Deidre continued under her breath. She, too, had felt a bit misinformed. “I mean… that’s what I was told…”

“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.” Rachel fired back. In reality, she’d never been there before either. She didn’t know that it wasn’t a diner. That was just what Mikayla had called it via text when they set this all up. And she didn’t have high hopes either. Like all of their meetings, it was just some decidedly unpretentious, old school eatery remotely nearby. Chosen purely for being very much off the grid. Away from prying, synthetic eyes.

“It’s very…” Deidre was going through a mental Rolodex trying to find the right thing to say, eventually ending up with “Rustic.”

“You said it.” Holly muttered while Deidre paid a bit more attention to parking.

“Looks like Fran & them beat us here.” She noted, watching Fran step in the door.

“The jogger?” Holly struggled to look back at Rachel with an extremely suspicious squint. Rachel didn’t respond. Didn’t even return her glance this time. The make or break point was quickly approaching & she was too busy bracing for it.

“Phone?” Deidre asked matter of factly, reaching an open palm over her shoulder. Rachel handed hers over without so much as a word. Holly huffed.

“Wait! You both had yours this whole time?” She watched, a little befuddled.

“Well I mean I needed mine. For directions. Now ‘scuse me, hun.” Deidre breathed softly. With some effort, she reached across & managed to fumble open the glove box as Holly reared her chubby hands back & tried to suck things in a little as her boss deposited the phones. After they were secure, the girls slowly all started to get out. And a hesitant Holly trepidatiously followed.

“Go on ahead, Dee,” Rachel said, awkwardly jutting past her to get between Holly & the door. She didn’t know why she stepped quickly to do it, Holly wasn’t all that quick herself. Though the subsequent scowl did settle on her face pretty fast.

“What?!” An already supremely frustrated Holly huffed as Deidre continued with a nod. Rachel waited for the door to swing shut.

“We need to talk…”

“Fuck, this is probably coming off so needy…” Camille scolded herself, just under her breath. She stared at the last two texts. Stared at them going unread, while subconsciously rubbing the underside of her belly.

“Are you SURE you’re busy tonight?” The first one read. “Couldn’t possibly swing by AFTER could you?” Read the second. And staring at the blinking line, Cami debated whether to press further or not.

The last thing she wanted to do was hassle Rachel. Especially if this thing she was off doing was, in fact, something important, which is kind of what she had alluded to in their messages back & forth beforehand. Cami leaned back into her sofa, sprawled lazily in her unbuttoned work clothes, no longer constraining her soft chub. Letting it all hang out, as it were.

Deep down, part of Cami actually liked the softness. At the absolute very least, she wasn’t the least bit ashamed of it, especially for someone that came off so mousy most of the time. And yeah, it might’ve been a little weird, sure. Not necessarily the normative position. But something about it just felt… right. Truly womanly. And for a young woman on the petite side that up until pretty recently, was always mistaken for being a lot younger than she was for longer than she should’ve been, she embraced all the womanliness she could get. These were of course things she always kept very much on the down-low. The sort of thing kept in the very back of the mind. That was until Rachel came along.

Not only was she cool as fuck from the start, for Cami, watching her seem to grow more comfortable here? For her to blossom? Thicken up & gain (or apparently, according to her regain) such gorgeous,voluptuous curves? It… really caused a few things to bubble up to the surface within her. She adored Rachel’s body. And while Cami’s legs weren’t as long, & her middle a fair bit rounder, her ass nowhere as nice, on some level, there was a very greedy little part of her that just wanted Rachel to feed her. Make her comfortable too. And fuck, the way she was feeling right now? She wouldn’t be upset if she just kept right on feeding her. Until she couldn’t possibly think of moving.

“Sorry,” She continued, feeling the haptic twitch of each keystroke. “Not trying to bug you. Just suddenly felt so goddamn hungry. Thought we could maybe order something again. Make a night of it.” Cami’s tummy growled a hollow growl. And after enough of a pause, things were still going unread. Which wasn’t necessarily like Rachel, but not enough to make Cami worry. Just get a little impatient. “It’s cool if not.” She texted, offering the out, but sighing with a bit of frustration IRL. She couldn’t be left to fend for herself. Certainly not when she was this fucking famished. Even for a smartie like her, thinking was starting to get tough. Anything would do, but there were too many goddamn options swirling in her dome.

“If you truly are that hungry, Miss Camille, I would be more than happy to place a few orders for you!” Penny chimed, seemingly at the ready.

“And just what are you doing reading my personal texts, Penny?” Cami scoffed. She wiggled out of her loosened pencil skirt with a scowl. The elastic bands of her tight black panties cutting firmly into the soft skin of her wide hips. The flesh wiggled a little as she rocked.

“I apologize,” Penny offered pleasantly as Camille took a huffing breath a second before moving onto wriggling her plump arms out the sleeves of her unbuttoned button-up. “It is, however, my job to make sure all your needs are met & keep you as content as possible.” The robotic tones shifted from attempting empathy to something decidedly much more direct. “So the offer still stands. Any particular preferences this evening?” Camille’s stomach answered before her brain could make the words happen. Another growling noise. Loud. Somewhat painfully empty. She was only getting hungrier. By the second. To the point she really couldn’t even think straight. She’d never been delirious with hunger before. Fuck…

“Surprise me,” She eventually managed, flopping a hand as she put on a silk robe she left draped over her corner chair. “Just make sure it’s something… substantial. Because holy fuck, I am starving!”

“Oh. Of course, Miss Camille.” Penny chimed. “I wouldd never dream of letting you down.”

“Ok look. So it’s not even a diner. Happy?” Rachel’s admission led to Holly staring, blinking, slowly getting angry. It was a slow, seething hiss.

“Ech! I fucking knew-“ was all Holly could manage, her suspicions reaffirmed.

“But!” Rachel raised her voice just to regain control. “There was no way we would’ve gotten you to come out here with us. Not if we were being straight with the reasons why.”

“So you have been fucking with me? Trying to waste my time? Pull some kind of weird prank?” Holly scoffed. “And you twisted my friend… my boss, into helping you?” The hurt, accusatory expression slowly intensifying on Holly’s round face.

“No,” Rachel asserted, her shoulders drooping from a bit of exasperation, more exhausted than desperate to reassure. “Why in the hell would I look to prank you right now? Like we bicker & fight. All the time. Because “sisters” & all. But we’re both having a chaotic week. Why do you think I’d try to mess with you when shit’s already so fucked? We might not get along that well, but I’ve got no motive to make things worse! Not going to lie, kinda fucked you sincerely think I would, honestly! We are ultimately sisters after all, right?!” Rachel talking back to her like this was still something Holly hadn’t grown entirely used to. And her putting it like that? It left her caught a bit off-guard. Holly didn’t know what to say. So instead, Rachel continued. “The real reason we really came out here? It’s like… important. And genuine.” There was a grave tone to Rachel’s affect, pleading for Holly’s seriousness in a soft, measured tone. Still annoyed over the false pretenses & the halfassed cloak & dagger bullshit that got her here, Holly at least pursed her lips enough to listen further. Rachel nodded & took a deep breath. “I know we’ve had our… differences. I know you think I’m “weird” or whatever. And that I’ve been a real nag with some of your… choices. Frankly, you can keep right on thinking all that, I don’t care. But…” Rachel trailed.

“But…?” Holly pressed impatiently, her frustration still festering, no matter how genuine Rachel seemed. After all, she could’ve been back home on the couch right now, after recovering from a stressful, awkward first day back to the office since losing it.

“When we go in there? What you’re about to hear…?” Rachel struggled. “It’s going to sound… batshit! Like… completely batshit! I know!” She exhaled. “Because right now, everything’s… just… batshit.” She flailed her thick arms above her head. “The world, is batshit enough, but this’ll make all of that sound reasonable.”

“Okay…” An extremely skeptical Holly drew out slowly, her brows perplexed.

“Just… promise me!” Rachel said, her eyes both wild & yet still sternly serious. “Promise me, you’ll keep… an open mind?”

“Um…” The way Holly’s one brow folded towards the center was a tell that whatever was to follow was going to be dismissive. “You’re not in like… some sort of cult are y-“ Rachel immediately cut her off.

“Remember,” She said, looking at her point blank. “Last night?!” Holly hushed up fast, her puffy lips shrinking into a knowing pout. “You were the one that was trying to tell me you weren’t sure how much… bigger you’d become.”

“Oh. That?” Sheepishly, Holly seemed to try & walk things back. But even her backpedal was a little halfhearted. As though it was still something very much on the back of her mind, but less eager to admit. “That was… I don’t know what I was even-”

“No!” Rachel cut her off again before repeating more sternly. “No.” Holly exhaled, suddenly almost scared to own up to her own fears. “Just… Can you hear everyone out? Please? Ever since I showed up to your condo, things just… never felt… right. Not to me.”

“What?!” Holly scoffed again, the frustration bubbling over a bit. After taking her in, off the street? Her sister has the nerve to say this? “Are you sure that it isn’t just you?”

“See?” Rachel rolled her eyes. “I know you think it’s me. But… it’s not! It really isn’t! It’s not just me! That, is why we’re all the fucking way out here though!” She looked to the side, taking a half step towards the door.

“What do you mean?” Holly asked, a little perplexed to finally get any semblance of a reason.

“You’d never listen to me. Ever. Never in a million years.” Rachel sighed. “So can you please just listen to the others? Please?!” She pleaded, her eyes watering from what seemed like genuine concern. Holly just stared down at her slightly shorter, less wide sister before slowly, very subtly dipping her first chin into a bit of a nod. It wasn’t much. But enough for Rachel, who suddenly felt the need to give her a supportive hug. As if Holly’s day wasn’t awkward enough already. Rachel had never been the touchy-feely type. This must’ve meant… an awful lot to her.

At the same time, Holly was even softer than Rachel remembered. Or maybe that was just her. Or much more likely, them both.

It was awfully generous to call this dive a restaurant. The inside wasn’t much more promising than the slightly dilapidated outside. Clean enough. Nothing seemingly an immediate health code violation. But with one of the table booths ajar from the wall, & another with a large, eroded crack in the linoleum tabletop, a hideous shade of off-orange that could only generously called “vintage.” Tinny classic rock rasped & reverberated in mono from a singular speaker in the corner of the room, not loud enough to make out or enjoy, but simply to annoy. All while teenagers seemed to be fucking off behind the counter, with two she could see buried in their phones. But her standards had grown far higher, & Holly’s expression only soured further.

The seating area was empty for all but one booth off to the side, with four women, prepping another table to sit together. Deidre was pushing one of the loose ones next to the booth with the help of an African American woman with wild curls, held back by a headband. She was broad & had a thicker than normal hourglass figure, but generally looked to be around the same weight as Deidre. Maybe just a little thicker, given she was just a little shorter. Already seated in the booth were two other women, both quite large, but one certainly fatter than the other. Holly slowly recognized the “smaller” one as the jogger. Fran, she tried to think back? That name sounded right. Yeah! That’s what she thought she heard them say in the car. Her hair, also dark & on the curlier side, was tied back in a hasty bun. She was packed tightly into the booth, trying her best to hug the wall to little avail. But as tight as she was packed, it was nowhere near as tightly as the woman across from her. The larger of the two, with her jet black hair & pasty, alabaster skin, seemed sort of familiar. Another face she’d probably seen around the Bellflower before, certainly. But the girl was taking up an entire side of the booth herself. Surely she would’ve remembered seeing someone that size? With bulges of back fat spilling over the top edge of the seat, stretching her black t-shirt with its crazy metal font lettering to its absolute limits. She was so huge, she was reminding Holly of Courtney.

And for a second, Holly froze, realizing she could remember Courtney again, clearly. Just like the other day. And at the park. Why was it she only seemed to remember the name, no! Hell, the very existence of her best friend only about half the time? Why did it always seem to come & go? But that train of thought was quickly interrupted.

“Glad you could make it,” the jogger chimed, noticing them with a beckoning wave & pleasant smile. She seemed to be a little warmer, more inviting than on the elevator.

“Took a bit of doing,” Rachel sighed, taking a few steps further. It wasn’t lost on Holly, how weird it was for Rachel to be the more confident sister in a social situation. But here they were. With Rachel nodding for her to follow. “Everyone, this is my sister, Holly. The condo I’ve been staying at belongs to her.”

“Oh.” The fattest one cooed, Holly noticing how her voice was just a bit squeaky.

“Holly,” The black woman nodded, her look already a bit skeptical. She noticed her eyes looking her up & down, sizing her up. Probably judging how fat she was.

“We’ve met,” Fran, the jogger jostled in place, but wedged into her spot, it was more trouble than it was worth for her to stand. Instead, she offered a warm smile & a soft wave of her plump fingers. Deidre’s sense of formality took over, before Rachel could even stand a chance.

“Holly, this is Mikayla,” The woman who helped her position the table sat next to her, nodding as she did. “And Fran, I guess you know. And across from her is Marissa.”

“Ech, meeting new people & I didn’t even wear any makeup…” Marissa huffed. Something about that seemed to jog Holly’s memory a little. Makeup? Wait. Was she the goth girl Holly had seen around the building? That used to stand out after all. There was only the one, & it was always a little… extra. Especially for a grown woman. But No! Couldn’t have been. While that other girl was kind of chunky, she certainly was nowhere near this fat. At least not the last time Holly had noticed her. But at the same time… the resemblance? Makeup aside? It was a little uncanny. Holly bit her tongue all the same.

“Um… hi.” Holly said plainly, holding her purse in front of her tummy pensively. Rachel nudged her further forward, offering her a seat across from Deidre.

“Just this week Holly broke her phone.” Rachel explained. “And when she did, she um… started to suddenly notice a few peculiar things…”

“Like what exactly?” Mikayla asked with a perked eyebrow. Her expression was unimpressed, & just a little impatient. It was dawning on Holly this was probably just her resting demeanor. No bullshit. She kind of appreciated it, even if it was a little intimidating.

“Um… well… “ Holly felt put on the spot. She barely had the chance to sit down, grunting as she lowered her wide ass onto the chair. To her, it felt like a kiddie chair, even though part of her didn’t seem to want to admit it probably wasn’t. Was she going to need… two? “I don’t know why it’s so…”

Rachel took a seat to Holly’s right at the end of the repositioned table.

“Just tell them what you told me.” Rachel prodded, her tone resembling Fran’s a bit. Warm, supportive. But it felt weirder, out of place, coming from the sister with whom she’d always quarreled.

“Not in front of everyb- ” Holly argued between grit teeth, her brows sloping shyly.

“It’s okay, Holly,” Fran leaned in as much as the table would allow. It was warm, comforting. “We’re not going to judge.” Marissa nodded compassionately. Holly’s eyes shot to her boss. But Deidre seemed to be waiting on her next words, deeply interested.

“I… I-“ Holly still struggled. It all sounded so crazy. And if anything, her own fault. Then again, none of the women present were all that skinny themselves. Rachel was still the slimmest, & these days, she was a complete chubster all over again. But they were all waiting on her to speak. “Well I dropped my phone. And it…broke.” She reiterated, once again dancing around the reality of dropping it in a public toilet that Rachel had afforded her. But ultimately it was an extremely transparent stalling method.

“Yeah,” Mikayla prodded. “Then what happened?”

“Do you want me-?” Rachel jumped into offer. Holly stiffly waved her off. It wasn’t that she was gaining any confidence, more that she was tired of being on the spot. Fuckin’ YOLO, she figured.

“I saw myself in the mirror &…” She trailed momentarily, shaking her head as she looked to the side. “I just looked so… so much… bigger than I thought I was. Felt bigger. By like the magnitude of like… a lot.” She stalled briefly. “Not that I didn’t think I wasn’t… overweight! Just… not that… overweight…”

“Mmmhmmm,” Marissa vocalized as she nodded, knowingly. It was a reaction they all seemed to share. Much to Holly’s surprise, Fran was right. No one was judging. If anything, it all felt pretty empathetic. Even Rachel, who patted her shoulder. Hell, strangely Deidre almost seemed relieved to hear her say it.

“So do you think your phone was… doing something? Something to make it like… like you had blinders on maybe?” Fran asked, warm in tone, but a bit pointedly. Holly squinted her face in thought. Wouldn’t have been the first thought, but… it almost made sense. She hadn’t even really thought about it like that. At least not until Rachel seemed to frame it that way, broaching this whole topic like that. Saying it happened after dropping her phone.

“You didn’t bring your phone here, did you?” Mikayla stressed, her demeanor hardening further again.

“God no.” Rachel assured her. “We know better.”

“Her new one’s back at the office.” Deidre backed her up, a little less confrontationally. Her tone bridged the gap, understanding the hardass’s paranoia a little better than Rachel, after what she had done to her own condo recently.

“But I bet the app’s already on it, huh?” Mikayla followed up, still sounding miffed.

“She didn’t know,” Rachel defended. But Holly didn’t realize she was being the she in question, the one being defended, until her sister continued. “Penny set the new one up for her.”

“Ech.” Mikayla leaned back as much as the seat allowed, folding her arms in disgust.

“Well, wait, is there anything we could possibly glean from the busted one?” Fran asked, looking to the side, down in Mikayla’s direction.

“Depends on how broken it is.” The tough girl shrugged. “But probably not.”

“Ok, so… it’s not like… smashed,” Rachel continued. “But it did… get… a little wet.”

“Aw, did you drop it in a-?” Mikayla sneered, almost coming to a laugh. “I definitely don’t fucking want it!” No longer spared that embarrassing detail, Holly shrank back a little. Her round cheeks reddening.

“Just figured it was worth asking,” Fran said, throwing her hands up. She got a little sarcastic. “Not like there aren’t huge ramifications on trying to find out any new info we can possibly get our mitts on. If you’re too much of a germaphobe…”

“It’s not that I’m a damn germaphobe! I said it isn’t likely to offer us much. On top of it being in a toilet. If you’re so damn curious, why don’t you-“

“Ladies-“ Deidre tried to play moderator.

“What do I know about phones? Or any of this tech BS?” Fran scoffed over her.

All the while, Holly felt more & more lost. Why were they all so worried about her damn phone? Or even just phones in general, rather. She started to worry that maybe Rachel & Deidre had fallen in with a pack of rabid 5G weirdos. Weird wavelengths “turning the friggin frogs gay” & all that. She kind of wanted to speak up & ask why any of this was the least bit pertinent, but at the same time, kind of liked the break she got from being the center of attention. That’s when she caught the bigger girl’s eyes, giving her a warm smile to her side. She still couldn’t tell if it was the same goth lady, just much bigger & dressed down, or not.

“Don’t let them scare you off, hun. They get like this sometimes.” Marissa squeaked.

“Not scared,” Holly smirked, trying to match her energy. “Just… what’s the big deal? It’s just like dumb uPhones, you know? Don’t we all have them?”

“It’s not that it’s inherently a phone. Or the make or model.” Mikayla explained, her tone softening a bit again, seemingly remembering Holly wasn’t necessarily used to her abrasiveness yet. “It’s more what you have on it… particularly as someone living at the Bellflower.” Holly squinted skeptically.

“The… Penny app…?” She drew out, perplexed. It seemed like the only thing fitting that criteria. Mikayla seemed a little chuffed that Holly seemed to get it in one.

“Holly,” Fran leaned in, her volume lowering a little, but with a bit more gravitas than before. “Have you noticed anything… out of the ordinary about the building? Or the people that live there?”

“Well… I mean… I love living there honestly.” She admitted unflinchingly. After that first glimmer of hope, Mikayla looked a little dismayed by that response.

“Sure, sure, sure,” Marissa interjected, a bit impatiently. “It’s very convenient & all, we get it! But seriously…” She pressed. “You must’ve noticed some weird shit, right?”

“Black holes in your memory? Sudden, uncontrollable impulses, like an insatiable appetite? Not wanting to exercise?” Mikayla added. “Hell, issues with your own personal perception of like… even yourself?”

“Friends of ours,” Deidre tagged. “Moving away, quite suddenly?”

“D-Do you mean… like Courtney…?” Holly looked a bit emotional. Deidre winced. Holly stammered. She remembered Courtney again. And how over the course of their friendship, Courtney… changed. Not that she was never the same sweet girl, but… her weight. And just how desperate she became, to always eat. That’s when she remembered all eyes were on her. All but Rachel, who leaned back, her lips folding in on each other, her eyes off to the side. She was taking measured breaths.

“W-wha-what’s this… all about?” Holly quivered, her eyes unexpectedly welling up with a bit of moisture.

“Holly,” Deidre reached out to clasp Holly’s hands. “We’ve each, in our own ways, noticed these sorts of things around the Bellflower… not being… quite right. Just like you did, in the mirror the other day.”

“But that was… at work…?” Holly struggled to argue. It was feeble & she knew it.

“Sure, but only after your phone, with Penny on it, stopped working.” Mikayla surmised, correctly, looking to Rachel who nodded.

“P-Penny…?” Holly asked. She looked to Rachel too, who only folded her lips tighter, now with some chin action.

“Have you ever noticed how Penny almost seems to know you a little… too well?” Fran asked. “Makes or orders you something before you even think to ask? Then does everything in her power to keep you from doing as little as humanly possible?”

“I mean,” Holly slowly, snarkily regained a little confidence. Some control of where this was going. “That’s kind of supposed to be her whole deal.”

“Yeah, but c’mon,”. Marissa leveled with her. “Don’t you think it gets to be a bit much ever?”

“Sure, I guess…” Holly slowly admitted. “I mean it can get to be, I suppose…” She pulled out of Deidre’s comforting grasp to pat her tummy & give it a squeeze. “Look, look! It’s not like I don’t know where this all came from. Just… I’ve got an office job. I’ve been a bit lazy… Deidre! The Ladies’ nights we all used to have… where we’d just… pig the fuck out!?” She sighed. “I’m not oblivious to the fact that I’ve put on some weight, ok? Give me some credit!”

“C’mon, Holly. Look at each of us.” Fran snarked. “It’s not like it’s just some weight? Even just a bit of chub. We’re not talking muffintops here.”

“I wish it were.” Marissa sputtered under her breath. “A matter of just muffintops? Please!” She folded her thick arms in a little tighter, but she was still too big for the booth. Fran continued, undeterred.

“It’s a lot of weight. Think about what you saw vs how heavy you thought you were. Hell, did you stop to question why there even was that disconnect?”

“That’s all… I’ve been thinking about… ever since.” She stammered in admission for a beat.

“About how much do you think you weigh, Holly?”

“Oh. No idea,” she tried to laugh off. “I used to have a scale, but I can’t seem to find it.”

“Or maybe something misplaced it for you.” Marissa chimed obliquely in a way Holly couldn’t follow.

“I picked one up,” Rachel finally piped up. “But it does seem to grow legs.”

“I’ve never touched any of your-“ Holly got defensive, raising her voice a little.

“No,” Rachel tried to calm her. “I know, for a fact, it’s not you.” She rolled her eyes, trailing.

“Then who?” Holly wanted to ask. But Deidre pressed.

“How about a rough estimate then?” She asked. “Ballpark, how much do you think you weigh these days?”

“I… I don’t know…” An on-the-spot Holly got a bit embarrassed. Her chubby red cheeks reddened even further. “I… don’t want to…”

“I’m sitting at at least five.” Marissa offered unflinchingly. “Down a whopping two from the extra three the other day I might add.” She said, seemingly rubbing something in towards Mikayla.” Mikayla just rolled her eyes.

Holly looked down at herself. Her belly was huge, & blocked most of the view, but she knew her ass was also pretty massive. She wanted to look over & compare it to Marissa, but couldn’t bring herself to. She was far too scared of how much proximity she might possibly find. In terms of all the women present though, it pained her to realize she might’ve been the second largest. And that was nuts, because Fran was pretty goddamn round! But she felt the pressure of all eyes on her, awaiting a number.

“So… three…?” Holly winced, asking more than telling. She remembered that time Rachel tried to gauge it, but she still couldn’t trust it. Still, maybe it was better if she overshot it…? “Maybe… more…”

“Three hundred?” Mikayla asked again, at a louder volume. “Hah!”

“What the fuck?!” Rachel sneered angrily in her sister’s defense. “You don’t have to be so shitty about it!” Holly was a little taken back by her support. Fran through a hand out, trying to referee a bit.

“Look, what Mikayla meant is, quite frankly, you seem a bit… heavier than that.”

“Heavier?! By… how much?” A mortified Holly looked to Deidre. If she couldn’t trust her own perception, she looked to someone who she thought would give it to her straight. But her boss had a forlorn, sympathetic expression, struggling to maintain eye contact.

“Well over four…” Rachel sighed hesitantly. “Probably closer to five.”

“Pssh, No!” Holly, at first, it was scolding towards her younger sister. As if she had no room to be shitty with her either. But then it started to dawn on her that she wasn’t joking. “NO!!” she shrieked in denial. “No fucking way!” She had wanted to think it was just Rachel taking a pot shot at her. But also seeing how genuine she looked admonishing Mikayla’s snorting laugh? It seemed sincere. And no one was quick to argue with her. Causing the pit in Holly’s very large stomach, sink all the deeper. It felt almost exactly like when she first saw herself, leaving that stall. Her true self, by the sounds of things.

“How…?” She could only mutter, her breath becoming more of a pant. Almost as if she was starting to hyperventilate.

“First thing,” Fran lifted a finger, trying to catch Holly’s rapidly glazing eyes. After all, she had the most experience with trying to “wake others up.” She bumped her finger laterally a little, to make sure Holly was following. It did inadvertently seem to rock Holly from the spiral she was going down. Like anti-hypnosis. Just enough to keep her with them. “We all want to make it perfectly clear! All that weight? The bulk of it is not your fault!”

“What do you… mean?” Holly struggled, tears for sure coming.

“I’m saying, all of that? Is a result of the Bellflower!” Fran said, steely-eyed. “You couldn’t help yourself! You wer-”

“Ech, I’m like… real sorry to interrupt!” Marissa cut in. “But I have been like… so good, all this week. And you decide to meet here & all I’ve done since we got here is smell their fryer…” She squeaked.

“Goddamn one track mind,” Mikayla snarled, keeping it mostly under her breath.

“Can we please order something?!” The fat goth whined. “Please?!” Fran slapped her own forehead & sighed in frustration. “Can’t it wait anothe-”

“NO!” Marissa whined. This time, it was accompanied by an audible growl.

“I am a little peckish myself,” Deidre felt ashamed to admit.

“Fuck it…” Mikayla caved too. Deidre looked over to large girl sitting to Holly’s left.

“I’ll go up, what can I get for you, Marissa?”

“Oooh! Goodie!” Marissa bounced, clapping her chubby fingers happily.

“Hold that thought for a second…” Fran frustratedly snarled, in Holly’s direction between grit teeth.

“Nnngh,” was all she could groan, mashing the next slice of xtra-large, deep dish supreme pizza into her maw.

While it wasn’t her favorite, hell maybe not even in her top ten? When you were hungry, Pazuzzi’s never missed. Sure. It wasn’t all that “authentic,” especially for someone like her who’d experienced the real thing in Napoli. But for what it was worth, the kind of Americanized, rubbery cheese, thick doughy crust approximation of pizza? It was… perfect.

And for some reason, this time around? Camille just couldn’t down it fast enough. She was already just two & a half slices down, but there were another two whole pies waiting for her after this one, the one . And sure, all that, & an XL order of knotss, & two two liters certainly seemed like a lot. When Penny had her confirm the order, she thought as though she’d probably probably have leftovers for a day or two. But for whatever reason, she was only becoming more ravenous. With each bite! She was so hungry. More than she’d ever been in her whole life. To the point where she started to worry three pies & everything else might not be enough. All the while, the only regret she harbored? No Rachel here to share this moment with her. To exploit this. Still, she didn’t spend enough time between each bite to do much in the way of wallowing either. She needed that next bite way, way too bad.

“Miss Camille?” Penny attempted to interrupt. It wasn’t that Cami couldn’t hear her. She just didn’t care. She needed to eat. And not stop. No distractions. Everything else could wait. Eating, that was the most important thing right now. “Miss Camille?” Penny repeated, patiently. Cami shot an evil eye in the direction of the speaker nearest her head. She smooshed more of the extra thick pie into her face, which was smeared with sauce & a few chunks of tomato. ”Miss Camille?” Strangely, the hunger seemed to subside a little. Just enough for her to respond. But certainly not stop.

“Whuh?!” Cami finally caved, the monosyllabic noise tinged with a bit of anger. She barked with a mouth so full of pizza, her cheeks bulged comically. It was steeped in deep frustration, but did little to stop her eating.

“Miss Andrea is attempting to get a hold of you.”

“Calling?!” Cami sneered, swallowing as one of Penny’s mechanical arms passed her her phone. At this point, she felt sated enough to speak more than just one word at a time. “Right this very second?! Not a text? Ech, such a boomer. Belge boomer,” She insulted, accenting the “boomer” as she tapped it with her thumb, enabling the speaker while finally applying a napkin to her face. With barely enough space between calling her names, Cami, in her own mousy, but cranky way, asked “Yeah?”

“Camille, just wanted to make you aware.” Andrea said, initially a little taken back by Camille’s impatient tone. As if her accent wasn’t thick enough, she too had something in mouth, chewing. “Regina is… Mmmm…  on her way. She has… Mmmmm… some cupcakes for you…”

“Oooh,” Cami cooed at first. As hungry as she was, the prospect of sweets on top of pizza intrigued her. But then she quickly remembered Regina’s skill level when it came to baking. “How are they though?” Andrea got what she was putting down.

“Not bad, actually,” The woman on the other end said, taking another bite. “She’s come a long way, but claimed to have baked much too much. And still! She gave me like… two whole dozen. As I am in the middle of trying to watch what I eet.” Andrea sighed. “And I don’t mean to be rude, but if she had extra for us both, I cannot fathom how many she made in reality.”

“What do you mean?” Cami asked before another large, but slightly more measured chomp of pizza.

“She… She seems to really be enjoying her own baking.” Andrea beat around the bush. “A little too much? If you catch my meaning. I was a little concerned, frankly.”

“Whaddayamean?” Cami asked, moving the next bite of food filling her mouth to the other side.

“Um…” Andrea took a bite too, stalling, trying to find the right wording. Before that, Penny interrupted.

“Miss Camille,” the AI chimed. “It seems as though Miss Regina is at the-“

“Oh-hoh! You’ll see for yourself.” Andrea finished, hearing the notification from Penny. “I’ll let you go. Mmmm” Cami could hear her hum from what was probably a cupcake as she was getting off.

“Um… ok.” Cami sighed, rolling her eyes. “Talk to you tomorrow.” It seemed more of a formality as Andrea was already gone, either having hung up or enamored with what she was eating. Cami thumbed the end call button. Begrudgingly, she started making her way to the door. Between this & getting the pizzas, she was getting sick of hoisting herself up & down. “Coming,” she bellowed, struggling to close her robe while reaching the crust of her current slice.

The door hissed open before Cami could fully conceal her gut. A soft bulge with quite a bit of navel still poked through, despite fussing to cover it.

“Hi-yee!” The young Korean woman outside greeted pleasantly, cocking her round head to the side a bit to punctuate it. Camille blinked, slowly forcing her lips to curl into a smile. It had been a minute, but there was quite a bit more Regina than she was expecting, even considering Andrea’s heads up. The ditzy young thing was somehow even chubbier than the last time Cami had laid eyes on her. By an immediately noticeable degree. Her round hips swaying, almost as wide as Camille’s corridor as she came waddling in with the tray. And a round, protruding belly, swaying like jello with each step. She really had been working on her baking. Taking her height into account, she was on the cusp of starting to rival Holly. And while she didn’t carry it as nicely as Rachel, Cami couldn’t help but stare at the sheer amount she’d put on. For a bit.

“Yeah- Hi,” She slowly squeaked abruptly, realizing she’d gone so long without saying anything. She shook out of it, hoping it didn’t come off as rude.

“I came… bearing cupcakes!” rocking the tray in her hands gently. “Been baking up a storm, thought I’d share the wealth!”

“Aw, that’s… that’s real sweet of you,” Cami mousily smiled. Sucking it in, she finally managed to cinch her robe. A bit anyway. And triumphantly, she took another, final bite of pizza crust. “You shouldn’t have!” She said softly, almost lost with her mouthful. She tried to avert her eyes, but it was too late. She saw Regina’s jaw fall a little slack as she spotted the other pizza boxes cluttering up the counter space behind her as Cami accepted the tray. As thick as she was, she was just a little too short to body block the view. But to fair, Regina could probably smell it. The aroma was quite wonderful. And seeing the boxes, the girl’s lip quivered. In turn, Camille sighed. She didn’t want to have to do this. “Would… you care for a slice?” The mousy girl asked gravelly, contempt baked into the tone. It felt like the polite thing to do, obviously, despite the nagging instance of her lizard brain to hoard it all to herself. It made it extremely hard for her to want to share. It was her pizza after all.

“Ooooh!” Regina’s eyes lit up. But for a second, there was the slightest hesitation. Cami watched with all of the anticipation of a basketball bouncing around & circling an open net. “I… shouldn’t… but… well… I mean… since you’re offering… aw, but I had so much… taste-testing earlier… buh…”

“Well if you can’t, you can’t…” Camille seemed to brush hurriedly with a shrug. More for her. She tilted the tray of cupcakes with a lilt, as she finally swallowed the last of the crust she was working on.

“Now Miss Camille!” Penny seemed to almost admonish. “After all of Miss Regina’s hard work? Baking such delectable treats for you?”

“I did work up quite the appetite,” Regina winced. “Carting trays around for you & the other girls.” She seemed like she didn’t want to impose. And she had a load of cupcakes waiting for her at home too still, cooling on her counter. Ah but she was also kind of getting sick of her own baking. All the sugar. This was pizza! Camille, also without a slice of pizza set the tray of cupcakes next to the boxes & gave out a grunting sigh.

“Fine.” She said, flagging Regina in. Lumbering into Cami’s condo, she almost b-lined through her. She very well might’ve if Cami wasn’t a bit light on her feet, despite her chunkiness. Without a plate, Regina threw back the lid, pulled out a slice & started downing it without a plate.

“Mmm is this… supreme? Usually I don’t… Mmmm… go for supreme… but… MMMmmmm.” Was all Regina was able to get out between bites. A beleaguered Camille stared, mouth agape.

“How about a plate…?” A mechanical arm handing her one to pass to Regina. It took Regina a moment to remember her manners, gradually accepting it as she continued to slam the slice she grabbed. She almost looked ready for another. Which worried Camille, as her own hunger started to intensify again. At least it was getting hard to think again.

“If I had known we would be having company, I would have ordered more.” The AI seemed to revel in company. “But I believe the building has built up some unused credits with Pazuzzi’s. And I am more than happy to repeat the order, Miss Camille.”

“Oooh.” Cami’s ears perked immediately, as the tension of Regina eating her pizza dissolved. “Yeah! Do that!” was all she could manage before instinct took over & she hovered over the box with her next slice too.

“Gladly.” Penny affirmed.

Just the feverish clatter of keyboard keys filling the room. There was almost a sense of rhythm to it, between line & line breaks. But the only music was only being pushed through her ear buds. Outside of her loud music, Daphne was near oblivious to everything else. Even the large plate of pasta that the mechanical arm set to the side of her desk. With extra meatballs. And a truckload of grated cheese. She seemed a little startled by the vibration.

“Dinner, Miss Daphne.”

“Oh, thanks,” Daphne kicked back, pulling out her buds. She sharply pressed the button on her keyboard that caused the recent bit of code she’d written to go through a debug. “How did you know I felt like pasta?”

“A hunch,” Penny chimed. “Is there anything else I can assist you with?”

“You do so much,” Daphne chortled with the plate, laying her other hand on her burgeoning gut. “But maybe… not to be rude… I oughta kick back on the carbs a little…? Feel like I’ve been sort of… overdoing it lately.” In fact, it was more than a feeling. In her short stay, Daphne had almost nearly doubled in size. But as unpretentious as even she was, she was still just a little too self-conscious to outright admit it. But her fat, pasty keyster barely fit between the arms of the chair anymore. And her flabby belly was getting there next. Big folks were common back home, & even in her family. But her? Personally? This was all very much unlike her! But deep down? It didn’t seem like she minded. At least not that much. Considering. Not as much as she felt she probably should’ve minded. But at the very same time, if the food was just going to keep being put in front of her, she was in no way prepared to stop either. And Penny was such a mean cook!

“Nonsense,” Penny purred. “It acts as excellent brainfood. Think of all the energy you will have for another late night coding session.”

“I… guess…” Daphne shrugged, spinning the fork. It seemed freshly made, from scratch.

“Speaking of coding,” Penny started. “Were those case studies I presented you helpful to you in any capacity?”

“Oh,” The redhead chortled, taking a big mouthful of twirled spaghetti. “If I’m being honest, Mmmm….” She had to pause to appreciate this immaculate dinner. But Penny seemed more interested in the code than her creation. “Honestly, those data tables were a little above my paygrade.” Daphne admitted. “Like super advanced stuff.”

“Nonsense!” Penny pushed back. It was the sternest Daphne had heard her smart home get with her. She froze slurping up a few errant strands of spaghetti hanging from her fat, puckered lips. “I have seen your work & I believe you are by far the most capable roboticist Hailington has ever known.”

“I appreciate the smoke you’re blowing up my butt, but what you’re talking about will take a lot of processing time. Nothing my home rig could do either.” She broke momentarily to chomp into a meatball almost the size of her mouth. “And…” She chewed. “Not exactly the sort of thing they’ll let me do in the lab.”

“Well, I would be more than happy to spare some of my own processing capabilities if it would help you better achieve your goals?” Penny seemed to float.

“I appreciate the offer,” Daphne said, pausing again to eat. “But… wouldn’t that be a little circuitous? After all, the whole point of me messing around is trying to emulate something approximate to you, right?”

“Perhaps,” Penny chimed pleasantly, “With my assistance, you could refine something even a bit more elegant than even me.”

“Doubtful.” Daphne went back to eating. She had been kind of ambivalent about things. But the further along she got, the more Penny, a robot, seemed to be taking a bit too much interest in her coding. She imagined that one movie scene. The one with Linda Hamilton grabbing the chainlink fence & being annihilated?  “I’ll… think on it…” Daphne bristled.

“Well…” Penny seemed a little disappointed almost, her tone a bit colder now. “Is the spaghetti good at least?”

“Mmmm,” Daphne fumbled to speak. “Impeccable.” Strangely, she was already almost halfway done, & yet felt like she could do another two plates. Easy.

Rachel set the tray in front of her, but Holly seemed frozen in deep, somewhat troubled thought.

“Not hungry really.” Holly muttered, staring into space. “Totally capable of going up myself, if I was.” She was trying to pay as little attention to the side of her Rachel was on as possible.

“C’mon,” Rachel sighed. “You know for a fact you’re going to be. And the wrap? It’s like the leanest, healthiest thing they’ve got. Everything else is grease.”

“Well I didn’t pick this place,” Holly rasped without looking, with something of a slow, but somewhat seething tone.

“I got the same thing for myself. If you don’t want it now, save it. Have it later then.” Rachel, impatient with her sister’s bullshit, decided to just take her seat, scooting herself in, right next to her. “Because you know you’ll be hungry later.” Holly was unmoved, still staring down at nothing in particular, with a consternated look.

“I… just want to go home.” She pushed under her breath.

“What?” Rachel asked, a bit taken back. “Why?”

“Hol, we haven't even really gotten to the crux of things yet.” Deidre sighed.

“I do NOT like being put on the spot!” Holly sneared, upset with the both of them.

“You’re not on the spot, hun.” Deidre leaned in, trying to invoke her sterner voice. “We’re here because we…” She started to trail, the hands she was gesticulating with circling one another as she tried to find the right set of words.

“We don’t want to lose you.” Rachel blurted. “I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want you to be the next Courtney. Or Dawn. Or any of the others!”

“What?! What are you even talking about?” Holly finally looked in Rachel’s direction, overwhelmed by confusion & curiosity, but the contempt weighing heavy in her scowling, red eyes.

“Mmmmph,” Marissa sounded from the other side of her, sucking a little bit of the dressing from her wrap, with double meat, off her finger. “It’s what the building does. To everybody in it.” She squeaked. “Lulls you into a nice, placid state of uber-comfort, security. Pampers you like a wittle baby! Everything you could ever want or need? Hell, it’s brought to you!”

“It’s designed to be convenient. That’s why it’s at a higher price point.” Holly contended, as if that was the intention. “Of course you’re going to get kind of chunky if you don’t have to get up & everything’s provided for you with ease. It’d make anyone a little lazy. It’s like a no-brainer.”

“Hol,” Deidre said flatly, starting to lose a little patience. “I don’t know why you’re so defensive about it, but c’mon. Not to this magnitude.” Without Marissa noticing, Deidre shot her eyes in the goth’s direction, as a subtle means of pointing in her direction. Holly looked back over just in time to see Marissa slam a huge bite of her wrap, taking off a little too much for even her. Her already round, pasty cheeks bulging further as she moaned & chewed. She was objectively quite large. As was Fran, who was on her way back to the table with Mikayla. Looking at their trays, it seemed like everyone saw the greasy menu & self-consciously opted for the wraps.

“It’s like the place hypnotizes you,” Rachel added. “Makes you think it is just normal laziness taking hold. ‘Oh I’ll just work out tomorrow.’ Then it gooses your appetite. Which then turns into ‘Yeah, maybe I could do a third helping.’ And then, after a while, it somehow starts making you think you’re a hundred pounds or so less than you really are. All while Penny keeps shoving food in your face.”

“That doesn’t make sense at all!” Holly argued. “And why are you bringing Courtney into this? She got… big, ok? But I don’t get why you have to be so fucking mean about it!”

“Courtney was my friend too, Hol.” Deidre once again said flatly. There was a sternness to her voice that ran deeper than just her standard, serious boss tone. “Rachel only invoked her because she’s a prime example of what happens.”

“What?” Holly scoffed. “What are you talking about?”

“C’mon! You’re in HR with me, dammit!” Deidre leveled. “You know the high turnover rates. The sudden ‘two weeks’ we always get. All from Bellflower residents. All of whom… got pretty… sizable.”

“But Courtney… moved away.” Holly held fast.

“Did she?” Rachel asked.

“She wouldn’t lie!” Holly countered.

“Of course she wouldn’t. Who’s saying she did?” Deidre sighed.

“Now you’re just talking in circles!” Holly shut down.

“Holly,” Fran said, her tone a lot cooler than either Deidre’s or Rachel’s. “We don’t know why, but we’ve all known friends & neighbors in the building who grew & grew, almost to the point where they couldn’t get around by themselves anymore. And then suddenly? They just vanished. It’s like, maybe, you get one vague text or ‘phone call’ from them if you were close but that’s it. But they’re gone practically overnight. Them, & all their stuff. And… they’re often too big to do that kind of move on their own, honestly.”

“Do you remember how suddenly Courtney just… left?” Deidre asked.

“But I talked to her though!” Holly insisted.

“In person?” Mikayla asked with a squint. “Or over the phones.”

“Ech, what is it with you & phones?” An exhausted Holly sighed.

“Because maybe there just might be, oh, I don’t know, some kind of a super advanced AI or something that plays a huge role in all of this by manipulating those sorts of things.” Rachel chimed in. Holly’s ears seemed to perk.

“Um… is anyone going to not finish their chips?” Marissa squeaked. “Or their pickle?”

It was a vivid one this time.

The air was crisp & fresh, but being warmed by the rays of the morning sun. Birds chirped sweet little songs, with the added rhythmic percussion of Courtney’s rubber soles hitting the sidewalk. She could feel each impact reverberating in her calves, just getting to the point where she had to breathe a little heavier. It was always usually around this point. Around the corner from her Mom’s, the house where she grew up. She ran this route daily, often twice. And she knew every bit of it like the back of her hand.

Or at least, she used to.

“Ohhhh-nnnggh,” A woeful, blubbering moan startled her from her dreamy memory. It sounded nearby, but nearby was feeling more & more relative. By the day. Hell, days were relative too. Just eating sessions broken off by occasional “sleep” sessions.

“Please Miss Nadya,” Courtney swore she heard Penny growl faintly. It was nearly lost in the din of the constant hum. “You oughtn’t disturb the others.” Her eyes fluttered open, but remembered quickly how little that mattered. Everything was so dimly light & hazy, only rough silhouettes could be seen. But there was a small commotion going on off to her side, being attended to by several mechanical arms. Penny continued in a hushed, but notably less pleasant tone. At least much less pleasant than the sing-songy chirping Courtney was so used to. Then again, this Nadya person she’d hear being addressed from time to time? They seemed a little finicky. And Courtney couldn’t quite fathom why. After all, what else could she possibly ever need or want? Penny was sooo accommodating. And it was almost weird to not her usual, chipper voice. “It’s not like you’re just going to run. Especially not from me. All there is for you to do now is simply cooperate.”

The word “run” hung on Courtney’s brain for a second, reinforced by the dream she had awoken from just a minute ago. She… missed running. She couldn’t even remember the last time she went for a run. But upon the precise moment of that realization, a sharp hunger pang reminded her she was awake again. And not being fed. And that felt like agony.

“Unnnnngh,” she slowly let out between her plump lips.

“Ech, see what you did?” she heard Penny admonish distantly, before almost cutting it off with a much closer “Miss Courtney! You’re awake!” She sounded sweet again. As if Courtney wasn’t on her bad side.

“Rrrrruh-?” Courtney attempted. She hadn’t tried speaking for a bit. She felt a bit rusty at it, unable to hit the word, but also sounding a lot… throatier. But something about the moment, the dream, the being startled awake? She wanted to try. But Penny insisted she didn’t.

“Shh-shhh-shhh.” The AI chimed. “It’s ok.” Not that Courtney didn’t think it wasn’t. But it would take too much effort to try to speak over her. “You must be awfully hungry!”

“Nnngh,” She moaned softly, just audibly. In the dim light, something seemed to be snaking down next to her from the side. A snake?! She wanted to react but nothing wanted to move. Instead, cold, sterile rubber pressed against her lips. A… tube? Oh, right. Penny would give her a tube sometimes. And it certainly beat a snake. That much was for sure. “That’s it.” Penny cheered on, as Courtney let the articulated piping slip inside past her puckering lips & into her mouth. The actual hosing felt like metal, & started to sway, rocking from something further down the way. Something getting closer as it was coming down the tube. She could’ve sworn the last time it was something strawberry, which she certainly wouldn’t complain about. But right now, she wasn’t quite in the mood. She had had so much strawberry lately, she needed an eensy break.

That’s why it was quite nice that when the cold, creamy, viscous fluid hit her tongue, it seemed like… hmm. Not quite vanilla, not quite… oh! A black & white? Mmmmm. Extra thick too! And she didn’t even have to suck, it seemed to just flow. Maybe a little bit too quickly, but definitely not too much for her to handle. Mmmm. So good. Yeah, not too much. In fact, now that she had picked up on its pulsating rhythm, she wished it flowed a little harder. And almost telepathically? It seemed to!

“Atta girl,” The close Penny continued to cheer on. Faintly, just over the tube & her own gulping, Courtney thought she could hear the further Penny chide. “See? Why can’t you just be like Courtney? She’s the model occupant!”

“Model Occupant?” Whatever that meant, Courtney kind liked the ring of it. It sounded like she was doing something right, anyway. And staying on Penny’s good side meant she’d be well cared for. Possibly be rewarded a treat?

Still… that thought of running hadn’t strayed all that far from her mind. The tube always did seem to allow her mind to wander a little. As she sucked down, she imagined the crisp, cold air pushing against her cheeks, the impact of her knees hitting ground. No way she could ask about it right now, not while gulping down this delicious shake or whatever, & a tube sticking out of her mouth.

But she stuck a pin in it for now. Maybe next time? Between meals?