Glaring at the talk show currently on his television, Odd frowned and grabbed yet another handful of doritos and stuffing them into his mouth. Readjusting himself in the leather recliner in his living room, he began to channel surf once again.
He had never before felt so stupid in his life.
His Chemistry Midterm, which he had thought to have been on Friday of that week one month ago, had actually been on Wednesday.
Imagine his shock and horror as his Chemistry teacher had passed out the exam. He had spent fifteen minutes of the class just staring at the paper in outrgiht ramification. And while, once he managed to get over his shock, did try his utmost on the test, the result was inevitable.
He failed, coming only a few points short of passing.
Though even if he had gotten those few extra points, the result would have only been a low D, a far cry away from the high C he had needed.
And thus, while the Coach had despised having to do so, he had had to kick Odd off of the team.
What's worse, having been shaken up by his release from the team, Odd had been too despondent to properly stuady for the midterms in his other classes, garnering lackluster marks in the rest of his classes as well.
Disgusted with himself, Odd had become more withdrawn, and began staying inside surfing the net, but mostly watching television on even the sunniest of Saturdays, though those were becoming more and more infrequent with the arrival of Winter and Christmas break.
Now the holidays had come and gone, and Odd was loathe to return to school after the break of nearly a month on Monday, the day after tomorrow.
Raising an eyebrow as he heard the doorbell ring, Odd sighed before heaving himseld up to go see who was disturbing him on such a wonderful day to b lazy. He wasn't exactly presentable in a crumb-covered tank top and his boxers, but oh well.
Looking through the peephole in his front door, Odd found his visitor to be none other than Ulrich, clad in jeans and a light jacket appropriaye for the nippyness outside.
Opening the door to let his friend in, Odd shivered as the cold air rushed in as well, wrapping itself around his bare legs.
"Hey Ulrich." Odd muttered boredly as he quickly shut the door, "What brings you here today? How'd your break go?"
"Nothing really, my break went well. Just though I'd drop by. Thought you might wanna run or jump?" Ulrich asked as he walked over to find a seat on the leather sofa in the room, brushing away a few plastic twinkies wrappers in doing so.
Odd snorted.
"Why would I want to shoot some hoops? I'm not on team." Odd said, as Ulrich sighed. "We've been over this Ulrich; I'm done with athletic."
" But you were managing before! You do bad on one Chemistry test and you fall apart!" Ulrich attempted, "You could still make it back onto the team if you applied yourself."
Odd shrugged.
"I don't know so much about that. I failed that midterm hardcore. I'd have to make an A in Chemistry from now on to get the high C average to play on the team." Odd reasoned, flopping back down into his recliner and returning to munching his chips, "And that's just not gonna happen."
"Well...you could get a tutor or something! How about Jeremy, or Yumi. Any of them would help you if you asked." Ulrich fired back.
"Yeah, right."
Sighing dejectedly, Odd held his face in his hands.
"I'm only trying to help, man." Ulrich said after a pause, "I mean, look at yourself! You're wasting away!"
Ulrich got up from his spot on the sofa to yank his friend up out of the recliner he was cradled in to guide him over to a mirror hung on one of the walls and then fluidly pulled Odd's tank top over his head and off.
"And by wasting away I mean getting fat." Ulrich remarked as he gave his friend's stomach a few good pats.
Odd sighed as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. It wasn't as if he didn't know.
Odd's less active lifestyle following his departure from the athletic team, in addition to the fattening foods that had been around him over the holidays, hadn't been good for Odd's body.
In fact, Odd had noted one morning as he stepped onto the scales after his shower, he had even outmatched Ulrich; his friend had gained nine pounds in a month, whereas Odd's body had seen an amazing fifteen pound growth.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Odd saw for the first time what those fifteen pounds had done to him. His arms and legs, once contoured, now appeared slightly flabby, only vestiges of the muscles that were once there. His face, one angled, not had a bit of a puffed look to it, and Odd had discovered one morning that, if he tilted his face a certain way, he had a double chin, if only a slight one.
Ulrich turned Odd so the two then were able to see a side profile, and Odd grimaced.
His rear had grown as well, straining the fabric of his boxers where the fabric had once hung loosely. Odd had already abandoned the underwear that had been snug on him to begin with as he knew, now, they would be uncomfortably tight.
And of course, their was his stomach. His abs, which he had bragged of only a month prior, had vanished. Now they would only appear if Odd tried his utmost when flexing. In their place, a wall of fat threatened to cascade over his boxers; Chad was on the verge of developing a beginner's belly.
Shrugging Ulrich off, Odd gave his friend a reproachful look.
"At least I don't need a bra yet." Odd muttered somehwat sarcastically, "And you're one to lecture somebody about their weight."
Before Ulrich could stop him, Odd had lifted up the bottom of Ulrich's shirt, clicking his tongue at the layer of fat that pushed over Ulrich's jeans slightly.
"So what happened to your diet, Ulrich?" Odd asked cunningly, noticing that his friend seemed to be in a new pair of jeans as well.
Ulrich had continued to talk about his diet for the remainder over the past month, but as Odd expected, no one had seen any pounds melting away. And yet, after Odd had been kicked off of the team, that issue becoming the top priority for their circle of friends, Ulrich had talked about his diet less and less. Apparently, it had been put onto the back burner.
"I'm working on it..." Ulrich muttered agitated, pulling his shirt back down, "Yumi's grandmother is the best cook you'll ever meet. And the woman won't let you leave the table without having seconds, and prefers it if you have thirds!"
Odd raised his eyebrows.
"And how exactly is Yumi not the size of an elephant?" he asked.
Ulrich shrugged.
"Girls. You know how they are about watching what they eat. You should see her uncle - he's humongous." Ulrich replied with wide eyes as Odd returned to his recliner for the second time.
"Heh. Well, good luck with THAT then. Being surrounded by rich dishes all the time must be why you're putting on the pounds. I noticed you're wearing new jeans. Move up to size 34's?" Odd taunted, offering Ulrich some chips as the brunette returned to his seat on the sofa.
Surprising Odd by taking a generous handful, Ulrich frowned.
"You noticed huh? My 32s were constricting me just a bit too much for my liking these days." Ulrich offered, "But you're bound to have moved up a size too there, Shamoo."
Odd reached over to take a drink from a soda sitting on an end table next to his recliner before replying.
"Ahh...good stuff...and probably, yeah. Except I've been at home ever since the break started, so I've just been walking around in my underwear." Odd said as Ulrich made a face.
"Dude, gross." Ulrich said, shuddering slightly, "But seriously though, what are we going to do? We're both getting fat."
Odd shrugged and nodded.
"Yep. We're not exactly svelte anymore."
"And here I thought I wouldn't be getting fat until my thirties..." Ulrich said with a sigh.
"Hey. You're still on the team, at least." Odd replied.
"Yes, but you're not having at least two portions of rich food shoved down your throat every time you go visit your girlfriend, are you?"
Odd's shoulders slumped.
"I don't have a girlfriend at the moment, so no." Chad said morosely.
"Why?" Ulrich asked, slightly surprised.
Odd shook his head.
"I WAS too devoted to basketball." Odd said blandly, crumbling up the chip bag and getting up as the last of the chips entered his mouth. "I think I'll have some ice cream now. Want some?"
Ulrich could only shake his head sadly, but found himself saying yes anyway. Ice cream sounded good right now.
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