Better, Brighter, Whiter Part 4 (Patreon)

The school year was fast approaching and despite the initial weirdnesses involved in her enrollment and the obvious racial and demographic bias the school had, Emefa couldn’t help but feel excited for the upcoming year. She’d woken up feeling motivated and far more energetic than she’d ever been at home with her family, now eager to jump out of bed and get to work on what was surely going to be a busy day. Bobbling over to the mirror, she began to evaluate her appearance. She frowned slightly at her soft, fat figure and prodded into her belly with her fingers, feeling how soft an squishy she’d become after living in the ghetto for so long. It was rare that her staunch body positivity advocacy faltered, but something about being around so many thin, supermodel-esque women was making her feel self conscious. Though, she thought, supermodel was less of the proper word to describe the female student body than something like ridiculous or pornographic, but it still bothered her to be so out of shape next to them. Even if they were vapid plastic surgery addicts, Bright girls WERE beautiful. From their bodies to their hair, to even their clothes, they seemed to outshine Emefa in every way. She observed the way her belly sat on plain cotton underwear and couldn’t help but ask herself what it would be like to have a body that belonged in sexier, more daring outfits. The thought alone was bringing her down, and killing her momentum. Worse still, it was distracting her.

“Focus.” She told herself. With a momentary closing of her eyes and a calming breath, she snapped herself to attention and looked her reflection confidently in the eye.

“Hello everyone, my name is Emefa Kikelomo and I am the head of the Better, Brighter, Whiter initiative, or B.B.W. for short.” She said, stopping to catch her breath after a wave of nervous energy poured through her entire body, making her heart slam in her chest while her stomach tied itself into a knot. She forced herself to move past the feeling and continue. She rehearsed her upcoming presentation to the dean and his advisory board as best she could, imagining their favorable responses to her ideas for changing the school policies and possibly even staffing to ensure a more diverse student body. When she had recited her findings on admissions favoring white students as well as her plans for creating an annual heritage festival, she resolved to head out and get started on meeting with the last member of her neighborhood hub and base of operations. Stepping away from the mirror, she took a moment to model her plump, curvy body and caught herself enjoying how she filled out her lacy, strappy lingerie. Even if she was a bit on the heavy side, she thought, she could definitely catch a few eyes when she put her mind to it.

(1)

Emefa walked outside and took in the morning light, breathing in the fresh air deeply and stretching. In all honesty, she didn’t need to be out that early and would probably need to kill some time before she started ringing doorbells at 7AM. She rationalized that someone on a full time school schedule should already be used to being up at that time, but still wanted to be as polite as she could. She began idly wandering up the street, feeling invigorated by the morning light. As she moved towards the end of her yard, she spied a frumpy looking Kate with her hair pulled back into a ponytail and dressed outside of her usual baggy outfits. Instead of loose, flowy garments, she chose a pair of tight fitting jeans that she could barely tuck her large belly into and a breathable shirt that did even less to hide her figure. Originally, Emefa thought that she was going to get the mail, but after a few seconds, she popped in a pair of earbuds and began stretching, only to take them out again when she saw her new neighbor approaching.

(2)

“Morniiing!” She chirped, seeming slightly self conscious about being seen.

“Hay girl, what’s up? Going for a walk?” Emefa said, smiling.

“Running, actually. I figured if I’m going to be here surrounded by hot chicks and supermodel guys who are going to be the next president I may as well finally get off my ass and at least try to be more active. I don’t care if I lose weight really. I’ve been a big girl all my life and I stopped being bothered by it in high school. I just don’t want to be the fattest girl here.” Kate explained, hardly making eye contact as she pushed herself to continue stretching.

“Oh trust me, girl, you are NOT the fattest one here. I met one of our residents yesterday and she looked like she was like 300 pounds. You’re fine.” Emefa said, consoling the heavyset girl. “Actually, I am feeling not the worst today myself. Mind if I join you?”

“Sure!” Kate almost shouted, leaving Emefa unsure if it was out of enthusiasm or surprise. Even so, the two happily finished warming up and began jogging up the road.

Both women moved sluggishly, more bouncing up and down than making any real forward progress, but it wasn’t long before Emefa had become aware of just how out of shape she really was. The sun had gone from pleasant to unbearable in only a few seconds and she could already feel herself starting to sweat as she fought for air, ignoring the heavy tug of her ass and belly every time her feet hit the ground. But just as she felt the urge to give up, she looked over and saw that Kate was doing far, far worse. Her breaths were ragged and she was drenched in sweat, her entire shirt soaked and matted to her skin. It was only right for Emefa to call for a break, she thought, noticing a pair of busty blondes walking by and snickering at the two fat girls.

“Kate…Kate…Stop….We should….Take….A break…” She huffed.

Kate didn’t respond audibly. She merely nodded rapidly as she held her chest and coughed, her lungs burning as she desperately gasped for air. She stayed hunched over for almost a whole minute, unable to move or speak until she’d caught breath, her face scrunched in winded agony. When she had recovered enough, the pair of them kept walking down the road.

Emefa looked over at her pained running mate and felt sorry for her. “Sorry I’m….so…bad at this.. I’m not used to…. Running.” Kate apologized sincerely.

“Hey, it’s alright!” Emefa consoled her. “I’m not upset at all. Hell, I needed a break too. I know I’m no athlete or whatever, but can I ask why you’re pushing yourself so hard? You don’t seem to like this and you’re getting really winded. We could just walk and that’d be perfectly fine too.”

Kate sighed and squinted off into the distance at a couple making out on the street corner. As usual, the woman was an absolute bombshell and the man was incredibly attractive in a Sexy Mechanic kind of way. He picked her up, eliciting a horny, giggly squeal of delight.

“I guess….I came here and wanted to be better and have adventures and live a fun, exciting life. I wanted to be the person who was sexy and fun in college and went to games and parties and had a bunch of friends. No offense to you or anyone else in the program, but the only reason we even got accepted is because we’re not actually what anyone wants to allow in. I suppose when I got my mantra it kinda clicked with me and I wanted to make a real go of not being the girl on the couch for once. Like I said, It’s not at all about losing weight. It’s about living better, you know? I can’t do that if I’m too fat and tired to walk down the street, so if I am gonna live the life I wanna live, then I’m going to have to start with being nicer to my body. So…Fitness First.”

Kate gagged and doubled over as the intensity of her run washed over her, but through some deep breathing techniques, she was able to stabilize herself again. “Sorry about that! I’m good! Just need to get some water real quick.” She pulled the water bottle from her hip and squirted the refreshing liquid into her mouth and immediately looked a thousand times better than she had a moment ago. “Anyways. That’s enough talking outta me; we’re supposed to be running. You ready?”

(3)

“Yep!” Emefa chirped, motivated by her friend’s enthusiasm. Together, the two made quick work of their jog, stopping a couple times to walk for a while before resuming. Before long, the winded but energized pair were high fiving each other and making plans to go running together again once a week or so.

The jog had tired the chubby woman out for sure, but Emefa felt energized. She continued jogging down the street to her other neighbor’s house to formally introduce herself, making sure to catch her breath before ringing the bell. The girl who answered shocked Emefa, who’d been expecting another reasonably fat woman or something, but the girl in front of her was anything but. She seemed to be Hispanic with Dark hair and even darker eyes. Her cheekbones were sunken in beneath dark circles around her eyes, and in a single phrase: she was the skinniest person Emefa had ever seen. Trying to be nice, Emefa introduced herself, but while the girl, Loida was civil enough, she didn’t seem to be even remotely interested in coming to any functions or activities in their tiny community. It wasn’t until Emefa let it conveniently slip that she was the Diversity Leader and therefor student VIP in the area that Loida even attempted to engage. She made small talk, but still seemed to be eager to get back inside.

(4)

Feeling like she’d gotten her foot in the door, but wasn’t making much progress. Instead, she decided to attempt to be helpful instead.

“Welp, if you ever want to hang out,” she said. “The rest of the girls and I would be more than happy to meet up. In the meantime, is there anything I can help with?”

Loida simply blinked for a moment before looking away briefly. “Uh. No thanks.” She said hastily. “I’m just here for school. I’m not interested in trying out for your sorority club or whatever. Not to be rude or whatever, but I do actually have to go.” She said rudely, contrary to her words. She began moving to shut the door, and something in Emefa’s head just snapped. She’d tried to help and make friends with this girl, only to be told off and have a door slammed in her face. Back home, she would have just shrugged her shoulders and walked away, but in the moment, she’d decided not to let this anorexic looking bitch blow her off when she was just trying to be nice. She knew that she wasn’t entitled to anyone’s time, but still, the words came out the moment she’d thought them.

“So real quick!.....” She said with an overly polite fake smile as she shot her foot into the door. “Just for validation purposes, can I get you to confirm your student password please?”

Loida was taken aback for a moment, her eyes widening before dropping into a narrow scowl. “No. I don’t know what you’re even talking about.”

“Well then, I’m sorry, but if that’s the case then I am afraid I have no choice but to tell the dean that I couldn’t confirm your identity for registration and that you need to be removed from the premises until the person who is SUPPOSED to live here shows up.” Emefa said with a catty smile that would make Dolores Umbridge proud.

The girl paused before rolling her eyes and dropping her shoulders in exasperation revealing her incredibly pronounced ribs and collarbones. Emefa couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. Even if she was acting like a total bitch, it was more than likely that both her attitude and her weight were the result of some kind of emotional trauma. But that wasn’t enough to let her off the hook.

“Are you fucking serious?” She asked angrily.

Emefa replied once more with a bright smile. “As a heart attack.” Her voice so sweet and professional, you’d almost be able to feel the heart emoji that she imagined punctuating the statement.

Loida shook with anger before breathing in and out slowly, then sighing through gritted teeth. “I don’t have a student password.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve also heard it called a student mantra? I’ll be sure to write this down and ask which it is when I talk to the board if advisors later this week.” Emefa said without missing a beat.

Loida sighed again. “My student mantra…is ‘Soft, Sexy, Spoiled.’ I don’t know why that’s relev-AHH. Fuck!” She said, suddenly throwing both arms up to cradle her head.

“Oh shit, are you okay?” Emefa asked, dropping her bitchy demeanor for genuine concern.

“Yeah….I’m alright. I don’t know what that was but my head just started hurting like it was being crushed. No. It was like there was an intense ringing and I felt like my head was going to explode. And then it went away, so I guess I’m fine now! Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to freak you out or whatever!” Loida said, adding some sarcastic bubbliness to play off the sudden display of pain with humor.

“Well, just as long as you’re alright..” Emefa said carefully.

“No, I’m fine. I’m used to this kinda stuff actually. Long story, lotsa bad shit. Rather not get into it. But umm…thanks for asking!”

“No problem…” Emefa said, choosing to not pry but still finding herself unable to not scrutinize this bone thin girl who was having sudden, wicked headaches that come and go and calling it normal. She didn’t know just how small the girl was or how malnourished she might be, but judging by the way she was swimming in a small band tee, the chubby ebony couldn’t imagine she was far from a point of concern. At least her legs, while sporting a large thigh gap had the tiniest puff of meat on them.

(5)

“Anyways…..” Loida said, swiveling her upper body shyly side to side. “I guess maybe like take my number and we can like text or whatever if you need anything?”

“Sure.” Emefa said, pulling out her phone to add her neighbor to her contacts.

“Alright. Just like know that I’m not super good at social stuff and kinda like…don’t always play well with others? So you know, if I don’t wanna hang out or whatever all the time…or like…ever, I promise it’s not your fault and I don’t just like hate you or whatever.” Loida explained before giving her new group leader her digits.

“You know what? That is absolutely fine by me. This is all about diversity and acceptance, so I’ll make sure everyone respects your boundaries. All I ask is that you don’t completely shut me out if we have group project or something. We’re all on a team still and you don’t wanna lose your scholarship by not participating in the Brown Girl’s and Also Kate Club. B.B.W. is for everyone.” Emefa assured, happily popping her phone back into her pocket.

“BBW? That’s a funny acronym. It makes us sound like a bunch of fat girls or something.” Loida smirked.

“Nope. Apparently our group is operating under the Better, Brighter, Whiter Project. Which sounds even worse since we only have one white girl and the rest of us are brown.”

Emefa paused to stretch as she felt her stomach cramp up slightly like Kate’s had earlier. Leaning back slightly and breathing did help it, and came with the added bonus of popping her back.

“Ooohhhh, I needed that.” She said.

“Much Better.”