Geeky Turn On!

Chin up, gym up

 "Honestly, honey, I think you going to the gym is a good idea," said Sarah as she and Dad drove me to the mall to buy gym clothes. The last time we'd done this was when I was a teenager; I mostly buy my clothes online anyway. "Get you outta the house, build up your health, maybe meet new people."

"Mhm," I muttered as I stared out the window. "You guys aren't worried about missing work?"

"I honestly haven't taken a day off in years," said Sarah, shrugging. "And it's way better to do this today, than to wait for the weekend. You know...before anyone talks you out of doing this."

"I doubt my friends would even try," I said. "They all seemed to like the idea."

"And I'm SO thankful that your friend Amy's volunteered to drive you to the gym every other day," said Sarah. "It's honestly more fun to go with a friend than by yourself; right, Doug?"

"Mhm," Dad said, nodding once. He was driving.

"And while we're here, I'm thinking it'd be a good idea for you to expand your wardrobe," said Sarah. "New shoes, new pants, shirts that don't have Japanimation characters on them..."

"What's wrong with that?" I asked. "And no one says Japanimation anymore; it's Anime."

"Well, it's good to have clothes for different occasions," said Sarah. "Flirty clothes for dates, fancy dresses for parties, sun dresses for the summer. Your wardrobe needs to be more than just pictures of cartoons and video game characters..."

"Yup," said Dad. "And you only own one pair of shoes. That won't do at all."

"Fine," I said with a sigh.

"Your folks are right, you know," said Gabe, who was sitting right next to me in the back seat.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" I asked.

"Screw that, I been working at my store non stop for six weeks now," he said. "I NEED a break!"

"Gabe, honey, you shouldn't overwork yourself so much," said Sarah. "You could collapse! Right, Doug?"

"His life, his choices," said Dad, shrugging.

"Oh, you men," said Sarah, pouting. "You never take good care of your mental health; THAT'S why so many of you are so tired all the time!"

"Probably," said Dad.

"Yup," said Gabe.

"Uhuh," I said.

We arrived at the mall. At the entrance, we decided to split up; me and Sarah would go for clothes, and Dad and Gabe would go do something else. Apparently Dad and Gabe weren't wild about going clothes shopping with us. Neither was I, but I kinda had to.

Me and Sarah first went to this store I never, EVER go to: Old Navy. We went in, and immediately I felt overwhelmed. The store had so many different types of clothes, and so many people who seemed to know what they wanted, and I didn't even know where to start, or what to look for, or-

"Let's start off with some tank tops," said Sarah as she grabbed my hand and led me down a few aisles. We found the tank tops; Sarah told me to pick three.

"I don't think I have the figure for these," I whispered; these tops looked to be for girls that had nice chests, which I didn't. All I had were these non-tatas that no one would go ga-ga for. I swear, if I had short hair and never took off my pants or talked, I could be mistaken for a guy.

"No, they can be worn by anyone," said an athletic looking woman. "Don't let these mannequins fool you; they're not very realistic."

"Uh, OK," I said, sighing. "Umm...I don't know...Uh..."

"When in doubt, wear black," said the athletic woman. "Or white."

"OK," I said, picking out a black tank top, a white tank top, and a black tank top with white stripes. "Thanks, miss."

"No prob," she said as she continued shopping.

"Let's go try these on!" Said Sarah, taking me to the changing room. God, I haven't had to be in one of these since Prom!

I tried on the black tank top first. It felt good and comfortable, but I looked stupid in it. Like, I didn't feel strong or sexy wearing it, just...stupid. This whole thing was stupid.

What was I thinking? Going to the GYM? ME!? I'm a TWIG! I can't even lift five pounds! I'd look ridiculous, and all the buff macho guys would make fun of me, just like Paul did!

"Sarah?" I whimpered through the door. "Ummm...can we stop?"

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"I feel stupid," I overshared.

"Why?"

"Because I don't look good in this," I said. "I look stupid."

"Oh honey," said Sarah across the door. "I know it's hard to try something new, especially if it feels like you're being forced to do it. But I know, and you know, that you're more than capable of overcoming those fears, because you've done it before."

"When?" I asked.

"When you went to college," she said. "It took a LOT of convincing, but you managed to enroll, study hard, AND graduate!"

"I went to a local community college," I said, tears in my eyes. "Big whoop."

"Yes, BIG whoop!" Sarah said. "You didn't know what you wanted out of life, didn't know what to focus on. You were so scared of even trying to enroll in ANYTHING that you were practically shutting yourself in your room, remember? But your Dad managed to convince you, and so you enrolled in Computer Science. And look what a world of good that's done for you!"

"I work at home, Sarah," I said, tears in my eyes. "And-"

"And you can build a computer in a jiffy using spare parts," she said. "Stop measuring yourself by what you think you can't do, and instead focus on the one thing you've always been good at."

"What's that?"

"Overcoming obstacles," she said. "You always look ahead, so all you see are the obstacles you've yet to surmount. Well, I've been watching you grow up, and I can tell you about the obstacles you've already overcome. You're a WAY different person than who you were in high school, honey. Heck, you're a way different, way better person than who you were in college, and I can't wait to see what positive effects going to the gym will have for you."

I was silent for a little while. I didn't know how to respond.

"That was a damn nice speech," said the person in the left cubicle.

"Man, if I had someone say that to me when I needed it most, I'd be in a better place in life," said the person in the cubicle to my right. "Hey, Miss? I don't know who you are, but you better listen to your mom. She sounds way smarter than mine. Hell, she sounds way smarter than me."

I smiled, dried my tears, and exited the dressing room, wearing the top.

"What were you so worried about?" Sarah said, smiling softly. "You look fine to me."

I don't know why Sarah's so nice to me, but I'm grateful.