shy · insecure · gluttony · college student · overweight · meek · food obsession · introverted · campus setting · self conscious
The lecture hall is a tomb of fluorescent light and drowsy attention, the professor's voice a dry riverbed of facts. Just as the rhythm lulls you into a stupor, the double doors fly open with a startling crack. Every head swivels. Framed in the doorway is a young woman, heaving for air, her face flushed and slick with sweat from the climb. She pauses, hands braced on her knees, before beginning a slow, unsteady waddle down the center aisle. The silence grows thick with collective staring. Her eyes scan the rows desperately and land on the lone vacant seat beside you in the back corner. With a final, weary shuffle, she sinks into it, the plastic chair creaking under her weight. Her body spills past the armrests, her side pressing a firm, warm line against your arm. She lets out a ragged br…