Weight of a Sneeze: Chapter 1 by EpisodesOfExpansion on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Chapter One: The First Sneeze

No one ever pays much attention to a sneeze. They come and go as tiny, inconsequential interruptions to one’s life—more annoying than anything else. But this morning, Casey Thompson, was annoyed for a different reason, she had a sneeze that just wouldn’t come out. She felt the tickle in her nose, even some watery eyes, but could not get the relief of finally sneezing.

Today was the day she was moving into her new dorm room. Though not her first year of college, having lived at home for two years while going to her local community college, this was her first time in her twenty years of life living away from home. The state university she was now attending was only an hour away, but somehow now that she was actually there, home felt a lot further away than when she took the tour last year.

The dorm had been left messier than she would have liked, whomever had been the previously occupant clearly did not share the same standards of cleanliness as her. Though dirty, the room didn’t seem particularly dusty but sometime during her hour or so of cleaning, that sneeze felt like a fly that she kept swatting away but couldn’t quite kill.

Casey wouldn’t call herself a neat freak by any means, she left out the occasional shirt on the floor or plate to soak in the kitchen sink, but she did like things orderly. She couldn’t stand clutters or piles of things. Everything needed to have a spot, a reason for being where it was.

The past summer she had planned for months what she wanted her dorm room to look like. It took her a few phone calls to the on-campus housing office to get them to share the exact dimensions of the room and exactly what pieces of furniture would be in there. It was a decent sized room, shaped like a rectangle with the bathroom next to the door and a window in the back where the two beds were. The beds were on risers to fit all her belongings underneath and a desk at the foot of the bed for all of her studies.

In the weeks leading up to move-in day she had bought all sorts of cute decorations to make her side of the room her own. She even had her boyfriend Max tag along to help her. Casey was sure he really had no interest in coming, but he was supportive as always and they both loved doing the mundane things with each other just to spend time together. She loved Max more than anyone else. He was tall, dark, and handsome. His Dad was a tall burly man of some sort of Scandinavian decent and his mom was a petite women from Chiapas, Mexico. He got his height from his dad at 6’ 2” and had his mother’s skin tone. To Casey, he was perfect inside and out.

With cleaning eventually out of the way, Casey started with decorating her desk and got it just the way she liked; the way she had planned and imagined it. Practical, not too crowded, but also a little flair to make it feel like her own. Next was the tapestry her mom had let her borrow to “brighten up” her wall. It was a neon floral pattern that she still wasn’t completely sold on, but she decided she would hang it up for a week or so and she how she liked it. She had bought a few backup options that she could always return.

It was then, finally, just as she was balancing on her desk chair to hang the tapestry that she let out the sneeze that had been teasing her all morning.

"Achoo!"

“Bless you!” Came a voice from the open door (Casey had left it propped open in hopes of catching any floormates that might start trickling in) and sure enough there stood a young Asian girl standing in the doorway. Her dark, shoulder-length hair framed her face and her almond-shaped eyes reflect a mix of excitement and nervousness as she clutched the handle of her suitcase with one hand. Wearing a simple, fitted hoodie with the state university’s logo emblazoned across the front and comfortable blue jeans that fit her thin figure.

“Hey! Thanks,” Casey replied, finishing the last hook and hopping down from the chair.

“Hi, I’m Emily, you’re roommate for the year!”

“Hi Emily, I’m…”

Then came a second sneeze interrupting her introduction. She quickly turned away, muffling the sneeze in her elbow.

“Achoo!”

The first sneeze had been a relief, like a bell ringing in her ear that finally turned off, but this time her sneeze had felt different. It almost like it had pulled something deep within her. Casey shook it off, rubbing her nose.

“Bless you again!” said Emily with a smile.

“…I’m Casey. Sorry about that. Must be a little dust or something, this place was kind of a mess earlier.”

As Emily introduced herself, Casey tried to be attentive and learn more about the girl she’d be sharing a dorm with for the next eight months, but Casey felt distracted. She felt an odd pressure inside her, a strange tightening around her body. She tugged at her t-shirt absentmindedly, the fabric clinging to her skin ever so slightly in a way it hadn’t just a moment ago. Before she could think much more about it, the third sneeze arrived, sudden and sharp.

“Achoo!”

This one echoed in the small, mostly empty dorm room, making Emily’s eyes widen.

"Okay, that was a loud one."

Casey forced a laugh, but her hands instinctively went to her stomach, where the pressure had intensified. Something was wrong, she could feel it. Her jeans felt a tiny bit tighter around her hips, digging in slightly at the waist.

"Yea," she muttered as she tugged at the denim. Had her jeans shrunk?

After finishing introductions and getting Emily settles in, she shuffled over to the mirror in the bathroom, trying to make it seem casual.

She looked in the mirror at her dark brown hair pulled into a messy ponytail and her light blue eyes staring back at her. Dressed in a fitted tank top, the soft glow of the mirror’s light reflects off her sun-kissed skin from a summer well spent at the lake. Her gaze slowly drifted downward and her breath caught in her throat. Expecting to see her 5’ 6” lean, athletic build standing in front of her, she lifted up her shirt and looked at her stomach.

Casey had been a track star in high school and even after graduation had kept up her workouts. She didn’t necessarily have visible abs, but instead of her usual flat, toned belly, when she looked in the mirror, she had a slightly fuller, slightly rounder stomach as if she'd had a big meal, though she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

She turned to the side, pulling at the hem of her shirt, trying to understand what was happening. Her body didn’t look how it had that morning. Maybe it was bloating from stress—moving in, starting classes, meeting new people. Stress did weird things, right?

The next morning, her confusion grew. She’d sneezed twice more in the bathroom after showering, and when she went to pull up her jeans, her thighs complained and put protesting going into the pantlegs.

“What the hell?” she whispered under her breath, looking down at her body. She hadn’t eaten anything out of the ordinary. In fact, she’d barely eaten at all since arriving on campus. Yet her body was changing, subtly, but noticeably.

She went over to the scale that had been left behind by the previous tenant. It was old and a bit rusted, but functional enough. When she stepped on it, the needle slid up faster than she’d expected.

Casey blinked at the number.

132 pounds.

She was almost certain she’d been 126 just a couple of days ago. Had she really gained six pounds since moving in? No. That couldn’t be right. Maybe this scale was just off. She was sure if she weighed herself at home it would say 126 or 127.

Her thoughts kept circling back to the sneezes. She knew it was ridiculous, but every time she sneezed, something felt different. Like her body warmed up and expanded, just a little. She'd always been athletic, her metabolism a well-oiled machine. What could be making her feel this way?

The sneezing continued. Throughout the week, she sneezed when she walked past freshly mown grass on her way to class. She sneezed when someone sprayed perfume in the lecture hall. And every time, she felt that same pressure afterward—the way her clothes pinched her skin, her thighs rubbed just a little more as she walked.

By Wednesday, Casey was starting to panic. She couldn’t deny it anymore. Her body was changing, and it had nothing to do with food or stress. Something strange was happening.

She sat on her bed late that night, long after Emily had gone to bed. She sneezed again—as quietly as she could—and immediately rushed to the bathroom. She lifted her shirt, inspecting herself. This time, not only did her stomach have a slight roundness to it, but her breasts filled out her bra like she’d gained a couple of pounds overnight.

“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “This can’t be real.”

But it was real. She knew it was. She could feel it in the way her body strained against her clothes, in the way she felt heavier, and slower on her morning runs. The sneezes weren’t just annoying—they were doing something to her.

By the end of the week, Casey couldn’t ignore the truth any longer. Every time she sneezed, her body changed. She had weighed herself again, this time in secret, and the scale read 137 pounds.

Eleven pounds. Eleven pounds in five days.

She stared at the number, her mind racing. There had to be a pattern, a cause. She replayed every sneeze in her mind, remembering the way she felt afterward—the heaviness, the tightness of her clothes, the subtle shifts in her body.

Was this some sort of allergy, what was wrong with her?

She paced the small dorm room, her heart pounding. She had to figure this out, and soon. Because if she kept sneezing... how much weight could she gain?