Chapter 11. Fitness test. (4/6)
We were finally at the last fitness test.
She laid down on her back with her fully exposed legs facing me. Her hair was scattered across the ground in all directions but she didn’t particularly mind it. She looked at me from the gap between her thighs and asked, “Well? What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be holding my legs down properly?”
I glanced around and confirmed the guys were holding the girls down by their shoes so I did the same. I placed my hand down on her shoes but she raised an eyebrow at me.
“What?”
“A bit more weight would be helpful. Can you just hold my feet down with your knees?”
“Uh… sure.” I complied with her request, but then she suddenly sat up and grabbed my hands.
“What now?”
“Securely hold my knees in place as well.” She placed my hands on top of her knees and then in place with hers on top of mine.
“Hmm, well, that should do.”
This girl is trying to drive me insane.
Nevertheless, I utilized all the willpower contained within my mortal body to maintain the stone-cold poker face I wore. She was truly testing the limits of the kinds of bullshit I could keep a straight face for. She looked like she was even having fun.
If I look away from her, I lose. That was how I felt. She hadn’t stopped making eye contact with me the entire time. This girl is the worst! The absolute worst type of person I tell you!
I will NEVER again refuse to give up my seat to someone if they ask me for it. No stupid seat is worth this kind of hellish twisted form of harassment.
Once she started doing sit-ups her body rose and fell off the ground repeatedly. Every time she reached out she intentionally made sure to touch her hands to her knees. More specifically she placed them on top of mine and let them slide off as she leaned back.
She was absolutely teasing me. Her objective was to tease me to death, but I would not allow myself to be teased. I would not succumb to this level of… ugh, it’s so fucking embarrassing, I want to die.
I’m dead. I’m seriously dead. Just kill me now woman. I can’t put up with this.
How much more time is there until this unusual form of torture is over? The muscles in my face were aching from how tense they were while trying to keep my face encased in a block of stone.
God, why do you torture me so? All I ever wanted was peace and quiet, but ever since this storm arrived it’s been nothing but endless hardships for me. What did I do to deserve this?
It ended up being the longest 60 seconds of my life. I never knew how dangerous sit-ups were until I met this particular girl.
“Well, it appears you somehow made it through in one piece. It seems I shouldn’t have held back and I should have used my full power after all.”
“Full… power? You mean that wasn’t even your final form? Just what sort of monster are you? No, you’re just bluffing, there’s nothing that could possibly have made this any worse.”
With a smile that wanted to laugh at my nativity, she sat all the way up and moved her mouth close to my ear, and whispered, “What if I’d placed your hands a bit further and sat all the way up every time?”
I pictured it in my head and immediately understood the secret weapon she was referring to. She wasn’t kidding when she said she held back a lot of her strength. I felt ashamed that I couldn’t even see through her true might. She’d looked down upon me with nothing but pity for being a mere frog sitting at the bottom of a well. I did not know of the sky, oh how high it was.
I nearly broke down on the spot and despaired about how weak I truly was. But no doubt, she had shown me mercy. The methods women had to play around with a man’s emotions were truly limitless, that was what I was taught by her today. It seemed I still had a long way to go.
“Pfthahaha!” As if she could see through every thought that flashed through my mind just by looking into my eyes, she abruptly burst out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter that she did her best to stifle to not draw everyone’s attention toward us.
Had she observed me so much to the point that she could tell everything on my mind just through eye contact? Isn’t that even scarier? If that’s the case, I won’t be able to keep any secret from her no matter how I try to hide it.
Even that particular secret I’ve hidden for so long could potentially be in jeopardy.
With such worries on my mind, I laid down with my back to the ground in a sit-up position. Without me asking her to hold my feet down she did it of her own volition.
“You don’t need to hold my feet down. I can do sit-ups just fine without the need for that.”
I felt like she was up to something so I tried to immediately refuse her assistance.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
“I’m asking you to not help because I’m worried about you helping.”
“Oh? What’s there to worry about?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t trust you at all.”
“How cruel, saying you don’t trust me after everything we’ve been through together.”
“Despite your words, you sure don’t look hurt by me not trusting you.”
“I am, I’m actually very hurt you know. So hurt I can hardly keep myself from falling down to the ground.”
She pinned my feet down with her knees and slumped forward over my knees. She wrapped her arms around my knees and rested her chin on the back of her overlapping hands. I could feel two soft sensations pressing up against my shins and could easily tell exactly what they were. Her body was rather hot and my legs had been fully enveloped by that warmth.
Haaaaah. There really was nothing I could do against her. It’s not that I was weak, it was just that she was too strong an opponent. I resigned myself and accepted my fate for the next sixty seconds. For these sixty seconds, I was nothing more than a pitiful mouse being stared down by a playful cat. I was at the mercy of her whimsical nature.
Every time I sat up, her face was so close I could feel her breath on my face. I could feel her heartbeat transmit to me through her chest. When it sped up, and when it slowed down, it was all but too obvious.
So even she got excited…
And she was intentionally letting me know that without the slightest hint of shame.
I was already certain she’d use the same trick when I did push-ups if I didn’t at least do a few sit-ups. As such, I quickly racked up 31 sit-ups with her staring intently at me the entire time. As if she’d anticipated my stopping point where I wouldn’t do any further sit-ups in the time remaining, her hand stretched out and grabbed the collar of my shirt preventing me from lying down to rest.
“What is it?”
“Well you’re not planning to do any more sit-ups, right? So why not just stay like this?”
Her heart through her chest beat faster whenever I was close to her like this. Looking into her eyes at such a short distance, I confirmed her pupils were dilated. We were so close I could see myself and the surroundings behind us reflected within them. I couldn’t help but wonder what I looked like right now. Just what was it she saw when she looked at me this closely? It was impossible to distinctly make out all my details such as whether my own pupils were dilated just through the reflection of her eyes. I’d need a mirror to confirm it which left me rather troubled.
Having lost track of time, I didn’t even notice when the teacher said time was up. That being the case, I was unsure how to get out of this situation. If we stayed like this for too long it would no doubt attract the wandering eyes of our peers. We were more or less out of sight with a pillar obstructing their sight and a good distance away from them. But as soon as people started moving about they’d easily discover what sort of position the two of us were in which would no doubt raise some eyebrows as being rather precarious.
As if seeing through my worries Rosa released my collar with a satisfied smile and finally stood up. I was thankful she didn’t take things too far. It would be troubling, to say the least, if she had.
I raised my hand to my neck and pressed down two fingers to check my pulse. It was elevated. Whether it was because of Rosa or because my body hadn’t returned to a resting state after the strenuous workout today, I had no way to be certain. I didn’t have a control measurement from before and after making this result inconclusive.
Perhaps Rosa was the only one who knew the answer to that question. She was the only one who could see the state of my eyes after all. Whether they were dilated or not at that moment in time, only she knew.
Thanks for the Chapter :)
And the Author's Note just makes me excited about what's coming in the future
I need a POV of the other classmates and the PE teacher's reaction on their blatant flirting.
Typically for this series I’d consider making alternate POV chapters as side chapters for the end of a volume. I might consider it.
The more I read this, the less I understand the MC. First, he's a minor who lives alone. I don't know how it works in the US -- most probable location of this story, but I'm sure there's some kind of way he could get financial help from the government. It works the same way everywhere. Thinking "I want to do this alone" is not adult behaviour, it's stupid in the extreme. Second, he's constantly bothered by literal children. I can understand the extreme shyness, the anxiety, the introverted characters, but not when it comes to 15 year old children. No matter what his character is, they are children, first and foremost. He feels like a 15 yo teenager with the memories of a 40 yo man, not like a 40 yo man himself. Fourth, he's in the school. I'm sorry, but no way in hell would a 40 yo man go to school again and sit through it. He already knows what he wants from his life. Study, try to get some kind of help somewhere, try to finish the school as fast as possible and start writing your stories. This is just a giant waste of time and it makes no sense. Fifth, he doesn't think about what happened to him for a second. You literally travelled back in time, mate. That stuff completely brakes one's understanding of... pretty much everything. That's some surreal sh*t right here. He just... goes with the flow, like a leaf on the wind. That's very characteristic of little children, but, (sigh, again) not 40 yo adults.
It seems to be a solidly written story, overall. But the plot and the MC make very little sense to me. Just not my cup of tea, I guess.
Not everyone wants to be reliant on free handouts from the government. Also, why would he want to hurry and finish school when it means he's going to have to go and pay taxes when he's out of school. If anything he'd want to stay in school and so long as he's in school he doesn't have to pay taxes on his income. Next, finding a job at his age is not possible. You won't get hired at 15 he's lucky he even got one at his age under the counter. He does not want to be taken in by the government because he'll have to deal with social workers and other kids who are f*cked up in the head most of the time. One of the many jobs his mother worked as was a social worker before so he knows what it's like already. He also does not want to feel indebted to the government for anything.
Another thing, you are definitely going to feel uncomfortable in a room filled with kids when you're much older than them but look the same as them. As for why he accepts what happened, he's just level headed and realizes panicking isn't going to change anything about his situation. He's written far crazier things as a witter so he's just numb to weird sh*t of this level in general. Another reason why he sits through high school and does it again, it's because for just about any job, that's a prerequisite to be hired even if it's just a piece of paper. Another thing is since he never experienced much of his youth he figures he can do so this time around so he can use it a reference material.
@KiraMinoru What kind of taxes would he be paying when he's out of school? There's no income. Finding a a full-time job, yes unlikely. Part-time? Plenty of that and plenty of kids work. Kids are not "f*cked up in the head", at least not most of them. Sides, he's an adult, he wouldn't care, he wouldn't interact with them. He owns a flat, he wouldn't be taken in somewhere. The court most probably will decide on his guardian. He will be provided with sustenance. He won't have to go hungry. He won't have to work and can focus on school and his writing! That's the entire point. This "not wanting to be indebted to anyone" feels like a plot device to make him more miserable. There's no way any adult with a head on their shoulders wouldn't consider every option. Not panicking and accepting what happened is one thing. Not paying any attention to it and not even sparing it a thought since day one is quite another. I've read further to the point he asks the "annoying" girl to be his girlfriend completely out of the blue. There isn't a single thing that lead to this 180 degree reversal. That's nowhere near what the character you've been describing would ever do. Again, just not my cup of tea. There's a level of nonsense a reader would forgive. But if the writer doesn't respect their own characters and plot, why should I?
@SirItio He's currently working a job though, under the table, so he would have to pay taxes if he's no longer a student and were to get hired officially. If he wants to get a job not under the table when he's 16 then he will have to pay taxes on it if he's not a student. Also, you don't know anything about what it's like when you get taken in by the government in the particular country. They will typically put you up in a hotel with a bunch of kids and have a social worker looking after you. They're kids who've either lost their parents or who have been taken away from their parents who were crackheads, abusive, etc and yes, they are f*cked in the head. There are kids who threaten the social workers with knives. Kids who threaten to kills themselves, etc. If you think government run programs are all clean, great, and wonderful, sorry but they really aren't. You're lucky if you get sent somewhere that doesn't end up being a sh*t terrible toxic environment.
Not wanting to be indebted to anyone isn't a plot device for him to be more miserable. It's because he despises the very notion of debts with a passion, debts were what made him miserable in the first place. You end up going into debt working like a slave to try and pay off that debt but no matter how hard you try to pull yourself out of debt you keep getting pushed back into that infinite debt spiral. That's why he simply refuses to take on any sort of debt. Even moral debt where he feels as if he owes something to others.
There is a reason why he asks her out. He's curious whether there is more to the bland and boring world than he thinks. If he never saw those things simply because he never took the time to look. Curious whether things like assassins actually exist or not. He's also never bothered to go out with a girl in his youth so he's never had the chance to experience it. Anything he does is for the sake of writing. To experience things so he's able to use them later on to write scenes and make them come to life. That's just the mindset of an author he developed.
@SirItio There exist people who don't want the government to wipe their ass for the rest of their life. Once you start taking those free handouts you begin to get complacent and lazy thinking they'll always be there. If you want him to go and do that, that itself would be disrespecting the character. It's like taking animals out of the wild, domesticating them, and then when sending them back into the wild expecting them to be able to fend for themselves. That's exactly what the government ends up doing. Rather than helping them, they end up hurting them in the long run and making things worse.
@KiraMinoru You're describing what happens to children who have no home. If he has a flat, no one's going to force him out of it. No, the programs are not all clean and wonderful. There are some pretty f*cked up cases, as with all things. But most of the time, the social workers are going to have a talk with the child, figure out a way to look after them, explain things and just work it out on case by case basis. Which our 40 yo MC should be able to handle no problem. You're describing some of the worst possible scenarios -- where children were abused from the childhood and basically have nowhere to go. I had a similar problem where I was a single child and had to work and study at the same time. Looking back on those times now, I can't help but feel stupid for living in some dingy places and basically surviving. I didn't know any better then, I didn't consider it "surviving", but right now, if I had to go back I'd raise hell and explore every possible avenue of making my life easier. And this again goes against the "lazy" character you're setting him to be. A lazy person would think of how to make their life easier. How would he become complacent? He's 40, not 14. His characters is already formed, there isn't much to be changed. What the government ends up doing with their handouts should be of no importance to our MC. What's this next level logic of making your life harder for the sake... ehm... not being complacent? How are they "free handouts"? He's going to pay his taxes to the government when he's older, making sure they do their job -- help other people in need, because that's their job. In what universe is this called "being indebted"?
As for the asking out part, there should've been at least some kind of prelude. You can't just completely break everything you've been writing in one single sentence. You might've noticed everyone just going "huh"?
I can see most of this happening, with some changes to the narrative and not basically having those question marks above my head every other paragraph with the MC being 20, not 40. His knowledge of school subjects is also suspicious. The same way one ends up forgetting the names and faces of pretty much everyone they knew back in school, the same way they forget what was taught. He'd struggle in every subject except English and those directly linked to his university days.
This is getting too long and tedious, you're the author, obviously. Your story. And I'm asking far too much from a free story I randomly found on the internet.
@SirItio he's only renting a place at his age by lying about his age and counterfeiting documents. If that gets out, he damn well won't have a place and will have to leave it.
You're lucky if you get a social worker who gives a damn about talking to you. Many don't give a sh*t and are just there for a paycheck.
Not everyone wants just a simple easy life handed to them. There's no meaning to a life you didn't work hard for with your own hands. You won't appreciate it nearly as much if it's just handed to you on a silver platter. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and that easy life you dream of isn't always what you're led on to believe it really is. The MC wants to be content with the little things and freedoms he does have rather than taking on debts to live beyond his means to make his life seemingly easier in the short term. In the long term those frivolous things that make things too easy for you in life makes you value life much less.
It really doesn't matter what age you are in life, you can get complacent regardless of age. It only takes a moment letting your guard down to fall into the path of complacency.
Once you take a free handout once, it's a slippery slope. It's the exact same sort of psychology used with predatory micro transactions in video games. You took it once so you don't see any issues dipping your hands into that pond and taking another small sip again. And again. And again. The small sip becomes bigger and bigger with time. It reaches a level where you're just a loyal dog to the government. If you ever think to disagree with them on something, they have money over you and moral debt. If you don't think the same way they do, they can cut you off. You're turned into just another part of their dirty system. How is it all done? Through different forms of debts.
If you want to live a happy life, stay away from heavy debts and live within your means. Don't put short term benefits ahead of the long term, those small benefits you take in the short term pile up more and more over time until they becomes a heavy shackle attached to a giant weight dragging you down into hell.
That is the current state of humanity. Because we constantly take more and more of these sorts of short term gains in the name of making our lives easier, we've actually ended up pushing ourselves into a corner in the long run. That's the sort of future he lived through and saw so he won't live that way.
@SirItio Yeah. He is making it more difficult for himself even though simpler options exist. The problem is we as readers weren't given his insight into why any of them weren't chosen.
@KiraMinoru I don't know how bad the usual experience you have as a person is, but that should be the bad outliers, the ones that get talked about, not the norm. I get why MC is not keen on asking for help from any government or social workers because as a minor he would lose his freedom to do what he wants. Grant to his living expenses, check in with his handler, and such, they all have some stipulations attached. Not to the extent he would have to pay anything back, but it's still something that could potentially limit him. As a ward of the state, he wouldn't be guaranteed to even stay in the area, they could move him to a different school, flat, etc. He is renting a place, so that means he doesn't directly own it... They shouldn't move him, but it's a risk.