DiapOut: Chapter 13
BWAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
As the air horn in CassiRole’s hand bellowed out, the eight contestants raced from their starting markers to the banquet table with only one thought in mind: EAT! Thankfully, there was more than enough to go around. Though, that didn’t stop the players from attempting to elbow each other out of the way for their desired dishes.
“H-Hey!” shouted Mia as she was pushed backward by the quickly advancing swarm. She rolled her eyes at how brash and animalistic both her opponents and her friends were acting, “We have a whole hour, ya know!” Throwing her hands up in frustration, she circled the table to a spot where no one was boxing out as if they were in the middle of a basketball game and sat down in one of the seats stationed near a bowl of mac and cheese. She scooted the giant bowl toward herself, making a sudden realization as she looked up and down the table, “Is there any silverware?”
The audience giggled at Mia’s whiney question, prompting Cassi to answer her contestant dutifully, “Awww, babies are much too small for stuff like forks and spoons. You’ll just have to eat with your hands, baby girl.”
Groaning, Mia pushed the bowl of mac and cheese back. If she was forced to eat with her hands, she was going to try to stick to food that she’d normally eat with her bare hands. She reached across the table and grabbed two legs of fried chicken; one in each fist. As she looked across the table at the other ravenous eaters, she suddenly found herself losing whatever appetite she had. Still, she knew this wasn’t the time to show off her nobler sensibilities. Tearing into the bird leg with her teeth, she began to chow down begrudgingly.
Nowhere near as reserved as Mia was, Lelaya was quick to snag her favorite meal the second that Mia pushed it back into the center of the table. “MACKY CHEESE!” she shouted as she gleefully stuck her hand into the center of the gooey, creamy bowl and pulled out a fist full of melted cheese and spongy noodles. It only took one bite for her face to become coated in thick, cheesy goodness.
Meanwhile, Misa and Ayaya found themselves eying up the same dish as they clashed to take what they each considered the best item on the board. “Let go of the sushi platter. I called dibs!” yelled Ayaya, who wasn’t too impressed by the poultry food options they had on display. In her mind, she had a more refined taste palate than the others, so she deserved to have the most upscale food that the show had to offer.
“Bullshit! I had it first! Go eat something else!” screamed Misa, too stubborn to give up what she felt was rightfully hers. She was the first person to grab the sushi platter, having eyed one of her favorite meals from the moment she first laid eyes on the buffet spread. The two girls continued to tug the platter back and forth, causing quite a scene for the cameras.
Sitting across from her warring friends, Mia had half a mind break up her idiots to stop them from humiliating themselves. However, she was far too annoyed and, moreover, dealing with too much on her own plate to care. It was strange. Every bite she took made her almost feel hungrier. She placed a hand on her gut, a bit unsettled by the internal sensations caused by the pills that she was coerced into taking. As strange as it was, at least it wasn’t harshly unpleasant. Attempting to put both the odd feeling and her overwhelming guilt for having agreed to cheat, she blocked out the world around her and focused solely on the food that was right in front of her.
Meanwhile, the Wetters were faring no better than the messers were when it came to in-fighting. “Look, I don’t care! I’m eating that cake and you’re not stopping me,” said Rupert, bellying up to the mountainous chocolate cake as an act of protest.
“Would it really kill you to listen to me FOR ONCE?!” shouted Kyoko, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. Looking down at the bowl of baked beans in front of her, she wasn’t exactly thrilled with her dish of choice, especially if she was going to have to eat with her hands. Still, she knew it was what had to be done, “Whatever, we can still win without Rupert’s help. Zeke, Cade, get over here and scoop up a handful of this.” Dipping her fingers into the lukewarm bowl of beans, she pulled out a pile of beans, bringing it up to her mouth and stuffing as many as she could down her gullet in one go. Her arms, shirt, and face were instantly covered in a wealth of sickeningly-sweet brown sauce.
“Umm…I-I’m not really a bean person, per se,” said Cade, backing away from Kyoko as he tiptoed closer to the glorious stack of french fries.
Less consumed by gluttony than his compatriots, even Zeke didn’t want to join Kyoko in her crusade to down the most bowel-breaking foods possible. He placed a hand on Kyoko’s back, causing her to look up from the pile of beans she was gnawing on. “Look, we know what you’re trying to do and we appreciate it but you know as well as I do that barking orders at Cade or Rupert isn’t going to work. Just let them eat what they want to. They’ll still be plenty messy after they down those Lightning Laxatives,” he said, hoping to talk Kyoko down.
Sadly, Kyoko’s competitive nature and general frustration with her team’s lack of discipline refused to let her teammate slide for their impulsive behaviors. “Whatever, when you three cause us to lose this round, don’t come crying to me,” she said, scoffing as she inhaled another large bite.
Zeke wished that there was more he could do but he knew that she’d be impossible to reason with until after the round was over. Deciding to leave well enough alone, he sat down across from Kyoko and began to shovel in as many beans as he could.
“It’s…MINE!” howled Misa as she planted her feet and ripped the large platter from Ayaya’s hands, accidentally causing most of the sushi it held to fall to the ground, “For fuck sake, look what you did?!”
“What I did?! None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t…” said Ayaya, cutting herself off as she glanced off stage, spotting Jackson’s anxious expression. As much as she didn’t like to concede an argument, she knew this wasn’t the time or place, “Look, whatever. You can have whatever’s left. I’ll find something else.”
Taken aback by Ayaya’s sudden change in demeanor, Misa wasn’t even sure how to respond. In all her time spent with Ayaya, she’d never known her to throw in the towel, no matter how minuscule the conflict was or how futile the effort was. She wasn’t exactly certain but something was up with Ayaya, and as curious as she was to find out, she knew now wasn’t the time to turn into Nancy Drew. She quickly plopped the first piece of sushi into her mouth, making a sour face only moments later, “Ugh, this shit tastes like grocery store sushi,” she muttered in between bites in disbelief that a production company in LA couldn’t spring for something fresher.
“You’re gonna shit it out anyway. Just eat,” said Mia, who by this point had turned into a non-stop feeding machine. Gone was the reservation she’d started this challenge with, replaced by an overwhelming hunger that was impossible to satiate. It was as if every bite she took made her hungrier. Whatever those pills did to her was clearly working.
GUUUUUUUUURRRRRGGGGLE!!!
Suddenly, a large grumble sounded off from Mia’s stomach loud enough that the whole table stopped what they were doing momentarily to shoot her a glance. It was so audible that even the audience heard it, causing more than a few chuckles. Her face instantly turned red as she placed a greasy, crumb-covered hand on her belly, which was already starting to pooch out from her ravenous consumption.
“Wah-oh! Looks like our Baby New Year getting ready to pack those pamps!” yelled CassiRole, squeezing the audience for even more laughter. The round was only just getting started and it was already off to an entertaining start.
As everyone turned their attention to the scene that Mia was causing, the only person who paid no mind to Mia’s ominous tummy grumbles was Ayaya, who had just sat down in front of a plate of pre-made deli sandwiches. They weren’t anything special but at least she wasn’t eating something too unhealthy. She supposed it didn’t really matter too much, though, given that whatever she ate now wouldn’t be staying inside her for long. Especially if the secret advantage that Jackson gave her had anything to say about it.
While Ayaya took her first bite of pastrami on rye, she slowly slipped a hand beneath the hem of her diaper. Once she was certain that neither the cameras nor the other contestants were watching her, she pulled her hand out, clutching a small, dark brown mini-muffin in her hand. “This better work, Jackey-boy,” she muttered to herself as she pressed the muffin against the bite mark on her sandwich. Bringing the sandwich to her mouth, she pretended to take a bite whilst secretly slipping the innocuous, little muffin between her lips.
TO BE CONTINUED…