It’s been a week since I started going to the gym. The old man had offered me a boxing course for a cheap price at first, but I turned him down and simply purchased a monthly membership for the gym. I didn’t know if I actually wanted to box yet. Either way, it had sparked a fire within me to exercise, and I wanted to get the basics down by going to the gym.

 

I liked the idea of becoming strong. If I fought one of those guys that were on the boxing ring that day, I would probably have snapped like a twig. I wasn’t quite as skinny as Jake. I was a bit skinny fat. 

 

During the days I studied nutrition. Some guides told me to cut calories to get rid of my skinny-fatness, while some told me to bulk and push through it. I wasn’t insecure about my body having a little fat, so I decided to enter a slight caloric surplus with my goal to gain strength.

 

Not long into studying, I realized how bad my eating habits truly were. I always knew they were bad, but the amount of protein that was optimal for a man of my age was nowhere close to being reached, replaced by the simple carbohydrates of my diet.

 

No wonder Chantal would go down to my fridge after the rigorous activities and complain about the lack of snacks; none of the garbage I ate could be considered as actual food to her. 

 

She obviously kept her body in check. Even though I was done with her, I felt slightly embarrassed by my poor physique and life habits for the first time ever, as I quietly compared us.

But she never complained so it’s fine, right? I was just a dildo anyway, and she had much uglier ones, like that one that looked like a dragon’s head. I stopped comparing myself to her dragon dildo.

 

My parents were never home, and my little sister who was two years younger than me temporarily stayed in another city for school.

 

Mary is probably the reason I tolerated Chantal for as long as I did. Having to deal with the most abhorrent excuse of a girl for over a decade made me passable at dealing with most women. Like being thrown out from the lion’s den back into the wild unscathed, I was an experienced gazelle.

 

Mary knew about Chantal’s personality and chose her as her role model when she was young. Chantal, being two years older than her, was the only girl in the neighbourhood she could follow around. 

 

I don’t care what psychologists have to say about this, but her personality was influenced; no, it was single-handedly created by Chantal.

Like creating a Frankenstein, Chantal molded her into a Satan’s spawn. To me, Mary was nothing but an empty husk, and my real little sister’s soul was eaten by Chantal at a very young age. 

 

After her teaching days were over, Chantal soon became less tomboyish and retired from being an evil brat in public, leaving Mary to follow in her footsteps. Where Chantal would punch people in the faces back then, she would now apologize while acting cutesy. She would still punch me in the face, though.

 

When Mary and Chantal meet each other, it’s like two countries fighting over a small piece of land. There will be casualties. But even though they have a twisted relationship, at the end of the tunnel they are nothing but two dear friends. These lionesses showed affection towards one another through violence.

 

I wasn’t excited about the prospect of telling Mary about our falling out.

 

—

 

White bread was one of the things I ate the most. Someone on a bodybuilding forum said, ”The whiter the bread, the quicker you’re dead.” Funnily enough, that silly line struck a chord within me, and I opted for rye bread which was rich with fiber at the grocery store. 

 

I walked by the aisles and chose my groceries, picking some weird vegetables that I read were healthy and fairly low-calorie. 

 

I started with breakfast, I would usually eat white bread with orange juice. Only now I realized that the orange juice I had been drinking was full of sugar. Pure orange juice was fine, but I learned that even fruits had to be taken in moderation, as they contained a lot of natural sugars.

 

Cottage cheese, oatmeal, and some eggs. Breakfast, done.

 

Lunch was to be had at school so it was a dice roll, but the cafeteria usually had some healthy warm food options.

 

Chicken breast, rice, and vegetables. Dinner, done. 

 

I also picked a protein shaker, a bag of whey protein, nuts, and a variety of protein curds and yoghurts.

 

My usual shopping cart was filled with microwaved pizzas, sealed burgers, and a lot of potato chips that I downed with energy drinks while playing League.

 

—

 

Later that day, I had a problem.

 

Everything tasted horrible. There was no flavour. I quickly suffered from a headache, and my body felt uncomfortable. It was as if my body was begging me to eat my usual processed foods. I tried adding salt and even some chili powder from the spice cabinet where mom kept it.

I soon accepted my defeat and ate everything in forced swallows, drinking water on top of everything.

 

Just after one meal, I felt ready to give up on my newly found diet. It would be too tasking to keep this up for more than a day, both mentally and physically. I would have to come up with a more sustainable diet.

 

—

 

At the school cafeteria, I took an extra scoop of cottage cheese. ”You know, this stuff is filled with casein protein. If you eat it before bed, it slowly releases into your system and..” Gerald and Jake were listening to me, though they weren’t as enthusiastic as I was. I was rarely this passionate about anything, so they just sat there and listened while trying to make sense of it.

 

During recess, I passed by Chantal and her personnel. She glared at me awkwardly, which her boyfriend of course managed to see.

I sighed, not understanding her at all.

 

---

 

As soon as the PE class started, one of Corey’s lackeys approached me with a basketball in his hand. 

 

”Hey. Have you done something to Corey’s girlfriend?” He had curly auburn hair and a scary expression on his face. 

 

By doing something, does it count that she fucked me almost every day for a year without me making a single advance on her?

 

I looked towards Corey playing basketball, as if to ask if it was any of this guy’s business.

 

“He didn’t want to be seen speaking to you, so he sent me.“ 

 

Of course he didn’t. As I watched him play the sport with a smile on his face seemingly without any troubles, I felt pity. This poor bastard thinks his girlfriend is a virgin saintess, when she is merely a demon in disguise. Will his soul also be sucked like my sister’s, I thought in grievance as I stared at his unknowing face.

 

If Chantal was really the person she was at school, wouldn’t she be a perfect woman? 

 

No, she was still useless. Being a complete tomboy in her past, she knew nothing about cooking, doing laundry, or even cleaning her own fucking room. That’s right, she would bring her laundry over to my basket. She was a major fraud.

 

I kept calm, not showing anything suspicious from my demeanour. I managed to look confused, as I turned my eyes from Corey to his friend that was next to me.

 

”I don’t think I have done anything to offend her.” I then continued, “But she does seem angry with me for some reason. Could you ask Corey to ask her why that is, as her boyfriend?” I asked in an honest voice.

 

The thought of Corey asking her why she was angry at me almost had me rolling in tears. Would she tell him the reason? 

 

Fuck no! The selfish bitch wouldn’t suffer just to take me down.

 

Corey’s lackey nodded at my request, but then looked at me with a demeaning gaze, ”Then, let's hope it’s nothing.” 

 

His eyes were still looking at me like I was a cockroach. He leaned in closer and a crazy grin overtook his face. ”Because if it turns out to be something, we'll beat the shit out of you,” he whispered in a way that no one else heard him.

 

Corey’s friend stormed off, and I turned back to Corey as I watched him sponge some sweat off his face with the hem of his shirt. He had a visible six-pack, but his abdominal muscles weren’t that developed at all. His body fat was probably really low.

 

There were some girls on the sidelines watching the boys play, Chantal being one of them with a strange look on her face. Corey racked the most points for his team and won. I was on the opposite team, sitting on the bench most of the game. I didn’t care about basketball. 

 

Corey and friends spared no effort in celebrating their victory, making all kinds of weird poses. The girls were all cheering, but if it were Gerald doing those same poses on that stage, they would all think it’s fucking cringe. The forgiving effect of good looks, I figured.

 

After the exercise, I went to shower at the school for the first time in my two years of high school. As an outcast, society already assumed I was unhygienic, so I merely embraced it. I would always shower when I got home, though.

 

But lately I had learned about the importance of hygiene, and had developed the habit of showering at the gym whenever I was done, so I no longer felt comfortable if I didn't shower after exercise.

 

At the showers, I was greeted by a sight I did not expect in a million years. Corey and his friends were there, already dressing up after their shower. But that wasn’t exactly what caught my attention.

 

Corey’s dick was the size of my ring finger! Walking next to him reminded me of one of those porn scenes I watched, where a big guy slaps a ’cuckold’ on his shoulder and says his thanks to the husband for keeping the wife’s holes tight for him. 

 

Could we even be called eskimo brothers if he eventually taps Chantal? No, it was more like I was the eskimo grandpa, while he was an eskimo granddaughter. Chantal was being stingy with him, not even kissing, but surely their relationship would develop to that point soon enough.

 

Corey and his group had already left before I entered the showers, but there were still others there. I decided to only take a quick shower, since I would soon go to the gym and would have to shower a second time. 

 

I finished showering and left for the next period, being happy that I spared most of my energy for weightlifting instead of spending it all on cardio.

 

---

 

I was finished with my workout at the gym, and was currently wiping my hair with a towel while looking around, as I basked in the feeling of having done a good workout. But as I looked towards the chest area, my alertness rose.

 

A girl was struggling with the bench press bar. With her poor form, it was about to fall on her head like a guillotine. She was clearly not able to stand the weights, since one side of the bar was tilting downwards in a dangerous way. 

 

She had the sides of the bars locked, so if it fell on her neck, she would have trouble wiggling herself out.

 

I quickly ran up and helped her, and was not that surprised to see tears welled up in her eyes as I picked up the bar.

 

”Uwaaaah, I just wanted to get stronger! This is too scary,” she cried, while throwing her head backwards. 

 

In an instant, she stopped crying and wiped her tears. She smiled brightly as she bowed in my direction.  ”Umm.. Thank you very much!” 

 

Wait, did she forget she had just been crying? How did her mood change so quickly? But her expressions were so obvious and honest, it was like reading a trustworthy book. Following her eccentric mood switch was rather intriguing.

 

As I saw her face clearly, I thought of the many times when Jake had asked me to show a picture of someone who was my type. 

 

At that moment, I would have snapped a picture then and there, if it didn’t lead to possible charges.