Emerald had returned to school after her fortnight of suspension. And had put on even more weight during her suspension, at about 330 pounds. As she entered her homeroom, she sat right on her chair, almost breaking it in the process.

"Good grief!" thought Charlie Brown.

"Emerald looks as though she's going to break the chair." thought Scarlet.

Violet, Patty Swanson and Frieda, remembering what Emerald had done to them on Valentine's Day, refused to focus on her. Though they looked concerned about Emerald's figure.

During lunch, Violet, Patty Swanson and Frieda sat at their table.

"Have you seen Emerald?" asked Patty Swanson.

"Really packed on more pounds." Frieda said.

"Shall we talk to her?" asked Patty Swanson.

"Count me out." said Frieda. "I don't wanna be anywhere near her, especially for ruining my date with Tommy and my clothes."

"I guess I'll talk to her." said Violet.

So Violet made her way to the table Emerald was sitting at. Tommy had given Emerald half a dozen jelly doughnuts. Violet sat with Emerald and eyed her jelly doughnuts.

"Is that all you've been eating for lunch this school year?" asked Violet.

"Yes." said Emerald. "They put away a sheila's appetite so easily."

"My friends and I have been thinking while you were suspended." Violet said. "Why not start eating well?"

"I eat very well, thank you very much!" Emerald said pompously as she picked up a jelly doughnut. "I eat better than you! I eat better than Patty! I eat better than Rita! I eat better than Scarlet. I especially eat better than Tommy! Just watch how well I eat these doughnuts!"

"I mean by eating healthy stuff." said Violet. "You know? Fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, milk? Doughnuts can't be good for you every meal let alone jelly doughnuts."

"Violet." said Emerald. "Do you know what jam doughnuts contain? There's jam, which is made of fruit, and fruit is good for you."

"Fruit isn't all jelly doughnuts contain." said Violet. "There's sugar, deep fry oil, sodium, butter…. that's not good for you."

"What Violet is trying to say is," interrupted Scarlet. "You can't be very healthy eating jam doughnuts everyday!"

"Scarlet, Violet, I am perfectly fine!" Emerald retorted. "Why don't you go and buy lunch for yourself?"

Frieda walked up to Tommy as Emerald spoke to Violet and Scarlet.

"Is Emerald annoying you again, Tommy?" Frieda asked.

"She pestered me to buy her these jam doughnuts." Tommy answered. "And thanks to her, I have no money left!"
"Don't worry, Tommy." Smiled Frieda. "I have a rich family myself, so I'll buy you some lunch. How does that sound?"
"Thank you, Frieda. You're such a lady." Said Tommy.

And there was Emerald, left on her own devouring jam doughnuts, not bite by bite, but doughnut by doughnut.

"Oh, jam doughnuts!" Emerald said happily. "So good! Mm, mm! So good! So very good!"

Scarlet continued to look at Emerald, and knew just what to do about her. She went to the principal's office to use a phone.

"Excuse me, Principal Robbins." She said. "May I please use the phone?"
"What for?" Asked Principal Robbins.

"I need to call a dietician." She said.

"No." said Principal Robbins. "You're in perfectly good health, Miss Harper."
"Rats! Then I'll go to Plan B." Scarlet said with a smirk.

Scarlet went over to the Green place and knocked on the door. And who should answer it but Emerald's little sister Jasmine.

"Oh. You're my sister's friend." Said Jasmine. "So, what brings you to our house?"
"Your sister is getting a bit….. large on the belly." Said Scarlet.

"Yeah. I know." Said Jasmine.

"This is why…." Said Scarlet. "I have a plan."
Scarlet whispered to Jasmine.

"Great idea!" said Jasmine.

Scarlet left the Green place, while Jasmine went to prepare Emerald's dinner.

"Jasmine!" called Emerald. "I need some cheesecake!"
"Okay, Big Sis!" called Jasmine.

Jasmine opened the fridge and looked for some ingredients.

"Ah, the perfect crime." Smiled Jasmine.

A few minutes later, Jasmine had finished.

"It's ready, Emerald!" called Jasmine. "Come and get it!"

Emerald waddled downstairs after hearing her sister.

"I can't wait! Cheesecake!" Emerald cried.

But when Emerald sat at the table, she was shocked.

"Hey! This isn't cheesecake!" Emerald shouted.

"Yes it is!" said Jasmine. "Can't you read?"
Emerald looked.

"No it isn't! It's just a bowl of spinach which you put pieces of cheese on top to write the word 'Cheesecake'!" Emerald said angrily.

"Emerald, you know you shouldn't be eating cheesecake every day. It's bad for you!" Jasmine said.

"Then I'm not eating this garbage! You eat it!" Emerald said angrily.

"Rats!" groaned Jasmine. "She wasn't even tricked!"

The next day, Tommy, Scarlet, Eugene and Jasmine went to school.

"So did my trick work, Jasmine?" asked Scarlet innocently.

"No." said Jasmine. "She knew it wasn't real cheesecake, so I had to eat it."

"Rats!" grumbled Scarlet. "How can I get Emerald to eat well?"

"Leave that to me." smiled Tommy. "I know just the way to deal with fat people."

That afternoon at lunch time, Emerald was just sitting on a bench, watching the other kids play when…..

"Emerald! Oh, Emerald! Come and get this sweet, delicious jam doughnut!" Tommy cajoled. "If you don't, I'll have to eat it."

"Oh, no you don't!" Emerald shouted, and she got up and ran after Tommy, who was holding a jam doughnut.

Emerald ran past Violet, Patty Swanson and Lucy, who were doing jump rope, and her enormous belly caused them to fly up and land on their backs.

"You blockhead!" shouted Lucy.

"Gimme that jam doughnut!" Emerald shouted as she jumped towards Tommy, snatching the doughnut off of him. As she pierced her teeth into the food, she tasted it and…..

"BLEGH! UGH! YUCK!"

Emerald spat out what she'd tasted, realising it wasn't a jam doughnut, but a rice ball with broccoli inside.

"You tricked me!" shouted Emerald. "This isn't a jam doughnut!"

"Hey! At least you'll be burning off a few kilos." Tommy laughed.

That afternoon, Scarlet was at home telling her parents to call a doctor due to her concern for Emerald's health.

And the next day, when Emerald got home, she got a nasty surprise.

"Good grief!" she exclaimed.

"Hello." Said the doctor. "I'm Doctor Melendez. I'll be your dietician."

"Charmed, I guess." Emerald said as she went to the couch with Doctor Melendez.

"So," said Doctor Melendez. "A friend of yours tells me you're in bad shape."
"I'm in perfectly good shape, Doc." Said Emerald.

"I don't know, Miss Green." Said Doctor Melendez. "So, what do you eat?"
"Well," said Emerald.

As Emerald and the doctor were talking, Tommy and Scarlet looked through.

"Your plan seems to be working, Scarlet." Said Tommy. "She'll be in shape in no time."

"For breakfast," Emerald began. "I eat a hefty breakfast of Pop Tarts. For morning tea and lunch, I have 6 jam doughnuts each, making it a dozen a day. For dinner, 3 hot dogs, and for dessert, a whole cheesecake."
"Hmm….." The doctor pondered.

Tommy and Scarlet came in.

"Do you see the pattern, Doctor?" asked Scarlet. "All she eats are Pop Tarts, jam doughnuts, hot dogs and cheesecake."
"That's not normal." Said the doctor. Then he turned to Emerald. "Pop Tarts, jelly doughnuts, hot dogs and cheesecake have no nutritional value."

"What should Emerald do, Doctor?" asked Scarlet. "I've warned her. Ever since we started middle school, though it'd be high school for us over in Australia, Emerald's been eating like this. I tell her to eat like 1 or 2 doughnuts per meal, one hot dog per meal, and cheesecake in portions, but for doughnuts, she eats six every morning tea and lunch, meaning a whole dozen a day, a quarter dozen hot dogs for dinner, and the whole cheesecake!"

"I know just how to deal with her." Said Doctor Melendez. "Stop eating so many Pop Tarts! Stop eating so many jelly doughnuts! Stop eating so many hot dogs! And stop eating so much cheesecake!"
"Sorry, Doc." Said Emerald. "No can do."
"You need to, Miss Green." Said Doctor Melendez. "You'll develop diabetes at this rate."
"So, what are your suggestions, Doc?" asked Tommy.

"I'd love to explain," said the doctor. "but I have some other people to visit who might also have health problems."
"Well, thanks anyway, Doctor." Said Emerald.

The next day, as Emerald came to school, she, along with other students, had physical education first thing.

"Pay attention please!" called the gym teacher Coach Legstrong. "Because today, we will be learning about balanced diets."
"Balancing my diet, huh?" smirked Emerald. "That's very easy! I'll just grab my favourite foods and balance them!"

"Miss Green." Said Coach Legstrong. "That's not what a balanced diet is. A balanced diet is eating a variety of foods to be healthy."

"Oh." Emerald sighed.
"First," said Coach Legstrong. "I need a volunteer. Is there a Miss Frieda Rich?"
"Present!" And Frieda came up to explain what a balanced diet is.

"Oh, Frieda!" sighed Tommy dreamily.

"In order to have a balanced diet," Frieda began. "You should eat a ginormous heap of grains, bread, cereal, rice, oats, and noodles. You should eat more than enough fruits and vegetables. You can eat some meat, dairy, nuts, eggs and fish. And on occasions, a fatty, oily, sugary or salty treat."

"Very good, Frieda." said Coach Legstrong.

"Are you getting any of this, Emerald?" Tommy asked as Mr. Legstrong pulled down the food pyramid.

Of course, Emerald wasn't. She stared at the very top of the food pyramid.

When Emerald got home that afternoon, there was Doctor Melendez again with scales.

"Oh, good grief!" sighed Emerald. "You again?!"
"Yes, I again." Said Doctor Melendez. "This here is a scale, and I'm going to measure how much you weigh."
"You can't do that." said Emerald. "I'm a girl! You can't weigh girls!"
"We weigh newborn baby girls to see how much they weigh at birth." Said Doctor Melendez.
"You got me there, Doc." Said Emerald as she took off her shoes and got herself on the scales. And the scales stopped at…

"350 pounds!" exclaimed Doctor Melendez. "You know what that means."
"I've broken the record for the world's heaviest girl?" Emerald asked happily.

"No. That means you're going on a diet." Said Doctor Melendez.

"A diet?! Good grief!" exclaimed Emerald.

After Doctor Melendez left, Emerald went into the kitchen to look for something to nibble on.

"Let's see…." Emerald pondered.

In came Anya, who had suggestions for her eldest child.

"Emerald. To make your diet easier," she said. "Why not have these corn cakes?"
"Corn cakes? Yuck! Too bland!" Emerald said.

"They're low in fat." Explained Anya. "And you can sprinkle or spread what you want on them to give them flavour."
"Well, thanks for the advice, Mum." Said Emerald.

And Emerald took the packet of corn cakes and flavoured them with Vegemite.
For the following week, Emerald ate those corn cakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

However, 2 weeks later, when Doctor Melendez showed up, he had the scales again.

"Okay, Miss Green. Let's see how much weight you've taken off. Hopefully you lost at least 20 pounds."
"I think you'll be surprised, Doc." Said Emerald.

She got on the scales, and much to the doctor's surprise…

"370?!" he exclaimed.

"So, I lost 20 pounds?" Emerald asked.

"No." said the doctor. "You gained 20 pounds!"

"Well," said Emerald. "Muscle does weigh more than fat, doesn't it?"
"Emerald." Said Doctor Melendez. "Your body is all fat."

"Emerald dear!" cried Anya. "Have you been cheating on your diet?!"
"I refuse to dignify that with an answer." Emerald scoffed.

"Then there's the next best thing." Suggested Anya.

Tommy, who'd been spying on Emerald gaining weight, went over to the Browns' house, and he knocked on the door.

"Who could that be?" Charlie Brown asked.

As he opened the door, there, standing there, was Tommy.

"Hello, Charlie." Said Tommy. "Is Snoopy home?"
"I'll call out for him." Said Charlie Brown. "Snoopy!"

"Oh!" Snoopy cried as he got off his doghouse and to the front door.

"Snoopy, I know just what to do about Emerald." Tommy said.

Tommy brought Snoopy along with him to Emerald's house.

Meanwhile, Anya explained to Emerald.

"Emerald, I think you should go for a little walk." She suggested.

"But Mum! I don't want to walk!" said Emerald. "I have bad legs, my arms aren't strong enough to walk on my hands!"
"Don't make that excuse." Said Anya. "Now walk!"
"Fine." Emerald sighed.

But what Emerald didn't notice was that Tommy was going to her house with Snoopy in tow. As he got there, there was Anya.

"Oh. Hello, Tommy. And is this your dog?"

"No." said Tommy. "This is Charlie's dog, Snoopy. I have a job for him."

Tommy brought Snoopy into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator and freezer.

"See all this, Snoopy?" said Tommy. "This is all of Emerald's junk food. I want you to get all of it out of the fridge, freezer and cupboard."

Snoopy showed a salute, grabbed a garbage bag, opened the freezer, pantries, and fridge, and loaded all the unhealthy stuff into it. Tommy would have left some unhealthy stuff for Eugene and Jasmine to eat on occasion, but had to remove it all because when it came to food, Emerald had no self control.

"If this won't get Emerald to eat healthy, I don't know what will." Tommy smirked.

Tommy and Snoopy were about to leave when Riley walked in.

"Hey!" Riley shouted.

"Oh, er….. Riley." Tommy said innocently.

"What did I say about bringing pets in?" Riley demanded.

"Er….. nothing." Said Tommy.

"You know the rules. No pets allowed!" Riley said angrily. "Emerald said so!"
"Rules are made to be broken." Said Tommy. "Plus, have you seen Emerald lately?"
"And Sniffy!" Riley shouted to Snoopy. "You put that food back!"
Snoopy ignored Riley and continued to fill up the garbage bag.

"Right! That's it!" Riley said angrily as he picked Snoopy up.

While Riley grabbed Snoopy, Tommy continued to take all the junk food out of the cupboard.

Snoopy was kicked out of the Greens' house.

"And stay out!" Riley shouted.

Tommy had cleaned out every bit of junk food in the house and was sneaking out of the backyard when Riley caught him.

"And where do you think you're going with that?" Riley demanded.

"Just taking it to the dump." Fibbed Tommy. "It's just broken light bulbs."
"Fair enough." Riley said as Tommy continued away.

"Sucker." snickered Tommy.

Tommy ran to his house with the food, and placed the cold treats in his fridge and freeze, and the rest of the treats in his cupboard. He even gave Snoopy some of the treats.

"There. That should keep Emerald fit." Tommy said.

Meanwhile, Emerald had arrived home, hoping to have a little treat after her walk.

"Oh, I can't wait to have a delicious cheesecake!" Emerald smirked.

But as Emerald opened the fridge….

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CHEESECAKE?!" roared Emerald.

"You ate it all, remember?" Anya said.

"Well, what else am I supposed to eat?" Emerald said angrily.

"You, my dear, are going to eat a salad." Anya said.
"But….." Emerald whimpered.

"No buts, Emerald, it's for your own good. You sit at the table, and I'll bring you your salad." Said Anya.

"Fine!" groaned Emerald.

Whilst Emerald sat at the dining table, Tommy and Scarlet walked into her house.

"Something wrong, Emerald?" Asked Tommy.

"I was looking forward to a whole cheesecake after my walk, only to find it's gone!" Emerald sighed angrily.

"Why are you so worried about cheesecake?" asked Scarlet. "It's not even that good! Cheesecake doesn't even taste that good!"
"It does too!" Emerald snapped back.
"Stop it, Emerald." Said Tommy. "Now, your mummy's making your salad, and she wants you to eat it all."
"But I don't like salad!" groaned Emerald.

"Have you ever tried salad?" asked Scarlet.

"Yes." Moaned Emerald.

At this moment, Anya came in with a salad, which was nothing but lettuce.

"Here's your salad, Emerald." Said Anya.

"Ugh!" Emerald groaned. "Why'd you give me leaves, Mum?"
"They're not leaves. That's lettuce." Anya explained.

"Gee. Such a plain salad!" Tommy said.

"Take it back. I don't want it!" Emerald said sadly.

"For once, I actually agree with Emerald on something." Thought Tommy.

Anya took the salad back, and filled it with tomatoes and croutons.

"Better?" asked Anya.

"No!" Emerald shouted. "I don't like salad, Mum!"
"Anya." Said Scarlet. "We'll have to force feed your eldest child."

"Emerald. Pretend that's cheesecake!" Tommy cheekily said.

"No! No way I'm eating that!" shouted Emerald. "You cannot force me to! Hmph!"

Emerald crossed her arms, refusing to eat what was in the bowl in front of her.

Riley came in to see what was going on.

"HEY!" he shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY EMERALD?!"
"We're trying to make her eat salad!" Tommy grunted.
"Why?" Riley asked.

"Have you even seen your girl?" Tommy asked.

"She's unhealthy!" Scarlet explained. "She weighs over 150 kilos! She's been eating a dozen jam doughnuts every day at school!"
Then, Scarlet turned to Emerald.

"Okay, Emerald! You're going to eat some salad, okay?"
"No!" Emerald shouted. "NO! DON'T EVEN!"
"It's for your own good!" said Tommy.

"NO IT'S NOT!" Emerald shouted.
Scarlet dunked the fork into the bowl, pierced it into some tomatoes, lettuce and croutons, and prepared to feed Emerald.

"Now, open up the hangar for the jet plane!" Scarlet cooed.

"No! No!" Emerald screamed. "NO…"
Scarlet quickly put the salad into Emerald's mouth.

Soon, Tommy and Scarlet had finished feeding Emerald the salad, much to her distaste.

"Now, Emerald," said Tommy. "Let's go to the gym."

"No! I will not!" said Emerald.

"I got you a gym membership, Emerald." Said Anya.
"If I must." Sighed Emerald as she got up.

Later at the gym, Tommy, Scarlet and Emerald reached the gym. Much to their surprise, there was Peppermint Patty, wearing her workout outfit and doing star jumps.

"Hey, Patty!" called Tommy. "I didn't know you worked out here!"
"I sure do, Tom!" said Peppermint Patty. "It helps me prepare for my sports. What brings you here?"
"Well," said Tommy. "Emerald's rather big on the belly…."
"Hey!" shouted Emerald. "I'm not big on the belly! I'm big-boned!"

"Oooookay." Peppermint Patty sighed.

"You know what, Tommy?" said Emerald. "Let's go home."
"No, Emerald." Said Scarlet. "You need to get healthy! You have to lose weight!"
"Fine." Said Emerald, walking onto the treadmill.

Emerald did all kinds of exercise, but after her first treadmill run, she was exhausted.

"Phew! Exercise is tiring work." Emerald panted. "I need a good dozen jam doughnuts after that!"
"No, Emerald." Said Scarlet. "You shouldn't be eating doughnuts all the time."
"That is why…." Said Tommy. "We're treating you to Subway."
"Oh, I can't wait!" said Emerald.

Tommy and Scarlet brought Emerald out of the gym and made their way to Subway.

"So you're going to take me on a train to Doughnutville, Tommy?" asked Emerald. "It'll be like that train you're named after!"
"And no plump controller to tell us what to do." Scarlet said slyly.

"Not that kind of Subway!" Tommy laughed. "It's a sandwich restaurant."
"Oh." Said Emerald, feeling defeated.

Tommy and the 2 girls arrived at Subway. They were most surprised to see Frieda and Heather there, eating their subs.

"Tommy? With Emerald and Scarlet?" Quizzed Heather.

Tommy walked over to the two red-haired girls.

"Oh. Hi, Heather. Frieda." Said Tommy.

"Why were you with Emerald and Scarlet?" Asked Frieda.

"You see…." Tommy said. "Emerald has gotten rather big on the belly, and Scarlet and I are trying to get her to lose it."

"You know, Tommy." Said Heather. "If you really need to go through this much to make someone healthier, don't try to do it."

Tommy thought and thought.

"I guess you're right, Heather." Said Tommy.

Scarlet ordered a sub with a couple of meatballs, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.

"Here, Emerald." Said Scarlet. "Try this sub."

"Okay." Sighed Emerald.

Emerald pierced her teeth into the sub, and…..

"Well?" Asked Scarlet.

"It's….. it's….." Emerald stammered.

"Yes?"

"Delicious!" Emerald said tearfully. "From this day forward, after school, I can come here for a snack."

Tommy watched on, flabbergasted.

"It worked!" He exclaimed.

Emerald, hesitation history, ate the rest of the sub.

"So very good!" Emerald said.

So that was what happened. After Emerald got home, she saw the fruit bowl, and picked out a Granny Smith apple. She liked the look of Granny Smiths the best because they were green, her favourite colour.

"This dessert is so good!" Said Emerald.

Eugene and Jasmine were speechless.

"Emerald? Eating well?" Exclaimed Eugene.

"Whatever is the world coming to?" Wondered Jasmine.

Emerald kept this up for a few weeks. Went to the gym for exercise, ate a sub from Subway whenever the school day was over, and Tommy brought subs for Emerald to chase after him for. And for dinner, she was given a salad made up of broccoli, green beans, lettuce and celery. Emerald, remembering green was her favourite colour, ate them all up with no hesitation.

4 weeks after eating the salad, exercising, and eating her first sub from Subway, Emerald started to sport a slimmer figure. Doctor Melendez came over with the scales.

"Let's see how you're doing." Said Doctor Melendez.

"You'll be pleasantly surprised." Smirked Emerald.

Emerald got on the scales and she weighed…..

"115 pounds." Said Doctor Melendez. "You did wonderful!"

"Thanks, Doc." Said Emerald. "I owe it to Tommy and Scarlet. They really helped me out."

"Remember, Miss Green." said Doctor Melendez. "Keep it all in balance."

"This calls for a celebration!" said Riley. "We're all going to Capaldi Buffet!"

"Yay!" Everyone cheered.

After paying to get in, the Green family went in, got their table, and Emerald went over to get her food. She stacked a a dozen doughnuts, a whole pizza, a large plate of fries, a sundae, some jelly, and some spaghetti. Much to Emerald's surprise, there was Tommy.

"Emerald?!" Tommy exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"Balancing my diet." said Emerald.

"That's not a balanced diet." said Tommy. "Balanced diet is eating a wide variety of food that make you healthy, remember what Frieda said?"

"How do I do it again?" asked Emerald.

Tommy got out a plate of bread, a bowl of rice, a bowl of spaghetti, a bowl of grains, and a bowl of plain cereal.

"Lots of grains, bread, cereal, rice, noodles."

Tommy then added a plate containing a banana, a Granny Smith apple, some green grapes, a slice of watermelon, an orange, and a strawberry, and a plate with a stalk of broccoli, a tomato, a carrot, a stalk of celery, an ear of corn, some lettuce, and an eggplant.

"More than enough fruits and veggies."

Tommy placed a plate with ham and chicken, and then a plate containing a piece of cheese, a glass of milk, 2 eggs, and 3 peanuts.

"Some meat, some dairy, some eggs, some nuts….."

And on the very top, Tommy placed a jelly doughnut.

"And on occasion, you can have you sweet juicy jam doughnut."

"Hey!" said Emerald. "I'm getting the hang of it!"

The next Monday at school, during lunch break, Emerald arrived at the table with a plate containing 17 jelly doughnuts.

"Oh no!" groaned Scarlet. "Don't tell me you're gonna get your weight back, Emerald!"

But Emerald wasn't even going to eat any. Instead, she handed one jelly doughnut to each student. One for Charlie Brown, one for Linus, one for Lucy, one for Schroeder, one for Peppermint Patty, one for Marcie, one for Frieda, one for Scarlet, one for Violet, one for Patty Swanson, one for Pig-Pen, one for Franklin, one for Janice, one for Heather, one for Mary Stewart, and one for Tommy.

"Gee, thanks, Emerald." said Tommy.

"No. Thank you, Tommy." said Emerald. "I've now decided to have jam doughnuts on Fridays only. Just as an end of week treat. This is gratitude for getting me to slim down."

"And now you'll have an easier time!" said Scarlet.

Emerald went back to Charlie Brown and handed the last jelly doughnut to him.

"Here, Charlie Brown." said Emerald. "This one's for Sniffy."

"He's called Snoopy." Charlie Brown corrected. Then, he thought. "Snoopy sure will love this."