Anthony couldn't help but breathe with relief. With the waist of his jeans torn out, there was a lot less discomfort. The legs of the jeans were still much too tight, however. The same went for his shirt, which was starting to get uncomfortably small.
He tugged at his shirt awkwardly. "The first thing we need to do is get some clothes that don't feel like they're going to squeeze me to death."
Bewildered Mae vigorously shook her head. "What?! No! The first thing we need to do is get you to a doctor."
Anthony sneered. "And what fucking good is that going to do me?" He winced. It was as though cursing left a bad taste in his mouth all of a sudden. "This is not an allergic reaction. I'm just... you know." He grabbed the flab sitting at his waste and shook it again. He could feel the weight shift and the jiggle reverberate throughout his flabby torso. He was definitely overweight, verging on outright fat.
Mae merely continued to shake her head in protest. "But that can't- It doesn't- Ugh!" She squeezed her eyes shut in annoyance. She stopped, calmed herself, and opened her eyes again, giving Anthony a good look over.
For one thing, if he was really swelling this much, he wouldn't be able to breathe and would probably choked on his tongue long ago. Not to mention his skin would have ripped open from all the internal stress. But he seemed fine. In fact, his swelling looked more like fatty weight gain than anything else. But people didn't just put on weight out of thin air. It just didn't make any sense.
She sighed. "Alright, look, I have no idea what's going on anymore. I still think you should see a doctor, but I can't force you to go. It's your call, Anthony. If it were me, I'd try to remember when this all started. Have you eaten or done anything weird today?"
Anthony shrugged. "I felt fine until just a little bit ago. I mean, I felt really out of breath when walking to here from the original classroom."
Mae nodded, deep in though. "Yeah, we could try retracing your steps. Maybe you came into contact with something on the way."
Anthony raised a dark eyebrow, causing his forehead to crease more than usual. "We? You don't have to come with me. I don't want you to miss class on my account."
She decided to ignore the odd, rare moment where Anthony expressed selflessness. "Hey, it beats a two hour lecture any day. Come on."
As they walked, Anthony could already feel he'd ballooned some during their short conversation. Despite the added space of the torn waistband, the jeans were starting to feel tight again, and the shirt was even tighter. Looking down he could see the fabric being drawn tight across the growing sphere of his belly, a dimple in the fabric indicating his belly button.
Of course, part of Anthony was panicking. He’d suddenly gone from fit to fat in the matter of… well, he wasn’t sure how long exactly, but it was fast! And he was still getting fatter, it felt like.
Yet another part of him was more accepting of his predicament. Sure, he’d put on some weight, but that tended to happen as you got older. What really mattered was making use of the time you had and who you spent it with. If the price of happiness was a few extra pounds, he was okay with that.
Possibly what frightened him the most was that second part of himself. He was only 19! Why was he thinking like an old man?
Walking all the way back up to the far corner of the campus was taking even longer this time. He had to keep asking Mae to slow down, as he couldn’t quite keep the pace that he used to. He was also feeling a dull ache in his lower back and ankles. Not to mention the increased sweat.
As he walked, he wiped his forehead with his hand, as he was positively dripping. Odd, it felt like there was a lot more forehead than before. He ran a hand through his hair, finding his hairline was much higher than it should be. He flipped on his phone camera and observed the damage. His hairline seemed to have hiked up several inches, especially at the temples. The leading edge at the middle looked thinner than the surrounding hair. His face also seemed to have filled out quite a big, and the flesh under his chin had drooped considerably, causing his jawline to be completely hidden by fat. He did not look like a kid fresh out of high school. He could pass for a man in his mid-thirties easily.
“Shhhhoot!” For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to cuss. Especially in front of a nice young girl like Mae.
Mae turned to look back at him. “Anthony, is everything alright?” Her eyes widened.
Anthony returned her look and shrugged.
Mae’s pace quickened. “We’ve got to hurry.”
It took them a full 15 minutes to reach the far corner of the campus. In that time, Anthony’s shirt was soaked at the armpits, and had risen up, unable to keep his growing stomach covered. Anthony winced as he tried to keep the pace in the now tiny jeans he was still wearing. His hair had also receded several more inches, with a sizable bald spot forming at the back.
“Wait here.” Mae ran up and down the empty hall and tried to door to the classroom. It was locked. She glanced around, helpless. “Damn! I thought we might find something. You know, like a clue or…. Or, ugh! I don’t know what I was looking for.”
Anthony attempted to rest in a nearby chair in the hall. There was a loud ripping noise as the seat of his pants finally split wide open, causing Anthony’s round face to flush in embarrassment.
Mae did her best to ignore it. “Okay, fine. Nothing here. But at least we looked. Where were you before coming here? Your dorm room, yeah? We should look there, next.”
Anthony did not want to walk the whole length of the campus for the fourth time. “No.”
Mae frowned. “Anthony, I know you’re tired, but you’re only getting worse. We need to figure out just what’s happening to you.”
Anthony sighed. “No. Clothes first. Then we move on.”
“But- “
“Clothes. First.”
There was something akin to a gift shop at the campus. It was conjoined with the campus book store, but sold all kinds of items with the sports team mascot plastered on them. This included clothing. It was also much closer than his dorm room was, which was a plus.
Anthony picked out some clothes he hoped would fit him, for the time being, anyway. He did get odd looks from the cashier, what with Anthony dressed in a much too small shirt and shredded jeans. Thankfully, there weren’t any other customers at the moment, so it was totally worth it.
He took his new finds to the nearest men’s’ room and changed into his new clothes. The fit surprisingly well, though it was embarrassing to be wearing an XXL shirt and size 48 shorts. As he dressed, he felt a tingling, prickling on his upper lip. He scratched at it, surprised to find hair there. He looked in the bathroom mirror, shocked at what he saw.
Above his upper lip, he’d grown a full, black mustache. He’d also lost the last of his hair on top his scalp, leaving just the fringe at the sides. Dressed in an untucked, button-up shirt and cargo shorts, along with his greatly increased weight, loss of his hair, and new lip fur, he looked like he could be somebody’s dad. Hell, with the sprinkling of gray throughout his fringe, he looked old enough to be his own dad.
“Holy heck.”
The worst part was he didn’t half mind it.
The Chronivac interface on Anthony's computer beeped. Transformation on subject Anthony into Package: Suburban Dad (45) complete.