This choice: "Milk. At least a gallon of heavy, fattening milk." • Go Back...Chapter #9Debate helps you grow as a student by: Rubarbstreet   "I'm going to drink an entire gallon of milk while she stands up in front of the class with you," Melanie said with a proud look on her face.
Amber grinned, "Oh, that's awful. Milk can really mess up your stomach if you have too much of it."
"But Beth isn't lactose intolerant. What's the big deal?" Lindsey asked.
"The big deal is that she's going to get sick and bloated in front of everyone. Trust me, it'll be awesome."
Lindsey nodded slowly. "Okay, let's do it. What do we have to lose? I can go for another debate anyways."
----------------
You and Ellen arrived at school, with you barely hearing a word she said the entire time. You just were not feeling well. Maybe you should have stayed home, but it was too late for that now. You weren't able to ignore that "Thanksgiving feeling", as you started calling it. When you walked it felt like you were weighed down, and that your shirt was always ready to ride up on you, and when you sat you could feel your jeans digging into your waist. By second period, you weren't feeling quite so bad, but still uncomfortably bloated. Fortunately it didn't look like anyone noticed.
Lindsey was setting up her cell phone on a table facing the front of the class when you came in and sat down. She eyed you, smiling, then looked away. She was trying to see if your stomach looked bigger, and was disappointed although not surprised. She could tell that you weren't feeling good, though, and that was something. Nobody would describe you as chipper or even that lively, but you always looked like you at least were aware of your surroundings. Today you were just staring blankly, like you had a fever.
"Class, we get to have another one our legendary Beth/Lindsey debates," Ms. Lee said as the class settled. "Lindsey has asked that she be allowed to film to use on her college applications. I'd like to take this chance to offer anyone else the opportunity to do so as well. Good debate skills are a plus in getting into any decent school, and I think we can all appreciate both Beth and Lindsey's talents. Beth, is that all right with you?"
You would have groaned if you could. You glanced at Lindsey, who had a more haughty look about her than usual. You might never know what her real problem with you was, but you'd have to be blind to not know it. Still, she and Ms. Lee had a good point about filming the debate.
"Now, when we left off on Friday we were just about to get into the causes of the American Civil War. We won't spend a lot of time on this, but I think it's interesting enough to warrant discussion."
Good, this is an easy one. I can do this on autopilot, you thought, with relief. Most other times you really did enjoy these discussions, but today you weren't feeling up for doing anything too tasking. You were not pleased to have to stand in front of the class. You attempted to hold in your packed tummy, and found it impossible. You and Lindsey walked to the front of the class.
"Beth, Lindsey, the most common primary cause given for the American Civil War is the existence of slavery in the southern states. Now, there is a lot of debate as to how accurate that is, and whether or not other issues were as important, or perhaps more so. Lindsey, would you like to start us off?"
It was two minutes into class. Meanwhile, in the cafeteria storage room, Melanie and Amber had stolen a few gallons of milk. They assumed one would be enough, but Melanie wanted to be sure.
"Here we go," Melanie said, opening the first gallon and, slowly, began drinking.
"I think slavery is without question the primary cause. Whatever issues the North and the South were having would never have been enough to promote war without that overriding social issues . . ."
As Lindsey spoke, a subtle cold feeling washed over your stomach. You patted it gently, and then stopped after feeling self-conscious. You covered your mouth as a tiny, silent burp escaped you. You tried to stay focused on the debate, but there something very strange about that feeling. It felt almost filling.
". . . We're dealing with two different cultures with vastly different ideas of how society would be run, and that, although there were other causes, was what ultimately lead to war."
"Very good, Lindsey. Beth, will you take the opposing position?"
"Very well," you said. Your hand drifted towards your stomach again as you spoke. "No doubt slavery was a major factor, but it was not the root cause. The abolitionist movement was very influential in the northern United States but it had little influence on most of the working class people who would eventually willingly go out to die for the Union. If-urp-excuse me," you blushed, unable to hold that burp in. You jumped a little as you felt-no, heard, too-a sloshing sound in your stomach. It was definitely feeling tighter than it was moments ago. "If not for the major difference in economies between the North and South, the issues of slavery would have continued to be fought as a social cause, not a military one. The real underlying reason-ooh, uurrrp!-sorry, excuse me-" you blushed brighter, and were now actually holding your stomach, not just resting your hand over it. It seemed to poke out into your hand, but that had to just be an illusion. Your insides were feeling cold and tight, and they were starting to churn quite loudly. A gurgling grown rose from your stomach, loud enough for the whole class to hear.
"Beth, are you feeling all right?" Ms. Lee asked.
"Y-yes, just a little-bwuuuuurp-indigestion, I might have a-oooh-I might have a stomach bug," you started to crouch forward as the churning grew louder and stronger. You wrapped your arm around your middle, feeling your poor, taut stomach press into your arm, and against your jeans. You felt the lower part of your tummy exposed as your shirt rode up a little. No doubt about it, you were getting even more bloated, and in front of everyone. And it felt so damn heavy inside, too.
"As I was saying, it-oooooh hic!" you covered your mouth, allowing your swollen stomach to be visible. You stole a glance and blanched. If you didn't look it that morning, you were very visibly bloated now. Your stomach actually curved out, maybe two inches or more, and just about hid the straining button of your jeans. You quickly pulled your shirt down and stammered.
"Ms. Lee, I-hicuuuuuuuurp!" you slapped your hands over your mouth again, inadvertently leaning back and allow more of your taut, full stomach to become exposed. You quickly pulled your shirt down, but not before another juicy half hiccup, half belch left you.
"Hic-bwuuuuurp!" it was loud, louder than you ever spoke around school. This was like a bad dream. You, fully aware that you were generally seen as this tiny, quiet, dainty even, girl, was now bloating and belching in front of the whole class.
"Beth, I think you should see the nurse," Ms. Lee said with real concern.
You nodded, wrapping your arms tightly around your middle, not just to ease the discomfort but to hide it from the class. You felt the coldness grow, your skin seemed to be stretching by the second like something was filling you up from within. It was something heavy, and liquid, the sloshing, gurgling sounds filling the room.
"I-hicbwuuuuuuuuuuuuurp!" you said. "I thi-hicbwuuuuuuuurp!" you winced as another bout of fullness hit you harder. It felt like you could burst any moment. You couldn't even get a full sentence out. Finally, you nodded, averting your eyes from the entire class, and made a bee-line for the door. As you approached it, you had to steady yourself on a desk, at which point your hand was planted firmly on your belly. You could feel its fullness, it's unfamiliar and horrible roundness, under your fingers. You tugged your shirt down just as you jeans popped open.
"Hicbwuuuuurp!" was of course your response. You ran, or tried to, out the door, holding your stomach in both hands. You could feel alien movements inside, nauseating movements that felt like a punch to the cut with each hiccup/burp. For the first time in a long time, you actually wanted to cry, but that would be even worse. You got the door and slowly made your way to the nurse. If you had looked back, you would have noticed looks of concern on everyone's face, and a look of silent awe on Lindsey's.
That crazy nutjob actually did, Lindsey thought. And she was right. That WAS an incredible sight to see!
-----------------------
"Whew!" Melanie tossed the empty jug aside. "One gallon! How do you think Beth is feeling now?"
"Probably not too good," Amber laughed. "Want to go for another?"
"Mmmm . . ."   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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