An Accidental Midriff

The Tummy Tutor - Part 3

"...Oh my god I KNOW, I can't believe he said that. She's totally gonna break up with him," Carol chuckled

"Yeah, totally! I don't know why she hasn't already," chimed in Maggie. Stephanie rolled her eyes as she accommodated the school supplies in her locker. She wasn't much for gossip and could only mutter simple 'yeahs' and 'uh huhs' whenever someone was letting her in on some juicy school rumors. She preferred to keep to herself and believed that getting involved in drama meant asking for trouble. Still, Carol and Maggie were perhaps the closest thing she had to any real friends, and so she did her best to entertain their snoopish behavior. They're not the best of friends, but they'll be there when I need them... I hope.

Suddenly, the feeling in the air seemed to shift, and a pungent smell reached her nostrils. She was glad she wasn't the only one smelling it; Carol had stopped gossiping and made a revolted face. Maggie gagged. Stephanie looked around for the source and that's when she heard it. 

"Hello Stephanie." 

Her heart dropped when she realized that the thing creating the awful smell was coming toward her. Josh waved one of his droopy arms and struggled to carry the rest of his gear with the other. She looked nervously at her friends. 

"Ugh, what does he want?" snickered Carol in her ear. 

"I.. uh.." Stephanie whispered back. He's getting close. "Oh, hey, Josh." She tried to be as polite as possible as she flashed a smile and threw the clump of supplies that she was organizing back into her locker. She still needed to zip up her backpack and grab her binders but by then her friends had begun walking away. She bent over and tried to gather her things from the floor as quickly as she could but it was too late. Before she knew it, she was staring at two massive worn down shoes. They seemed to groan with the burden of carrying the immense weight of their wearer. The stench was potent, and he stood much closer to her than she would have liked. As she straightened back up, she almost bumped her head on his massive gut, which effused a rotting smell. 

Her eyes met his, and where he observed a delicate beauty, she was confronted with a hungry, piggish gaze. She looked back hopelessly at her friends. Without letting Josh see, they both made faces of utter disgust and continued walking toward the cafeteria. So much for them. She felt a tap on her shoulder from Josh. Feeling abandoned, she swallowed and turned back around. His mouth was open, and before a word had even come out, she was bombarded with his foul-smelling breath. She winced as he talked. 

"Hey, I just wanted to come up and say hello. We're in a bunch of classes together, that's pretty cool isn't it?" He adjusted his backpack strap.

"Yup! That's really cool." I've got to get out of here. "Hey.. I've got to—",

Josh sensed her resistance and countered with conversation: "Oh hey, I heard you made the cheerleading team. That's awesome, congrats! As I'm sure you know, I'm the drum major, sort of like the band leader. We're kind of the same now! We both hype up the audience and inspire the team!" he beamed and showed his yellow teeth as he smiled. "Pretty cool, huh?" 

"Umm.. yeah you can see it that way." She gave him a fake smile. To her dismay, it only seemed to invigorate him even more. His eyes drifted down to her midriff, and she sucked in her tummy a bit as she remembered how small her shirt was. It had been a couple of days since she had talked to Ben. Life and the hectic school routine had gotten in the way of their 'relationship'—if you can even call it that. She was ecstatic that he seemed interested in her, but was also frustrated that he didn't seem to be paying her much attention at times. She couldn't be mad at him though, she hardly had the courage to walk up to him and ask him to hang out. She was shy, and he might not be as interested in her as she was in him. This vortex of doubt and insecurity drove her mad, but the tension only made her want him more. That morning, she awoke with an instilled sense of determination. Though she still didn't think she had the courage to walk up to him, she did muster up enough nerve to wear something she wasn't quite used to wearing. The red and white striped top was something she had picked up a long time ago. She had never worn it back when it used to fit, and it sat in her drawer undisturbed. Years had gone by, and the fabric itself had become old and shriveled. When she rediscovered it that morning, it took a couple of shakes to straighten out the wrinkles and creases. The bottom, however, was stubborn and folded upward. No matter how hard she tried to straighten it, it continued to roll upward and revealed more of her soft tummy. She tried her hardest not to mind it. Besides, Ben had been so enamored by her belly that she hoped showing a bit of it off would make something, anything, happen. 

But she was having second thoughts now. Josh's eyes were ogling her like a piece of savory meat, and she couldn't help but pull her crop top down a couple of hopeless inches. I screwed up. 

Josh caught sight of her exposed and irresistibly smooth lower tummy and was glad she couldn't do a thing about it. "Aren't you afraid of getting dresscoded?" he asked shamelessly and pointed down to the bare skin with a fat finger. 

Stephanie looked down and sheepishly accommodated her shirt as best she could. A couple of inches of lower tummy remained visible. "A little.. I mean, yeah. But if they do say something about it, I have a sweater in my P.E. locker anyway. I can just put that one on instead of getting an ugly loaner from the office." 

Josh could barely contain himself as a marvelous idea popped into his meaty head. He couldn't help but grin at the mischievous thought but covered it up as best he could with a crooked smile. "Yeah. You wouldn't want to get in trouble for having your belly out." His finger shot out rapidly and poked Stephanie's soft and pudgy lower belly. She flinched back and looked around uncomfortably. Can this guy just leave already? 

But Josh wasn't done yet: "Hey! So I heard that you're having a test tomorrow in Garcia's class. We should meet up afterschool so I can give you my old study guides!" 

"Uhh, that's really sweet of you but I think I'm just going to wing it."

"Aww come on!"

"No, no seriously, I have a physics test too and I already told Carol I would study with her for that and—"

"Look, look, I guarantee you're going to do well tomorrow if you take a look at them. I got an A in the class," he shrugged, "so can you."

Stephanie thought about it. Spanish was perhaps her least favorite class, and her grades showed for it. She was in danger of failing, and that meant putting her cheerleading career at risk. Her GPA couldn't get any lower or she would hit the point of no return. 

"Can't you just hand over the study guides right now?" she asked. 

"No, no I need to be there to talk you through it. Besides, for a language class you need someone to practice with." He adjusted his bag again. "We could even use the study room in the library, and I could tummy.. Uh, I mean, tutor you for an hour or something?" He replied eagerly. 

Stephanie subconsciously pulled her crop top down again. Her fingers grazed silky skin, and Josh trembled excitedly. The thought of hanging out with Josh irked her. But, this might be her only hope for passing Spanish. 

"..Yeah, okay," she said uneasily. 

"Great!" Josh blurted. "So meet afterschool in the study room." He couldn't believe he might actually have a shot at this. 

"Alright, I might be a little late since I have P.E. and I have to change and all that but I'll see you there," she lacked enthusiasm but managed to at least fake a smile. 

"No worries," Josh replied. He sneaked a final glance at her waist. Her love handles subtly poured out of her tight jeans and gave her the most squeezable appearance. He imagined her in a tiny tummy-baring crop top and felt a warmth rush through his gigantic body. He said goodbye with the same yellow smile and waddled toward the cafeteria. 

Stephanie gathered her things and waited for Josh to have a hefty lead before heading toward the cafeteria as well. What did I just get myself into?