Chapter 1 – Reunion

It had been a blur of new names and faces of both students and faculty over her first few days in town as Max acclimatised herself to her new surroundings at Blackwell. There was a surprising number of students for such a specialised art program and Max had started to find herself overwhelmed if it hadn't been for the support offered by the resident star student, Rachel Amber.

At first Max had thought it was just because she had spotted a fellow student in need of a moment of calm as she had been brought under Rachel's wing, but when she soon found herself face to face with the girl she had lost contact with for five years she realised that Rachel had known who she was all along.

She'd expected fire and anger from Chloe but instead she was pulled into a fierce hug as the two of them cried at finally being back together. Rachel had smugly grinned at the two before Chloe flipped her off and told her to never pull that shit on Max again, her protectiveness coming out instantly when she realised how shaken Max had been by the surprise. Rachel had simply called it Max's birthday present and shrugged.

But since then, the trio had formed bonds and quickly become inseparable as they hung out in various spots around town, the pier, the junkyard, Chloe's room, and Rachel's dorm. Max's room typically remained off limits, that way she always had a quiet space to chill while the more rambunctious pair got up to mischief that was too much for Max to deal with. Other than that Max found herself often practicing guitar while Rachel and Chloe smoked the day away on lazy weekends.

Today was once such weekend into the first week of October and Max was busy restringing her guitar as the other pair finished off the remains of their joint.

"Mmm, fuck I could eat a horse," Chloe complained rubbing her belly trying to settle its increasingly loud rumbling, "When are we getting lunch?"

"You're hungry again Price? We just had breakfast a few hours ago," Rachel called out from her lounged position on one end of the small couch they had dragged into the hut near the train tracks.

"That was hardly a meal," Chloe responded as she stretched out from the other end of the couch, "Hell, I've eaten more than that as a snack after smoking this shit."

"I can see that," Rachel teased indicating toward Chloe's middle that was exposed as her shirt had ridden up. The now uncovered section of mid-riff showing the not unnoticeable build-up of pudge that had developed in recent months.

Max watched as Chloe swatted at Rachel's arm before tugging shirt back down, but even then, it didn't hide the significant gut that Chloe had clearly grown as her shirt clung tightly to its rounded bulge, stretching the seams at the widest point. It had initially surprised her to see Chloe had gained weight as she had always been such a bean pole as a kid, but people change as they get older and the munchies were obviously hard to resist over the last few months.

"Weren't you complaining you'd put on weight too," Chloe countered trying to turn the attention back on her. "Not just me that's been smoking this stuff."

A few months ago, their dealer Frank had lost touch with his normal supplier and had managed to source a new strain. He'd warned them it seemed to make people extremely hungry as it was originally designed as an appetite stimulant then crossed with a decent THC producing strain to make this one. They hadn't really given the warning much attention as they needed weed and that was all that was available in shit hole small town Arcadia Bay. So, they'd bought it regularly over the spring and summer and had soon felt the effects, first to their appetites and then to their waistlines as both of them began to put on weight.

"Yeah yeah," Rachel dismissed, she hadn't gained nearly the same amount Chloe had, "Still nowhere near as much as you. How many pounds have you put on again?"

"Fuck, like 70 or something," Chloe mumbled as she hauled herself up from her comfy spot to grab her wallet and keys, intending on mobilising them toward the goal of obtaining food since none of them had thought to bring snacks despite being in the most remote part of town. "Haven't checked in a few weeks."

"Damn, Price," Rachel raised a smug eyebrow as she responded half impressed and half incredulous. She hadn't realised just how quickly Chloe's weight had gone up. Her own growth was significant enough that her curves filled out her jeans and shirts well, but any more would be bordering on actually fat as her muffin top was causing her shirts to ride up a little already.

"I think you carry it well," Max chimed in having quietly observed until now, much as she usually found herself doing while the other two bantered back and forth. She'd seen them tease each other about their weight a few times so didn't feel uncomfortable joining in on occasion but today she didn't feel like ganging up on the taller girl.

"See, Max thinks I look good," Chloe pointed out, winking at Max eliciting a giggle from the brunette.

It was true, Max did think she looked beautiful and had recently started to feel the butterflies in her stomach more noticeably any time Chloe playfully flirted with her. But she was still unsure if it was just because no one really flirted with her she didn't know how to react or if it was more than that.

But it didn't matter for now as the conversation soon turned to where they could get a decent meal and cheap.

"You two moving or what?" Chloe called out as she made her way to the door of the cinder block hut, "Don't think I won't leave y'all here."

Rachel just rolled her eyes as she lazily raised herself off the couch dusting herself off while Max quickly bagged up her guitar and hopped off the pile of wooden pallets she had been using as a bench to follow the punk outside.

"Dammit, I wanted to enjoy my buzz not crammed into your truck at yet another drive through," Rachel grumbled as she followed suit.

Chloe just chuckled as she climbed into the cab, "You won't be complaining once you've filled your belly."

Max shook her head, quietly laughing at the fighting, she knew they would go back and forward a while but there was rarely any actual fire behind their words it was just how they communicated with each other. With her though they were both a little gentler.

"Buckle up ladies," came the warning as Chloe threw the truck into drive and slammed her foot down. She was an aggressive drive to say the least, but she demonstrated a remarkable ability to keep them on the road despite taking corners at speeds her rust bucket of a truck shouldn't normally safely manage at this point.

The debate about where to eat carried on as they neared town but after Rachel revealed she had a two for one voucher for meals and sides it was quickly settled, and they pulled into the burger joint near the boardwalk at the north side of the promenade. Rachel and Max not being quite so greedy shared a voucher between them to get their lunch essentially half price, but Chloe was hungry enough that she decided to double up, using voucher herself and filling her gut well with two double cheeseburgers and fries, and a portion of onion rings. All washed down with a strawberry milkshake for good measure.

She even shocked Rachel at her greed that afternoon by considering getting an ice cream for dessert but unfortunately her lunch had been the limit of her merger funds for the day and the other pair were too full to split one with. But as luck had it, she found a chocolate bar she had stashed in the glove box the other day was still there and quickly finished it off.

So, with their appetites satiated for now, the trio continued their lazy day milling about town before ending up back at Chloe's as usual for movie night complete with cheesy horror films. Despite their bellies being full from lunch various bowls of popcorn and crisps were refilled several times throughout the night.