You Live And Learn

27 | gyms and gains

Camille's words still linger in my head. She seemed pretty chill about my response and walked away with a smile on her face. It makes no sense to me. But as of right now, she's irrelevant.

After Camille left, I walked back to my friend's table and rejoin them. As I was walking through the cafeteria, no one seemed to notice that I was back, and alone that is. I guess that they don't care about the drama anymore.

"So, how did it go with her?" Leo asks as I sit down. All the guys stop what they were doing and look at me expectantly.

"Honestly, not bad. She left though because she was out of it."

"I sense cap," Spencer interjects, "my theory is that she just wanted to skip school." Even though I know the reason why she left, I'll keep it to myself.

I stretch my arms and let out a small groan, "All right, that's enough. I don't feel like talking about it anymore." Spencer was going to say something, but he chose not to open his mouth. Good, because I am not in the mood.

Lunch period ends, and I say goodbye to my friends. We all head to separate directions as our classes are all over the place.

Later, that Day

"I don't wanna," I whine to Taylor. As always, Taylor is not having it. He still does his thing and drags me to the gym.

"You know that I don't have gym clothes, right?" I ask him as we walk into the facility. My heartbeat quickens and my hands are shaking as we enter the changing room. Somehow, Taylor senses my anxiety and pats me on my back,

"Don't worry that's why you got me dumbass. It'll be alright." We sit down and Tay hands me the clothes that I'm supposed to wear. It's a grey tank top, with black shorts that are right above my knees. You certainly will never catch me watching this when I am not being forced. Yet, if I don't wear this now, Taylor will force me to wear it, either the easy way or the hard way. He told me the choice was mine. After getting flashbacks of what happened to people who chose the hard way when doing something, I do the correct thing and chose the easy way. I don't think I'm mentally ready for the hard way, nor will I ever be.

Taylor takes off his shirt, and no sus stuff, but this man's body is something else. He has the body guys see in movies all the time. It's like he took inspiration from Taylor Lautner in Twilight. Whatever attractive body part girls look for in guys, he probably haves it. Defined chest, six-pack, chiseled jawline, you name it. I just must take a moment to appreciate the dedication this man has to maintain this version of his body. Taylor stops changing as he sees me ogling and raises his left eyebrow.

"Aye, bro you good? You like what you see?" He asks with a cheeky grin on his face. I must reply with the same energy.

"Yes sir, you are looking mad nice today."

"Bro, if you want to kiss me, just say that. I wouldn't mind."

"Not right now, we're in public. Come back to my place tonight." I look him dead in the eye and wink. Taylor's mouth is open, and he takes a couple of steps back.

"Aye yo!" he screams, and we both start laughing. After we calm down a bit, he says "Trust me Zo, if you can stay consistent with the gym, you can get a body like this too."

"If you say so, Taylor,"

"Trust me, I know."

We walk out of the changing room and make our way to the main component of the fitness center. The gym itself, and no cap it's huge (pause). I'm seriously getting overwhelmed by how massive the entire thing is (once again, pause). Taylor is not even phased by it and guides me to where we are about to start the workout. I groan in protest, but Taylor gives me a death glare, signaling me to shut up.

The workout starts. As a 'warm up', he tells me to do fifty pushups. I give him the most perplexed expression I can muster. I look for signs that he's just joking. After scanning his face for a couple of seconds, his face was as serious as Gordon Ramsay kicking someone out. So, I sigh, and go on my hands and knees (ayo?), to get in the pushup position. Taylor tells me when to go up and down, and not gonna lie, my arms started to burn after the 9th one. I'm on the 10th one and I'm struggling to get back up.

"Come, Lonzo, just one more," Taylor says. After struggling for what felt like a decade, I complete the push-up.

"That's what I like to see." He applauds and continues, "just do 5 more sets and we can get into the real stuff." I look at him like he was trying to sell me 'stuff' underneath a bridge.

After 20 minutes, the warmup is complete. Tay looks like he hasn't broken a sweat, yet I'm here on my last legs. Speaking of legs, they're shaking as we speak. He pulls me through various weight exercises, such as the bench press, squats, and bicep curls. Although the pain hurts like a stubbed toe on crack, I somehow feel better at the end of it. 

Taylor tells me that I'm done for the day, but he needs to finish his workout before we go home. That asshole, why does he have to be so great?

Anyway, I go downstairs to the main room and grab a bottle of water. Taylor's gym is fancy for no reason, so they have a lounge in case the gym is full, and you need to wait for a spot. I sit down on a black beanbag that feels like clouds. Closing my eyes, I recall the day I just had. My ex talked to me and there was no mental breakdown on my end. That's an improvement.

There's a tap on my shoulder.

I open my eyes, expecting it to be Taylor. It's not. My eyes receive a blessing from a beautiful woman in my line of vision. She's tanned skin with cat-like brown eyes. Looking at her hair, she's a brunette with some blond highlights. It's in a ponytail right now, probably since she's in the gym.

"Are you Alonzo?" she asks with a smile dancing on her lips. Even her smile is amazing; perfect and whiter than brand new Air Force One's.

I blink for two seconds, "Yeah that's me."

"I knew it! you looked familiar. We go to the same school."

Oh shit.

"My name is Amanda, sorry I didn't introduce myself sooner," Amanda reaches out her hand, and I shake it.

"No worries, it's nice to meet you. Are you done with your workout?"

"Yeah, I think I'm done for the day, or I might do a few more sets. What about you?"

"I'm done, just waiting for my friend to finish his so we can leave."

"Okay, I see," she pauses for a moment, looking down at the ground. After a few seconds, she looks up and gazes at me. "Hey, I heard about what happened with you and Camille."

Oh, boy. I scratch the back of my neck and respond, "Yeah, I guess the entire school heard about it at this point. It's alright though,"

"But it's not alright!" she yells with a quiet voice. "You don't deserve that treatment, what she did was so cruel. I'm so sorry that you went through that."

Amanda is literally on the verge of tears for my sake. The sight makes me feel uneasy. I don't know what to do in this situation. I just opt to awkwardly laugh it off. "Yeah, it sucks, but life do be like that sometimes."

"I mean, I guess you're right." She wipes away the tears forming in her eyes. "Give me your phone."

"Okay?" I hand her my phone, which is currently unlocked. Within twenty seconds, she gives it back to me, with a huge grin on her face.

"There, you have my phone number and I memorized yours as well, so I can add it later."

I'm getting some serious déjà vu right now. 

 "So, I'm going to finish my workout now, text me whenever you feel like talking. Or I might just hit you up instead, who knows? Bye Bye, Alonzo" she waves and gives me a cheeky wink as she's leaving.

What the hell just happened?