The Only Constant Is Change

Berkeley, New Beginnings...

Nothing has changed Allegra, nothing has changed...

You sigh inwardly, looking around at the eclectic mix of sweaty bodies surrounding you in the Berkeley gym. There are the ostracized group of over weight people, sweating profusely as they pant and grimace their way through this week's latest work out fad; there are the overly muscular, beefy and jersey shore-esque body builders, leering at passing females while lifting the equivalent of a small child; there are the elite athletes, with the perfectly toned and sculpted bodies, lording over the gym and commanding stares wherever they go; and then there's everyone else and you, on your daily gym visit, working off last nights ice-cream indulgence and silently begging the gods to speed up time and make the torturous run on the treadmill just a bit shorter.

As your feet pound out a steady rhythm on the rubberized track of the treadmill, you wonder vaguely whether you made the right choice in transferring to UCBerkeley to finish off your degree. Wanderlust had hit you, and it had hit you hard as you had finished up your third year in Neuroscience at NYU. CHANGE, TRAVEL! It had yelled, and finally you had relented, leaving your life behind and transferring from your university in Manhattan, New York, to Berkeley, California. The change you had so brightly envisioned as sunny days, breezy summer nights, and California carelessness had fallen flat. So far, Berkeley was shaping up to be the exact same as your life at NYU.

Countless hours spent in class, even more spent frantically cramming at the library, and weekends exclusively devoted to drinking far too much alcohol and giving in to your hedonistic longings. Everyone needs to live a little, right?

You're snapped out of your inner musings and brought back to the mechanized drone of your treadmill by the sudden shrill screech of high-pitched giggling.

"Oh my GOD! It's actually him!"

"Do you think we should say something?"

"No… yes! But he's going to think we're crazy!"

Glancing over to the entrance to the gym, you spot the source of the giggles… a gaggle of freshmen girls, crowding the entrance and pointing excitedly at the weight room.

"I'M GOING TO MARRY THAT MAN!" One particularly loud girl exclaims, causing the start of another round of screeching giggles from the girls. "Irritating, shut up!" you mumble under your breath as the treadmill finally comes to a merciful stop under your feet. Work out finished, you grab your water bottle from its holder and take a large gulp, stepping off your treadmill and weaving your way between the machines to get to the change rooms. You pass the weight room, and as another gale of giggles erupts from behind you, you glance in. What, or rather whom, you see makes you pause and do a double take.

Nathan Adrian. Olympic swimmer, gold medalist, and perhaps one of the most physically attractive men you had ever laid eyes on. You stare, unblinking as you watch him do some kind of resistance training, muscular arms straining and face screwed up in concentration. Those arms… that torso… that FACE. Your thoughts are derailed as he lifts his head up, looking directly at you. Your gazes lock and you're mesmerized by his intense stare. His mouth curves into a small smile, and you're only vaguely aware of what kind of loopy face you must be making before your brain begins to function properly again, promptly snapping you out of your trance and hurrying you past the weight room and into the change rooms.

Nathan Adrian, in my Berkeley? Unbelievable. You, along with the rest of the world, had watched him in the London Olympics as he snagged the gold in the 100m freestyle, then watched again as he anchored the mens 400m relay. With the rest of the world's females, you felt your heart melt every time he cheered and smiled, and your thoughts turn to an incomprehensible babble of happiness as his nearly naked form graced your television screen. Thank god for olympic swimming, right? Thank god.

Actually, you smile briefly to yourself, thank god I decided to go to Berkeley.