Cathy was eating lunch that Saturday when she got a call from her boyfriend, Scott.
"Hey, babe. Me and my friends are going to go to a bar tonight, and we're all bringing our girls, so I'm gonna need you to go."
"Scott, I can't go to a party tonight. I have to study for the exam tomorrow."
He laughed. "You'll make time for it." Then he hung up.
Cathy shoved the phone in her pocket. She was so frustrated with Scott that she wanted to scream. He was very bossy, often telling her what to do. She had been putting up with it for six months now.
"Katie, I gotta tell you something."
"Yo, Cathy, wassup? Is it about our session tonight?"
"Yeah, it is. Scott wants me to go to a bar with him." Katie sighed on the other end.
"Cat, you know he's no good! He's just using you like some sorta trophy. He loves you like a farmer loves weevils. Not at all."
Cathy was exasperated. "Katie, I know he's a scumbag, but, I just can't do it. I'm... I'm..."
"Look," Katie said. "If you can't get rid of him, I get it. But you gotta do something before he takes you down with him. Anyway, I had this cool dream last night, where I was in one of those Tron cycles, y'know? But it was real trippy. You?"
"No, nothing, I..." She paused. "I had a dream with a lion in it. It was big, and it had a beautiful red mane. I remember, I sort of merged with it. I had a tail, too." She paused. "I found this strange medallion, with a lion on it. Remember how they re-discovered magic a few years back?" Silence. "Maybe it's magical."
Katie just laughed. "Girl, just cause you're called Cat doesn't mean you gotta be one." Then she hung up.
..........
The bar was quite crowded. Scott sat at his table, watching a hockey game. Cathy was at a table with all of his friends girlfriends.
"So," Said one of them "What do you like about Scott, Cathy?"
"Hmm?" Cathy had been engrossed in staring at her nail. It looked oddly blunt for some reason. Like it should have been longer.
"Oh, uh Scott?" She said. "He's, uh, he's okay, I guess..." Then she went back to staring at her nails.
"Hey, ladies, what are you gonna have to eat?"
"Ah, I'm going to get the caeser salad," Said the one closest to the waiter. "Everyone else?"
Most of the girls said same, except for Cathy, who looked at the front of the menu. "EAT THE TEN POUND MONSTRO-MEAT PLATE AND GET FREE FOOD FOR A MONTH." Proclaimed the cover.
"I'll get this, thank you."
The other girls looked at her in disbelief. "Honey, you can't eat that! You'll never finish it!"
"Sorry, I'm just so hungry."
A good 30 minutes later, the waiter came out with a ginourmous ten pound burger, complete with mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon, and onions. A second waiter trailed behind him. He carried a 20 piece chicken nugget meal. Behind him, a third held a large platter of waffle fries. And lastly, the fourth and final waiter gave Cathy a large soda.
"Your time starts now."
Cathy picked up the burger. "Kinda small." With one bite, she took out half a pound. She chewed for 30 seconds. Then she swallowed.
She spent five minutes devouring the burger. With each bite, juice ran down her chin, and mayo dripped onto her shirt. She didn't care, and just continued eating, lapping up the juice with her tongue.
The burger was soon conquered, and without hesitation, she grabbed a handful of fries and wolfed them down. It wasn't long before the fries had met the same fate as the burger.
The nuggets went down without any pause. She ate them all, four at a time. It took less than a minute.
Finally, she picked up the soda, a large cola. Cathy removed the lid, and deposited the entirety of the beverage down her throat.
She had eaten the monstro-meat plate.
The waiter stopped by the table. "How are we do-" He stopped, and gawked at the empty plate.
"But... But... You, how, how could..." The waiter fainted. Cathy smiled. "Dinners on the house, tonight, girls."
Cathy looked down and gasped. Where she expected to find a bloated stomach, she instead found that she looked very much the same. She had eaten enough for 2 families, and yet she was still fit and trim.
Deciding to chalk it up to an act of god, Cathy approached Scott, still watching the game.
"So, Scott, guess who just got us free dinner."
"Hold up, babe, I'm watching the game."
Cathy stuttered "B, B, But, didn't you just..."
"WHAT THE HELL!" Scott screamed at the T.V. "THAT WAS A LEGITIMATE PLAY!" He turned to look at Cathy. "You couldn't wait, huh? What's your fuckin' problem?"
"Scott, I just wanted to-" Scott interjected. "No, Cathy, let me tell you how it us. I do what I gotta do, you shut up and do what I want you to do, got it?"
Cathy felt anger well up inside of her. She wanted to hurt him, to grab him by the arm and hurl him out a window.
But she just sat down "Yes sweetie."
As she turned, she heard him say "Lazy bitch. Couldn't pull her own weight if it was a feather."
And then she cracked.