Jen stood in the fitting room, nervous. Graduation was only a few weeks away. The tailor walked around, measuring her. She would need custom robes at her current rate of expansion. Even though she'd measured herself only a week prior, she estimated that she had probably put on almost 20 more lbs of water weight. Or juice weight, she thought.
The tailor stood up after taking her final measurements. "I should be able to get something made for you, Jen. I'll even include a bit of extra fabric, in case you, well..."
"...Grow." Jen completed her sentence. She was getting tired of everyone stepping around what was happening to her. She was turning into a giant berry, like every other carpotrophy sufferer. Granted, she was still the only one in the tri-state area, but still.
"Anything for our growing girl," her mom said, with a pained smile. This was not how she wanted her daughter's graduation to go. In the span of a few months she'd gone from the star cheerleader to... a doomed soon-to-be berry. She could only hope her daughter wouldn't grow too large.
--
Jen browsed the internet for more resources about her disease. Inspirational stories were everywhere about people overcoming their newfound berrydom, but Jen was concerned. Many of the sufferers seemed to top out at about how large she was now. Still mobile, still able to waddle. What worried her, however, were the ones who got bigger. Many of their stories recounted putting on 20, 30, even 50 lbs of juice weight per week, growing until their heads were pushed up and their limbs were engulfed. She couldn't imagine what they went through...
--
Jen squeezed into the classroom. Her belly rubbed against both doorframes, almost causing her to get stuck. None of the students looked her in the eye, but they all looked at her. Most in shock. Kyle could barely contain his laughter at her predicament. She waddled to the table at the front, where a specially reinforced seat waited for her. She could still move her arms relatively normally. For now, most of her expansion was limited to her belly and ass, giving her a particular shape. She felt her juice slosh as she sat, and she took her graduation exams.
8 hours later and she was free, waddling back to her parents' car. She couldn't stand being in public anymore, she was like a spectacle. Even her former friends didn't want to be near her, for fear they might catch it. PSAs had been going around, telling people not to drink the juice of a carpotrophy sufferer, since that's how it spreads. People gave her a wide berth.
Graduation was similar. She had acceptable grades on her exams, enough to graduate. The graduation ceremony went as smoothly as it could when you have almost 500 lbs of juice sloshing around. Her robes still fit thanks to the tailor's adjustments, but barely.
However, she dreaded summer. There was nothing she could do, only sit around, grow, and visit her doctor.
--
Two months had passed. A sweltering heat wave struck the area, though A/C helped keep Jen cool. In the two months since graduation, she hadn't seen any of her friends. Much to her dismay, her swelling had increased.
She looked at her body in the mirror. It was round now. Though juice had begun to accumulate in her thighs, her torso had started to engulf them, pushing her expanded legs out a little bit. She had an extremely bowlegged waddle now, instead of a stride. Her mobility was also becoming much worse much more quickly than she had feared, now weighing nearly 700 lbs. She had difficulty bending her arms, now, too, as her upper arms filled with juice. She cried, and her mom comforted her, before getting her something to eat.
--
Jen waddled into the doctor's office.
"Hello, Jennifer," Dr. Kerguelen greeted the berry.
"Hi," Jen said, coughing a bit. It was getting harder for her to speak.
"Since your growth hasn't begun to slow, I think you should consider becoming a resident at a recently opened research resort. It's for carpotrophy suffers, over in California. I know you've spent your whole life here in Glendale, but they could really provide you with a very high quality of life, compared to how alone you must feel here."
Jen nodded. She really didn't want to leave, but living in her parents' house was becoming more difficult, and being near other berries was enticing. She was so alone nowadays.
"Now, I can't force you to go, but I really think you should consider it. It's a state of the art facility, specially designed for berryfolk like yourself. They just finished construction last year, and are looking for their first 20 residents. I think they could do a better job of helping you adjust than anyone in this state, frankly, or this coast."
"I-I want to," Jen said. It was an immediate decision. She was tired of how her parents looked when they saw her, their disappointment was crushing. "When can I leave?" She had so many things to learn about her new body, and a facility specially designed to cater to her needs sounded perfect. She could also meet other berries, without the fear of rejection as she had gotten from her friends.