Jake's story - Chapter One

Chapter 1

The seawater felt warm to Jake's feet as he walked toward the shore, where two of his friends were already waiting for him, holding a surfboard under his arm. The last rays of the setting sun illuminated the beautiful Californian beach. It was both a happy and a sad moment. Jake had been surfing for seven years and could not imagine his life without it. This would be, however, the last time he would be surfing in a long time. Jake would move into Finland with his family and start studies at Aalto university's department of architecture.

 ”It was a great day, wasn't it?” Jake's friend Mark shouted.

”That it was,” Jake said with a hint of melancholy in his words.

The other friend, Alex patted him on the shoulder. ”You'll get back soon, don't worry. Besides, you never know how big waves they have in the Baltic Sea.”

In fact Jake did know how big the waves of the Baltic Sea were. He had been in Finland a couple of times to visit his relatives who lived there. His parents had moved to the States when Jake was little. Actually his name was Jaakko, but since nobody could pronounce it correctly, everybody just called him Jake. The truth was nobody could surf on the waves of the Baltic sea. They were too small and the sea was too cold in the winter.

Alex tossed Jake a towel.

”You better cover your six pack before the girls come for us, this night is for guys only!”

”What girls? There aren't any...” Jake started. He stopped when he saw Alex pointing at a group of girls, who most likely had came to see good looking surfers.

Having girls watch the boys surfing was rather common. The bad side of this was that both Alex and Mark had girlfriends. Jake himself had never been into girls. It was men he admired and his friends knew that. Funnily enough, it was Jake whom interested the girls the most. The three of them were all lean, but Jake was the most muscular and the only one to have his six pack visible. Alex had had his too but after he had gotten into a relationship, he had let himself go a bit. Mark had never had the self-discipline to get his six pack visible. He was muscular, but his mid section had always been covered in a thin, soft layer of flab. It had always fascinated Jake.

Jake dried himself and put on his shirt, jeans and shoes. After that they got to Alex's truck and drove off leaving the girls to wave after them. Jake sort of liked the admiration but it also annoyed him since the girls only had one thing in mind: who could be the first one to have sex with the sexiest surfer in town. That had became clear after far too many conversations to Jake's liking.

Usually the boys went for a beer at a local bar, but today the bar was closed. Alex surprised Jake by driving to a McDonald's drive-trhough.

”Guys? You know I've never eaten hamburgers. My parents wouldn't let me as they are unhealthy and I agree with them! If I ate those, I wouldn't have this,” Jake said lifting his shirt and patting his abs.

”But you can't move to another country before tasting the american burgers, mate! It would be like going to Rome and not visiting the colosseum,” Mark insisted. ”I eat here every now and then and I've never heard anybody complaining about my physique.”

”Oh well... I guess I can try it. How much of this stuff do you eat anyways? Do you know how many calories there are in one burger?”

”You don't come here to count calories, man. Any decent guy would eat at least five cheeseburgers at one sitting. If you're hungry, go for ten. Only anorexic girls have just one burger,” Alex said with a smirk on his face. ”I will get us the food. Just wait here. You won't even have to go inside the building from your nightmares,” he added laughing.

Jake felt uncomfortable. He had been counting calories for years to maintain his physique. He took his phone and went to McDonald's website. He was just about to check the calorie content of the cheeseburgers when Mark took his phone.

”Relax! It's not like you lose the six pack just by eating a couple of burgers.”

”I am fairly sure nobody eats five burgers at once. Even though I have never eaten one, I didn't live in a cave, you know.”

”Yeah... I'm afraid Alex lied to you. In truth we usually both eat at least fifteen burgers, if we're not very hungry. He wanted to take it easy with you today. Happy now?”

Jake had always been overly competitive. His competitive mood did not fail him this time either.

”Well, I'll eat at least twenty then. Not a big deal!”

Mark just smiled to him.

It didn't take long for Alex to get back. He had five bags filled with burgers and fries with him. The amount of food shocked Jake, he realised that he might not get through twenty burgers. It would not do to give up, though, and thus he had to try. 

”Jake here promised to eat twenty burgers. I told him the truth about it,” Mark said to Alex, winking.

”You did what?! Well, I'm glad I bought us thirty burgers. We'll have to do with only five each if Jake is going for twenty.”

”Consider them already eaten!” Jake said proudly, though he felt a knot tighten in his stomach. He was not even hungry as he had already had his two hot meals earlier that day.

It only took five minutes to get to Alex's flat by car. His apartment was small and messy but it also seemed homely to Jake. His own room never really felt cozy as his mother was a cleaning enthusiast and always cleaned Jake's mess before he got back to his room.

Alex laid all the hamburgers on his dining table. As the boys sat down, he piled twenty burgers in front of Jake. ”There you go! Good luck!” he said laughing.

Jake unwrapped the first burger and looked at it. It didn't look half as good as in the commercial pictures. It did smell delicious, though. He gathered his courage and took the first bite. The explosion of flavor in his mouth made him stop for a couple of seconds. He tasted the mayonaise, ketchup, cheese and meat. It was the best thing he had ever eaten. He smiled.

”It was that good?” Mark laughed.

”Mmh-mm,” Jake mumbled, rushing to eat more.

The five first burgers went down very easily. They were so delicious that Jake barely heard the jokes his friends made of him. After he had eaten nine burgers, he noticed that he was very full. Probably fuller than ever before, which wasn't really much as Jake had never truly pigged out before. The feeling was both uncomfortable and pleasant. ”I am half way through, I can do this!” Jake thought, though he slowed down.

”Whoa man, I never thought you could eat that much!” Alex said.

”Me neither. You must know that a normal person only buys one burger with fries to eat in one sitting?” Mark asked.

”But you said...”

”We were joking. We never ate more than one burger at a time,” Alex said, smiling. It was only then when Jake noticed that neither of his friends had even finished their first burgers.

”Well, I'll prove my word true regardless. I am a man of my word,” Jake said proudly, even though his stomach had started to ache a little.

The next three burgers were still delicious. However, the thirteenth burger caused Jake serious trouble. He felt that his stomach was swollen and it was hard to move. Jake had to use all his willpower to get it down. The encouragement from Mark and Alex helped as well. After that the eating somehow got easier again and the burgers tasted delicious. That lasted until it was time to eat the last burger. By then Jake's stomach was seriously aching and he felt like he was going to pop. His t-shirt was uncomfortably tight around his belly so he stood up and took it off. Somehow it helped him to finally get through the last burger, after which he collapsed on Alex's sofa being unable to stand any longer.

”You did it! Who would have known!” Alex cheered. Mark was equally astonished.

”I... I've never been so full in my life,” Jake mumbled.

Mark poked Jake's swollen belly. ”It shows! Your stomach is rock hard, as usual. This time without the abs, though,” he laughed.

Jake looked down at his belly. The abs were indeed gone. Instead his gut protruded out for at least an inch and a half. He had never seen a gut on himself. After the first moments of shock Jake felt rather excited, only to become horrified again. Would his abs be gone now?

Alex poked Jake's gut too. ”That's how the fine American diet affects the inexperienced,” he laughed.

”Stop it! I will never do this again,” Jake said blushing.

Little did he know.