Iceberg Effect - Part 5

“Surprise!” The small crowd of well dressed skinny girls cheered as Clarissa turned the corner of the downtown sidewalk.

“Oh wow, what’s all this?” Clarissa asked, filled with genuine shock. Her friends had put a little surprise night out on the town together for her for her birthday. Her bestie was in on the ploy and had led her here, with Clarissa none the wiser. Clarissa was in for a night of drinks, dancing, and fun.

“Anything you want to do, this is your night!” One of her friends shouted, hanging off the shoulder of another bottle blonde in the group. It was apparent that some of them had already had a few drinks to start the fun.

“That’s right girl, I’m buying you your first drink for sure.” One of them said.

“Well I’m starving and dinner’s on me Rissa, where are we headed?” Now that she mentioned it Clarissa was pretty hungry and could eat.

“Well it’s Taco Tuesday, let’s hit the cantina.” Clariss suggested, a roar of squeals following from the crowd.

The girls took the short walk through downtown to the local Mexican restaurant where they got a high table and put in an order for guac and of course a round of margaritas. Clarissa perused the menu, a little more fixated on it than her friends. Everything looked good to her, but it was Taco Tuesdays so she figured to stick to the theme, just which one to get? Fish tacos? Steak Tacos? Heck why not both, call it surf and turf. Her bestie was a little shocked that the stick thin Clarissa would order two meals, but then again she wasn’t looking so stick thin these days. She could hardly tell, but it seemed like Clarissa was looking a little thicker. It was odd though, you’d look at her face and she looked like the same skinny girl she always had been. Maybe she was just seeing things.

The girls enjoyed their drinks and their guac, no one noticed that Clarissa ate about half the guac herself. Then came the taco’s which Clarissa finished handedly, despite having twice as many as everyone else. She even pecked a vegan taco off one of her friends plates, just to taste the difference, it was her birthday after all, no restrictions tonight.

After the Mexican restaurant they all sauntered over to one of their regular bars, the one where the latest pop song played loud on the radio, and they had more signature cocktails than you could shake a stick at. The one thing that Clarissa was excited for though was their tasty appetizers, she couldn’t stop thinking about them. “I’m just craving some sweet and sour wings, ok?” She confessed to the group, who encouraged her to go with her gut and order them. Despite having her friends promise to help her eat them, she ate 80% of the plate herself.

As the night ticked on, the girls were more and more liquored up, and darkness set over the small town. Everyone was having a good time, especially Clarissa. She didn’t stop at one drink and one plate of wings either. Next she ordered some mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders. She forgot she ordered a basket of french fries until they arrived at the table. By then she couldn’t get her mind off loaded potato skins, so she made sure one of her friends got an order of those. Just like the wings, all the appetizers ordered were for the table, but somehow the majority of each plate found its way to just one person, Clarissa.

As the night ended, the buzz started to wear off as Clarissa headed home in an Uber with a few of her friends, she started to realize just how bloated and full she was. Her head was so hazy though she didn’t remember how much she had eaten. All she knew was that she had a good time, and it seemed everyone else did as well, and that’s what mattered most.