Chapter 2 - hunger wave

2
Over the first week of her time at Tubton, Emily learned a few things. First, it seemed like the people in town really were as nice as they seemed. The easygoing and kind atmosphere was a nice relief from the rough and tumble world she'd come from. Second, Tubton was a test market town for consumer goods. This meant the groceries were stocked will all sorts of experimental products and the town was filled with restaurants. Another strange coincidence was that the town had recently welcomed a new water purification plant, that had moved in the same day as Emily. She jokingly remarked to her mom that this was a bad omen of their move.

Jessie's friends were nice enough. Emily met them over dinner the next night. Michael, her boyfriend, was very kind and welcoming to Emily. Cathy, her other friend, seemed a bit more reserved. It was difficult to get a read on her. Emily thought this was a bit troubling and found her didn't like Cathy much. All three of them went to school together at Greenview College, a school in the next town over.

One night, they were all together in Jessie's basement playing board games and talking about the coming school year. Cathy was excited to get back to her studies. Emily was only thinking about getting out of the town. Then, suddenly, her stomach rumbled.
"Whoa," Michael said with a smile. "Sounds like someone's hungry."
"Shut up," Emily snapped back. "I skipped lunch."
Another growl came from her stomach. Cathy laughed. Then, her own stomach groaned and she laughed again. "I guess I'm pretty hungry too."
"I could eat," Jessie said. "Actually I could eat a lot. I'm starving!"

The group decided to get some dinner at a sandwich shop. They drove out to a strip mall in town and picked up some food at a local place. On their way back to the car, Jessie stopped. "Hey. Why don't we hit the grocery store too? We could get some snacks, a movie, make it a party?" Michael and Cathy agreed. Emily thought the sandwich would be enough for her, but she came along anyway. The store was pretty lively that evening. It seemed they weren't the only ones hankering for snacks. The group went from aisle to aisle, picking up chips, cookies, dips, sodas, and all sorts of sugary snacks. Emily even saw tubs of ice cream and a cake go into the cart. It wasn't until they'd actually left the store and were driving home that she realized how much food they'd bought. Was this how they always ate? She wasn't sure they could finish them all themselves. Then her stomach growled again and she remembered that she'd been right there with them, filling the cart with food. She'd never shopped like that. What was going on with her?

Back at the house, the friends took their food into the basement. Emily noticed Olive pulling a freshly baked cake out of the oven. It smelled delicious. She was starving. She had to get something to eat. They got into the basement and Jessie put on the movie. Instead of setting up a table for the snacks, they just dumped them in a big pile on the floor. Instantly, the three friends tore into them, shoving handfuls of chips and cookies into their mouths. Emily almost joined into the feast but held herself back on willpower alone. "I have my sandwich," she thought. "That's all I need." She sat on the couch tried to keep her mind off the pit of eating beside her by watching the movie, but soon she found she'd finished her dinner and was still ravenous for more. Emily watched her friends eat more and more and she only grew hungrier and hungrier. Desperate, she excused herself to go upstairs for water.

As she climbed the stairs she was able to get a hold of herself, but when she made it to the kitchen she was greeted with yet another scene of gluttony. Olive and Ed sat at the table, the remains of the cake between them. Each of them were still gorging themselves on what was left of the treat, shoveling forkfuls one after another into their mouths. Olive looked over at Emily. "Ohf, Emily!" She said with a mouth full of cake. "Wouldf you bef a deafr and get somfing for me out of the fridge. I'm famished!"
Emily couldn't believe her aunt could still be hungry after eating a whole cake, but she obliged. Emily opened the refrigerator and found it was empty. "Um, it looks like you're out of... everything."
Olive swallowed. "What?" She stood up and made her way over to check. Emily could now see a pronounced curve coming out of her dress. "Oh my goodness. Ed! We've eaten the fridge clean! Come on, let's go to the store and get some more, I'm starving!" She and Ed bolted out of the house. Emily pour a glass of water and tried to center herself. She was even hungrier than before. Maybe she would just have a bite of something downstairs.

She made it back down and saw everyone lying around the food, still stuffing themselves. Just like with her aunt, Emily noticed bulges in all of their clothing. What was going on? Emily decided she wouldn't eat, no matter what. She sat down next to her friends and tried her hardest not to focus on her growling stomach. After a moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Cathy. "Are you alright?" She asked.
Emily felt a bead of sweat go down her forehead. "I'm fine."
"Really? You look hungry."
"No. I'm fine. Really."
Cathy frowned. She took a cookie from the pile and ate it. Then, she took another and pushed it toward Emily's mouth. Emily kept her jaw shut. Her stomach moaned. Cathy's mouth curled into a sly smile. She placed a finger on Emily's lips and parted them, slowly putting the cookie into her mouth. Emily gave in and accepted the gift. She chewed and her will snapped. Instantly, she grabbed the whole tray of cookies and began shoving them into her mouth. She took swigs of soda and spoons of ice cream and handfuls of cake and ate and ate and ate.

When Emily came to the next morning she groaned. She could barely remember what happened after the cookie last night. She heard Jessie stirring nearby. She opened her eyes and saw her cousin sit up, a small bulge resting on her thighs. Jessie poked it and giggled. "Looks like I went a little overboard last night," she said. Jessie looked around. "Looks like we all did."
Emily looked around too. She saw Michael, swollen stomach poking out from under his shirt and saw Cathy munching the last of her chips, her hand pulling up her shirt to rubbing a stretched belly. Then, Emily looked down. To her horror, she was just as stuffed as her friends. She stood up and ran out of the house. She jogged home, getting sick from the run. She got inside and saw her parents lying on the couch, just as bloated as everyone else. What had happened last night? Did the whole town overeat? Emily had to get out of here. "Just a few more days," she thought, "Then I can get back to Cheshire, and away from this crazy town."