Boy at the Gym (boyxboy)

Eyes on Me

Hurray for chapter two! This one will be from the gym boy's point of view, so buckle up! The photo is of the delectable Tyler Posey, who plays Andy.

POV: Andy

I can't believe my mom forced me to join a gym. I am ranked second in the junior class at Oak View High, I have straight A's, I don't party or do drugs, but apparently that's not enough for her. Besides, it isn't my fault that all the sports teams at my school are filled with douchey straight boys who I refuse to be on a team with. Luckily, my metabolism has kept me skinny and pretty toned, but my mother's worst fear is that I'll end up looking like the Pillsbury Dough Boy or something.

I just received my gym membership card in the mail a couple hours ago, so I'm headed to the gym pretty late. My plan was originally to head straight to the gym after school, but since my gym card came late, I'm going at about 5:30. Not that I mind; Hopefully the gym isn't crowded on Wednesday evenings.

I arrive at the facility and pull into a parking spot. Once I'm in the building, I walk up to the front desk, flash the secretary the card with my name on it, and enter the huge, mostly vacant gym. There's a girl running on an elliptical, two older men doing pull-ups, and farther into the building, a group of five guys is at the bench press station. They look like the kind of guys that I would avoid at my school. The stupid, dickhead type of guys that think they rule the world. But due to the fact that I don't recognize any of them and a couple of them are wearing Oak Creek High School t-shirts, I figure that they attend Oak View's sister/rival school. I'll just do my best to stay away from them.

I enter the spacious, white-tiled locker room to put my stuff down. Before putting it into a locker, I pull my earphones out of my gym bag and plug them into my iPhone. Then I store my things away, put my earbuds in my ears, and exit the locker room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see that the group of douchebags is now at the front of the gym, sitting at a small cafe. I don't even look over at them and go straight to a treadmill. As I approach and mount the machine, however, I have a weird feeling that the jocks are watching me. I start my workout and eventually the eerie sensation of being watched goes away. Just as I start to feel like I'm in the clear, I feel eyes on me again. I'm very tempted to turn around and look, but the guys might take it as a sign of aggression and start shit with me. I know it sounds like I'm treating them like wild animals, but that's basically what they are.

I take a deep breath as the feeling disappears once again and speed up my workout. After about twenty minutes of sprinting, jogging, and walking on the treadmill, I once again feel like I'm being watched. I discreetly turn my head and see that the only person at the cafe is the brunette girl working there. The pack of guys must've left, so I assume the person watching me this whole time was the cafe employee.

I finish my workout after a little over an hour and go to the locker room to retrieve my belongings. I exit the locker room and make my way towards the exit, but I hear somebody call out to me. I look towards the source of the voice only to see the girl at the cafe smiling and beckoning to me.

Confused, I go over to her and say, "Hi. Do you need something?"

Giggling, she replies, "No, silly! I just wanted to introduce myself! You're new here, right?" When I nod in response, she holds out her hand and introduces herself. "I'm Marissa."

Shaking her outstretched hand, I smile and say, "Nice to meet you. I'm Andrew, but you can call me Andy."

"Andy! That's such a cute name! Well, I guess a cute name fits for a cute guy like you!" I blush at the compliment, even though I don't swing that way. I rarely get complimented, so whenever anybody says anything nice to me, no matter what gender they are, I tend to get flustered. "Do you know the guys that left about a half hour ago?" She asks excitedly.

"No, I've never seen them before. They go to Oak Creek and I go to Oak View, so-" I don't get to finish my statement since Marissa cuts me off.

"Well that's what's so great about the gym! You get to meet new people and bond over... Fitness and stuff! You should talk to them sometime. They come here every day after school and you look like the kind of guy that would hang out with their crowd."

At that comment I laugh out loud. "I seriously doubt that, Marissa. But thanks for the info." I say goodbye to Marissa, who giggles and waves in return, then get into my car and drive home. I shower, eat dinner, and do my homework until about 10:00. At that point, I decide to hit the hay and get into bed, falling into a deep slumber.

The next morning, I decide to pack two backpacks: One for my school stuff and the other for my gym clothes. I'm just going to get the workout out of the way right after school so it doesn't take up too much of my evening. Not that I have anything important to do, I just like having free time.

The school day goes by relatively quickly. I understand all the content that I'm being taught, so I don't have to ask any questions and usually get my homework done before the end of the period. The worst part of my day is lunch; I don't have many friends, or any, really, so I just sit outside and do schoolwork. I had friends last year, but one of them moved to North Carolina and the others distanced themselves from me when I came out at the beginning of the school year.

I've been openly gay to my family since I was fourteen, but I only got the courage to come out to the school a few months ago. And I guess I was right to be scared of coming out, because now I'm known by everyone as "the smart gay kid who nobody hangs out with." It's a lonely life, and I went through a few depressed periods both before coming out (because of the fear and anxiety) and after (because of the ostracism from my peers), but now I'm content with my situation. I just mind my own business, my classmates mind theirs, and I spend my weekends watching porn and Bob's Burgers, which is just fine with me.

At the end of the school day, I get into my car, start it up, and drive to the gym. I wonder if the pack of dickheads will be there or if I'll be in the clear. Marissa did say that they work out every day after school. If they are there, I'll just stay away from them, but what if they approach me? What if it's like every cliche high school movie ever, where the group of jocks picks on and beats down the innocent, defenseless nerd?

I get so wrapped up in my thoughts that I almost miss the turn to the gym parking lot. Trying to clear my mind, I park my car and take a couple deep breaths, forcing the building anxiety down. I've been to therapy a few times for both anxiety and depression, so every time I feel either of those surfacing, I just remember the things my therapist told me and I eventually calm down.

After about five minutes of deep breathing, I'm back in a positive place and I enter the gym, ready for whatever comes my way.

Hey guys! Sorry for the short first couple chapters, but I just needed some exposition for Andy. As the story progresses, the chapters will get longer. Keep reading!