The Big Road Trip

Amy

It was supposed to be the best time of our lives. We’d just graduated from high school. Our boyfriends suggested a summer road trip.

“I don’t know,” I said to Mike. “Why do you want to drive all the way across the country now, only to have to drive back again, get your stuff and go back across the country for school?”

“That’s the beauty of it,” he said. “I’m going to take all my stuff with me. You guys can help me unpack at UCLA, then fly back home, and leave for college.”

“It will be awesome,” my twin sister Hannah said. “A summer alone with Mike and Greg. And when we get to L.A. we can finally wear our new bikinis!”

“Okay,” I agreed reluctantly. I wish I’d known then what was going to happen.

We left after my father’s annual 4th of July BBQ. Mike kept trying to convince me to eat more, but I stuck to one burger and a salad.

“I can’t pig out,”I told him. “I want to model my new bikini for you in L.A. I have to stay thin.”

“You don’t have to be that thin,” he told me. “You’re 5'6, you’re way too skinny.”

“You know what happened when my mom gained weight,” I reminded him. My parents’ divorced when I was a kid, because my mom never lost the weight from having us and didn’t care. I would never want to be big like her. 

Finally, we packed up the cars. Mike, all his stuff and me in one. Greg and Hannah in the other.

“See you at the first pit stop,” Greg said, driving off.

“Isn’t this great,” Mike said. “A whole summer just the two of us. Our own hotel room.”

“I’m not ready.”

“Okay. But promise me you’ll eat more this summer. Amy, I can’t have you wasting away.”

“Mike, you know what happened to me two years ago, When the pageant judge shamed me because my belly stuck out over my bikini.”

“Amy, that judge was a douche. Your belly wasn’t that big. You know I love you no matter what.”

“You won’t love me if I get to California with a belly.”

I thought I heard him say, “Yes, I will,” as I fell asleep.  

I woke when we pulled up to the restaurant. “Amy, time for dinner.”

“I’m not hungry. I think that burger is still sitting in me.”

“This is the last rest stop before we stop for the night. At least come in with us.”

“Okay. Maybe I should throw up first.”

“I thought you stopped doing that.”

“I did. But I can feel the burger pushing in my stomach.”

We walked inside behind Hannah and Greg. I went to the washroom and threw up.

“Let’s order,” Greg said, when I returned.

“I’ll probably just have salad,” I said, taking a sip of water.

Soon the waitress came. We ordered.  “Actually I am hungry,” I found myself saying. I ordered some fish and chips with my salad.

We got back in the car. I burped. “Ugh I ate way too much. Why did you let me eat the whole sundae?”

“Oh Amy don’t worry, one big meal won’t kill you.”

“Fine, but don’t let me eat like that again.” Soon we arrived at the motel.

“Two rooms,” Greg said. “Amy and Mike, you’re in that one, Hannah and I in here.”

“No, it should be girls together and guys together.”

“Relax, sis,” Hannah said.  She’d split two burgers and fries with Greg and dessert. Even after we had burgers at the bbq. But she didn’t seem as bothered as I. Well she’d always weighed a bit more than me  And since she didn’t enter pageants, she hadn’t endured the humiliation I had. But if she keeps eating like that all summer, she won’t fit into the cute bikinis we got. She’ll look like mom. Oh well her loss. Since I’ll be leaving Mike behind in L.A. I’m hoping to attract some cute guys to replace him. If my sister is fat, I won’t have to worry about them picking her over me.

“There’s two beds,” Hannah continued. “You do not have to sleep with Mike. But Greg and I have been waiting months to be alone again. Ever since Dad caught us it’s been a nightmare.”

“Come on, Amy,” Mike said. I nodded reluctantly. We walked into the room. I headed to the bathroom.

“Wait Amy,.” Greg said. “Cuddle with me. Your favourite movie is on.”

‘Okay, I can throw up before bed.” I snuggled in next to Mike.  I must have fallen asleep.

Next thing I remember, I woke up. Mike had placed me on my own bed. I was hungry. I’d only been drinking water during the movie. I looked at the mini bar.

“No, I shouldn’t,” I said.

But I could throw up. It had been a long time since I’d had a good binge. No one would know. I opened the mini bar. They hadn’t removed the alcohol. I had never really liked drinking. But hey, this was the summer before college. I might as well try. So I opened a small bottle and grabbed some pretzels. I must have passed back out.

Hannah

We’d had a great night of making love and binging from the mini bar. When I awoke, Greg was gone. Probably meeting Mike for breakfast. I was hungry.  When Greg got back to the hotel room with food, I was eating some chips.

“I got hungry waiting for you. I found this bag, it must have slipped behind the bed last night when we made love.”

I was wearing a t-shirt, my belly sticking out. “I’m so glad I don’t have to hide from you anymore. I got so worried you wouldn’t like my belly.”

“I’m glad I don’t have to trick you into gaining weight. Mike has his work cut out for him.”

“Don’t worry, when all the guys faun over Amy, she’ll get over what happened two years ago.”

“She pigged out last night, Mike said, but she won’t remember, since she was drinking too.”

“She used to secretly binge all the time. Right before pageants, she’d get tired of fasting and she’d binge. Then she’d throw up. I feel so bad about the pageant, that I didn’t let her throw up after we pigged out in the hotel. I really didn’t think her having a little belly would make a difference. I was so glad we were hanging out with Mom, who didn’t care how much we ate.”

“You didn’t know the judge would shame Amy.”

“Yeah that was totally uncool. If she ever finds out it was my fault she didn’t get to purge, she’ll never forgive me.”

“Relax, by the end of this summer, she’ll embrace the weight and forget.”

“And if we’ve put on weight before college, she won’t have to worry about the freshman fifteen. I’ll be glad that people will finally be able to tell us apart. But I’ll have to be careful. I’ll have to hide my belly around her.”

“You’re turning me on.”

“I know. But if we’re going to make it to the party by tonight, we better go. We want to stop for lunch at the tourist trap.”

“Right.”  I had finished eating the food Greg brought.. I had to put on a shirt, covering my belly. We headed out to the car.

I was thrilled when the boys proposed the summer road trip. I could finally be with Greg every day. Over the winter break, Dad had caught us in my room, and forbad us being alone in the house for the rest of the year. So I started replacing sex with food. Amy’s been bugging me about the fact I’ve gained weight. But I don’t care. I thought I would have to hide my plan from everyone this summer. That I was 110 and wanted to be more. I want a big belly like our mom and finally now that I am not under Dad’s roof, I could gain what I wanted. Then the first night in the car, I found out the truth.

“Greg, what’s with all this food? I thought we’re stopping for dinner.”

“We are. It was in case I got hungry in between.”

“What if I get hungry?” I grabbed some chips as we drove off.

“I brought enough for both of us. I want you to feel free to let go this summer.”

“You mean it?”

“I would love to see you with a bigger belly. Mike and I talked at prom about getting both of you to gain weight. Actually, we didn’t want you to find out.”

“You don’t have to worry. I actually want to gain. Be like my mom and not watch what I eat. It’s Amy, all the time she’s been commenting on how much weight I’ve gained in the last six months. And Dad always telling us not to be like our mom. So I’ve had to be careful which is why I haven’t gained as much as I wanted.. Did you see how Amy looked at me at the bbq today?”

“Oh yeah that was crazy. Well don’t worry, I support your weight gain.”

“Good.”

Greg drove to the tourist trap. “So we never talked about how big.”

“What do you mean?” I was still hungry. I grabbed a bag of chips from the stash in the back of the car. Since we’d had the mini bar last night, we left the food in the car.

“I plan to get huge this summer. But I don’t want you to flip out if I get bigger than you like.”

“You turn me on. Your sister can’t see us, you can let your belly out in the car.”  So I did. “I want to see your belly expand this summer. You can be as big as you want. And if your stomach is huge in the bikini that’s okay.”

“I’m so happy you said that. I would like to be 200 pounds.”

“I’ll help you,” Greg said. I could see he was getting turned on.

“Good.”

Amy

“Can we stop?” I asked Mike. “I don’t feel good. I should throw up.”

“We’re almost at the touristy place your sister wanted to stop. We’ll get some lunch, walk around, then continue to the college campus.”

“I really don’t feel well. I knew eating that fish and chips was a bad idea. I also shouldn’t have eaten the food you brought me for breakfast.”

“Relax, oatmeal is healthy and will help with digestion.”

Soon we stopped. We caught up with Hannah and Greg.

“Sis, come there’s something you have to see.”

I let Hannah pull me along.

“I should go throw up first,” I told her. “I’ve been eating too much.”

“Relax sis. You look great. When we get to that frat party tonight, they are going to be all over you.”

“Mike will get jealous.”

“Amy, we’re never going to see these guys after tonight. Besides, we’re leaving Mike in L.A. Shouldn’t you start looking for other guys?”

“I guess. I mean we haven’t even slept together. I know he wants to though.”

“You will, before the end of the summer.”

We had walked over to a huge cheese ball.

“This is what you wanted me to see?’

“Yeah. It’s famous. And we can get samples from it.”

“Pass. Cheese is fattening.”

“Just a bite, come on sis.” I sighed. I could throw up when we stop for lunch. We both took a piece, and I took the smallest possible. Hannah ate hers and got another.

“You’ve been letting yourself go. Aren’t you worried about your weight?”

“Relax. Sex burns calories.”

We met up with the boys and arrived at a diner. I excused myself. I got to the washroom and bent down in the stall. I could feel the food sitting in my stomach. I forced myself to throw up. I couldn’t gain. I couldn’t.

I walked back to the table. Water was already there and I sipped some.

When it came time to order food, I ordered a salad, but also pasta, suddenly I was hungry.. “Share with me?” I asked Mike. “Promise,” he said. After lunch, we ordered dessert to share.

We got back on the road.

A few hours later, we arrived at the frat party.

“Don’t let me eat and drink too much,” I said.

“I won’t,” he promised.

When we arrived, they handed us each beers. Greg stepped aside.  

I lost track of him. All these guys fawned over me. I didn’t pay attention to what I ate and drank.

I passed out. I woke in the motel. “Were you jealous?”

“Insanely. The guys loved you.”

“Good. All those calories went out when I threw up. Everyone saw me as thin and beautiful.”

“Maybe you’ll stop being so hard on yourself.”

“Maybe.” I fell asleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night, hungry. I knew I shouldn’t binge in the mini bar again. But maybe it would help with my hangover. I opened it. Just one thing, I can throw up in the morning. I passed out again.

Hannah

July went quickly as we drove across the country. I made sure we hit all the touristy spots, especially ones with food. I kept encouraging Amy to eat. By the end of the month, I already fit into the new clothes Greg bought. Amy has definitely gained some weight. But she hasn’t seemed to notice or care.

“Doesn’t Amy look great?” Mike asked me at the end of July.

“Yeah. Is that one of the new outfits you got?”

“Yeah. Yesterday, she was saying her clothes didn’t fit. She wanted to look in the mirror, but luckily, we got a room without a full length one. So I swapped out all her clothes when she wasn’t looking. She has no idea she’s put on some weight. She usually drinks and eats from the mini bar and passes out. I haven’t even had to give her as much weight gain powder.”

“How much weight has she gained?”

“Not sure. I can’t exactly get her on a scale without her knowing. What about you?”

“I’m up to 150. Ten pounds a week. I expect to be 200 when we get to L.A.”

“I’ll be happy if Amy has just enough belly. She was too thin.”

“Greg is happy for me to be as big as I want.”

“That’s great.” 

As we made our way to L.A. during August, I watched my sister. She looked happier. Every where we went, guys flirted with her. I could see her belly sticking out through her clothes. But she didn’t notice or care. Of course, when we got out the bikinis, that would be the big determination. Everywhere we went, I ordered huge meals. Amy had stopped commenting. Each night, I raided the mini bar. Finally, it was the last day before Labour Day.

“Still want to go to the beach?” Amy asked me.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You’ll look horrible in a bikini. You let yourself go this summer.”

“More guys to look at you then.”

Amy

We arrived at the motel on the beach..

“You stay there, while I get on my bikini,” I told Mike. He nodded. I rooted in my suitcase. There it was. I went to bathroom. My boobs stuck out the top. Well I guess I had put on a bit of weight. I put the bottoms on, and went to model for Mike.

“You look gorgeous.”

“I put on some weight,” I said.

“You look great.” He put his hand on my belly. Now I looked down. “Oh god, what have you done to me. I have a belly!”

“Amy, you were too skinny. You turn me on. I want to make love to you right now.”

“Okay, but I need to know how much I weigh.”

Mike found a scale. I stepped on. I watched the numbers go up and shuddered. “125! How did I gain 25 pounds?”

“Relax Amy, you look great. Healthy.” Mike kissed me. Then he lay me on the bed and we made love.

Then I put my bikini back on and walked out on the beach. Everyone was looking at me. But not in a bad way. They loved me.  Hannah came out. She was in a one piece.

“No bikini?” I asked her.

“It didn’t fit. But I am happy. And you?”

“I gained 25 pounds. But I don’t care. Mike loves me. And I’m going to stay in L.A. with him.”

“That’s great.” The boys came up and kissed us.

“Well this road trip didn’t quite go the way I thought,” I said. “But we’re in beautiful L.A. and I never want to leave.”

Hannah

Greg and I said good bye to Amy and Mike and headed back across the country. My belly almost hit the dashboard.

“Now what?” I asked him.

“We take college by a storm. And you can gain more weight if you want.”

“No need. 200 is perfect for me.”

I was finally free to be myself. And my sister was finally happy. She had finally let go of what had happened two years ago.

Amy

Luckily, I was able to turn down Princeton and still get into UCLA. Mike and I got an off campus apartment. I’m pledging a sorority. But no more pageants for me. The first night, Mike made a huge meal.

“Mike, I’ve gained enough weight.”

“I know but I want you to eat properly. No more binging and purging.”

“I will, I promise.”

What started out as a road trip to take my boyfriend to college, ended up being so much more. Maybe Mike had tricked me into gaining weight, but I know it was because he cares. I still look good in my bikini and guys are all over me.