As they wound their way through high school, at social functions they were expected to be the chubby couple. They always ended up eating more than other people, because, well, that�s what the chubby couple did! As their waist lines grew, so did the abuse they took. By graduation they were certainly on the bottom tier of the in-crowd, along with the quarterback who was caught using steroids. Popular, but behind their back people were always talking.
At graduation Keri was up to 235 lbs, and Martin was a hefty 270. Like many kids making their way after high school, they agonised over choices for life. He was very scientifically minded, and wanted to go to a serious school and pursue engineering. She was more artistic, and wanted to take some time off to see the world before studying history, and perhaps pursuing a painting career.
They decided to put their relationship on hold for a year, and decide what to do then.
Suddenly freed of her role in �the chubby couple�, Keri found a certain freedom. She did backpack about Europe and Asia, making a lot of friends, having a great experience along the way. After a year, she had trimmed down to 170 pounds. She found she rather enjoyed her body this way, it was nimbler, more normal, but still curvy.
Martin on the other hand fell into the normal traps of freshmen. Lots of partying, lots of snacking, and at the end of his first year of university he was just over 300 pounds.
Keri and Martin reunited for the summer, but Martin suddenly felt uncomfortable. While he was now fatter than ever, she had lost a lot of weight, and become more worldly. He didn�t feel that they had the chemistry that they�d had before. The time apart had changed them, and he didn�t think it could work. But he was quiet; he HAD missed her, and was very happy to be back with her.
Keri, on the other hand, was very happy with Martin. She liked how going to school had sharpened his mind, and his new friends had made quite a difference on him. On top of that, she found she relished his new, softer form. All of the guys she had met in the past year seemed so emaciated, so lifeless; she liked the solid reality that Martin represented. She had no idea about Martin�s disaffection.
Near the end of summer she received an invitation to join a friend in Haiti of all places. They were doing some studies on artwork there, how the native, French and Caribbean cultures all interacted, and what greater artistic theories might be portended by this microcosm.
Martin encouraged her to go. Secretly, he hoped that she would find a new love, and save him from having to end things with her. He did love her, but he just didn�t feel comfortable in a relationship with her.
Keri came home to see Martin at Christmas time. In the heat she had sweated off another 20 pounds, but she was pleased to see that Martin had gained 15 pounds of his own. She absolutely adored the stately look the extra weight gave him. He had a gravity, a magnetism that she absolutely loved. Again, Martin felt awkward, no longer part of a chubby couple, he just saw himself as a bit of a fat chump.
Back at school, things changed for Martin. He met a girl who was studying kinesiology in the library. He helped her out with some of the theory she couldn�t understand. They ended up spending a lot of time together. She thought he was really smart, and she really needed the help that he was providing. He thought she was really cute, and why not spend as much time with her as he could?
She coaxed him to join a gym (how could he say no to someone who looked so good in spandex?). She helped him follow a healthy diet, and he found that it helped his studies, as it helped him learn how to focus. By the summer time, Martin had dropped 48 pounds.
Keri came home from Haiti for a couple weeks while the team took a break. She was very excited about how the African culture had affected the local art there, and the theories of political and cultural inverse domination were quite intriguing to her. She had lost a further 10 pounds, but was looking forward to seeing how much more weight Martin had gained.
She was visibly disappointed to see that Martin had lost a tremendous amount of weight. She was very happy to see him, and spend time with him though. She loved him dearly, but the disappointment lingered. Martin could feel the disappointment, he thought it was because she was now in great shape and he was still fat. He vowed to be worthy of her, now that he knew how to work out.
Back at school, he continued his friendship with Justine. But she had more on her mind. She certainly had a crush on the big guy, and watching him work so hard in the gym just made her swoon. One night she set out a nice, romantic dinner and began her efforts to win him.
By that Christmas Martin had lost another 48 pounds, and was in pretty good shape. Keri had maintained her busy lifestyle, and was still trim. In fact, Martin mused, she looked as good as Justine. They had never ever discussed weight, so he brought it up. He thought it was fantastic that she had lost the weight, and that he loved how he felt now.
Keri was caught off guard. She knew that her weight loss was temporary, until she settled into something in a couple years. And she was disappointed in Martin�s weight loss. The discussion got quite heated, and they went their separate ways.
With her project wrapped up, Keri took a vacation and began to soak up the local culture while she could. True to her word, she began to indulge again, and by summer had packed on 20 pounds.
But Justine had gotten her claws into Martin. They were now an item, but Martin hadn�t told Keri. When she said she was going to come to the university to live with him, he said that he�d prefer to keep living alone, because it really helped with his studies. He had trimmed down another 25 pounds, and was becoming quite muscular.
Keri stayed in Haiti, and began to study voodoo magic. She rather liked the concept of a voodoo doll, and certainly liked the idea of creating one to use on Keri! She was a little stressed about his refusal to see her, and she absolutely loved the Caribbean food, she couldn�t get enough, and quickly gained another 30 pounds.
That year for Christmas, Martin brought Justine home to meet his family. Keri was crushed to learn he was dating her, and hadn�t had the decency to even say anything! What was worse, Martin had the nerve to make fun of her weight. He was a very athletic 194, and she was a pudgy 185 pounds.
The next few months were the most intense of both their lives. He was aiming to be top in his class of mechanical engineers; she was delving into the secrets of voodoo magic.
Justine was feeling a little alienated by Martin. He really was focusing hard on his studies, and didn�t really make for as great a boyfriend as study/workout partner. She hoped it would change when school finished.
Keri was having some troubles with the voodoo magic. All her efforts were coming up in failure. One day she made the realisation that voodoo worked by passion. She needed to put her all into it. It wasn�t enough to follow the rituals. In fact, she discovered many aspects of the ritual were intended to draw out the passions that voodoo practitioners would have grown up with. Of course the dances weren�t passionate for her, she hated doing all that moving around, especially since she was gaining weight faster than she ever had.
By graduation Martin had done quite well, 3rd in his class. Justine passed with a bare minimum, but that was okay with her. They had kept up their routines, and Martin was now quite finely formed. He wouldn�t win any bodybuilding contests, but he got a lot of looks when they went to the beach. He was happy to graduate at 189 pounds, almost a hundred less than he had started university!
Justine and Martin took the summer off to recharge before going into the work force. By this time Keri had perfected her craft, and was ready to extract her revenge. She came home, having gained another 35 pounds while in Haiti. It was funny, she hated her fat because it had driven Martin away, and yet she loved it. She loved being chubby, eating good food, it always brought back her great memories from high school. She missed Martin�s round form, and desperately wanted him, and his old body, back.
With many of their classmates graduating, there were several parties that year. Neither Keri nor Martin had kept up with their friends, but both were happy to catch up with everyone!
At the first BBQ Keri was the first to show up. She quickly settled into her role as �the chubby one� and was snacking quite heartily on the chips. As people strolled in, she was pleased to see that she wasn�t the only chubby one anymore. A few of the guys had gained pretty well, and some of the girls were definitely pudgy. But she was still the fattest of the group, even though many complimented her on her weight loss (she was still down about 10 pounds since she last saw them!) They all asked where Martin was, she said she didn�t know. They couldn�t believe they had broken up, everyone had thought that �The Chubby Couple� were the ones who would last.
Martin eventually did show up, with Justine in tow. Everyone was bowled over at how good he looked, and how lucky he was with his bright little Justine. Keri was virtually ignored as people fawned over Martin, who had certainly transformed himself into an alpha male.
Eventually Martin came over to sit with Keri, who was busy munching away off to the side. He was less than kind to his formal girlfriend: �Glad to see you actually came fats. I guess you really are happy being a pig. I�m not, so� have a nice life.�
Keri was humiliated. How could she not be? The life she had hoped to come back to was being cruelly ripped from her. She had learned a lot, and she knew the experiences were good for her. She hated that when she chose to pick up where she left off, Martin wouldn�t have any of it.
That night she set her plan in motion. Since she was an excellent painter, she had learned how to adapt voodoo magic to work by means of painting, rather than using dolls and dances. She crafted a canvas out of one of his old shirts she happened to have. She painstakingly made a brush from his hair that she had collected from an old brush of his. She was prepared to create her masterpiece.
She started out by painting Keri exactly how she remembered him from the BBQ. Once this was complete, she had to wait a week. She painted over his portrait, but this time, it wasn�t how he looked, but how she wanted him to look. There wasn�t much change, really. She knew that the magic was limited by reality. IF she painted 5 arms and green skin, there is no way that would happen, but by painting him a few pounds heavier, he should gain those few pounds.
Sure enough, another �A list� friend had a BBQ a few weeks later. Keri sat quietly by herself, having some drinks, eating her chubby girl share of the snacks. Martin showed up, again with Justine. This time he was dressed a little more conservatively. It was hard to tell, but Keri thought she could see that he had indeed gained a little bit of weight.
Keri had to know for sure if her plan was working. There was a last summer party on Labour day up at someone�s cottage. For sure there would be swimming, so she would get to see Martin in a bathing suit. She went home, and she added another few pounds to her painting of Martin.
Sure enough, Labour Day rolled around, and Keri was at the party, talking with her friends. They talked with her about the fact that she was gaining weight even though Martin was certainly taking care of himself. She said she was always happy with her weight, and it was Martin who was weak minded. Her friends mostly smiled and nodded. They were still young, and �knew� looks were important.
Martin did show up. He was wearing a tracksuit, but Keri could see that he had lost his definition, and was softening up a bit. Justine was there, with her tight little body in a tight little bikini. Keri didn�t know her, but didn�t like her either. After a few beers Martin was finally convinced to go for a swim. Justine was embarrassed when Martin revealed he was wearing a speedo that was at least one size too tight, forming a little roll around his waist. Keri was pleased to see that her voodoo was working.
That night Martin was talking with Justine. �You know, I haven�t done anything different. I�m still eating the same, I�m still working out the same, I don�t know WHY I�ve gained 20 pounds!�
Justine shot back that he must obviously be cheating on his diet somehow. She would watch him like a hawk, and get him to exercise more.
Keri went home gleefully. She stopped off to get a family meal from KFC before getting back to her voodoo portrait of Martin. She agonised between bites of chicken, how big to make Martin. She had to make it realistic, because she didn�t know how far she could make the curse work. And also, too much and he might suspect something. She licked her fingers, threw out the bucket of bones (if only she could do the same to that bag of bones Justine), and set to work. She lamented that with the summer over, her chances of running into Martin were slim any time soon.
Eventually Keri did have to find a job, as the grant money she�d managed to save up was running out. Luckily, she managed to find a job as a travel agent. Her knowledge of �authentic� Caribbean culture helped her out immensely, and she specialised in Haiti. She actually cross specialised in �size friendly� travel. She researched which airlines, cruise lines and resorts were more accommodating than others.
Keri also had a sideline as a �starving artist�. She sold paintings for little more than the cost of materials. She really liked doing it, so she didn�t feel the need to charge for it. She was skilled in several styles, but mostly sold landscapes or Haitian town settings for people to hang in their living rooms. Every once in a while she would revisit her painting of Martin, and add a few more pounds to his rounding portrait. She could only dream that it was having her desired effect.
As luck would have it, a couple of their friends were getting married next summer, but they had a Christmas party to celebrate with all their friends. Keri was quite excited, hoping that she would run into Martin. She had to go out to buy a new cocktail dress, the last one she bought didn�t seem to fit very well.
Martin was nervous about attending. He hadn�t seen his friends since the summer, and he�d gained more than 30 pounds since then! He couldn�t figure out why. He was eating like a rabbit. Justine was riding him hard, he spent all his free time exercising, and yet he had a gut, a double chin and was getting saggy all over. Justine had stepped up her own exercise habits. She was a personal trainer now, and was becoming quite a hard body. She was very disappointed in Martin, and knew that he must be cheating somehow. If he was going to lie about how much he ate, what else would he lie about?
At the party Keri sat with a couple friends who were pregnant. They said that they could finally appreciate being �a fat girl� like Keri. Of course, the biggest of them was at most 160 lbs Keri figured. At that point Keri wondered how much she herself weighed. She hadn�t stepped on a scale since Martin �officially� dumped her at 185 pounds. She was sure she weighed more than that, but didn�t really pay close attention. She was more obsessed with her portrait of Martin.
She was not disappointed at all. Martin strolled into the party wearing a black suit, in an attempt to hide his girth. Keri was pretty sure he looked like her portrait of him, she was pretty happy to see this. Justine had also changed. She was becoming quite muscular, and wasn�t shy to show it off. She wore a tight dress that showed off her rippling muscles.
Martin actually sat with Keri for a little bit. He talked about his job working for an automotive sub-contractor. It was a lot of fun, and he was very good at it. Keri knew he was with her because he couldn�t face the other people with his new weight, so he went to someone he was comfortable with. Keri was happy to have him �normal� for a little bit, but it didn�t last, as Justine tracked him down, and forced him to mingle with a few of his �more influential friends�. She even shot Keri a nasty look that her pregnant friends even commented on.
Justine was very unhappy with Martin for sitting with Keri. She was sure he was seeing her on the side, maybe while at work? She even accused him of it, it was obvious they were both fat, they probably got fat together. Martin protested his innocence, but to no avail. He also discussed that he wasn�t so fond of Justine�s increasing muscles. She shot back that a fat ass has no right to criticise someone in great shape.
Keri did a lot of travelling for her work, so she could get first hand experience with different places. People said good things on the phone, but of course it�s not always true. Because she was gaining a reputation for sending a lot of business their way, prospective resorts were more than happy to give her the royal treatment. She ate very well on her trips, and enjoyed first class accommodations while travelling, but always insisted on inspecting the coach seating for plus size suitability.
On one flight she sat down in a seat and told the stewardess that there was no way it was suitable for a plus size passenger. If her hips were touching the armrests, just how could someone who was fat sit there? The stewardess got a very awkward look on her face. �Um, well, how much fatter than you are these people?�. Keri simply replied that some would be at least twice her size, some over 400 pounds. The stewardess just smiled and said that she would look into it for her.
Keri looked back at the seat, and noticed other people sitting. The �thin� people had plenty of room in their seats. She looked around, and saw some fatter people, they were sitting comfortably in the seats too. When she got home from her trip, Keri took a look at herself in a full length mirror. She hadn�t done that in years, she suddenly realised. Her own appearance had been so inconsequential; she had no idea that she had gotten this fat! She hopped up on her scale, but discovered it only went to 260 pounds. She hunted around for a larger scale. She tried one in the store that went to 300. It said she weighed 293.
She wondered how this had happened. Had her painting affected her too? Had someone else cursed her? The wedding was coming up soon; she hoped to see Martin there. He should be about 40 pounds heavier himself.
Sure enough, he was there at the wedding. She could see him waddling up to the pew where he and an ever stronger Justine were going to sit. During the reception they had been all put at the same table. Justine�s disgust with Martin was obvious. Keri was very pleased with her results so far. She was wondering just how big she could get him to grow. When Justine went to the lady�s room, Martin talked with Keri.
�Well, I�m glad to see you like being fat again. I�m up to 292 pounds now! I can�t understand it. I�m eating like I�m anorexic; I�m working out like some sort of fanatic. Justine is making me miserable.�
�Yes, I do like being fat. I love it. I�m not eating like a rabbit, I�m not punishing my body, and I�m not living with She-Hulk. I hope you like the life you�ve settled into.� At that she left to go home. She hated walking out on her friends, but she didn�t want to make a scene either.
Justine still didn�t trust Martin. She hired a detective to follow him and Keri. She said that any expense would be covered. Frank agreed, and began to follow Martin and Keri. He started with Martin, and found his life rather mundane. He worked, he worked out, and that was it. He never went anywhere without Justine, and just slept when she wasn�t around.
Frank then followed Keri. She travelled a lot while he tailed her. He went to two Caribbean resorts, and one on the Riviera. Frank rather enjoyed this assignment. He was a closet fat admirer, and could watch Keri all day long. He was impressed by how much she could eat, but then given her body, he wasn�t all that surprised.
After a couple of months Justine wanted the report from Frank. Frank had to tell her the truth, that Martin never came anywhere close to Keri. Further, Martin led the dullest life he had ever had to tail. Going over the expenses Justine flipped to see the trips that Frank had charged.
�Hey, it�s tough to get to those places cheap on short notice. I did what I could, but those are the places that Keri knows well, if I called in special favours, she might�ve noticed me!�
Justine refused to pay. Frank got angry, he had used up most of cash reserves on this assignment, and would be in serious trouble if Justine wouldn�t cover even his base fees. She refused to believe him, suggesting he must�ve been in league with Keri and Martin trying to get to her.
Frank was desperate; he wouldn�t be able to survive another month without his payment. He had let himself get a little overextended. Normally he wouldn�t, knowing full well how his business was unpredictable, but he had very much enjoyed following Keri to her exotic locations. He made a rash decision. He rang Keri�s doorbell.
She was surprised to see him, but he quickly explained everything, including the infatuation he had with her. Keri was disgusted with Frank, but then thought about it, and realised it was unfair. Justine was the monster here, and Frank was just doing his job. And he was cute too.
They had dinner out together (her treat), and talked. Keri had been doing pretty well, she had few expenses in life because of the perks of her job. She had a comfortable savings. She wasn�t about to hand it over to him, but she felt a little responsible. After all, it wasn�t her fault she was so damn cute, Martin was so damn fat and Justine was so damn insane.
Keri and Frank began to date. Keri did help Frank stay on his feet until new business came along and he could get his career and finances back on track. Keri was now aware of her weight; she loved her body, and enjoyed the attention that Frank paid her. She was as happy as her heyday with Martin, but she had little doubt that this wouldn�t last.
With her time being more occupied, Keri ate less when she was home, and she (and Frank) noticed that her weight gain slowed. Not that it stopped. She still ate well on business, and when he was on a case. However, she did not let him know about her voodoo painting skills.
But, he WAS a detective, and eventually asked about the painting. Keri tried to play dumb, but after about 3 seconds knew it wouldn�t work. She explained how he had changed, and how she hoped if he gained weight, he�d change back, and she could be happy again. She had never counted on Justine gumming things up. Frank thought this was ironic, that in fact Keri HAD fattened up Martin as Justine suspected. Just not in any way he could discover.
By now it was New Year�s. Frank made Keri resolve to gain more weight. She was more than happy to oblige. Keri asked Frank to get her some pictures of Martin. He should have gained more weight by now.
Indeed he had, in fact, he was now 362 pounds. Justine had taken Martin to the doctor to see if they could prove he was over eating. The results were mixed, Martin had spent 3 days in isolation, without any extra food, and yet his blood tests indicated he was eating an enormous amount! They couldn�t explain it, other than to suppose he had triggered some sort of hyper metabolism, and he would keep gaining weight. He should keep up the diet and exercise, or else he might die. They wanted to study him more, but Martin would have no part of it. He felt vindicated and just wanted to get on with his life, fat and all.
Frank found the whole thing great. He was deeply in love with Keri, so he liked the idea of Martin being punished for hurting her. On the other hand, Frank knew that Justine was the real person behind Martin. Indeed, she is the one that really needed to suffer. Her took several pictures of her and requested Keri work her voodoo on Justine as well.
Keri kicked herself for never thinking of that. She had been perfecting her control over the voodoo magic, and now knew what the limits were. She had been but playing with Martin with how much weight she could make him gain. However, she also knew that Martin had been punished enough. Justine, on the other hand, was about to learn just how cruel life can be.
Frank�s loathing of Justine was certainly palpable, and Keri could use that energy in her painting her curse. It was tough for Keri to get samples of Justine�s hair, and even harder to find a discarded personal item large enough to use as a canvas. But Frank worked his own �magic� and managed to acquire enough hair, and an oversized sweater she wore while working (so as not to intimidate clients with her physique.)
Keri did her painting, based on Frank�s photographs. It looked just like her, with a highly developed, de-feminised physique. By now Martin had ballooned to 460 pounds. Keri had developed a waddle (which Frank absolutely loved) to carry her 350 lb frame around. Keri had always planned to let Martin level off around 500 pounds, but she didn�t know what she wanted to do with Justine yet.
They started her off modestly. Over the next couple of months, Justine�s physique returned to it�s old form. She was soft, feminine, and just a bit curvy. This drove her nuts! She worked so hard on her body, and it just vanished, like that. Frank was keeping tabs on Martin and Justine. Keri was pleased to know that Martin was enjoying himself much more, as Justine paid him very little attention any more.
Out of the blue, Keri and Martin were invited to a Year�s Party by some of their friends. They hadn�t seen their friends since that wedding a year ago. Though Keri and Frank were familiar with how Martin and Justine looked, Martin and Justine had no idea Frank and Keri were together. In fact, Martin had never met Frank (that he knew of).
Keri had kept her New Year�s resolution to Frank. This past year had added 60 pounds to her frame. Nothing, of course, compared to the 140 pounds that she had painted onto Martin. But she had gotten to enjoy her weight, earning every pound one tasty calorie after another. Thanks to the help of Frank, she absolutely loved her 380 pounds. He was very attentive to her needs, and he obviously worshipped her form.
Being early to the party, Keri was certainly the centre of attention. It was hard to miss how much weight she had gained. Several of the other guests were in fact fatter than she and Martin had been back in their �chubby couple� days, but no one held a candle to Keri. That is, until Martin waddled in. He was absolutely enormous, 500 pounds or so stuffed into a giant tuxedo. He walked ponderously around to meet people, and there was a lot of murmuring he was acutely aware of. Including many people wondering what had become of his little Justine.
Martin explained that she was parking the car, and would be up shortly. Jaws dropped as she finally entered. After toying with her physique for a few months, Keri had let Justine have it. She had piled on 70 pounds in a few months. She was embarrassed to be seen by these people, who had last seen her at her best. She tried to enjoy the party, but when she ran into Frank with Keri she was mortified.
�You! You did this to me! I don�t know how, I don�t know when, but this,� she grabbed the flab around her stomach and shook it, �is YOUR fault. And that,� she pointed at Martin who was happily talking to another couple who had gotten soft with age, �is your fault too! I will find out how you did it!�
But Justine never did find out. Police laughed at her accusation. Doctor�s had the same puzzled results that had with Martin. Oddly, Martin�s metabolism had returned to normal. He lost some weight as exercise and diet caught up with him. In fact, Keri finally broke her curse over Martin. He had gotten what he deserved, and she was happy now.
With Justine�s sanity slipping, Martin moved out to live on his own. He had made some great breakthroughs, and had caught the eye of a girl at work. She admired his professionalism, but found his comfort with is weight very intriguing. Martin did continue to lose weight. He was just conditioned to exercise, and it helped him think. His diet did change, and he started to enjoy eating again.
Justine�s mystery illness continued. Her activities became quite bizarre, and she was put into an asylum where she continued to grow, despite any medical efforts to help her. She spent her days in a padded room, though her 600 pound form was well padded itself. Indeed, once she was locked away, Keri forgot about her cursed painting of Justine, and it stayed in storage, with the painting of the deranged behemoth gathering dust.
Keri and Frank eventually got married. She waddled down the aisle aglow at 425 pounds, where her weight stabilised. Martin was at the wedding, down to 452 pounds. He was happy with his new girlfriend who didn�t want to change him, and he was happy for Keri, the woman he had always loved, and wished he had been worthy of.