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My Eternal Gratitude


cheddarlion

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**You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant...**

"Rise and shine, campers! Love playing that classic from Arlo Guth-" 

::SMACK::

Claire cursed herself for forgetting to unset her radio alarm clock the night before. She'd been working her ass off at college all semester, waking at 6am to go on her runs, before showering and getting ready for classes. Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday, and she'd even forgone eating since a small breakfast the prior day, so she could be ready for maximum gluttony today. Her plan was to sleep in until maybe 10 or so, and begin the feast. But now she was up at 6am, famished, with none of her extended family likely to wake for several hours, and no appetizers likely to appear for several more. 

She threw on her stretchiest yoga pants underneath a loose and flowy top. She'd managed to avoid the freshman 15, and any sophomore 60, and junior...jellybelly? in her first nearly five semesters of college. But her 5'7", 115 pound frame would look absurd with the amount of food she intended to put into it today, and she didn't feel like showing her dozens of relatives her likely epic food baby. Especially not her cousin, Jake. 

Woah, don't worry, this isn't that kind of story. Jake was her aunt's adopted son, and she got to see him once a year when they came to visit on Thanksgiving. He had grown over the years into a wiry, handsome devil. The fact that he wasn't technically a blood relation became more important to Claire every Thanksgiving. She'd never really found a way to broach the topic with him...have YOU ever thought about how to ask your cousin out? Now that they were both 21 and their parents would let them have some wine and beer this year, maybe inhibitions would be lowered? Maybe something would just happen? 

Despite her intentions to save her appetite for the feast, Claire realized she couldn't wait the five hours before the deviled eggs appeared. She tiptoed into the kitchen, with vague designs that all ended in some sort of hearty breakfast. 

"Oh look who decided to wake up early!" her uncle James whispered from the dimly lit kitchen. "You know Santa doesn't come for another month, right?" One of James' go-to jokes was pretending not to know what holiday it was. Never got old. James had even brought a carton of eggnog as a practical gag, which he was adding to his coffee at the moment. Claire leaned into the fridge and realized that it was chock-full of everyone's Thanksgiving ingredients and dishes, with nary an egg or a carton of orange juice to be found. 

"Guess I'm just looking to make a down-payment on the pig-out session today," she said, gathering what she thought would be undetectable morsels from the side dishes that had already been finished and were chilling in the fridge. When she turned around to face her uncle, he looked shocked at the large paper plate she held, heaped with corn pudding, cranberry sauce, three kinds of mini pies, and other assorted goodies. 

"Well it's not like you can't afford it! Tell me, do you do ANYTHING other than run and study up at that college of yours? You're skin and bones! Here, have some eggnog to wash it down." He poured her a tall glass of eggnog, and she thanked him as she carried it back to her room. She liked her uncle, but just was not quite ready for his energy so early in the morning. 

Claire dug into her pilfered goods with relish. Cold or not, this was the best breakfast she'd had in months, probably partly because she hadn't eaten for nearly a day. She found herself modestly satisfied after finishing the plate, and maybe a little more than satisfied after chugging the 8oz glass of eggnog, just to keep it from going bad. She found herself drifting off back to sleep...

*You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant...*

"Rise and shine campers! Love playing that classic from Arlo Guth-"

"WHAT THE HELL?" Claire woke with a start, crumbs of mini pies falling off of her loose flowy top. She looked at her radio alarm clock, which had just flipped over to 10:01am. After re-orienting herself, she remembered that the classic rock station plays Alice's Restaurant every few hours on Thanksgiving. She heard noises from the kitchen, and felt her stomach rumble - phew. She hadn't ruined her appetite with her morning smorgasbord, and now she was awake at just the right time to start eating. This was going to be the best Thanksgiving ever. 

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Claire wandered into the kitchen after composing herself, to see lots of extended family, in for the long weekend. Her uncle James was yukking up a storm in the living room, flirting with one of her dad's sisters. "You see, traditionally, if the turkey sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of thanking!" Claire found her mom, putting the final touches on the turkey before it went into the oven. Claire had gotten in late last night and this was the first time she'd seen her mom in months. Anne was a well-preserved, robust woman of 52, with a standard middle-age spread. She looked nothing like her younger sister, Phyllis, who was the largest of Claire's aunts, probably pushing 300 pounds. 

When her mother was at a stopping point, Claire walked over to give her a big hug. "How's my favorite chef?" 

Anne awkwardly gave Claire a hug with her elbows - "Raw turkey hands!" Always the pragmatist. "Gimme a second, and once we get this bird in the oven, I want to hear all about your semester!"

Claire turned around to see Phyllis walking a little too close to a TV tray with a glass of wine on it, and bumping it with her ample rear. The glass fell onto the carpet, splattering wine all over Phyllis' tent-like blouse. Claire moved to help sop the wine out of the carpet while Phyllis returned to her room to get a new top. There was a slight stain, but Claire managed to get most of it out.  

Her mom pulled herself away from meal prep long enough to sit down with Claire. She was famished, but Claire's goal was to keep the snacking light until mealtime. Her willpower was sapped by the glass of wine her mom poured for her, and she found herself crushing almost an entire bowl of chips and dip that had been set out next to her on the couch. 

"So you're certainly not giving into the college lifestyle, I can see. You're so skinny! Do you need more money on your meal plan?"

"Oh come on mom, I'm 21 - I can pretty much eat whatever I want for now. Not that I do." Claire had been to a few parties this year, but always kept it to one or two beers. "I'm looking forward to going all out today, though!" 

"You'd better bring it, kiddo. We have a 30-pound bird, and it looks like everyone has brought enough sides to feed an army. Good thing they're sticking around the rest of this weekend, or we'd be digging out of leftovers for months!"

The next few hours went by in a bit of a blur - Claire caught Jake's eye from across the room, but didn't manage to say hi. He was as wiry and handsome as ever. Claire found herself picking at this and that, but still had quite an appetite when the meal began. 

And what a meal it was! Her mom had not lied - the table was filled with the turkey, stuffing, rolls, gravy, and cranberry sauce. The counters had been put into use holding sides like corn pudding, creamed spinach, cinnamon rolls and so on. Her aunt on her dad's side, Jenny, had moved to the south and just married Joey, a large southern gentleman. Joey had bizarrely brought ribs...sort of a Thanksgiving faux pas, thought Claire. But on Claire's third trip to the sides counter, she thought she ought to try one...and immediately regretted that she was feeling nearly full. It was the most succulent, tangy, perfectly seasoned thing she'd ever had in her life. She had planned for this to be her final plate so as to save some room for dessert, but as soon as she had cleared it, she inhaled deeply, got up from the table, and loaded up her plate with three more ribs (and some creamed spinach; gotta balance all that meat off with some veggies). When she was done, she was more full than she'd ever been in her life. She was glad Jake was sitting over at the satellite table in the other room, so he wouldn't see her face smeared with barbeque sauce, or how gingerly she had to walk over to the dessert buffet. 

Claire didn't know how she was going to deal with dessert - she'd spied about 5 different pies and cakes she desperately wanted to try when getting a sneak peak at the fridge early this morning. She figured she could get away with cutting minuscule slivers of each, but when she arrived at the buffet, her relatives had formed a murderer's row, looking expectantly at the folks approaching, ready to cut simply massive hunks of the item they'd brought. Claire couldn't say no and she walked away from the dessert table with two plates, loaded down with six full-sized servings of dessert. The three glasses of wine she'd been poured at dinner left her head spinning a bit, but also helped her to really relax and loosen up her stomach muscles. With the pressure of not disappointing any of her relatives greater than the pressure on her stomach, which she had now sort of tucked over her yoga shorts, she worked her way through the piles of pie and cake - lemon meringue, apple, pumpkin, pecan, German chocolate, and a bread pudding that her uncle Joey had brought that hadn't looked like much this morning, but turned out to be the best of the bunch.

Claire felt high. She slumped back in her chair. It's amazing how we feel versus how we look. She felt like she was going to burst, like she was 8 months pregnant. The rest of her family saw a drowsy-looking waifish girl with a delicate chin. Phyllis looked enviously at her. True, had Claire been wearing a more revealing top, they'd have seen a pretty serious food baby, but surely one that would pass and leave Claire's delicate hips and thighs untouched by the time tomorrow rolled around. 

A couple hours later, when Claire became ambulatory again, she wandered into the living room where the men (and most of the women) were watching the final Thanksgiving Day game - the Lions were down by 14 against the Bears with three minutes left in the game, on their own 10 yard line. Her uncle James, of course, was a bit of a degenerate gambler, and had bet on the Bears -6.5. He offered Claire a beer - even though her stomach had settled a bit since the feast, the thought of 12 ounces of bubbly carbs in her stomach didn't sound great. She declined. "Oh come on, have a little fun," James implored. 

"Can't we change this to a Christmas movie? As soon as the Thanksgiving meal is done with, it's time to turn the corner! Plus the Lions aren't going to come back!"

"Sure, they won't win, but they could still get a touchdown and two-point conversion, and then I'm fucked!"

Claire didn't know football that well but knew the tone of her uncle's voice - he was grasping at straws. "Tell you what - if you lose your bet, I'll drink TWO beers. But if you don't, I get to pick the next thing we all watch." The room agreed and they settled in for the last three minutes. 

Improbably, Matt Stafford started throwing laser beams over the middle, and the Bears defense didn't seem that interested in stopping him. A sack left the Lions in 4th and 13 with 0:40 left, but Stafford scrambled for 16 yards and went out of bounds inside the 20 of the Bears. The next pass was a quick out to the sidelines that the Bears defender tried to jump for an interception, which left the wide receiver with a waltz into the end zone. One of the announcers, Chris Collinsworth, chimed in "now it's unlikely, and most teams wouldn't do this, but the stats say you should go for 2 here." His partner, Al Michaels, a bit of a degenerate gambler himself, cheekily said "well this probably won't matter a lot to the Lions or Bears, but a lot is riding on this." Sure enough, the Lions went for 2 - and converted! Claire heard the sound of two beers being cracked, and her uncle moaning at his misfortune. The Bears recovered the onside kick, and kneeled out the clock. Claire gingerly sipped her first beer. James put on It's A Wonderful Life before leaving the room, muttering to himself. 

A woman of her word, Claire found herself sloshing herself to bed after the two beers and random munchies that made their way into her mouth during the movie. It had been a glorious day of eating. Back in her room, she took off her blouse, and laughed at her absurd silhouette - a mound sticking out of the middle of an otherwise willowy body. Good thing this was just once a year. Although there were going to be plenty of leftovers hanging around all weekend, tempting her. She'd have to go for a run tomorrow, she thought to herself as she dozed off. 

**You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant...**

"Rise and shine, campers! Love playing that classic from Arlo Guth-"

::SMACK::

"Goddammit!" Claire looked around the room, a bit disoriented. She'd forgotten to turn off her alarm clock again. The DJs must have had Friday off, and were playing the tape from yesterday. Kind of a bad decision, since Alice's Restaurant was good for maybe once a year, tops, and from there got a little tiresome. Claire looked down at her slightly bloated stomach and thought about going for a run. But first...she felt a weird hollowness...as if she hadn't eaten for an entire day. This was how she'd felt yesterday morning, but she had *certainly* eaten yesterday. Before her run, she'd just grab a snack from the kitchen to give herself a little energy. She pulled on her yoga pants and loose flowy top, which she somehow must have ** folded before going to bed last night? She didn't remember doing that but they were right on the top of her suitcase. 

Stealing into the kitchen, she was surprised by her uncle James sitting there. "Oh look who decided to get up early! You know, Santa doesn't come for another month, right?" 

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Claire glared at her uncle, who was again pouring a bit of eggnog into his morning coffee. He loved his callback jokes. "Eh, I just thought I'd grab some breakfast. I did a pretty solid job yesterday but for some reason I'm starving this morning!"

"Well it's not like you can't afford it! Tell me, do you do ANYTHING other than run and study up at that college of yours? You're skin and bones! Here, have some eggnog to wash it down."

Claire did a start as the words sounded eerily familiar, and she opened the fridge to see untouched plates of food. Her relatives must have all brought doubles of their dishes. She gathered this and that from the dishes in the fridge, and walked away with a loaded plate. She belatedly grabbed the glass of eggnog as well, remembering that it had been damn delicious yesterday. She'd let herself eat today, but it was back to healthy living tomorrow. She patted her full tummy after finishing off the plate, and dozed back to a nap. 

Feeling a little guilty for her continuation of yesterday's indulgence, she went for a brief jog in her neighborhood. A Lamborghini driving at twice the speed limit almost ran her over, but it screeched to a halt just short of her. A little shaken, she ran back to the house, showered, and put her loose blouse and yoga pants back on. 

As she wandered into the kitchen and living room, the din of relatives rang out just as the day before. James bellowed from the other room "see, traditionally, if the turkey sees his shadow, it's 6 more weeks of thanking!" Claire raised her eyebrow a bit, and walked to her mother, who was...preparing another turkey? 

"Another turkey??" Claire laughed as she massaged her mom's shoulders from behind. 

"Oh hold on a second hun, I've got raw turkey hands! Gimme a second and once I get this bird in the oven, I want to hear all about your semester." 

"Well I mean nothing much has happened since yesterday but I did raid the fridge this morning." 

"No, silly, tell me how your classes are going! Did you meet any boys?" 

Claire laughed nervously and sort of wandered away without knowing how to respond. She looked up to see her aunt Phyllis moving backwards towards a TV tray with a glass of wine on it. Not wanting a repeat of yesterday, she weaved her way across the kitchen and grabbed the wine just as Phyllis' rear was making contact. "Great save, Spiderwoman!" James bellowed from his station in the couch. Phyllis looked up with relief. 

"Oh wow, glad you have those reflexes!" Phyllis gasped. "This is my favorite top, too!" 

"Oh, and you wouldn't want to stain another o-" Claire looked up to see her wearing the identical top from the day before. It was stain-free. She looked around, and realized that everyone was wearing their clothes from yesterday. What was going on?? 

Sure enough, everyone seemed to be gathering momentum for another feast. There were certainly enough leftovers from yesterday, but that didn't explain the brand new turkey her mother was roasting up. Claire had a few glasses of wine, hoping they would blot out this weirdness. She was glad of the re-do on the feast by the time the table was set; she'd been starving when she woke up this morning, and her pilfered plate of breakfast staved off the hunger a bit but by early afternoon she was famished again. 

Somehow her uncle Joey's ribs hadn't been demolished yesterday - the pile of them on the counter was enormous. Claire looked across the table to her mom and motioned to the ribs "aren't those AMAZING?"

"I don't know, you tell me kiddo. Go grab some and bring one back for me." 

"Oh you had some yesterday, too, don't lie." 

Joey interjected "Ha! You'd have quite a stomachache, they were raw yesterday!"

Claire looked at the table, perfectly set, her relatives all dressed identically to yesterday, save Phyllis, who was wearing her unstained blouse. Her head started spinning. She started to ask what she suspected, and realized that she was going to sound crazy for asking if she was looping the same day. She had to figure this out herself for now. Fortunately, what she wanted to do anyway was what she needed to do to blend in: eat a Thanksgiving-sized amount of food. She managed to ease back a bit this time, saving a bit more room for the dessert attack she knew was coming. Her mother noticed. "Oh what's wrong dear, you're skin and bones...don't be shy!" 

Claire didn't give in to the temptation (yesterday's gorging was a little too much to be enjoyable)...but her mother's words triggered something in her mind. If time was somehow looping for her, this was amazing luck. She could have looped on midterms day or something else unpleasant. Instead, she got to enjoy family, a day off, and an incredible feast! She was still probably going mad or something, but you know...could be worse. 

The disoriented and stuffed girl slumped back after swallowing the last bites of bread pudding, feeling pregnant. Phyllis looked enviously at Claire again, whose slender face belied the food baby pushing out her yoga pants underneath her unrevealing top. 

When Claire felt like she could walk, she heard the football game again from the other room. This convinced her of what was going on, finally - Uncle James wouldn't be cheering this loudly as a joke. As she walked in, James offered her a beer, and she decided to have her first fun with the situation. "Tell you what, uncle. If the Lions score on this drive and get a two-point conversion, we have to watch whatever I want. If they don't, I'll drink THREE of those." James didn't know his niece was so into football, but he was never one to pass up a good bet. Sure enough the Lions faced a 4th and 13, as they had yesterday. Matt Stafford rolled out, and started scrambling...and slipped short of the line to gain! Claire's confusion compounded, but she dutifully cracked the first of three beers as James was a good winner and put on A Wonderful Life for Claire. Maybe Claire had forgotten exactly what happened yesterday. Oh well, she'd probably get another chance "tomorrow." 

Back in her room, Claire again gazed at her absurd silhouette, possibly even more bloated around the middle than the first go-round, from the third beer. She closed her eyes gradually...

**You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant...**

"Rise and shine, campers! --"

::SMACK::

Claire looked over at her radio alarm clock, showing 6:00am...and after remembering her situation, she smiled. Who knows how long this was going to go on, and she'd try and find a way out of it...but in the meantime she was going to enjoy it. She pulled on her flowy top and yoga pants, and made her way to the kitchen. She was famished. 

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Claire made her way to the kitchen, grabbed her plate of food, heard her uncle's jokes and remarks about how skinny she was, and accepted her glass of eggnog. She decided today to figure out who almost hit her while jogging, so she went on another run, watching for luxury cars this time. She started a couple minutes early, and hid by the intersection where it had happened yesterday. Sure enough, a Lamborghini came barreling down the residential street at at least 45mph. She saw an enormous African-American man driving it, decked out in Detroit Lions swag. She got the license plate number, too...for future fun. 

Back inside, she took her traditional nap, and joined the festivities. She saved the wine from spilling again, and avoided giving any hints that she was looping this day repeatedly. Claire decided to really push things today, and so she got the same three helpings of food as her first day, an additional pile of ribs, and then the ungodly amount of dessert. She leaned back, hardly able to breathe. Phyllis again looked on with envy. 

Finally remembering how the game ended up, Claire made the bet "OK Uncle, there's no way the Lions score here - I'll drink three of those beers if they scored and get the two-point conversion." James guffawed "yeah no shit, it's pretty unlikely...it'd be just my luck, but you gotta give me better odds than that. FOUR beers, but if they don't, you get to watch whatever you want." Claire confidently took the bet, and when it got to 4th and 13, she knew Stafford would come up just short...but he didn't! What was going on? As Claire sipped the first of her four beers while watching A Wonderful Life, she pondered the mystery. 

That night, taking her top off, Claire woozily giggled at her absurd form, which was even more bloated in the middle, from the extra indulgence and four beers. 

The next seven loops went by similarly - most days, Claire absolutely stuffed herself to the gills with food and beer, which she was really developing a taste for. As she realized there were no consequences and she could eat even more without literally bursting, she increased her capacity to five plates plus ribs and dessert. Her goal was to make herself laugh in the mirror each night, looking absolutely pregnant with food, and she succeeded. 

One day, she tried an experiment - she told her family she was feeling sick and didn't eat much at all. That was incredibly difficult, but she was curious why she was waking up famished every morning. By the time she went to sleep, she felt like her stomach was digesting itself. She woke up the next day very hungry, but identically hungry to the other days. She also tried staying up all night, eating as much as she could all night, but when the clock struck six, she found herself lying down in her bed, feeling as if she hadn't eaten for nearly a full day. Apparently her hunger was re-setting from the last non-loop day. 

On day 11, she pulled on her loose/stretchy clothes, and made her way to the kitchen. "Oh look who decided to wake up early!" her uncle James whispered from the dimly lit kitchen. "You know Santa doesn't come for another month, right?" 

"Guess I'm just looking to make a down-payment on the pig-out session later today," she said as she leaned into the fridge to load up her plate. Turning around, she anticipated the tall glass of eggnog. 

"Oh, I can't wait either," said James. Huh. That was weird.  

"You sharing that eggnog?" 

"Oh sure thing," pouring her a tall glass, as was the tradition. "Just be careful with that stuff, it's a bit of a calorie bomb." 

Claire was a little weirded out - she'd found that later in the day, things tended to change a bit (still hadn't figured out the football game yet), but this had been a rock-solid routine for the first 10 loops. 

She got back to her room and after eating her breakfast and washing it down with eggnog, she looked at herself in the mirror, as she hadn't other than to evaluate how well she'd done at gorging herself, in the evening. Her face seemed a tiny bit puffier than she remembered...but who could remember? She looked up the selfie she had taken while saying goodbye to her college friends "yesterday" - sure enough she definitely had sharper features in the photo. Nervously she pulled out the scale from under her bed. She hadn't weighed herself in months, but Claire was pretty sure she was right around 115 when she'd started all of this. She stepped on and looked down (suddenly she noticed her stomach was sticking out a bit as well - from breakfast?) - it read 124. 

 

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Loop 11

Claire decided to test whether her indulgence was indeed carrying over from past loops. It's possible the scale was miscalibrated or that she had put on a little weight earlier in the semester. She first tried on a pair of non-yoga pants, and found them to be fairly tight, and give her a slight muffin top. Was it a muffin top or just a little extra skin? She thought it was arguable. She'd already seen her uncle this morning, so pretending she was sick was off the table, so she decided she would indulge as much as possible for the next two loops, to get a statistically significant change, and then force herself to starve two loops in a row, to see if that pulled weight off. 

She was also curious to see if James' change in behavior was a fluke, or if other people were noticing. As usual, she greeted her mom in the kitchen at the turkey station. "Hi mom!" 

"Oh, Claire! Turkey hands! But let me get this bird in the oven and we'll talk about your semester!"

Over a bowl of chips, Claire mentioned that she'd been running every morning, which normally prompted the offer of a meal plan increase and an observation that she was skin and bones. "Oh that's so good to hear! It's important to stay healthy! Except today of course. You'd better bring it kiddo."

Huh. Shit. One more for the pile of evidence that this was real. 

Claire was still coming to grips with the long-term implications of what this meant, but for now on a mission to determine scientifically and for certain what the rules of this time loop were. And that mission meant eating with gusto for the next two loops. She got to five plates again, plus dessert. Phyllis and a few members of the family noticed the indulgence and looked on, amazed. Phyllis thought back to when she was Claire's size, and a hint of worry crept into her mind for Claire's future. 

Claire had stopped messing with betting her uncle for the last few loops, but she'd grown to enjoy the beers. She made her way over to the living room a little early (she was getting better at recovering from the food coma post-feast), and watched the game with James and a lot of the guys. She managed over the course of the evening to put down five beers, more gradually this time, but still an immense amount of liquid. When she stood up, she noticed that her bloated stomach was nearly showing from underneath her loose and flowy blouse. Possibly just a result of pushing her limits? 

Loop 12 was an approximate repeat of Loop 11, as planned, although the twinge of shame Claire felt the prior loop, when she suspected her family members were gradually changing their treatment of her, was reduced...none of them remembered this in Loop 12, and so she was getting a fresh start. 

When Claire woke up on the morning of Loop 13, she got her traditional breakfast (since she had weighed herself after breakfast in Loop 11), and nervously pulled her scale out...this was the moment of truth. She looked down to see 127. 

This definitively proved to her that the indulgence from previous days was sticking to her. The consequences of this started to hit her - who knew how long she'd be in this loop, or if she'd ever get out, but she was gaining almost a pound a day doing the default amount of indulgence. Perhaps she could ease back a little rather than go absolutely all-out, but the fact was that she was waking up every morning absolutely starving, and surrounded by massive amounts of incredible food, being encouraged to indulge by all of those around her. This was going to take some incredible will power. 

Claire went for a run for the first time in about 10 loops, and sure enough found herself getting much more winded than she had previously. This time she tried to get a better look at the large African-American man in the Lambo, and realized that she recognized him from a close-up during the third quarter yesterday - he was a lineman for the Lions! She realized that she must have subtly disrupted his day on Loop 2, when he almost hit her, and this was enough to mess with Stafford's scramble on 4th and 13. 

Going back to the house, she decided to just tell people she was sick, and thus not eating. She winced when no one insisted she was skin and bones or worried that she had an eating disorder...but that was to be expected at this point. It was just as hard as she remembered from the earlier loop where she was testing out how hunger worked. The good news was that she was marginally less hungry when she woke up the next loop, and merely had to repeat the sheer will power of the prior day. 

On the morning of Loop 15, she tried her non-yoga pants on to see if there was any progress...they were still incredibly tight, and gave her what was now undeniably a muffin top. She tested out the breakfast routine with James...no spontaneous offer of eggnog yet. Her post-breakfast weighing showed her to be 126 pounds. Claire sighed. She was hoping to have lost at least the three pounds since her two all-out loops. She figured out that she could probably have a normal Thanksgiving meal one time for every two loops that she starved herself. As she thought about how hungry she felt each morning when she woke up, and the will power it took to get through just these last two days, Claire was filled with dread for the first time. 

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Loop 15, continued

Claire went through Loop 15 with a sense of relief; while her hunger stayed about the same every loop, her willpower was wearing thin. She had intended to take it easy, but once she started eating, and people started noticing her taking it easy, their encouragement combined with her hunger led to her getting pretty well-stuffed. She downed three large plates of traditional Thanksgiving food, a few ribs, and then the assault-by-dessert. Phyllis, between her own large plates of food, seeing her take her third glass of wine gushed "oh Claire, it's so good to see you finally loosening up a bit!" That stung Claire a bit, but she was getting used to this idea - no one would remember a thing tomorrow. 

After dinner, Claire embarked on another mission that she'd been meaning to - she wasn't sure why it had taken her this long or why she was so nervous, but she finally went over and talked to Jake. "Hi, Jake, how's your semester been?"

Jake looked down at Claire and blushed a bit. Claire had always been kind of willowy for his tastes but it seemed like she'd been indulging a bit this semester, or at least had had a healthy Thanksgiving feast. No, it was more than that...her face was a little fuller, which doesn't happen from just one day of indulgence. "Oh, great! I'm taking this fascinating topology class. It's really interesting; along with my cosmology stuff, I've been learning so much about like...the fabric of space-time. Did you know that the universe is possibly infinite, but more like a 4-D loop than a vast endless field? Like, there's no end of time; it's just a repeat of another time and place from the past? Of course on our scale, we could never tell."

"Oh um, totally. That makes sense."

"Wait, really?" 

Claire had forgotten herself; "oh I mean like it makes sense that you'd be into that stuff. You've always been such a dork!" 

"Ha, says the accounting and biology double-major! You know, a lot of cosmology is like accounting - there are rules and everything has to balance." 

Claire had thought of this, of course...but it sparked some new thoughts that she might try out later. "So I was wondering if there's something you could help me with...come over to my room during A Wonderful Life tonight?" 

"Uhh...sure. Aren't people watching the game, though?" 

"No, silly, I mean later when we're all watching A Wonderful Life. I mean, probably that'll be on, cuz that's what people watch once Thanksgiving is over, right? I'm not sure that's what we'll watch because I don't know the future or anything." The wine prevented her from determining whether the coverup job had been sufficient. 

"...uh, ok, see you in a bit then." Jake wandered away, a little confused. 

Claire once again retired to the living room and started downing beers to get herself nice and ready to make her move on Jake. She had the game results down now - she hadn't interrupted the Lions player earlier today during her run, so she knew Stafford would complete his scramble. She bet Uncle James 6 beers if she lost, and $100 plus choice of movie if she was right. He took the bet, and finally she won, which was lucky because she was dangerously full, finishing her fourth beer as the Bears kneeled out the clock. She took the crisp $100 bill from her uncle, and requested Miracle on 34th Street. A few minutes into the movie, she looked across the room to Jake and motioned towards the hallway to her room. 

Entering, she looked at herself in the mirror to make sure she was presentable. Oof. Her loose flowy blouse was much less loose and flowy than it had been. This was her largest, most forgiving top...she'd have to do something about this. Not bad, though...her boobs were looking fuller than they ever had, and if this didn't work maybe she could starve a few days in a row and make another run at Jake. Her head spun a little, with the roughly 8-9 drinks she'd consumed over the course of the afternoon and early evening. 

Jake knocked gently, and came in. "So what did you need help with?"

Claire lost her nerve and possibly her better judgment. "Um so...have you ever heard of a time loop in real life? Like in Groundhog Day?" 

"I mean I've seen Groundhog Day." 

"No, I mean could that really happen?" 

"No, definitely not. Well...I mean maybe in theory...I don't like to say never to these things, but also in theory a tiger-antitiger pair could materialize in front of us. It's just never going to happen."

"What if I told you it is happening?"

"Oh I see. You're fucking with me. Very funny."

"No! I swear I'm not. How can I prove it?" 

"What am I going to say next?"

"OK, well first, that's not how it works because tiny disturbances earlier in the day have changed things...but also this is the first loop I've had this conversation with you. I'll be better next time." 

"Holy shit. You're serious. I mean I don't believe you but you think this is really happening." 

"OK, so for future loops, tell me something that no one else knows, and then I'll be able to prove it to you next time."

"Um...wow. So humoring you, how many loops have you been through?"

"I think this is 15. Man, how else can I prove this to you this time? I don't want to waste this loop. Wait, ok I got it. Look at this picture of me and my friend. How long ago do you think this was taken?" She held up her phone, showing him the photo of her in extremely tight jeans and a form-fitting top.

"Well the leaves are off the trees...so probably a year ago or so?" 

"Yesterday."

Jake involuntarily looked Claire up and down. "Uhh...wh..."

"You don't have to be polite, I've put on some weight. Sort of an unbelievable amount of weight, for one day, right?"

Jake felt a stirring. "Umm...wow. How much?"

"A little more than 10 pounds, as of this morning."

"OK but wait, doesn't everything reset every day?" 

"Well in this type of loop, apparently I don't reset...it's as if I ate the food from my last loop...except for some reason I'm starving every morning. I hadn't eaten anything since 'yesterday' morning, so I'd be nice and hungry for today. I didn't know today was going to last forever." 

"What else have you done so far? Oh and I think I have an idea for what I can tell you that no one else knows." 

"Honestly, it was only a couple of days ago that I discovered that the food was sticking to me for sure. I was kind of just enjoying Thanksgiving over and over again. I'm getting a little nervous now, though...like I'm going to be enormous if I don't find a way to stop this." 

"OK so...I can't believe I'm saying this. Here's my secret that you can tell me next time to prove that you're looping: I've always been kind of into women gaining weight."

"Uhh...what??" Claire looked at Jake as if he had two heads. "Um, that's fucking weird."

"Oh I see, so you're time looping and I'm the weird one."

"You're not fucking with me?" 

"No, I'm - wait holy shit YOU'D better not be fucking with ME. Oh shit I can't believe I just admitted that."

Claire, realizing the irony, felt bad, but remained absolutely shocked. She'd never heard of this as a thing, and Jake always seemed so normal, if kind of a dork. "Um, ok...I'm gonna get us some more beers." 

Claire grabbed two six-packs from the fridge with the rest of the family in the living room, and stole back to her room. They both cracked one open. Claire remembered that nothing mattered. "So I'm gaining roughly a pound a day. In a few more loops, I won't even be able to get this top on I bet." 

Jake got a look in his eyes that was unmistakable. Holy shit, he wasn't fucking with me, Claire thought. Or at least...he wasn't fucking with her metaphorically. Because they immediately started literally fucking. An hour or so later, exhausted, Claire decided to continue her inquiry. They talked long into the night, speculating about time loops and how this could be happening to her. Jake was worried about the implications for the universe, if matter as well as Claire's consciousness was being preserved over the time loop. 

"Wait, so time is looping and you're worried about conservation of matter or something?" Claire asked incredulously. She was so fascinated, she didn't notice the radio alarm clock had just flipped over to 5:59am. She took a big swig of beer as Jake delved into another mini-lecture. 

"So even if we're in a new--" 

::splutter::

Claire spit up a bunch of beer from her position on her back, coughing as Arlo Guthrie's familiar song came over the alarm clock radio at 6am. Jake was gone. The beer in her mouth was an interesting new twist - this was end-of-loop beer that had made the trip with her. This would be a new good piece of information to bring up with Jake tonight. Claire considered whether today was going to be a feast or famine loop. Her gnawing hunger perpetually pushed her in one direction, but she knew she had to keep things relatively under control by resisting it. But she remembered the other new information she had learned last night, about Jake's preferences. Fuck it, today was definitely an eating day. 

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Loop 16

Claire decided after breakfast to go for a run...maybe if she ran enough in the mornings, she could stay ahead of the Thanksgiving onslaught. She ran five miles, puffing the whole way. She'd never consciously had to count calories or exercise to stay slim, so she didn't realize that even this large amount of running was only burning about 600 calories. Claire tugged at her lycra shirt - sure enough that was getting tight as well, showing off her slight love handles. 

Getting back, she decided to do something about her now too-tight-to-comfortably-feast top. She snuck into her mom's room, and looked at the selection - the size 14s would be a tent on her, but the size 10s were appropriately loose without being absurd. Claire's loose and flowy blouse had been a size 6, and this was much looser. 

She said hi to her mother again, and explained that she'd forgotten to bring anything nice enough for the meal home. "Oh honey, my clothes will just be swimming on you! At least plenty of room to put all this food today!" 

Claire was hungrier than ever, after her run. The mid-day and afternoon went by in a blur, with numerous heavy pours of wine, four plates of food, and the traditional six helpings of dessert. This time, she sat at the alternate table, so she could get a head start on chatting with Jake. Among the other folks at the alternate table was her cousin Ashley, about a year younger than her and Jake. Ashley was in great shape, but naturally a little curvier than Claire, perhaps 115 pounds but only at 5 foot 3 inches. "Oh my god, I can't help myself around this food. I'm going to put on so much weight during the holidays this year! Claire I can't believe you eat so much and stay looking like that!" Ashley had always had to work to stay in good shape. Jake (again, no blood relation) sort of shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Ashley talked. Claire knew the look on his face from last night.  

Claire pulled Jake and a couple of six-packs of beer into her room after dinner. "Jake: I'm time-looping."

"Whaa?" 

"OK, so I know you won't believe me because you didn't at first last time. But I'm living the same day over and over again. Here's a picture of me from yesterday, right?" Claire took her top off, to reveal her comically bloated form, to go along with the start of some soft love handles going over the sides of her yoga pants. Jake saw her face was clearly puffier than it was in the picture. 

"Um...wow." Jake tried to pull himself together between shirtless Claire in front of him and her insane claim. "But how do I know that's a picture from yesterday?"

"Oh you don't. But last loop, you told me how much this turns you on."

Jake stammered. "Wh- no it doesn't. I mean..."

"You can't deny it because you already told me right here, maybe about 2 hours later into the last loop. Look, you're studying stuff like this in school...maybe you can teach me, and you can help me figure out what's going on."

Claire put her top back on, and she and Jake started speculating about how it worked. She told him what she'd figured out - that eating in past loops was causing her to gain weight (he was very impressed with her control study), but that her hunger was carrying over from the prior day. She mentioned the beer from the night before. 

"So it seems like if it's inside your body, it comes along for the next loop? The beer can you were holding was gone, right?"

"Yeah. And the clothes I'm wearing revert back to what I went to bed in on Wednesday. Speaking of, I kind of like this top but it was a pain to sneak into my mom's room and get it. I'd rather have it in my room in the morning so I can go out in it."

"Hmm...so I have an idea about that. Can you scrunch it up, and get it into your mouth, and then you'll have it tomorrow, like the beer?" 

"Huh, maybe!" They continued to talk about the looping, and then of course gave in to their desires after about four beers apiece. Claire learned a lot about topology and math, and considered writing her notes down on a paper and eating it...but that would be too gross. Probably wouldn't survive the trip through her digestive system. 

The clock wound past 5:58am..."so Jake, this is where we say goodbye. It's so weird to me that you won't remember any of this tomorrow. Or maybe you will but I'll be gone? Are there now 16 timelines where I've disappeared from existence, but everyone else continues on?"

"Huh, yeah I guess *I'll* find out. Oh, the top, don't forget!" 

Claire hurriedly started pushing it into her mouth, but there was too much material. She only got about half of it in when she found herself on her back, listening to Arlo Guthrie. 

Gagging, she pulled the cloth out of her mouth. The top was whole! This was interesting. She really needed to get some larger exercise gear, though. She threw it on and thought about breakfast. Was this a starving day? She'd really gone hog wild the last couple of days, and the underwear she was waking up in was getting pretty tight. But she was SO hungry, as usual. The morning runs would probably be good enough to keep things under control. 

For the next 10 or so loops she continued to carry over her mom's blouse (she checked the closet one day - there was an identical copy in there!), and go for a long run in the morning, only to be absurdly hungry for the Thanksgiving feast. She continued her late-night fuck-and-think sessions with Jake, and found herself holding her own more and more during the conversations, getting a little bit further into understanding what was going on each time, despite Jake starting from scratch. She established that indeed, a continuous object just had to be partially in her mouth in order to take it along for the next loop. One day she convinced her mom to loan her her engagement ring, and duplicated that for the next loop, before realizing that it wouldn't really do her any good. She'd pilfered some athletic clothing from her mom that she took along with her for the morning runs. 

Claire was in a pretty good rhythm, and between the progress being made in figuring out the rules of the loop, and her confidence that she'd eventually figure her way out of it, she stopped thinking quite so long term. The runs were probably keeping her weight under control. It was a bit of a shock to her when, after greeting her mom some time in loop 28, telling her about why she was wearing her top, her mom failed to remark that the top would be swimming on her. Instead she said "oh you know tomorrow we'll have to take you shopping for some new clothes. I know how college can be! But for today I don't want you to worry about that." Claire had a feeling she knew what she wasn't supposed to be worried about. 

She ran back to her room, slightly panicked. She looked at herself in the mirror - was that a hint of a double chin? Was that there a few days ago? Was that giving her away? The change would be so gradual to her, but no one else at that party had seen her for months, so to them she was showing up with her bloated face. The top covered everything else, but lifting it up she saw some pretty serious love handles pushing over her straining yoga pants. Nervously she stepped onto the scale - she couldn't have put on 5 pounds since the last weigh in, could she? She looked down to see 137 flashing up at her - a gain of 11 pounds in just two weeks worth of loops. 

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Loop 29

Claire went to the kitchen in her mom's blouse, grabbed a smaller breakfast, and skipped the eggnog, leaving her pretty hungry. But she was determined to keep this under control. Her mom again failed to claim that Claire would be swimming in the size-10 blouse, giving Claire little nudges of shame. She was telling everyone that she wasn't feeling well, and despite the gnawing hunger, skipped snacks and even passed up on any of the Thanksgiving feast. Sitting across from Jake, not eating, she watched Ashley going to town on plate after plate of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and then dessert. Jake was watching intently, too. 

"So, Jake, I'm wondering if there's something you can help me with? Can you come by my room while we're all watching A Wonderful Life tonight?" 

"Yeah, sure, uh huh." Jake was still a little mesmerized by Ashley. 

Claire retired to her room, partly to avoid the temptation of food, partly to work on a particularly tricky math problem that Jake had given her as "homework" in a past loop, almost unable to concentrate over her hunger. The hours ticked by, and Claire looked up at her clock to see it was 2am. Jake had never come by. She stole around the house, poking her head into guest rooms, until she found the one Jake...and Ashley were in. 

Claire wrote this loop off in terms of collaboration with Jake (or anything else with him), but at least she'd managed to not make a pig out of herself. 

Loop 30

After a sensible breakfast and long run, Claire realized she needed to get Jake's attention this loop. She ate with extra fierceness at the alternative table. "Oh my god, I can't control myself around this food! I'm going to put on so much weight during the holidays this year!" Ashley gushed between bites. "Claire, you and I are going to be rolling out of here." 

"Oh my god, I know!" said Claire, patting her stomach. "I'm definitely going to have to cut back after the semester I've had." 

Sure enough, Jake came over to Claire's room that evening. Well that was easy enough. After the weird conversation, they got busy in multiple ways. Claire brought up an idea that had been building: "Look, this is a big ask but...I'm tired of explaining this all to you every loop. We could work so much faster if we were looping *together*. And this is lonely!"

"Umm...wow, I'll have to think about that. Will it even work? How would we do it?"

"Well...I'd just have to put part of you inside me...right as the clock ticks to 6am. That's nothing we haven't done at this point." 

"Look, it's one thing to take a blouse with you, but have you tried anything living?"

"Ummm...no." Claire and Jake worked out that she'd have to try it on the dog before she tried it on him. 

"Look, Claire, no offense, but I don't know that I'm willing to take this plunge even if it works. It seems like we've made some progress, but I don't know if it'll even be possible to get out of this. You're practically asking me to marry you, but this is an even more intense commitment." 

Claire thought about it, and realized what she was asking of Jake. It was difficult, because she had gotten to know him so well over the past few "weeks" of loops, but the next day she would have to convince him all over again. And now she knew that in any loop where she wanted to make progress with Jake, she was probably going to have to make a pig of herself. 

Loop 35

Claire had done the necessary experiments to determine that at least a dog and a cat had the ability to come along with her in the loop. She was happy to observe that it seemed that living things didn't duplicate - it would have been tough to deal with or explain two Jakes to the rest of the family, and the purpose of this was partially to make her life in this loop a little MORE normal, not less. She'd been eating well - the loops were beginning to drive her batty, and now the hunger, the desire to be with Jake, and the desire to make progress towards getting out were all pushing her to make quite a pig of herself. Her morning runs got longer and longer in an effort to counteract this - she was rapidly regaining her former lung capacity, although the extra weight was also progressively making the running harder. Had she done the math, she'd realize that her runs were burning roughly 1000 calories at best, and mostly undone by the fact that she was even hungrier later in the day. 

Claire returned to the main table for this loop; drinking a lot of beers and snacking heavily in front of Jake, with maybe a subtle hint of showing off her food baby seemed to be enough to lure him to her room. Phyllis watched Claire demolish plate after plate with a concerned look on her face. "Honey, so tell me about school. I remember my days as a Delta; I was about your size when I started out, and that chef we had in our house probably did me in." 

"Oh, you know I've just been working so hard I don't have a ton of time to do much else, I guess." 

"Yeah I imagine it's hard to find the time to exercise." 

Claire was growing weary of the backhanded remarks but she didn't know what to do about them, and frankly they were justified. At least she wouldn't have any trouble drawing Jake out this loop.

Back in her room, she explained the usual to an incredulous Jake. She was going all-out in trying to convince him to join her in the loop: awesome Thanksgiving dinner, good company, the likelihood that they could figure out how to leave...the more she pulled, the more adamantly against it he became. This loop was her life, but it was scary and a new concept to Jake. By now she had started to fall in love with Jake, but he didn't know her all that well. She was asking him to jump off a cliff with her, without knowing where the bottom was. 

They finally went to sleep next to each other around 2am, and Claire awoke alone, with corners of various articles of clothing in her mouth and that goddamned Arlo Guthrie song on the radio. 

Loop 36

Claire weighed herself to check in on the damage - she was up to 144, continuing her gain of nearly a pound per loop. Her stomach definitely stuck out now, with soft pooches of fat pouring over her yoga pants. Her thighs had grown significantly, too - she'd been progressively running with more and more weight every morning. Claire's boobs had picked up their share of the weight - she was going to have to figure out her new cup size one of these loops, and find one of the women here of the same size so she could steal their underwear. She added "steal bra - try on" to her mental checklist of tasks. She skipped stopping Aunt Phyllis from knocking over wine today - she had called her fat yesterday! Like she had room to talk! 

Claire felt grim today. She had made a decision, and she didn't know if it was right, but the stress of the situation was getting to her. 

Instead of her mom's top, she wore her original outfit from the earlier loops. It was much tighter than it had been of course; it clung to her stomach and love handles. It was a little disconcerting, seeing everyone's eyes bulge as they saw Claire's nearly 30 pound gain in all of its glory. It was a lot for a semester, but not unheard of. At the alternate table, Claire went absolutely all out. "Oh my god I don't understand how this is so good. I can't even stop myself," she gargled, her mouth full of potatoes and gravy. Her top rode up as she ate, exposing the lower inch or two of her stomach. "Ashley, you're hardly eating. Come on, who do you think can eat more dinner rolls?" 

Ashley was certainly doing a number on the food herself but was in awe. "Umm...I think you can. I really have to keep myself under control these days - I wouldn't want to..."

"Get fat? Oh come on it's the best." Jake shifted nervously in his chair. He couldn't believe how hot this was. It was like Claire knew every button to push. When Claire was finally at her limit, she leaned back and relaxed her gut. It pushed forward out over her lap, hanging suspended by all the food inside. She looked right into Jake's eyes. "Wow, I'm going to need a nap after all that." She waddled gingerly towards her room. 

Jake couldn't help himself. He knocked on her door after a discrete amount of time. She knew who it would be. "Sorry, admission is 12 beers minimum." Jake went and grabbed two six-packs from the fridge and returned. "OK maybe I was a little premature - I'm gonna have to digest this all before I start pounding beers." 

"Claire, what is going on? Are you ok?" 

"Oh yeah I'm fine. Just hungry." 

"Forgive me but...you've put on some weight since I saw you last summer."

Now was usually the start of the talk. But not tonight. "Oh yeah I've just turned into a total pig. You like that though, don't you?" 

"Wha - no. I mean...well I don't have a problem. You're beautiful." 

"Oh I can tell the way you're looking at me. You want it don't you? Just be careful - there's a full load here," slapping her belly, as it made a noise not unlike a ripe watermelon. 

They carefully but passionately rolled around on the bed for the next two hours, and Claire was ready for some beer. "How about we play a drinking game? Kings?" 

"Sure thing!" Jake wasn't a huge drinker but he would go along. 

Claire pulled out a deck of cards that she had stacked earlier in the day. Jake found himself drinking at least double what Claire was. A few hours later, he finished his 8th beer. "Well that (hic) looks like that." He was soon sleeping soundly on Claire's bed. 

Claire looked down at him. This was the way. She set her phone's alarm for 5:58am and went to sleep next to him. 

::BEEP BEEP:: God, it was nice to not wake up to Arlo Guthrie for once. Jake still lay next to her, stirring a little with the alarm but then going back to sleep. Claire looked as the clock moved to 5:59am. She snuggled up next to Jake, took his hand, and started tenderly sucking on his forefinger.

 

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Loop 37

Claire looked over as the day reset - and Jake was gone. "Huh??" She'd put the dog's and cat's ears in her mouth, and they appeared beside her in her bed the next loop start. She'd have to figure this out. Of course she couldn't ask Jake for help on this issue; he could never know about this. Or I guess he could, what was he going to do, hold a grudge? "Hey Jake, I need some help kidnapping future you into my hell loop." 

Claire put on her size-6 top (she hadn't taken her mom's top along this loop; she had other things she needed to pull along), wandered into the kitchen for her breakfast - and saw Jake there, looking bewildered. Uncle James said "hey you two, do you think you're gonna find some Christmas presents or something?" Jake laughed politely, and pulled Claire aside into the hallway. 

"Um what just happened?" 

"What do you mean?"

"Um," Jake pulled Claire into her room so they could talk privately "I was just in your bed, and then I'm suddenly waking up in my bed - in different clothes than I was wearing last night."

Huh, maybe it did work. "Oh, huh - YEAH I mean, that's super-weird! I was WONDERING where you went!" Claire was wondering that, but in a different context. "Maybe you sleep-walked? And um...sleep-changed?" 

"I...I guess I must have." 

Yawning exaggeratedly, "Oh boy...well my plan was to sleep in today, so...off you go!"

Jake returned to his room, still a little confused. Claire sighed with relief. OK, so Loop 36 Jake is here now in Loop 37, she thought...humans must work under different rules. He doesn't know he's looping and he doesn't know that I know that I'm looping. Claire decided to avoid Jake as much as possible today, early on, to avoid any slip-ups. The main question in her mind was whether Jake was permanently looping with her, or if she was going to have to seduce him again. The clothes she pulled into one loop hadn't been reappearing unless she continued pulling them along (when she needed to wash her mom's top after 3-4 loops, she just pulled a different top along with her for the next loop). Claire decided to try letting Jake alone today, to see if he'd come along in the loop naturally. This was going to require a bit of an acting job at first. 

Re-emerging from her room at 10am or so, she saw Jake was already a little frantic. He made his way over to her "OK something weird is going on, right Claire? Everyone is wearing the same clothes as yesterday - and so are you?" 

She looked around and feigned surprise "Well, to be honest, this semester I've outgrown everything I own except this top, and I figured today would be a little more casual. This is weird though. Looks like there are some pretty awesome appetizers again today though! I'm STARVING." This was not a lie; she hadn't gotten breakfast with this morning's encounter. 

Jake was more on guard for the supernatural after waking up in a completely different place than he'd gone to bed in this morning. "Look, Claire, you mom is making another turkey. Are - are we time-looping? You remember we had Thanksgiving yesterday, right?" 

"Um...no. Well I mean yes, yesterday was Thanksgiving, but time-looping? No, there's probably a reasonable explanation for this."

"But what? Look, I checked it out - remember when Aunt Phyllis spilled wine yesterday? There's no stain on the carpet or on her clothes!" 

"OK...I don't know if we're looping, but that's definitely weird. I think we need to keep it cool and observe. No one else seems to notice so maybe it's just us. They're going to think we're crazy if we bring it up. Just pretend this is the first time we're doing Thanksgiving dinner." Claire convincingly tucked into plate after plate of food, her now very tight size-6 top riding up a smidge further than yesterday. 

Jake was kind of confused by Claire's nonchalance but agreed with her analysis. He made meaningful eye contact with her every time something repeated. When Uncle James put on the Bears-Lions game in the living room, he pulled her aside. "See we're DEFINITELY re-living yesterday!"

Claire finally pretended to be convinced. "So what should we do? Maybe things will just go normal tomorrow?" Jake agreed that they should wait and see. 

They reconvened in Claire's room that evening, over beers. Claire was frustrated with how she was going to have to bring Jake slowly along, pretending to rediscover all the rules of the loop...but once that happened, Jake would be an asset and a companion. She was also wracked with guilt over lying to him, though. She decided to release him from the loop, if possible, by not sucking on his finger as 6am struck. 

Loop 38

Claire awoke and weighed herself - she'd really gone for it the last two loops, out of necessity. Shit. The scale read 148. She'd have to cut back some for a few loops even if it meant no evening meetings with Jake for a while. She was about to go to the kitchen when she heard a quiet but frantic knock on her door. It was Jake. "Claire, you remember yesterday was Thanksgiving right? And the day before?"

She pulled herself together, not expecting to have to continue acting. "Yeah...better go check whether it's Thanksgiving again."

Of course, it was. Jake pulled Claire aside again. "You know, I've been thinking and this might not be the worst thing in the world for us. Let's have some fun with it. I mean I'm not that big of an eater, but you clearly - " 

"I clearly what, Jake?"

"I mean...the way you were going after that food. You're not fat. I just mean...based on how you were eating the last two days, you enjoy it. And the best part is, you won't gain any weight!"

Claire started to correct him, but caught herself "Oh umm...yeah! Wow! Are you sure it works that way?" 

"So this is kind of a coincidence, but I've been studying stuff like this in school. Basic mass accounting suggests that we can't take anything with us from prior loops, including food we ate."

Claire's stomach rumbled - she didn't need much convincing to make something a "feast" loop. Now she had the added need to not give herself away. "Oh wow, that's so cool! Thanksgiving number 3, here we come!" 

The next 10 loops, Claire made a moderate pig of herself - she went on runs under the guise of doing reconnaissance. She was trying to cut back, but not so much that Jake got suspicious. She basically allowed her intense hunger to guide her into a convincing performance, while she tried to figure out how to convince Jake that he was wrong. He'd notice eventually. They gradually "discovered" rules of the loop, and even made some new progress.

She was leaning back in her chair after her last bites of Loop 49's Thanksgiving, back in her mom's flowy size-10 top for these last few loops, although it was becoming less flowy by the loop. Jake had just come back from the bathroom, looking relatively pale. He motioned for Claire to come with him; they met in her room. 

"Claire...there was corn." 

"Huh?"

"Umm...in my poop. I don't know if it was there before, but I saw it this time...and I haven't eaten any corn...except for at this very meal."

"Wait, so you're absolutely sure it's a rock-solid law of physics that matter can't make it through these loops, and you're convinced by some corn?" 

"There's just no other explanation...so can I ask you to weigh yourself? I haven't noticed any impact on my waistline but I haven't been eating all that much." Claire stepped onto the scale; it read 155; she tried to avoid gasping, although she knew it had to be something like that after ten straight loops of feasting. "OK so that's the baseline - let's weigh you in a few days. Just eat normally and we'll see if anything changes." Jake looked at Claire...he was trying to remember if she looked this soft when they'd first started looping but he couldn't quite remember. 

Claire was relieved - she needed to get her weight under control, and she'd be able to stop the charade in a few days. In recent loops, her mom had gone from gentle mentions of the need to stay in shape, to her eyes starting to bulge when she saw Claire for the first time since the start of the semester. This most recent loop she didn't even pretend. "Oh Claire, honey, what happened? You've put on a LOT of weight!" 

"Oh mom, I just...I twisted my ankle at the beginning of the semester, and I've just been partying too much I guess!" That explained it, right? 

"I mean, maybe we should get your thyroid checked? This looks like more than just party weight! You're still my beautiful girl and I love you but I'm worried!"

"I know, mom, but it's fine. I just have to get back on a healthier diet and exercise routine."

"OK let's talk about that...tomorrow! Today is about the food! I don't want you worried about it, just for this one day of the year!" 

Claire nodded, and dutifully (ok it was more than duty) dug in to her Thanksgiving feast for the next few loops - to appease/reassure her mom, and *for science*. They weighed her after the meal in Loop 52, and sure enough she was up a few more pounds to 158. Jake was convinced. "Damn...I'm sorry Claire. Guess you'll have to just cut back a little."

Claire didn't need to feign distress "Dammit, though, that's the problem: every day I wake up STARVING. This is going to be so miserable - I'm surrounded by amazing food, I'm starving, and now I have to resist that shit? Forever!? Let's take tonight off; I want to be alone."

Claire looked herself in the mirror - she'd moved up to her mom's size-12 top, which concealed most of the increase in her body, but her face was definitely showing the gain. Even the slightest look downward pushed a double chin into view. Taking the top off, her love handles and stomach now slightly concealed the band of her yoga pants, which were stretched nearly to their limit by her thighs. Her breasts bulged comically out of her B-cup bra - she still hadn't managed to acquire any well-fitting underwear, but she had plans to raid Ashley's suitcase next loop. 

Back in his room, Jake was curious about something. He was wondering how bad he was at noticing Claire's gain - he could usually tell when someone in great shape put on a little weight, but once they were a little chunky like Claire was - or was now after this last semester of college - it was harder to tell. He clicked into an album on Facebook, which was arranged chronologically. WOW. The first picture was from August 20; Claire had been THIN, and quite recently. He remembered now seeing her around late August, and it matched well. Claire's behavior in the first loop, the drinking, the indifference to getting fat...it had matched well with her roughly 30 (now 40?) pound gain. 

Jake readied himself for an onslaught of photos of Claire doing keg stands and gradually plumping up. *click* September 3 - a picture of Claire with one of her running buddies, seemingly after a 10K, looking slim as ever. *click* September 16 - Claire doing stir-fry night in her dorm's kitchen, the wok full of vegetables and Claire looking waifish. Jake clicked faster through the photos. October 31 - Claire in a "sexy Karl Marx" costume, not a scrap of fat on her. *click* November 25, i.e., yesterday - a selfie with her friends, captioned "bye for the week!" Claire was in skinny jeans and a crop top that showed off her perfectly flat stomach and nearly curveless hips. 

The implications washed over Jake like a bankruptcy - gradually, then suddenly. Claire wasn't being honest with him! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Loop 53

Jake wasn't sure how to bring this up with Claire - he wanted to confirm that she really was lying. That evening when they met for their brainstorming session, he started to probe. 

"So it's kind of bad luck that you'd already put on some weight when this all started, huh? Probably wouldn't get so much grief from your mom if you were only up like 10 pounds from the last time she saw you." 

Claire gulped and her mind raced. "Huh, well now it's more like 15 since this started but yeah, definitely wish I hadn't partied so much this semester." 

Well that confirms it; she's intentionally misleading me. But why? Jake thought back to the first loop, when Claire seduced him. She must have known his tastes. He remembered her weirdly sucking on his finger at one point, just before he appeared back in his room at the start of the second loop. Claire had been sort of avoiding discovering the "put things in my body to pull them over to the next loop" trick in hopes that enough time would go by that Jake forgot his first loop. But Jake had gotten there on his own; it made sense if Claire was able to gain weight.  

Claire tried to change the subject and distract Jake. "Kinda wish I hadn't partied so much today, too, for that matter." She lifted her top to reveal her swollen gut. She'd gone on a long run today, nearly 10 miles, but that only made her hungrier for dinner, and now she was on her 6th beer during the brainstorming session with Jake. It really seemed to be getting harder to do a starvation loop, but she knew she was going to have to get going on those soon, or she was going to get enormous. 

The flirtation had its desired effect (or so she thought), and they rolled around in bed for the next couple of hours. Lying there next to Claire, Jake had an idea for revenge. 

Loop 54

Claire decided to not eat this loop, feigning sickness. She even tried just staying in her room so she wouldn't have to deal with her mom's shocked face, but her mom came in at one point. "Oh honey are you ok? Your face is so swollen!" Claire had to "admit" that she'd put on some weight this semester so her mom wouldn't drive her to the hospital. 

It was excruciating - Claire needed to do this for about 100 more loops to get back to normal, and she despaired. Her nearly 160-pound body seemed to be crying out for food even more than when she had starved at a lighter weight in earlier loops. Jake came in that evening, looking excited. 

"OK, I think I figured it out! Or at least I have an idea. If you imagine space-time as a river, we're stuck in like an eddy. We can't go forward."

"OK, I'm with you."

"So, whatever it is that is keeping us here, it's based on an equilibrium - only our bodies are caught in the eddy - something about our bodies is just right to just keep looping around and around. We need to do something to upset that equilibrium."

"OK, but what?"

"Well you're not going to like it. Or maybe it'll be fun. But we're going to have to change our mass enough so that we interact with the eddy differently."

"Shit." Claire knew, and thought Jake didn't, that her 115 pound body wasn't different enough from her current body to jar her out of the eddy. Now she had to lose even more weight than that? "How much different do we need to be?" 

"Well I've done some calculations, and we're probably looking at at least a 100% change. Up to 200%."

Claire gulped. "You mean...increase? Yeah I guess you'd have to if we're doing more than 100%."

"Yeah, it's more complicated than this, but going with the stream metaphor, things with more mass are less subject to turbulent flow, and tend to move in time according to first-order expectations." 

Jake pulled out Claire's scale, and hopped on. It read 160 - damn, I've actually put on a few pounds during the loops. Better get used to it anyways. "So the good news is, we're starting from about the same spot. I think if we want to leave at the same time, we should try to go up at the same rate. I'd guess we'll have to go up to at least 300 pounds."

Claire gulped again. She had actually planned, once they figured out how to get out of the loop, to try and drop some weight before exiting, if possible. But now Jake was telling her that the only way out was up - in weight. 

Loop 55

Claire grabbed an even larger breakfast than normal in her morning fridge raid. Uncle James had long-since stopped offering her a glass of eggnog, and Claire felt awkward asking for it now. She was going to have to be more zen about people's reactions to her if she was going to go through with this, but she wasn't there yet. The good news was that this wasn't forever - she'd imagined being in this loop for decades, maybe centuries, being endlessly hungry. Now she was going to have to exit at 300 pounds or more, but then she could get on with her life and hopefully lose the weight. 

She felt too full after her morning breakfast to go for a run, and regretted that. Her thighs had been growing over the loops, and not just flab (although there was definitely that). She realized that she could control whether she exited the loop at 300+ pounds of pure flab, or in as good shape as possible for 300+ pounds. Her dad's weights were in the garage - she'd have to sneak out there in future loops with Jake. He surely didn't want to exit as a 300-pound blob either, although on his 6-foot-plus frame it wouldn't look so bad. 

Jake was having mixed feelings about lying to Claire. To keep it going, he would have to also put on weight, although he'd secretly always wanted to know what it felt like to be a fat dude. He also wasn't sure it was a lie - a lot of unexpected rules had emerged from this time loop, and his idea for revenge on Claire for bringing him into this was based on some of the topology he had studied. It might work! But he still generally liked Claire, now his only companion in this strange world. 

Claire had reassured her mom that she didn't have a thyroid issue earlier in the day, and when Phyllis saw Claire she was reminded of her years of college during which she had gained probably 100 pounds. The two began their journey in earnest at the satellite table. Ashley had been the unabashed pig at the table in the past, but now both of them were putting her to shame. "OK, who can eat 4 dinner rolls faster?" Claire challenged. "OK but loser has to do a shot of gravy." Jake retorted. Claire managed to top her all-time record for consumption, eating six plates, and even going back for seconds on the bread pudding. They both returned to Claire's room with bulging bellies, but not without a couple of six-packs of beer, to add on to the copious amount they'd ** during dinner. 

"OK so maybe this won't be totally not-fun," Claire sloshed. "But we should eat healthier - we have all the time in the world here. After this loop, let's go heavy on the protein. No need for all of our added mass to be fat!"

Jake agreed, of course knowing the likely futility of the endeavor. He also had no intention of helping Claire eat healthier - there wasn't a lot of health food available on Thanksgiving anyways. 

They weighed themselves after drinking most of the beer - Jake suggested they do it every night, to make sure they were keeping up with each other, and since the relevant mass was at the end of the time loop - when 5:59am Friday morning tripped back to 6:00am Thursday morning. 

Jake removed his polo shirt and moderately tight jeans to reveal a massive food baby on his otherwise stick-like figure. He reflected that he'd have to figure out something like Claire's yoga pants out if he was going to continue this. He looked down and saw 165. "Not bad, huh?"

Claire removed her mom's size-12 top and peeled off her yoga pants, which were getting to be ludicrously tight. Her stomach bulged forward comically, well beyond her breasts. This would be mostly food/water weight, but she reflected that if the relevant mass was in the evening, maybe she could get away with "really" being only 305 pounds if the necessary weight was 310. She looked down at the scale, past her stomach, to see 166. 

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Loop 60

*You can get anything you -- *

::rrrrrripp::

Claire had wondered how long it would be. She was changing into the clothes she brought with her from the previous loop every morning, but she'd been waking up to progressively tighter and tighter underwear, the pair she had put on "last night" - when she weighed 115 pounds. They had some give to them, but that give had been maximized about 10 pounds ago. Guess she had this to look forward to every morning now, until she got out of the loop. She changed into the bra she pilfered from Ashley's suitcase, her mom's size 12 top, and also some of her mom's yoga pants. A few loops ago, her stomach was bulging over the waistband of her own yoga pants all the way around, rolling the elastic waistband over itself onto the pants. Not that anyone could tell - the 360 degree muffin top covered the top band. She was up to 173 at the end of last loop - a gain of more than a pound per loop since she'd actively started trying. At this rate, it'd probably be four more months worth of loops before she had enough mass to break free of the time eddy. She thought about going more slowly so she could gain mass in a healthier way - maybe more muscle instead of fat...but four months in this loop seemed like an eternity already. Jake agreed. 

She'd been working out with Jake in the garage two of the last five loops - the heaviest weights they could, since they were not trying to burn calories...just keep themselves in relatively good shape. She'd started out squatting 80 pounds. If she was building muscle, it was hard to tell. Jake was luckier - he definitely was developing a pooch and softening a bit, but his wiry frame was merely filling out a bit so far. He was also up to 173 as of the previous loop. 

Uncle James could tell Claire had put on *some* weight in the dimly lit kitchen, when she went for breakfast, but it didn't seem like a supernatural amount. But the eye bulges were piling up when Claire made her appearance in the late morning. She hadn't seen most of her relatives since the previous Thanksgiving - putting on 60 pounds in a year was a lot but not unheard of. She had to figure out what to do with her mom, though - she'd seen her in late August, and now 60 pounds (and rising) was starting to seem like an absurd amount. She'd stopped approaching her mom as she was prepping the turkey, but after some time her mom inevitably sought her out. 

"Oh is Claire here? I miss her so much, where's my little gi--" she came eye to eye with Claire's bloated face, on the verge of a permanent double chin. Pulling her aside "Claire, sweety, what happened?" 


The lie about her early-semester twisted ankle failed to assuage her mom...but it didn't matter. She promised she'd go get some blood work done tomorrow. Her mom still insisted that she enjoy herself for today. No problem. 

Claire was absolutely ravenous despite eating a larger breakfast in the morning. She imagined a 173-pound body probably needed more calories. She'd resolved to cut back on the alcohol and carbs, but frankly so far that had mostly been a failure. People pushed dishes and glasses of wine her way, and she didn't really want to say no. Plus, frankly, turkey by itself is pretty dry and flavorless. You need the turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes...Claire was drooling at her mental justification. And then she was enjoying it in real life. 

Six plates, seven large helpings of dessert, four glasses of wine, and two beers later, Claire for the fourth time in the past six loops didn't feel up to the workout with Jake. She waddled away from the table. Her mom's size-12 top was now getting a bit snug - it was flowy anyways, but Claire felt it pinching her a bit after this round of Thanksgiving dinner, and it definitely showed off her bloated stomach. She snuck into her mom's room and grabbed a size-14 blouse, the largest her mom had  - she had also been thinking about who else at the dinner would have the next size up. Phyllis was the obvious endpoint - she probably weighed roughly the minimum amount Claire would have to get to in order to leave the loop. 

Claire and Jake snuck away to her room with more beer and fooled around. Jake still had mostly a bloated stomach, but he was starting to develop some minor love handles. Claire's stomach didn't quite look pregnant anymore - it definitely protruded due to the massive amount of food she'd just eaten, but the protrusion was covered with a thick layer of fat that would have been there no matter how much she had in her stomach. Her boobs were filling out Ashley's bra nicely. The one thing that kept giving her away, no matter how loose her clothes were, was her face. Before their nightly weigh-in, Ashley examined herself in the mirror, and saw a double chin. That was just because of the angle of her head, though, right? If she looked straight ahead, it went away...or did it? She noticed she was doing the neck crane that fat girls do, to avoid double chins in selfies. Relaxing again, the second chin returned. Well that was that. Certified fat girl. 

The scale confirmed her extra heft; it was 175 for both her and Jake that evening. 
 

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Loop 70

Claire's underwear had begun ripping almost clean off each morning - there was a painful thread or two that refused to snap, but she was able to physically rip away the remnants before they left too much of a mark on her skin. She hoped that with added girth soon, they would just tear all the way. Her tight morning underwear and the Arlo Guthrie song were the most tedious part of this looping business. 

She'd resolved, and mostly succeeded, to get more serious about working out. The easiest time to do so was an hour or so after digesting her morning fridge raid. Jake seemed to have a little more stamina than she did - he went at the weights hard, and was definitely looking more built, despite his growing stomach. Claire was up to squatting 100 pounds, and was happy for it - she'd definitely started to feel less vigorous in recent loops. She had tried to go for a run one morning, just to see something new in the neighborhood, and found herself getting winded quickly, her legs burning with 75 extra pounds. 

Her double chin was now a permanent feature, as she'd guessed on loop 60. At the end of the last loop, she was up to 189 pounds - almost a pound and a half per loop. She now definitely weighed more than her mom, and her mom's size 14 tops were fitting appropriately on her to start the day, and snugly by the end of the Thanksgiving feast. She was getting adept at promising her mom to go to the doctor tomorrow when she expressed concern. Claire couldn't help but feel self-conscious among her other relatives - she knew at some point the gain was going to start overcoming their politeness and they were going to start asking questions. The worst part of all of this was the perpetual awkward feeling that people were staring at her and gawking. 

Jake had a suggestion to ease this: immersion therapy. Claire would put herself in the most embarrassing situation she could, and then in subsequent loops she'd understand the worst-case scenario. 

Claire had decided to give this a go. After her morning workout and shower, she pulled out her size-6 top. She was among family so she decided to keep the larger stretch pants, but the top would do nicely. She hadn't put it on since the loop where she seduced Jake. Struggling to get it over her torso, she looked at herself in the mirror. The top clung to every side of her breasts, and revealed cleavage that definitely hadn't been there 75, or even 40, pounds ago. It pulled up well short of her bellybutton, exposing the vast expanse of her stomach. Her love handles poured generously over the waistband of even the larger stretch pants. She could feel the fabric straining with each movement. 

She was still met with only shocked looks when she made her entrance into the kitchen. Her mom took her aside as usual, trying not to embarrass her. "CLAIRE, sweety, what happened? Are you ok? Also, you need new clothes!" 

Claire decided to go with a minor gaslighting. "Oh mom I may have put on a few pounds but this still fits fine. Shows off my abs," she said with a straight face, patting her gut. 

"Claire, you...you've put on a LOT of weight! This is more than a few pounds!"

"Come on, mom, that's not cool. I may not be a stick anymore but that's an unhealthy attitude."

"I...I don't know what to say! I think we should take you to the hospital right now! You've gained so much weight in such a short period of time, there must be something wrong!"

"Oh mom, don't ruin Thanksgiving. I promise I'll go get checked out tomorrow."

Her mom relented as usual, but Claire could tell she hadn't been comforted. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. 

But the die was cast for this loop, and Claire's plan was to really push herself, to make it feel less awkward when she merely stuffed herself in future loops. Even after 70 times through, Claire still had a hard time really feeling that none of these people were going to remember anything the next time...but she was trying to remedy that. She repeatedly emptied her wine glass quickly after it had been filled. Her tipsy state pushed her awkwardness even further into the background. The first thing she did was focus on dinner rolls - after everyone had taken a couple from the bowl at the satellite table, and she had had a couple of normal plates of dinner, she grabbed the remaining dozen or so, and started methodically eating them. Fairly stuffed, she walked over to the main table, where her mom and aunt Phyllis and roughly a dozen other relatives were. She leaned garishly over the table, her bare stomach brushing the tablecloth, and grabbed a handful more. "Sorry, we need some over at the little kid's table. Oops, got some gravy on my little tummy!" She wiped it off with the dinner roll and stuffed it whole into her mouth, as she walked away. The relatives all looked down, embarrassed. Phyllis was stunned herself - she was no stranger to gluttony but Claire was on a path to bad things if she kept this up. 

She was already nearly full, but she decided that she would make it her goal to total the mac and cheese. There were always plates and plates of leftovers of any dish served at Thanksgiving, but she thought it would be a fun challenge to try and eat it all. Everyone was winding down at the satellite table, including Jake, who had been no slouch in the eating department himself, as usual. Probably about 70% of the mac and cheese remained in a 3-qt casserole dish. Claire grabbed as much as would fit on her plate, about half of it. She started tucking in. "Wow, Claire, I don't know where you put it all," said Ashley, who was sporting a small food baby of her own. "You sure you can handle that?" 

"Itsh just sho good!" Claire said, gasping between mouthfuls. She was trying to eat quickly because she could feel her capacity catching up to her. The fabric on her size-6 top had now ridden all the way up, bunching up between her boobs and the top of her stomach. After about 5 minutes, her plate was clean. She took a healthy sip of wine, and summoning all of her will power, leaned forward to refill her plate from the casserole dish. She was actually glad for the top; she had started sweating from the exertion, and her mostly-exposed torso was radiating heat away. She'd hoped to rip the fabric, but all she felt was some tightness under her armpits; it seemed like this top was one that just rolled up rather than tore. 

After 20 minutes, she gave up, with a few forkfuls left on her plate. She was sad - she'd hoped to get at least through this table's portion, and maybe clear out the main table's. She leaned back, her stomach jutting out nearly to the edge of the table. There was no question of relaxing or sucking in her gut, since her stomach had expanded to its absolute max capacity. As Claire lay there, unable to move, she did the math on what she'd eaten. The rolls were probably over 2000 calories, and the mac and cheese was probably 350 calories a serving...and she'd probably had roughly 20 servings. This was easily her biggest eating day yet, even though she skipped dessert. 

When she rejoined Jake in her room that evening, she still had to just gingerly sip on a single beer while her body continued to digest. She was up to 192, and he was only at 190, since he'd merely stuffed himself rather than nearly killing himself with mac and cheese. "You really put on a show out there today. How did it feel?" 

"Honestly, it was pretty mortifying. I don't know if it worked. That size 14 is going to get tight on me soon. I don't know if I can go out there day after day with my gut hanging out. I wore that top so it would be swimming on me, originally!"

Jake looked up suddenly and almost asked a question, and then tried to maintain a neutral expression. Claire had slipped. Claire caught his look, though. Oh shit. Did he figure it out? 

Claire decided she'd have to be more careful - her head was still swimming with food and wine. "I think I'm not in the mood for anything tonight, Jake...mind if we split up for the evening?" 

Jake went back to his room, thinking about the next step. He knew Claire had brought him into this loop. But she didn't know he knew that...until now maybe. He'd have to be more careful himself. 

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Loop 71

After removing the shreds of her absurd wakeup underwear, Claire texted Jake from her room: I think I want to hide in my room for this loop. Can you bring me some food? 

Jake obliged, sneaking Claire her usual generous helping of Thanksgiving foods for breakfast. Her mom hadn't seen her come in the previous night, so she texted her similarly and said she was stuck at the airport and might not make Thanksgiving. This could be a new trick. 

Claire was having mixed feelings about having dragged Jake into this. She thought about coming clean - she realized that she almost had at the end of the last loop by accident: the size-6 top had definitely not been swimming on her the loop that Jake started joining her. Claire logged onto Facebook and eliminated all evidence of her last semester - this was one more chore to take care of every morning. 

Her room was a little claustrophobic, but the isolation was a welcome break. She hadn't realized how stressful it was, dealing with the whispers and looks from her family. She'd have to do it again at some point, but for today this was a nice break. She did some browsing of the internet - other than the football game, she hadn't really taken advantage of knowing what was happening in the outside world. She could probably get at a car if she wanted to. Heck, she was getting kind of tired of Thanksgiving food - maybe there was a Chinese restaurant open. She texted Jake: Going out this loop - see you "tomorrow". She'd found a Chinese place open about 3 miles from her house, near the mall. That would be perfect - she could hit up one of the early Black Friday sales afterwards, maybe, and grab some new clothes. 

Jake mingled with the Thanksgiving crowd after his daily workout and shower. He was proud of his arms, but he was definitely developing a gut. He missed Claire in more ways than one: no one had noticed his gain when hers was so shocking, but now he was showing up about 35 pounds heavier. The gain so far was reasonable, and reasonably distributed, and it's not considered as much of a faux pas, so he was subject to endless ribbing sort-of-compliments sort-of-teasing about his new heft. He suddenly felt self-conscious next to Ashley - he wasn't waking up starving like Claire was, so it was a real effort to stuff himself every day. Now he was feeling fat and exposed. He decided that if Claire could take a day off, he could as well - he ate a reasonable amount of food, but nothing extreme. Ashley as usual put on a show with her eating, displaying a small food baby. Jake tried to entice her into his room, as he had in a loop that neither of them remembered, but his dad-bod was a bit of a turnoff to her. She didn't say as much but he could tell. 

Claire had walked to the Chinese restaurant - she was skipping the workout today so it was probably good to do *some* exercise. Her jacket was extremely tight - she hadn't needed it all this time. No one knew her there, and they never would again, so she was having a blast. At first she panicked when she realized the buffet wasn't running on Thanksgiving...but she had a credit card that she'd never have to pay off. Freshly starving after her walk, she ordered three entrees, to go, and two boba teas. Maybe she'd freak the wait staff out with her gluttony in a subsequent loop but today she didn't feel like being judged. While she waited, she decided she would start learning a new language - Korean, it turned out, was what the family spoke. She gave them a generous tip and thanked them for the food and lesson. 

Taking her spoils to an abandoned food court table in the mall next door, she dug in. The chicken fingers were covered in fluffy breading that was absolutely dripping with grease. Still a bit hungry, but a little overwhelmed with the greasiness, she moved on to the General Tso's chicken. It was crispy and sweet, with just a little bit of kick. She mixed it in with one of the two large containers of white rice, and felt absolutely stuffed, but her stomach was settled. Her size-14 top was definitely revealing the outlines of her gut when she relaxed it. She looked down at the time - it was only 2pm, and the early Black Friday sales wouldn't start until 6. If she could get some larger tops, she was game for her final entree, the lo mein. She did some hunting on her smartphone and found the one dive bar that was open nearby. 

Preparing to walk in the chilly air for another mile or so, Claire sucked in her stomach so her jacket would zip. Once it was closed, she relaxed and felt the tightness around her middle. It wasn't ideal, but it was less embarrassing than showing off her gut in her too-tight top. Claire watched the Lions-Bears while downing pint after pint, keeping her coat on. She was definitely feeling constricted, but her jacket was acting like external spanx. At halftime, she went into the bathroom and unzipped her jacket off before sitting down. "Wow, what a relief," as she let her stomach fall forward. ::scrrrrch:: Oops. Relaxing her stomach suddenly tore a small rip in the side of the top. She couldn't believe how far out her stomach was sticking - four...or was it five? pints would do that, she guessed. All progress towards the unfortunately necessary goal. 

After downing a few more pints (scamming the final one off the bartender by predicting the final score of the game), Claire sloshed her way back to the Black Friday sale. She picked up a size 18, 20, and 22 top, as well as some larger stretchy pants. She was up to a DD bra, a relief after jamming her now sizable breasts into Ashley's pilfered bra every day. Another thought she'd never expect to have. Once she was done with the size 22, she could probably move up into Phyllis' wardrobe. 

Now wearing the size 18 top, Claire ate the cold lo mein. It was enormous - the restaurant had probably given her a double portion because it was a slow day or something. Just the end-of-day challenge she needed, though. The noodles slid into her stomach like jell-o...no one bite felt impossible or even all that filling, but she was gasping for air and could hardly move by the time she finished. She considered just sleeping in the food court, and waking up in her room like normal, but decided against it. She waddled home, sneaking to her back window, and hefting herself in through it. After lying on the floor catching her breath for a while, she weighed herself - 193. She'd not only managed to keep the three-pound increase from loop 70, but build on it. Maybe this wouldn't take as long as she thought.  

Meanwhile, alone in his room, Jake was lying on the floor catching his breath - he had finished a few sets of push-ups. He looked down at the scale afterwards to see 189. 

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Loop 72 

Claire's adventure in the previous loop had shaken her out of a rut - she felt relaxed and like the world was a bigger place now. She texted her mom that her flight was delayed, and texted Jake that she was going to do another loop out of the house. She deleted her Facebook photos, donned her new size-18 blouse and other better-fitting clothes, and left early, without even grabbing breakfast. Near the mall and the Chinese food store, she'd spotted a Dunkin Donuts that she was surprised was open on Thanksgiving. She walked to the shopping center again, since it would have been tricky and she might have risked seeing people if she took her mom's car. 

By the time she reached it, she was absolutely ravenous. She carelessly ordered a dozen donuts - no plan to eat them all, but it wasn't like she'd ever have to pay the credit card bill. Claire settled into an isolated nook in the mall and started scrolling on her phone while she devoured her breakfast. The first 5-6 went down almost effortlessly. This and the Chinese food from yesterday was the first thing she'd had other than Thanksgiving food for roughly 10 weeks. She continued eating her 7th, 8th, and 9th donuts with gusto - they were so good, and so new! She started feeling a bit gross on the last bite of the 9th. Claire thought about stopping, but decided to make it a challenge to finish the dozen. Getting out of this loop fast was the only way she was going to keep her sanity. By the 11th donut, though, she was shaking and sweating from the intense amount of sugar and fat she had just consumed. 

Claire's plan had been to find some sort of impromptu workout to do in the mall - maybe some heavy boxes she could squat with. But she had to instead gingerly lay herself down on a bench, while the donuts digested. Dammit, she remembered she was also trying to eat more protein. No need to be a total blob when she got up to 300 or whatever was necessary to jar her from this time eddy! She'd make sure to order something higher in protein at the Chinese place for lunch. 

* * * 

Back at the house, Jake realized he had hit a bit of a wall last loop. He was tired of stuffing himself every loop, and now he felt self-conscious around Ashley, not to mention the rest of his relatives. He hit the weights with a passion again after a small and sensible breakfast. He'd catch up in weight with Claire in future loops. His workout gave him a hearty appetite, so he got a couple "big guy" remarks at the table but he stuck to healthier options to the extent they existed, and he refused any alcohol. 

* * * 

Claire didn't need to wait for Black Friday, since she had her clothes all set at home, but just being in a new place had been so invigorating last loop. She ordered three entrees to go from the Chinese place - General Tso's, beef and broccoli, and sweet and sour pork. The General Tso's was a treat, but the other dishes were just to get her protein up. She didn't realize that they were drenched with sugary sauce, packing at least 1500 calories each, most of which was sugar. She flirted with the kid behind the counter for her 20-minute wait, picking up an additional Korean lesson. 

After she ate the General Tso's and the beef in her nook in the mall, she headed back to the bar to kill some time watching the football game. With a size 18 top, she was able to take her jacket off and really let loose. The beers went down really easy, too easy - she had five of them by halftime again. Her new clothes were holding up great - she didn't realize before how restrictive her moms' workout clothes (and, eventually tops) had been. In the bathroom at halftime, her figure was relatively hidden by her top, but she gaped at her bloated face. Pulling the fabric tight against her stomach, she saw it extended well beyond her breasts. 

After clearing some space at halftime, she managed four more pints of beer during the second half. Claire found herself some mixture of unable and unwilling to suck her stomach in hard enough to zip her coat...it didn't matter because the walk from the bar to the mall was relatively short, and she was again sort of hot from the mixture of exertion and her body trying to burn off thousands of calories. She decided to buy a new coat at the mall - although she was running out of space in her "take along tube". This was what she called the plastic tube that she stuffed with corners of the articles of clothing or other items she wanted to take along to the next loop. She'd put the tube in her mouth when she went to bed, and everything that was in the tube was with her in the morning. Maybe she'd just pick up a size 20 when she needed it, and leave that space for the larger jacket she desperately needed. 

Two hours later, when she'd explored the store to her heart's delight, the absence of 80+ ounces of beer in her stomach left her a bit hungry, and she ate her vegetable lo mein on the way home. It had sounded so healthy, but it was a massive carb-and-fat bomb. "Have to find healthier stuff for my main course tomorrow," Claire noted to herself. She heaved herself into the window of her room, and for the first time in several loops felt merely full, not stuffed to the max. She examined herself naked in the mirror - changes were becoming less evident, as a few pounds added to a 190-pound body were harder to spot than a few pounds added to a 115-pound body, but her delicate double chin was becoming less delicate every day. Her stomach stuck out much further than she'd remembered or hoped - her goal was to have some stout legs and butt by the time this was all over, and maybe some semblance of a figure...but this was not the path to that. Her walks were not the same as the squat sessions with Jake - she'd have to find a way to do strength training of some sort. Stepping on the scale, she looked down and saw 195. Up 80 pounds, from when this all started, with probably at least another 100 pounds to go. 

* * * 

Jake did a second workout after getting shot down by Ashley. He was feeling frustrated with these loops, and even though he felt bad for lying to Claire about the need to gain weight, the longer this went on, the more furious he got at her for dragging him into this. He thought about how long he'd let this go on, and whether he'd ever come clean to her - for all he knew, he was stuck with her for eternity, so this was high stakes. He'd have to keep gaining weight to keep appearances up, and honestly that had gotten a little tiresome. Maybe a few more weeks of loops and he'd fess up, or just pretend that he discovered a mistake in his work. He looked down at the scale that night - 188. 

Loop 73

Claire put on her new jacket and slipped out the window. On her way to Dunkin' Donuts, she texted her mom as usual. She texted Jake "hey, hope you don't mind but I'm taking a break from Thanksgiving for a couple of weeks I think. Let's text each other our weights once in a while to make sure we're keeping up with each other." Jake didn't mind the break, although he hadn't seen Claire for a few loops - he was dying to see her progress. 

Claire was again starving when she got to Dunkin' Donuts...she had been intending to maybe get several of their healthier breakfast sandwiches, but the donuts were calling out to her when she got to the counter. She felt the need to complete her challenge from the day before - coming up just short was nagging at her. In her nook in the mall, she found herself again sweating and shaking as she popped the last bit of the 11th donut into her mouth. She looked at the 12th with hatred and disgust. It was mocking her. Every signal from her body was telling her not to put that thing in her mouth...but she forced her arm to reach out and pick it up. She put a bite in her mouth and methodically chewed, and gulped it down. She almost wretched -- but she didn't. But that was her max for this time. She lay back on the bench for the next couple of hours, slipping in and out of a sugar sleep. 

* * * 

Jake had decided that he was done gaining weight, at least for now. There was probably no way he could keep up with Claire after how far behind he'd likely fallen, and he'd just make some excuse when they reconvened. His paunch had shrunk just a bit over the last two days, and he was feeling great. 

* * * 

Claire wandered for a while when she was feeling human again - she took in the other shops in the area that were open or might be open later in the day. She couldn't believe it had taken her this long to get out of the house. She got her three entrees from the Chinese restaurant, ate two, and once again downed numerous beers at the bar. She could tell her capacity was increasing because her post-shopping meal around 8pm left her wondering if she should order a fourth entree next time. It was nice to be able to walk home not feeling painfully full, though - her added weight was making walking difficult enough. 

* * * 


Jake finally managed to entice Ashley into his room again - he guessed it was his relatively swole arms, since the paunch's reduction was barely perceptible. When he took his shirt off, she teased "dang, too much bulking! Not that I should talk, I've been on a bulk the last week or so." She patted her food baby, which was almost entirely due to the large dinner she'd just had. He enjoyed her softness, though, even if it wasn't the epic curves and squish that Claire had developed. In his post-coital bliss, he got a text from Claire. "I'm up to 196 - how are you doing? Should I slow down?" He decided that the end of the weight gain-to-get-out-of-loop charade was in sight, and this couple week separation where they wouldn't see each other was the perfect time to get the most out of it. "Wow, go you! I'm a little behind but I'll eat extra tomorrow - 195 for me. Full steam ahead!" 

 

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Loop 85 

Claire pulled the scraps of her underwear away from her pelvis - it had finally completely ripped without any help. Small blessings. She had been planning on today being the last loop where she went to the mall - she missed Jake. Honestly she didn't miss the rest of her family - it was creepy, encountering them, not remembering any of the past 12 weeks of HER experience. God, what would they say now that she was that much bigger? 

She walked up to the counter at Dunkin' Donuts - "five power breakfast sandwiches, please," Claire said triumphantly. The lady behind the counter didn't know why this was a celebration. Claire had *finally* finished the dozen donuts in the previous loop. She couldn't stand how close she was getting each time without quite getting that last donut down. It wasn't purely a matter of capacity, apparently - the amount of sugar and fat all at once was hitting some sort of threshold. But now Claire could start eating a healthier choice for breakfast - and start working out again. She'd spotted some boxes outside of a closed store that looked like the appropriate weight. Each previous loop, she'd been too shaky and nauseated in the morning to do the workout, and then there were too many people around the mall by noon. "Oh, and two Boston cremes." Those still looked *amazing* - she'd just have them in moderation. 

As alluded, Claire was not having any problem with capacity. She'd gotten up to four Chinese entrees and eleven pints of beer last loop. The beer she knew was probably not great for her, but she had no idea that the Chinese entrees were so bad...they were full of chicken, and rice, and vegetables! She'd been limiting herself to only one of the entrees being deep-fried, and the rest were just plain meat! 

As Claire munched on her third breakfast sandwich, she wandered over towards her planned workout spot in the mall. She felt her size-18 blouse starting to cling to her stomach a bit. Maybe once she got back on the exercise train, she'd redistribute some of this weight to her legs and butt...if not, it was getting close to time for size 20. She forced down the fourth sandwich - damn, these things are awful. Tossing the fifth, she arrived at the store with the boxes. The coast was clear. 

Claire had regularly done jump squats as part of her workout in the beforetimes. She decided to warm up with about 30 seconds of plain old squats before adding the heavy box. Fifteen seconds in, her thighs were on fire. The added weight from just her body was too much! She took a break while she caught her breath. Going about half-speed, she managed about 20 unweighted squats over the next couple of minutes. Her thighs again burned with the effort, and she had to sit down. How had she let herself get so out of shape? She'd assumed the walking was sufficient to keep her from backtracking, but so much of it was done while delirious from food or pints upon pints of beer, she hadn't noticed how hard it was getting to walk. When she tried to do another set, her thighs basically refused. Dejected, she enjoyed her two donuts, and thought about lunch. 

She'd been making good progress with her Korean lessons - every day she greeted the surprised proprietors of the shop with a Korean phrase, and when they responded, she asked what they meant, and how to answer. She was now up to about a minute of conversation, and she was starting to piece together words and phrases on her own. She added 6 egg rolls to her four-entree order today - she was starving after her relatively healthy breakfast. 

* * * 

Jake cranked out a final set of 40 push-ups and hopped into the shower. His stomach was just a little pudgy at this point - he'd lost 8 pounds over the last two weeks of loops. Last loop, Ashley had stopped teasing him about bulking when he took his shirt off - which was a shame because that had been kind of hot. He was missing Claire - it was kind of frustrating to see Ashley stuff herself loop after loop, with no impact on her figure. Also, other than brief text exchanges, he had no one else to talk with about what he was experiencing. He'd thought about bringing it up with Ashley, but hadn't yet. 

* * * 

Boy, it was true what they said about Chinese food. Without the dozen donuts, even two entrees and four of the egg rolls left Claire feeling very hungry by the time she bellied up to the bar for the football game. She ordered two pints as she sat down. "Sorry little lady, only one allowed at a time. We get too much trash in here ordering five shots and then telling us they got no money. Plus, the second one'll get warm by the time you get to it." That sounded like a challenge. 

"Oh yeah, how long does it take for a beer to get warm?" She threw her credit card down on the bar. 

"I'd say about 4 minutes in, you'd rather I pull you a fresh one than one that's been sitting out."

"Heck, I'll drink *three* beers in that time. If I do, you gotta serve me what I ask for the rest of the game. And I want the three beers for free." 

The bartender ran the card and, satisfied, said "you're on." Instead of the domestics Claire had been pounding the last two weeks, he poured out three pints of Sierra Nevada. 

Tilting her head back, she poured the first pint down her throat in about 15 seconds. Only after she'd swallowed the last of it did she realize the trick the barkeep had pulled. She pressed on, though, downing the second heavy, high-calorie, high-alcohol beer in another minute. By now she was feeling a little woozy. Her stomach was now pressing moderately against her size-18 top, and she was feeling almost full.  "Holy shit," the barman muttered. She gasped for air for a second, and started methodically sipping the final pint. As the timer hit 4 minutes, she placed the third empty pint glass on the bar, leaned back, her stomach distended in front of her, and gave a triumphant belch. 

Claire took the rest of the first quarter off, but once the pints had worked their way through her, she continued drinking. Not wanting to waste a good bet win, she ordered two pints at once for the rest of the game, which did cause her to drink faster - didn't want the beer to get warm! By the end of the game she'd had 13 pints including the Sierra Nevada, and was unpleasantly **. She staggered to a bench between the bar and the mall, and collapsed - she felt the touch of her stomach on the top of her thighs through her stretch pants. 

After about half an hour, and a rock-bottom moment of peeing behind some bushes, she had room for the cold Chinese entrees, which helped her sober up a bit. She forced herself to go to the mall, because she definitely needed a size-20 top. 

On the three mile walk back, mostly sober now, she found her legs becoming sore from the exertion in the morning. She resolved to power through the pain tomorrow - she couldn't be an unathletic blob of 300 pounds of fat when this was over. And healthier food! 

After rolling herself over the window sill late that night (thank god it was close enough to the ground to allow that maneuver), Claire took stock of herself again. Her thighs and ass had definitely grown, and her DD bra had been getting tighter, but her stomach was still taking the brunt of all of this gain. It rounded out obscenely in front of her, still mostly sticking straight out, but her hand was definitely ensconced in fat when she stuck it underneath. Her face was almost unrecognizable, compared to when this had all started. 

She leaned forward, craning her neck over her gut - huh, when had that started being necessary? - the scale said 219. 

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Loop 86

As Claire rolled out of bed and cleared the remnants of her torn underwear away, she thought about facing her family in her current state. Her mother had almost wanted to call an ambulance for her 30 pounds ago - seeing the Dunkin Donuts clerk and the nice Korean family and the bartender was much easier. She texted Jake that she wanted another two weeks of loops away from Thanksgiving dinner. She knew she'd have to see her family when all of this ended, but for now it was easier to wander. Jake texted back "Understood - clocked in at 210  myself last night btw. Slow down, girl!

Claire thought about slowing down, but she had been stuck in the loop for over a month longer than Jake - she needed to get out ASAP. Plus, would it be the worst thing in the world if she ended up escaping the time eddy a little earlier, and ending up in the same timeline as a Jake whom she HADN'T intentionally dragged into a repetitive hell? This was kind of weird - she'd never see *this" Jake again if she left the loop earlier than he did, but she'd see *a* Jake. 

Her legs and butt ached as she trudged to Dunkin' Donuts, from the exertion last loop. She resolved to do regular workouts, including today. Her stomach wobbled a bit as she walked - that had been happening for a while now, but she noticed that it was a lot less absurdly bloated than when she evaluated herself at the end of the day - her morning gut was pure flab. 

Claire ordered four of the high-protein/low-cal breakfast sandwiches, plus two Boston creme donuts and a latte. Taking advantage of her intense hunger, she wolfed down three of the sandwiches before their dry texture led her to slow down. She enjoyed her treat of the two donuts, and then feeling relatively full, but being a completionist, she choked down the last sandwich. The dozen donut challenge she'd given herself over the previous weeks had been much more fun. She decided that if she did a solid workout today, she'd reward herself next loop with a dozen next time. 

Sure enough, she was able to kill some time before lunch by heading over to the store with the boxes outside of it and trying some squats. She wasn't ready to add any weight, but she managed to work up a good sweat with about the same number of body-weight squats she did the previous loop. Her legs burned and almost gave out as she finished her second set of 20. It wasn't much, but it was a start. 

Approaching the Chinese place, she decided to take this loop off from lessons. The kid behind the counter, Daniel, who she got her daily Korean lessons from, was kind of cute, and she could kind of sense he was into her. In fact, his interest seemed to have been increasing over the past couple of weeks of loops. Without letting on that she knew any Korean, Claire ordered her four entrees and a dozen egg rolls. Daniel called the order back to his parents. Claire couldn't quite translate the response perfectly but it was something like "Big white lady going to eat all of that?" Damn right she was. Daniel blushed. Claire decided to have some fun. "What's wrong? I don't bite...much." Daniel turned an even deeper red. 

Claire managed to get out of Daniel that he would probably be able to get off work soon - they were preparing for the early Black Friday rush that evening, but they hadn't been expecting much business at lunchtime. Claire was surprised to learn that Daniel was actually 22 - older than her! She suggested he come watch the football game with her at the bar in a couple hours. He said he'd do what he could. 

Freshly hungry from her workout and relatively healthy breakfast, Claire took her food to her isolated nook, and ate two of the entrees plus 8 egg rolls. Knowing Jake was well behind her in weight, she felt less pressure to absolutely stuff herself, but she was still looking to make the progress to get out of the loop as quickly as possible. 

Daniel didn't come to the bar; Claire was disappointed, but decided that this was her next challenge. She'd been shocked by Jake's confession that he was into bigger girls, but now seeing the way Daniel looked at her, she started to wonder how prevalent this was. 

Claire staggered home after ten pints and the remainder of the Chinese food. She was now up to 221 pounds, keeping up her gain of 2 pounds per day. When the coast was clear, she snuck into her mom's room and snatched a size 14 top to take along for the next loop. 

Loop 87

Claire felt like an idiot - she'd gotten the whole dozen donuts down, but she'd forgotten how it made her feel to eat all of that. Satisfied - yes, in more ways than one. But also sweaty and shaky, and not even able to think about doing her morning squats. Oh well, probably best to take a day off anyways. Her legs were even more sore than they had been the previous loop. 

When she felt reasonably able to walk again, Claire went into a bathroom stall and pulled the size-14 top out of her bag. She couldn't believe that this, and even the size-6 top, had once been absurdly large. She removed her size-20 top and pulled the smaller one on. It clung to the sides of her stomach, going just barely over her love handles, but she managed to pull it all the way down. As she moved she felt the underside of her gut and said love handles exposing themselves, and the fabric straining dangerously. Yes, this would do. 

Wearing her very large coat, as usual, she walked into the Chinese restaurant and ordered her "usual". "Big white lady going to eat all of that?" came the call from the kitchen, in Korean. As Daniel blushed, she winked at him. She chatted him up again, in English, and invited him to the bar later in the afternoon. 

When the food came out, she gushed "Oh my god, that smells amazing. I was going to take all this home but I just have to dig in." She removed her coat, revealing her now overly form-fitting top, and sat down in one of the booths in the empty restaurant. She dug in to the General Tso's first, playing up her enjoyment of the sweet heat, popping an egg roll into her mouth seductively from time to time. She watched Daniel out of the corner of her eye, and could tell he was enraptured. As she opened the second styrofoam container and dug into the beef and broccoli, she could feel both her stomach and top straining, individual threads and seams from the top gradually extending past their breaking point. There would be no dramatic explosion but her gut would not be contained by the top. By the time she finished her second entree, an inch of flab stuck out from the bottom of her blouse, and she was again nearly rendered immobile. The dozen donuts had still not digested, so the two entrees plus 10 of the egg rolls represented a new frontier of fullness. It took her nearly an hour to be able to get up and waddle away to the bathroom, to change back into her top. 

At the bar, Claire, now back in her size-20 top, marveled at how easily the first pint went down. Cheap beer and Chinese food were apparently not all that filling. She was about to order another when she heard from behind her Daniel's voice - he had shown up! Claire was right about him. He ordered the next round, and they talked for the next two hours, except for halftime, when they made out in the bathroom. Claire feigned ignorance of the language and scammed another Korean lesson out of Daniel over the course of the game. He had to leave before the fourth quarter, but Claire was feeling good about her seduction skills. 

Claire was in no state to do any sort of workout, so she finished her two cold Chinese entrees. Feeling run down but ecstatic, she decided to take a Lyft home rather than walking - she had the driver drop her off a block from her house, and snuck in the back window to her room as usual. She was up to 222; Jake texted back and said he was at 212. 

Loop 120

Claire pulled on her size-26 top and after sending her standard text message to her mom about a delayed flight, shuffled herself out her back window. The maneuver was getting harder lately; she cursed herself for not keeping up with her squats - it was so easy to just promise that she'd do them next loop. After all, she literally had all the time in the world. She heaved herself down the block, out of sight of her house, put down a pin for a Lyft. The walks down to the mall area had gotten so tedious. Always the same. Plus she could read about topology and the fabric of the universe on the rides there. She'd been corresponding with Jake via text - he'd said that she would have to gain to at *least* about 300 pounds before she shook free of the loop, and now that that amount was maybe in sight, she wanted to understand it better to know whether she had a few weeks or a few months more of this. There was a big difference between 300 and 400 or 500 pounds. Jake said he'd been researching, too. Together, they'd figure this out. 

The two weeks more of skipping Thanksgiving had been extended, and as the end came into sight, Claire decided this was probably the right way to do things until she got out of the loop. She could probably avoid seeing her mom for a few more months after Thanksgiving, and hopefully by then have lost some weight, and prepared her mom for the extreme weight gain that would still be evident. 

Claire had tried to be good about her diet, but her motivation to get out of the loop, plus her ferocious hunger when she woke up every morning, kept her having far more days with donuts than with those dry protein-packed sandwiches. She'd gotten to the point where the sweats and shakes from eating a whole dozen donuts had stopped, but she decided not to push it any further than that - there were plenty more calories to be had later. 

She'd been seducing Daniel almost every loop; it turned out that just taking her jacket off and eating a couple of entrees was enough to lure him to the bar. After he left in the late third quarter to get back to the restaurant, she'd started making her bet with the bartender about drinking three pints in four minutes every loop - and developed a taste for Sierra Nevada, so she was downing between 10 and 13 pints of it each time through, although Daniel only saw about five of those. She'd started ordering a Lyft home regularly, feeling too ** and full to really want to walk home. 

She missed Jake, and had decided that whatever happened, she was going to come clean to him. She'd apologize, and hoped he'd still stay in contact with her for however long they were in this together. At this point, she knew as much as he did about the science behind this, but two heads were better than one. Plus, he was the only other "real" person in the loop with her. 

After her usual day, she heaved herself over the windowsill of her room. Loose top or no, she was quite obviously a very big girl now. Her double chin now melded with her neck about halfway down. Her stomach now had a slight horizontal fold in it along the axis of her bellybutton, and the flab hung down a bit even when she was stuffed with five Chinese entrees and a gallon and a half of beer. Her love handles had merged with her gut to just form a large band of flab that surrounded her entire lower torso. This was what she needed, though. It might be close to the time when she could finally move on with her life. 

She got onto the scale, and leaned forward to look over her stomach - it said 292. She was increasing at over 2 pounds per day; she might be done with this hell in less than two weeks. Jake had been texting her with his progress - he was up to 285 as of last loop. She couldn't imagine what he looked like at this point.

"Hey...I'd like to see you. I need to tell you something. How about a visit?" 
"
Sure - I'll be over in a few. I have a lot to tell you, too."

She heard a verrry gentle knock on her door, to avoid anyone else noticing that he was going over to her room. Jake walked through and Claire gasped. Jake was...enormous! 

 

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Loop 87, late evening

Ashley snuck into Jake's room, in the mood for love. He'd been such a string-bean before, and he must have put on 20 pounds of muscle in the last year! 

"Ashley, I need to talk to you about something. You know that movie Groundhog Day? Well I'm in it. Or, that situation."

"Hahaha, yeah right."

"No, really. I've been looping...I think about 50 times now. Claire has, too."

"Claire is stuck at the airport!"

"Nope, she's just tired of doing Thanksgiving here...and I think there's another thing going on, which I'll tell you about later."

Jake showed Ashley a pic of himself from the day before Thanksgiving - he was lean and stringy as she remembered him. She was more convinced. "But I thought you started over every day fresh."

"Yeah, we did, too for a while. Whatever state of hunger we had from Wednesday night, we keep that in the morning when we wake up. But whatever we ate last loop, sticks with us. You haven't seen Claire."

"Oh my god, is she jacked too? I hate her! She's so good. If I ate Thanksgiving every day, I'd be an actual butterball." She patted her tiny food baby for emphasis. 

"Yeah, I think she's more like you than you think. Last loop she checked in at around 220 pounds."

"NO. WAY. You're fucking with me on this aren't you?" 

"Dead serious."

"OK, but this sounds awesome. How many times have we hooked up?" 

"We've been sort of regular for the last couple weeks." 

"Ew! Gross!" Jake was taken aback. "Just kidding! Dude, you're so lucky. This is the best day ever to be trapped. No consequences, day off, great food..."

Jake couldn't believe Ashley's perspective on this - he hated the loop from the minute he realized he was in it. 

"So...do you know why this is happening? And why is it just you and Claire?" 

"Ashley, there's something else you should know - I haven't talked about it with Claire - she doesn't know I know...but you can take things from one loop to the next if they're inside your body, or even partially inside your body, at the time the loop resets. It works with food, it works with things...it also works with people. Food and things don't get stuck in the loop, though - if you don't take them with you again, they go away. But we know once a person is looping, they keep looping. Because that's what happened to me. Claire was sucking on my finger when the loop reset - she did it on purpose, I'm pretty sure. I don't know how long she's been looping but she lied to me. I found Facebook photos - she was a waif as of 'yesterday', and when I first ran into her in my first loop she was probably about 30 pounds heavier." 

"Damn, you hooked up with HER too?" 

"She'd been looping for a while! She knew exactly what buttons to press." 

"I'll have to compare notes with her. Although I guess it would have to be now because I won't remember any of this next loop, right?" 

"Yeah, probably not." 

Jake and Ashley fucked around for the next couple of hours, and began to wind down. "I guess this means no awkward morning after, either, huh?" cooed Ashley to a groggy Jake.

"Yeah, we just go back to where we were at 6am when the loop resets." Jake turned over and went off to sleep. Ashley quietly set her phone to vibrate at 5:59am. 

Waking up with the vibrations, she remembered the weird conversation she'd had with Jake. He was still fast asleep - she waited until 5 seconds before 6:00, and slipped her finger into Jake's mouth. 

"Mmmph..wha? Wampt, Ashlumph - N-" 

Loop 88

Jake awoke alone, as usual. Shit, did it work? Before he could figure out how to do some recon, he heard a knock on his door. Ashley slipped in. "Oh my god I woke up in my bed! Does that mean it worked?"

Yeah it worked. "You have no idea what you just did."

"Oh come on this will be fun. So it's really Thanksgiving morning again?" 

"Yeah, it really is. How do you think you're going to get out of this thing? You know we could be stuck here *forever*, right?" 

"Better than growing old and dying. Do we get older? Can we die?"

"I guess I haven't been in the loop long enough to know, but from everything I've worked out, probably not. It's amazing how much Groundhog Day got right." 

Jake had continued collaborating with Claire via text, sending her PDFs of topology and cosmology literature to read. He'd assembled a list of papers that he thought would be helpful; they worked out a system where they would each read one every loop. He wasn't too worried about her learning about his lie about the eddy and the need to increase mass, because it seemed to match well with how things really worked - for all he knew, it was true. He had been hedging a bit in recent loops; he decided he would never tell Claire that he made it up...just that it was a mistake. 

After they snuck some breakfast out of the fridge, each accepting a glass of eggnog from Uncle James, Ashley accompanied Jake to the garage. "So this is how you got so jacked, huh? Ugh, I HATE working out." Ashley watched as Jake went through his sets. She begged off this time, since she didn't have any workout gear. 

"Well you're going to have to find some. Claire actually has some in her room that she probably doesn't need anymore." 

"How did she get so big so fast? You said she's been in about 50 loops with you? And she'd put on 30 pounds before you started looping together?" 

"Yeah...part of her issue is that she'd starved herself the day before, so she'd be extra hungry on Thanksgiving day."

"Ohhh...shit well I definitely didn't starve myself yesterday but I was pretty hungry when I woke up this morning."

"Well, get used to it. You are a crazy person for wanting this. You don't regret it still?" 

"Hey, I think it sounds fun. And I bet you'll find us all a way out of the loop. Just make sure to tell me!" 

Jake thought guiltily about the way out that he'd told Claire. "Yeah I'm not as hopeful as you." 

Later that day, Ashley went to town on dinner - she made little jokes to the rest of the table "man, good thing this is just once a year!" Jake was incredibly turned on, but still confused by Ashley's good spirits. Some people just knew how to make lemonade out of lemons. 

After dinner, Jake was perusing the topology literature, and found what he'd been looking for all this time. Someone had written an article speculating about the possibility of a real-life Groundhog Day. It got almost everything right about their current loop, and it had some incredibly specific conclusions. 

"For individuals trapped in such a time eddy, there would be resonance masses consistent with exit. These sit at approximately 1.725*10^5 g, and integer multiples. However, the Pauli exclusion principle would likely prevent more than one body from utilizing any given resonance exit. In fact..." 

Jake stopped reading. He'd been coming around to something like this idea himself. He did the arithmetic to put it into Freedom Units...damn, 380. For the lucky one. 

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