After Eating My Roommate’s Cooking, I Gained 100 Pounds

Summary

To save on rent, I took on two roommates. By the third month of our shared apartment, Amber had ballooned, as if someone had inflated her with an air pump. At first, I just chalked it up to stress eating and kindly urged her to see a doctor. Instead, she tore into me, a blistering torrent of insults. Two weeks later, she vanished without a trace. Valerie, however, dismissed it with a shrug: "Oh, she just moved out!"

But then, Valerie started insisting on cooking for me. It was strange. When I refused, she’d follow me to work, shoving a thermos of food into my hands, her eyes holding an unsettling, almost feverish intensity. Later, chatting with a colleague, she remarked, "Olivia, you've put on a lot of weight lately. Are you, like, totally in love?"

"Yeah," another chimed in, "you've been bringing lunch from home constantly. I bet your boyfriend's cooking for you." Suddenly, a chill snaked down my spine. The pieces clicked. I watched Valerie in the kitchen, a ghost of a smile on my lips as she hummed, absorbed in her cooking. Who, I wondered, would be next to disappear?