Easy A in Baking - Part 5

On days when Olivia didn’t have baking class, she tried to live life like a normal college student. But having gained 50lbs so quickly, she didn’t quite have the pick and go energy she used to. She found herself plopped on the couch of her apartment's living room more often than before rather than enjoying whatever activities her campus was offering. Since only Tuesday and Thursday were her big eating days, she started to find herself quite peckish on her ‘days off’. Having eaten so many sweets, she felt drawn to the less nutritious corner of the food pyramid, opting for junk food like chips and ice cream.

One day Fran noticed Olivia in her normal spot on the couch, unwrapping and enjoying a Twinkie. She found it odd since she had to eat so many desserts in class. But here, less than 24 hours after one of her very filling baking classes, she was eating a cream filled sponge cake snack. She figured with Olivia already gaining 50lbs, and having always had the thinner, more attractive body, maybe she would help add a few extra inches to her roomie's belly. Clearly it wasn’t like she was watching what she was eating outside of class anyways. Fran had always made the dinners for the house, but after that day she started to up her game. Everything she made was bigger, better (i.e. more fattening). There was more bread, more cheese, more meat. Olivia didn’t immediately jump at the opportune larger meals insisting she didn’t need the extra calories, but after a few weeks Fran could tell she was eating much more at the dinner table than she was at the start of the year.

Fran would fill up her roommates plate until she was past the point of full. She was stuffing herself so much during her baking classes, she forgot what it meant to stop before you’re too full. Seconds came naturally, even though her first course was a bigger portion than normal. Fran started pushing for thirds, and most nights would get her way. The food was just so good, Olivia couldn’t say no. Plus it seemed like her stomach always had more room. More room meant she was hungry more often. Rather than deal with the hunger pain, Olivia took the opportunity to load up on dinner while she was at the table, even if it meant she had to waddle to her room nursing her overstuffed belly.

Having passed Fran on the scale, Olivia quickly ran out of clothing to borrow, especially tops where Fran was all bottom heavy. She dreadfully made her way to the mall to upgrade her wardrobe. This was the ultimate embarrassment, having outgrown every piece of clothing in their apartment, save for the sweatpants she wore to the store. Even the shirt she was wearing was clearly poorly fitting. The nonconforming fabric was biting into all the places that had found themselves getting softer recently, her arms, her love handles, you could even see how soft her back was getting from the overly tight shirt. But she had class again tomorrow, and she needed a little breathing room.

She found herself drawn to all her normally favorite outlets, but her size having changed so much she wasn’t quite sure what to pull off the rack. She made her best guess based on what she had been borrowing from Fran, but one quick trip to the changing room had her putting back everything that she had grabbed. It was all way too small. Not only did she need something that fit better, but she wasn’t shy about the fact she would need some clothes to grow into a little. Her second time around she was grabbing more XL sizes, they might be a little baggy on her now, but at least they would hide her full belly a bit better on days she had class.

Olivia purchased enough to get her by for a bit, walking out of the store with two fairly full bags. By now Oliva had worked up an appetite, and that tingling in her stomach was starting to roar louder and fiercer. She figured it was smart to try and quell the beast before she went too much further. And lucky for her, the food court had all the things she could ever ask for. Olivia settled on Mexican, went over and placed an order. Normally a burrito would suffice, but she also wanted some tacos, and she was craving cheese so she got a large side of nachos. Her meal came with a size of bean and rice, but she wanted some guac on the side too, which came with its own pile of tortilla chips. One XL refillable fountain soda and she was in business. The tray they gave her bustled with all of her menu items, but to Olivia this looked more like a light lunch. Her baking class had been serving her up such stomach filling baked goods, and Fran had really been laying it on thick at dinner, her capacity for cuisine was off the charts.

Once again her belly was quite filled by the time she was done, a feeling she was getting all too familiar with. So as if nothing was wrong, Olivia dumped the trash from her meal, filled up her soda once more, and took her new clothes home.

The next day Olivia attended her dreaded baking class once again. At least this was the first time in many weeks she had some clothing with a bit of breathing room. No matter how well fitting, or baggy, her clothes were, it was apparent to everyone that the class taste tester had bulked up considerably. Appealing to her teacher and fellow students had gone very unsuccessfully. She was at the point now where she was just accepting her lot. What made it tough though was when professor Mondale kept instructing the class to do extra, make extra. Add a tier to that cake, do another batch of strudel, make an extra dozen stroopwafel. All of these extras overwhelmed Olivia. It seemed like every week the portions in class were getting larger and larger. She also caught glimpses of the other students slyly smiling as they placed their baked goods in front of her. It wasn’t bad enough that she had to leave every class completely stuffed, but her classmates knew they were turning her into a cow.