“Come in.” Mrs Thomas smiled at the young girl on the doorstep. “Thank you so much for coming over.”

“Is everything okay?” Beth asked a little nervously, stepping into the large, elegantly-decorated hallway. She had been babysitting for the Thomas family for almost two years. She loved the children – five year old twins Percy and Jennifer, but had always found the parents a little intimidating. In truth they had been nothing but kind and polite to her but they were a fair bit wealthier than her family and she had never seen Mrs Thomas without full makeup and dressed as if she expected to be called to a wedding with only a few minutes notice. She worried they judged her for her more modest background, older clothes and usual lack of makeup.

Beth was fifteen years old, a few months shy of her sixteenth birthday. She was not especially tall but neither was she remarkably short either. She was just average. That’s how she viewed everything about herself really. Her red hair had a natural curl to it but no particular style, her lightly-freckled face was pretty but was unlikely to ever grace a magazine cover. She was actually quite proud of her figure which was trim yet curved in the right places but tended to hide it most of the time behind tom-boy clothing. She did well enough in school but was not top of the class, was a fairly good drawer but nowhere near professional standard and could sing passably but nobody ever suggested a music career for her. Beth was almost aggressively average, and happy that way.

She normally babysat for the Thomas twins two nights a week, Thursday and Friday. Thursday night was the parents’ dance class that they attended together and on Friday they each had their own social clubs they liked to attend. Occasionally she would be asked to watch the children on other nights and was even sometimes invited to the family’s garden parties but more, she realised, as someone to help keep the children occupied than out of any genuine desire for her company.

This was the first time she had been asked to come over on a Saturday, however, and she was a little worried. She had played Friday evening over and over in her head ever since she got the call, trying to think if she had said anything to one of the children, chided them too sharply or perhaps over-indulged them in some way that might have given the parents cause for complaint. Nothing she could remember seemed out of the ordinary. She had given them dinner, put them in the bath but never left them unsupervised and then the three of them had watched a Disney movie on the sofa until it was bed time. The small children had gone to bed without complaint and enjoyed the story she read them – one of their favourites from a book she had ready many times before, and had been asleep when she went back to check on them around twenty minutes later, little more than half an hour before Mrs Thomas had got home, paid her and seen her out with the usual cheery farewell about seeing her next week.

But then the phonecall had come. Mrs Thomas has said there was something they needed to discuss quite urgently and could she come over? Although she had no particular plans for the day, Beth had still not particularly fancied taking time out of her Saturday to call by, especially if she was going to get shouted at. She has asked if it was something they would maybe talk about on the phone but Mrs Thomas had insisted it be face to face and, as if to get round any potential objections she may have, told Beth that the conversation would likely not take any longer than an hour and that she would pay for her time at the usual rate. Figuring that she might as well go and find out and that, if her employer was upset with her, she wouldn’t have offered to pay her to come over and would most likely have driven round to her parents house to have it out with her there, Beth had agreed and told Mrs Thomas she would see her in about half an hour.

Her parents had been in the living room when she went to the door, watching her rather unexpected little brother play with wooden bricks on the carpet and making sure he did not try to shove them too far into his mouth!

“I’m going to the Thomases,” she had told them as she slipped on her short denim jacket, “they want to have a chat about something, do idea what ‘though!”

“We know,” her dad had smiled, “let us know how it goes.” Beth had been half way out the door but, hearing this, she stepped back inside and closed the door. Her mum was looking daggers at her dad who looked a little chagrined.

“You know about this?” Beth asked suspiciously. “What’s it about?”

“Oh, no, we don’t actually know.” her mum lied distinctly unconvincingly. “They just called a few minutes ago and asked if it was okay to ask you over, checking we didn’t have plans.”

“And they didn’t say why?” Beth narrowed her eyes.

“Something about a big favour they had to ask you.” her mum replied, believing that she could deliver a half-truth slightly more convincingly than an outright lie. “But they wouldn’t tell us what. They wanted to talk to you in person.”

“Well, okay.” Beth sighed, realising she was not going to get any useful information out of her parents.

“Just remember that we love you!” Her dad blurted out.

“Yes, and whatever choice you make, we’ll support you and be so proud of you!” Beth’s mum added. The teenager shook her head in bewilderment and stepped outside, closing the door behind her and wandering across the front of the house to the side-passage where her bike normally lived. There was clearly something going on and it was obvious that her parents had a fair idea what but had been sworn to absolute secrecy. Where they going to ask her to stay over and watch the children round the clock while they went on holiday perhaps? Or maybe even to move in and become a live-in nanny like Mary Poppins? How would that work with school, she wondered, and would she be expected to cook and clean too? Fixing more-or-less ready-prepared meals for a pair of easy-going five year olds was one thing but she really wasn’t sure if she was up to cooking properly for a whole family!

On the bike-ride over, she had decided she would simply have to wait and see. Surely if she was in trouble as she feared, her parents would have given her a slight tip-off at least or maybe even offered to come with her. The comments about being proud of her and having a choice to make were strange ‘though. What kind of decision could she possibly be asked to make that they would be proud of her either way?

Arriving at the house, she leaned her bike carefully against the front wall and walked up to the front door. On her first couple of visits she had carefully secured her bike but she very soon realised that it was so nice a neighbourhood that anybody thereabouts would be ashamed to steal her slightly battered, second-hand bike!

Inside, Mrs Thomas ushered Beth over to the open-plan lounge where the children were sat on the sofa, bouncing excitedly and very happy to see her. Mr Thomas was sat in one of the arm-chairs and Mrs Thomas invited Beth to sit in the other, perching herself on the arm of her husband’s chair and fidgeting a little nervously with her hands.

“You’re probably wondering why we asked you to come over today?” Mr Thomas, a highly respected local business-owner and rumoured to be a high-level Freemason asked with a smile. The children leaned forward eagerly as if waiting to find out what present they were getting.

“Well, yeah.” Beth replied, “I hope I didn’t do something wrong last night?”

“Oh, not at all!” Mrs Thomas assured her. “We just had something very important to talk to you about and it really isn’t the sort of thing to discuss on the phone. We thought face to face would be better. Avoid any misunderstandings?” Beth nodded, wishing somebody would get to the point. Mrs Thomas looked at her husband, encouraging him to take the lead.

“Well,” Mr Thomas leant forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his fingers steepled beneath his chin, “you know it’s the twin’s sixth birthday next weekend? Well we wanted to throw them a very special party, whatever they wanted!” Beth smiled. The twins were indeed totally adorable and she understood how hard it must be to deny them anything. “Well they’ve asked for a special barbecue and…” he paused for a moment as if pondering, “I think I’m going to let them ask!”

“We want to cook you!” Jennifer grinned.

“That’s right!” Percy agreed enthusiastically. “We want you to be our birthday dinner!”

“What?” Beth exclaimed, gripping the arms of the chair in shock. “You want to do what?”

“We want to eat you!” Percy repeated, looking a little sad.

“For our birthday dinner.” Jennifer almost pouted. Clearly this was not how they had imagined the conversation.

“But…” Beth’s head was reeling. The next words out of her mouth sounded shallow and a little foolish even as she was speaking them but it was an accurate expression of how she felt. “I thought you liked me?”

“We do!” Both children ran forward, looking a little horrified. “We love you!” The small twins climbed onto the chair and cuddled close to Beth. “Why would we want to eat someone we don’t like?” Percy asked, with genuine confusion.

“We want you to be part of us for ever and ever!” Jennifer looked up at her, her blue eyes wide and hopeful. Beth really did not know what to think – too many conflicting thoughts were racing through her mind at that moment.

“Umm…” Beth searched for words. “That’s a pretty big decision. Do you mind if I use the bathroom?”

“Of course not, dear.” Mrs Thomas smiled. She knew the children had been sure their friend would agree immediately but she was far more aware of the enormity of what they were asking. She definitely hoped that the young redhead would agree but also respected that she needed a few minutes to order her thoughts. “You know where it is.”

Gratefully, Beth carefully lifted the children onto the floor and stood up, head head still reeling.

“You’re not going to run away, are you?” Jennifer asked, on the verge of tears.

“We thought you’d be happy?” poor Percy seemed genuinely confused. Not wanting her two favourite little people to be upset, Beth knelt down and smiled at them, wiping the tears away from Jennifer’s eyes with the backs of her fingers. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt these children who she loved so much.
Once
“I’m very happy that you think I’d be so tasty,” she assured them with a warm smile, “and that you chose me over all the other, prettier girls you might have picked instead, but I hope you understand it’s a very big decision for me.” She sat back on her haunches, her hands on her knees, and explained her concerns to them as gently as she could.

“You see,” she smiled, “if I say yes to being your birthday dinner, that means I’m not going to have any more birthdays of my own. I’m not going to go to University, not get married or have children. Do you understand?” They nodded quietly. Beth glanced up at their parents to check they were not annoyed at the way she was explaining things to the children but saw that they were not. In fact, these were many of the same things their mum had tried to explain to them when they’d first asked for Beth to be cooked. She had suggested finding someone who had already registered as a volunteer but they were adamant it was their friend they wanted.

“So I have to go and have a little think.” She leant forward and gave each of them a hug. “I won’t take very long, I promise. I just need a few minutes on my own to decide. It would be such a big honour to be your birthday dinner,” she grinned, “but I just have to make up my mind that I want that more than all the things I’d be giving up. I hope you understand?” The twins nodded again and hugged her tightly before releasing her so she could go take some private moments in the bathroom.

Once inside, Beth slid the bold across and sat on the closed lid of the toilet. She did not need to go, just needed somewhere private to think for a few minutes. This really had come totally out of the blue. It was not as if the twins had been talking about eating people in general lately or, as far as she knew, seen any cartoons or TV shows about it. She didn’t even know if the family had cooked and eaten girls in the past. Now here they were asking her to agree to be barbecued for, presumably, a bunch of children she didn’t actually know, along with their parents and any older siblings who happened to also be attending.

Of course, no girl got this far through her teens without even pondering if she might like to be cooked and eaten. It was not exactly common and still considered a rare or even one-off treat for some poorer families but everybody knew that it was something that happened. Every town had at least one girl-meat restaurant and most regular establishments offered at least a small selection of girl-meat dishes. There were also butcher’s shops and delis where those wanting to cook smaller amounts of girl-meat at home could stock up. This was, of course, all aside from the many girls who were cooked at home by their own families or friends at private parties like she was being asked to do.

Beth thought about the girls she knew who had volunteered since coming of eligible age. There had been Sophie who was cooked by her parents in their back yard the day after she turned six, Marie who, at age eight, had provided Christmas dinner for her extended family, Sam and Ellen who had been sold to a local butcher when their dad lost his job, they had been ten and twelve. Then there was Briana who had been sold to her local Sidney’s restaurant and oven-cooked for their public carvery when she was thirteen and, just last year, Sally who had been ordered by a private party and spit-roasted for their dining pleasure. Each time she had heard of another friend becoming food, Beth had pondered her own body and if she would ever agree to let anyone cook and eat her.

Several times over the last ten years she had taken her clothes off and stood in front of the mirror on her wardrobe door, trying to picture her naked body as meat and wondering how different pieces would taste. Recently, she was forced to admit to herself, she had been doing that a little more often. Perhaps it was the wider advertising of girl-meat establishments and products? Maybe the slightly more aggressive approach meat recruiters had been taking with their publications and adverts lately or maybe it was simply the idea of time running out. She had been eligible to cook for almost ten years already. In a little over four years, that door would close. Beth had known at the back of her mind for some time that she would need to make a choice before it was made for her and yet she could never imagine a scenario or group of people she would be happy being cooked for. That was, until now.

Mr and Mrs Thomas were a typical, wealthy, upper middle class couple and she had no strong opinions about them one way or another. They had always seemed kind and had never openly sneered at her more modest background, certainly not in front of her at least. Then there were the children, her little angels! Without a doubt her two favourite people in the world that she was not related to. She loved making them happy, hearing their joyful laughter and their huge, natural smiles. She had to admit she had been worried about how they might change as they got older but, if she agreed to be cooked for them, that was an issue she would never have to deal with. She would get to see them happy and excited as they watched her prepped, showing off to their young pals that she was their special friend, and would die knowing that she was going to make them incredibly happy with her meat. What happened after that or as they entered the awkward tween and teenage years would be none of her concern!

All of a sudden, her mind was made up! It felt as if she had really always known that she would end her days as meat but had never been presented with the right circumstances until now! She would go downstairs and proudly tell the twins that she was more than happy to be their birthday dinner. Seeing a cosy-looking white bath-robe hanging on the inside of the bathroom door, Beth had a cheeky idea. The robe most likely belonged to Mrs Thomas but she was fairly sure she would not resent her borrowing it under the circumstances.

Quickly, Beth slipped off her outer clothes and looked for a mirror. There was a three-quarter-length one close to the end of the bath which would do very nicely. She admired her surprisingly feminine body in her practical white underwear then, giggling to herself, unhooked her bra and unleashed her perky round boobs which, while not as big as those of some girls her age, were nicely formed and, she had to admit herself, looked very tasty! After pausing to admire her chest for a few moments, she shed her white panties and looked at herself stark naked in the mirror as she had done so many times before when considering whether she wanted to be meat. She was quite glad that she had recently decided to shave her deep orange pubic hair completely before a trip to the pool. She usually kept it neatly trimmed but she had been running late and couldn’t be bothered messing about. Turned out to be a good thing after all, she thought to herself as she gently touched the lips of her puffy vulva, as nobody likes hair in their food!

She knew that, before cooking, she would need to use hair-removal cream all over to make sure her skin was completely smooth and hairless but there was still a week yet before she was going to cook and she had plenty of time to sort such things out. Turning around, she looked over her shoulder at her round, meaty rump and gave it a little wiggle. She had heard plenty of people say that that was where most girls’ best meat could be found and she was sure that hers would be no exception. Retying her somewhat rebellious curls into their loose ponytail, she slipped on the white bath robe and went downstairs.

The teenager’s change of attire was more than enough to signal to Mr and Mrs Thomas what her decision was, they were relieved but not surprised, but the children ran up to her excitedly as soon as she re-emerged into the large living room, anxiously waiting to hear what she had decided.

“So?” Percy bounced up and down on the spot looking as if he were about to burst, “What do you think?”

“Are you going to be our birthday dinner?” Jennifer asked, a pleading look in her pretty blue eyes.

“Well,” Beth began, looking forward to seeing the reactions of the little munchkins when she told them, “I thought a lot about how much you wanted to eat me and whether or not I wanted to be eaten.” She paused, finding the excited frustration on the twins’ faces extremely cute. Her hands went to the tied fluffy belt keeping the robe closed. She glanced over at Mrs Thomas who gave a small, encouraging nod, granting permission. Beth couldn’t help but notice that Mr Thomas leaned forward in his chair somewhat. No matter, there were bound to be plenty of other parents at the party – she might as well get used to the idea of being on show. Beth’s heart was beating fast and there was no denying that she was nervous but she was also excited too. Silently, in her own head, she counted down from three before opening the robe and throwing it back so it slumped off her shoulders and onto the floor.

“I’ll be your birthday dinner!” She grinned. The twins rushed forward to hug their friend who knelt down to put her arms around them too. “I assume you already ran this past my mum and dad?” she asked, looking up at the parents.

“Well, yes.” Mr Thomas admitted a little awkwardly. “We didn’t want you to say yes and for the children to get all excited only for your parents to throw a spanner in the works. Now don’t get me wrong,” he said hurriedly, worried that Beth may form a wrong opinion about the conversation or her parents’ attitude, “they insisted it was entirely your decision to make but did give their blessing if you decided to say yes and accepted the offer we made for your meat, in theory, of course.”

“Well that explains why they were acting so weird before I came out!” Beth laughed, breaking the hug and standing up so that everyone could get a good look at her naked body. The twins had seen her in a swimsuit occasionally when she had taken them swimming and very briefly nude in the family changing room but had never been able to take a good, hard look at her naked form before. They walked slowly around her in a circle to take everything in.

“So?” Beth giggled, “Like what you see? Still think I’m going to be yummy?”

“Oh yes!” Percy patted her bare bottom then squeezed her thigh. From an older boy she’d have found this inappropriate without an invitation but there was clearly no sexual subtext to his behaviour, he was simply testing the meat. “I think I want some of this first!” He rubbed and squeezed her left buttock.

“I want these!” Jennifer reached up and grabbed Beth’s perky round breasts, squeezing a little bit harder than she intended to.

“”Now, sweetheart,” Mrs Thomas put a warning hand on her daughter’s shoulder as she saw Beth wince a little, “be gentle. You know those parts are quite sensitive on bigger girls.” Jennifer nodded and loosened her grip, satisfying herself with simply rubbing them before lightly fingering Beth’s hard, pink nipples.

“I’m going to have some like this when I’m older.” Jennifer informed Beth, “When I’m a big girl like you. That’s why I want to know what they taste like!”

Jennifer’s hands were very warm and soft and the teenager was a little embarrassed how arousing she found the experience. She tried to subtly cover her pussy with her hand in case anyone noticed how damp it had become both from the breast massage and the whole experience of being naked and inspected as meat. Yet the movement of her hand only served to draw focus.

It was Percy who gently pushed her hand aside for a better look then gave her shaved lips an exploratory prod. Jennifer felt on more familiar territory than she had done with the breasts as what was between Beth’s legs did not look too different from hers but Percy was curious. Beth wondered if she should stop him as he ran a finger down her cleft and almost slipped inside when he reached the bottom but he quickly pulled back himself, looking with confusion at the clear, sticky mucus on the tip of his finger.

“Why is it all sticky?” He asked as Beth blushed furiously, her freckled cheeks burning.

“Well,” Mrs Thomas started to explain, seeing the girl’s discomfort and embarrassment, “it’s something a lady’s body does to make it easier to…” she paused, this was not a conversation she had expected to have for another couple of years at least! “It helps the…”

“Spit!” Beth practically yelled in a moment of inspiration. “When a girl knows she’s going to be cooked, her body makes that hole kinda slippery to help the spit go in.” Mrs Thomas looked at her with relief and mouthed the words “thank you” silently, over the heads of the children. Apparently not convinced, Percy actually slid his index finger up inside her, pushing it in and pulling it out several times until he was satisfied then wiped his sticky fingers on his shirt. Beth bit her lip. Percy’s finger may only be tiny but somehow it had been hitting all the right spots as he pulled it in and out. She gave a deep exhale to try to compose herself while the children stepped back to appraise her again. Mr Thomas, she noticed with amusement, was now sitting with his legs crossed, clearly enjoying the show! Beth found herself wondering about the other dads who would be at the party and whether they would find her hot as she was oiled up, spitted and mounted over to coals.

The children proceeded to prod, poke and squeeze various parts of Beth’s young body with intense excitement and curiosity for a few more minutes before Mrs Thomas decided it was time to give her a break, something she would be too sweet to ask the twins for herself.

“I think you know all about Beth’s body now.” She told them with a smile. “Perhaps we should let her go and get dressed then we can confirm the details for the party. Somewhat reluctantly, the small children agreed and Beth slipped the robe back on before returning back up to the bathroom to find her clothes. It felt strange getting dressed again – down in the living room she had really started to feel like meat and actually felt a little sad that she wasn’t going to be cooked right then and there! Once her clothes were on, she sat on the side of the bath to put on her shoes. What on earth had she just agreed to? In exactly a week’s time, she was going to be cooked and eaten by people she, for the most part, didn’t know and who would view her as nothing more than food as if she were a packet of sausages from the supermarket! She wondered if she would recognise any of the other children or their parents from trips to the park or the swimming pool? Would they expect her to be naked the whole time or just when it was time for the cooking?

Once she was fully dressed, Beth went back downstairs to discuss the practicalities. Jennifer and Percy were sat on the sofa and looked a little disappointed to see that Beth had put her clothes back on but they soon cheered up when she sat down between them and they cuddled up to her, one under each arm like a mother hen and her chicks.

“First of all,” Mrs Thomas smiled warmly, “we want to thank you again for agreeing. I hope you can see how much it means to the children?”

“I love them.” Beth replied with a smile ever bit as warm as her host’s. “I would do anything for them!” She knew that this was an easy thing to say, a platitude thrown around far too readily most of the time, yet under the circumstances she felt she had earned the right to say it. After all, she was giving up her body, future and life for them so that they could have the birthday party them dreamt of! Was there really any more a person could be asked to do for another?

“Now we have already agreed a price with your parents,” Mrs Thomas explained, “but we wanted there to be something in it for you too, otherwise it doesn’t seem entirely fair. So we wanted to give you this.” She reached into her white leather handbag and pulled out a thick envelope which she handed to Beth. The redhead opened it and peeped inside seeing that it was full of money – a thick wad of notes. She could not tell at a glance exactly how much it was but she was pretty sure it was at least the equivalent of three months of babysitting. “This isn’t part of the payment,” Mrs Thomas assured her in case she had felt any reluctance, “your parents will still get every penny we promised them but we wanted you to be able to have a great last week so this is a personal gift. Go out and treat yourself any way you want to. We just respectfully ask that you don’t get any tattoos or piercings or anything else that might compromise the quality of your meat, is that okay?” Beth nodded, slightly numb from the shock of the second big surprise of the day.

“I’ve got all the information I need to file the paperwork for the sale of your meat,” Mr Thomas chimed in from his armchair, “so now that you’ve agreed, I can get that filed online this afternoon. That was you won’t be expected to go to school this week or anything like that and you can have time to enjoy yourself.

“We’re hoping you’ll be willing to babysit as normal on Thursday and Friday?” Mrs Thomas asked. “I know the children would love to have a little more quality time with you before, well, you know.” She smiled a little awkwardly.

“Are you going to ask her, Mummy?” Percy leaned forward excitedly, “Don’t forget!”

“Don’t worry, dear, I’m coming to that!” Mrs Thomas chuckled. Beth wondered what extra favour the twins could possibly want from her? Maybe it was something to do with keeping some of her bones afterwards or making a wig out of her hair or something? If it was anything like that, she really didn’t mind! It was not as if she would need any part of her remains after Saturday!

“The children were wondering,” Mrs Thomas explained delicately, realising that they were already asking so much from the teenager and worried about imposing on her any further, “whether, since the party is on Saturday, you would consider staying with them Friday night for a sleepover? Then you’ll be here Saturday morning and can join in the preparations if you want to, but only if you want to, that is.” This was hardly Mrs Thomas’ first experience with a meat girl and she knew only too well that some wanted to be involved at every stage of the process and would do as much as they could towards preparing themselves for the table whereas others wanted to stay well out of the way until it was their time for the oven or spit.

“I’d love to!” Beth beamed down at the small people snuggled either side of her. She wanted to have a final meal with her parents and spend a bit of time with them before the end but that could be done earlier in the week. After all, she probably wasn’t supposed to eat much or anything at all after breakfast on Friday. She wondered if the Thomases were going to give her instructions for that sort of thing or whether she needed to research for herself? As it was, she could think of nobody else she would rather spend her final night with. “I’m always kinda sad when I have to go home after our play-dates on Fridays,” she knew this is how the children viewed her visits, even ‘though they understood she was being paid to be there, “so it will be lovely not to have to! We can have so much fun!” She hugged them both tightly as they bounced onto her lap excitedly.

“Now steady on!” Mrs Thomas laughed, “Beth’s agreed to be your dinner, not your climbing frame!” The children laughed as Beth tickled them then settled down a little, wondering if there was any more grown-up business to be discussed. “Oh, one more thing!” Mrs Thomas reached into her handbag again, “I nearly forgot this!” She pulled out a glossy booklet with a smiling, naked girl on the front who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen, shown from the waist up and smiling broadly. She reached across and handed it to Beth who studied the cover with interest.

“Be Delicious!” she read out, “A guide for meat-girls aged twelve to sixteen.”

“They do different versions,” Mrs Thomas explained, “for girls of different ages. I know all this stuff is online too but several friends of mine recommended this booklet when I mentioned the party plans to them so I thought you might find it interesting?”

“Thank you!” Beth grinned, starting to flick through while the little ones peered excitedly at the contents. She did ponder for a moment just how many people had known about the plans for the party before she had but it didn’t bother her too much. Although more the size of a promotional brochure than a magazine, the booklet seemed to be a mixture between a text-book and a typical teen mag. There were pictures of naked girls of various ages showing the different stages of development with notes on how this effected the meat, interviews with meat-girls, complete with photos of course, and with people who worked in the girl-meat industry. There was a feature about young celebrities who had volunteered to be eaten and, exactly what Beth had been hoping for, tips from professionals for meat-girls about how to ensure their meat was as delicious as it could possibly be, including advice about what hair-removal products to use, any body-rubs that could enhance the flavour and, most importantly, what to eat and drink! Having a quick flick through, Beth noticed with amusement that there were only two pages out of the twenty or so that did not have at least one picture of a naked girl on and she couldn’t help wondering how many copies were bought not by meat-girls or girls thinking of becoming meat but by boys and men who just wanted to look at the pictures!

“You probably want to go and clear your head then have some fun.” Mr Thomas suggested kindly. “We should let you go now. I promise to get the paperwork submitted this afternoon so there’s no need for you to worry about any of that!” The twins were a little sad that Beth was leaving but knew better than to protest. She gave them each a big hug and kiss on the cheek before standing up.

“Thank you again, dear, for everything!” Mrs Thomas clasped the teenager’s hands and gave her a warm smile of genuine gratitude. “Please do enjoy your week and we’ll see you Thursday?” The whole family stood in the doorway to wave Beth off as she retrieved her bike and began to cycle into town.

Although she had opted to go shopping rather than go home, Beth felt that she should at least let her parents know what she had decided. Part of her was still annoyed that they had discussed it with the Thomases and even agreed a price for her meat without saying anything to her but, on the other hand, they had insisted that it be her choice and the twins had clearly wanted to be the ones to ask her. Turning her bike off the road, Beth headed down an alley way towards the canal – it was a quiet spot where she liked to go when she wanted to think, read quietly or simply be alone. Apart from the occasional dog-walker, nobody ever bothered her down there. Letting her bike fall onto its side as she got off, Beth sat on the low, concrete wall designed to prevent people falling in and took out her phone.

It was her dad who answered but, when Beth asked, he put her on speaker-phone so she wouldn’t need to have the whole conversation twice. Neither parent sounded surprised that she had agreed to be birthday dinner for the twins and her mum kept saying over and over how proud of her she was. Beth couldn’t help but wonder if the money they were being paid for her was somewhat incentivising their enthusiasm but she didn’t like to ask. Since she had agreed to the proposal, it was better that they were in favour rather than against as they could have made things quite awkward and put huge strain on her relationship both with them and with the Thomas family if she had wanted to let them cook her but they had opposed it. She told them about the treat money and, after a promise not to be too late home, she put her phone away and had another leaf through the guide.

The interviews looked interesting and she decided they would make for good bedtime reading but it was the advice column and tips she was really interested in at that moment. If she was going to be meat, she wanted to be the best meat she could possibly be! The tips included drinking lots of fruit juice, eating plenty of grain-based food like bread and wholegrain pasta and a little alcohol (presented with the caveat that you would have to ask your parents for this) as well as fruits like apples and oranges. Another section was entitled “On Your Big Day” and, Beth was pleased to note, gave tips such as how long before cooking you should avoid eating and how much water to drink to make sure your system was properly flushed through.

Upon skimming the article on different cooking methods, Beth realised she had never actually asked how they planned on cooking her. She had assumed that it would be a traditional spit-road barbecue and had talked in those terms without anyone correcting her but it had never actually been explicitly specified. She almost took out her phone to call and ask but figured that could wait until she saw them on Thursday and, in the mean time, the method of cooking didn’t seem to make much difference in terms of what she could do to prepare herself. She rolled up the booklet and slipped it back into the inside pocket of her jacket then took out the envelope and, glancing around to check that nobody was coming, took out the money to count.

It was even more than she had thought – closer to six months’ earnings than three! It would be more than enough to buy the new bike she’d been saving for but, she thought to herself, what would be the point in that? It wouldn’t leave her with all that much to spoil herself with and she would only get to enjoy the bike for a few days, after which her parents would probably sell it anyway and she was sure that they were already getting more than enough. No, she decided, her current bike would do quite well enough until Friday after which she wouldn’t need it any more.

Feeling a little more resolute and clear about her situation, Beth tucked the money away safely, picked up her bike and continued her journey into town. Being Saturday, the shopping streets were quite busy. She chained her bike up in one of the public racks, patted her pockets to make sure she still had phone, money envelope and booklet then began to explore. It was a new feeling to her, knowing that she could pretty much have any product or service her eye fell upon. Her family were not poor exactly but neither were they rich like the Thomases and she had always been taught to be careful with her money, to save for the future. But now here future was a mere few days and she had a pocket stuffed with cash!

Beth fully intended to follow the dietary advice in the booklet from the next morning onwards and even planned to stock up on the food and drinks recommended while she was out shopping but right then and there all she wanted was a massive burger from her favourite fast food place, the biggest and most expensive one they did! Before going in, she remembered the small book shop next door and decided to call in looking for something to read while she enjoyed her meal. First she grabbed a two hardbacks from her favourite sci-fi and horror writers respectively. She had been waiting for them to come out in paperback but it seemed like she wasn’t going to have time for that now, and the potential price difference suddenly seemed very minimal to the newly-flush teenager. Next she found the novelization of a sci-fi movie she’d been interested in. She had missed it at the cinema and it wouldn’t be out on any sort of home media for a couple of months so she was unlikely to get to see it. No matter, she was a fast reader and could enjoy it in book form instead! After all, as she always said, books had way better special effects!

With the three books resting on one arm, she started to browse sections she wouldn’t normally have been that interested in. In the biography section she found a new book about Sidney Roebuck, the American girl who’s tireless campaign in her grandparents time had introduced the world to the idea of eating girls. She vaguely recalled that there had been some scandal eight or nine years ago where someone made claims about Sidney backing out of being butchered and having someone else killed in her place. Laws allowing cannibalism had been suspended for a few months but it had soon got ironed out and things went back to normal. Beth couldn’t remember how the situation had been resolved, she’d been too young to really understand the issues at the time, but wondered if this book might explain it a little. She added the biography with the smiling blonde girl in the rhinestoned cowboy hat on the cover to her pile and continued to browse.

Out of what what might be called professional curiosity, she began to browse the cookery section. At least half the recipe books focussed on girl-meat and she flipped through a few, trying to imagine the taste of some of the mouthwatering recipes. About half way down the shelf, however, she made an interesting discovery. There was the booklet that Mrs Thomas had given her with the naked cover-model, her breasts little more than perky little buds, grinning at the camera, delighted to be meat, but either side of it were the other editions aimed at girls aged 6-11 and 17-20. Beth was curious to see what different advice might be given to the meat-girls in different age brackets so picked up the two she did not have, noting with amusement that the one aimed at pre-teens had the most copies on the shelf and the one for older teens and young women had the least, going a fair way towards confirming her suspicions about who was really buying them and why!

There were other books that looked vaguely interesting, the kind that Beth thought she might have got around to reading “one day” but, she figured, she only had a few days left and, although she was a fast reader and it was probably her favourite passtime, she wanted time for other things too.

Beth took her selection up to the counter. As the kind-faced lady who looked to be around sixty years old scanned the barcodes, she looked at Beth appraisingly.

“Quite an interesting selection you have here!” Beth just smiled in response. “You know,” the lady reached towards the leaflet rack at the end of the rather crowded counter, “there’s a salon just down the road from here that specialises in treatments for meat-girls. Would that be something you’d be interested in?

“Yeah?” Beth replied tentatively.

“Here,” the lady smiled, “I’ll stick the leaflet in the bag for you. I think there’s a bit of a discount if you show the leaflet too.” She told Beth the total and the intrigued girl handed over the money, thinking as she did so that she really needed to transfer some of the cash from the envelope into her normal wallet, partly so she did not keep advertising how much cash she was carrying but also to make it look a little less like she’d just completed a lucrative drug deal or sold a state secret or two! The cashier, however, if she thought the cash-stuffed envelope was unusual, made no comment but simply smiled and handed Beth her change along with the bag of books which now also contained the flyer from the salon. Beth thanked her and went next door to the fast food place.

Before finding a table, Beth slipped into the Ladies toilet, found a vacant cubical and bolted the door shut. This was the second time that day she had used a toilet as a place of refuge, she thought to herself with amusement. She looked at the money in the envelope – how much would she need for what she wanted to do that day and how much could stay hidden? After a few moments pondering, she took out approximately a fifth of the notes and put the envelope carefully back in her inside pocket which she zipped shut. She would just have to be extra vigilant and remember not to leave her jacket anywhere! She then took the small wallet from the pocket of her jeans and stuffed the money in as best she could. It was still far more than she would normally carry unless she was going Christmas shopping or to buy an outfit for a special occasion, but probably not enough to draw the wrong kind of attention.

Out of curiosity, she fished in the bag for the flyer the cashier had given her. It seemed like a fairly standard hair and beauty salon offering various normal treatments but in the middle section of the inside, in a highlighted box, she found what she was looking for. It was indeed a list of treatments targetted at meat-girls including full body-hair removal, tenderising massage and flavour-enhancing rubs! This certainly looked interesting. Beth knew that she would need to need to do a more thorough hair-removal than her usual routine of legs and arm-pits with a Venus razor in the shower, even her fairly freshly-shaved vulva would need proper attention, not to mention her forearms and the fine, downy hair basically every else on her body. She had expected that she would need to buy a cream or something and do it at home in the shower but if there was a salon offering the service, that was sure to be much more enjoyable and would most likely get better results too!

Under the list of individual services was a paragraph explaining that the offered both one-off services and short-term treatment plans to get girls and women ready for their big day. It finished with an invitation to future meat-girls to call in and discuss their requirements. On the back, as the cashier had pointed out, was a voucher offering 15% off all treatments. Beth decided this was exactly the sort of thing her money was for – there was very little point in buying things if she only had a week left to enjoy them but salon treatments like this sounded great and, if they made her meat tastier, that was a very welcome bonus! She decided she would call in for a consultation once she had eaten, but first she wanted her burger!

The burger in question was one of the “specials” that the chain offered on rotation, usually twice a year, and it was Beth’s absolute favourite! Cheese, bacon and a special kind of sauce that was both creamy and peppery. Since budget was no issue and this was to be her last “cheat” meal, she upgraded her fries to wedges and ordered a sharing box of chicken nuggets on the side which she intended to eat all herself! Her normal trick of eating with one hand while holding a book with the other was simply not practical with a burger that large so she had to manage with the open book on the table, (she had decided to start with the sci-fi novel), her elbow holding it open while she used both hands to handle the huge burger, wiping her hand on a napkin to turn the page every couple of minutes.

Despite being relatively petite, Beth had always had an appetite to rival any of the boys she knew and, although it was a little bit of a struggle towards the end, she finished every last bite of what she had ordered, even finding room for an icecream sundae with strawberry syrup afterwards! Nearly an hour after entering and feeling ever so slightly like she might be pregnant, Beth left the fast food outlet and looked for the salon from the flyer.