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Description
The weekend had arrived and Jill woke up feeling unusually fresh from her slumber. Sauntering out of her room, she walked down the corridor to the kitchen towards the sounds and smells of cooking. Dad was reading the paper with his cup of coffee in one hand, while Mom was lifting bacon and eggs out of a pan onto a plate.

“Hi Dad. Hi Mom.” Jill said as she walked straight to the fridge.

“Morning sweetie.” Both parents replied without diverting their attention from their present tasks. Jill opened the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice. Unscrewing the cap, she was about to drink it straight out of the carton when

“Sweetie don’t do that!” Mom barked in a condescending, sing-song voice, “Get a glass, pour it in, and then drink.”

Jill let out a frustrated sigh and obeyed.

“Don’t sigh at me like that. Unless you’re the one buying groceries, you’ll do as I say.”

“I am, Mom. God! I’ve only been awake five minutes and you’re stressing me out!”

“Jill honey, just humor your mother and come sit down,” Dad said without taking his eyes off his paper, as if this were a regular routine. Jill obeyed. Mom plopped the plate of bacon and eggs onto the dinner table. Mom wasn’t a really good cook; she hadn’t bothered to drain the fat off the bacon and the eggs still had a visible layer of uncooked white on top.

“Don’t give me that look. I haven’t got time to be Gordon Ramsay for you. Your father and I are too busy working our butts off to pay for your college.” Mom said in a nonchalant voice as she sipped her coffee. Jill scoffed and rolled her eyes and took a small bite of the bacon. Damn it, she mentioned college. That pretty much meant-

“Speaking of which, how are your applications going?” Dad said. Damn it!

“They’re fine,” Jill said. Actually, she hadn’t even started.

“I know you want to go to SC, but if you can do Berkley or UCLA your mother and I really think that would be the best.”

Jill didn’t say anything and continued to eat her breakfast.

“You still haven’t started them, right?” Mom said. The woman knew her daughter too well.

“Mom, its October. The deadline-“

“Is in November if you’re applying for the UCs! Your father and I are working our butts off for your future-“

“But I don’t want to go to a UC-“

“-and the least you could do is just humor us a little and start applying already! And do you have any idea how much tuition is at USC? LA and Berkley are just as good, if not better, and it’ll be so much cheaper! Do you know how many people would kill to go to college?”

“Honey, calm down.”

“Can’t you just stop being so, so spoilt and give back for once? And I mean you wouldn’t be giving back because we’re paying for it anyway!”

“I’m not your slave!” Jill shouted. She stood up quickly and ran back to her room.

“One day you’ll get it, Jill. One day!” Mom shouted as Jill slammed her bedroom door behind her.

She stayed inside for about an hour, only so her parents would finish breakfast and clear out of the kitchen, which she had to pass through to get to the front door. She needed to get out of the house. She packed her backpack with her gym clothes and water bottle and made a beeline for the front door. The mood outside was dramatically different from the mood inside. The sun was shining. The air was cool. Birds were chirping. Already she felt a little better, but she still needed to get away. She got in the used 2002 Corolla her parents got her for her 16th birthday and drove off.

Jill had been going to Genesis Fitness ever since it opened near her neighborhood two years ago. It was a fully equipped fitness center, with everything from the obligatory cardio machines, to weights, to saunas, to group workouts. The main workout room was vast in size, with classic rock tunes echoing throughout amidst the hum of treadmills and the clanking of weights. Far from simply being a big room with equipment lying around, the walls had decorative multi-colored square tiles arranged artfully. The front of the gym had all the treadmills and cycling machines placed against a glass wall, which looked out to the street outside. Behind them were the several rows of elliptical trainers. A sign saying “No Weights Beyond This Point” marked the point between the cardio machines and the weight section, where racks and racks of weights lined the walls, and dozens of weight machines were neatly arranged throughout the section. Though Jill was at the gym almost every day, it was only on the weekends that she would hit the weights.

She was standing in front of the mirror wall curling a set of seven pound weights. The parental fracas from earlier drifted away from her thoughts as she admired herself in the mirror. Trying to catch the various glimpses the men in the gym were giving her in between their sets was also part of the fun. One particular guy was doing a good job at it by looking at her, and then looking somewhere else before returning to his workout, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t looking at anything or anyone in particular.

As she set the weights down after finishing a set, she couldn’t help but feel compelled to try a heavier set of weights. Normally she wouldn’t go past seven; ten was the most she could do sets with, but she felt a strange sensation, as if she suddenly realized that she could lift heavier weights all along. The 12 pound dumbbells seemed to speak to her the most. She wrapped her fingers around them and heaved back. The weights were, as she expected, a more difficult proposition than she was used to. She did one rep and her arm sunk back down from the sheer weight. She did another and it was the same. She kept curling them, expecting to tire quickly, but to her surprise, it was the opposite. The weights were actually becoming easier to lift. A small smile formed on her lips as she continued to curl the dumbbells. She felt confident and powerful as she watched her small but sturdy biceps just barely rising out of her arm with each rep. Before long, she had finished 30 reps and was compelled to move on to the 15 pounders. Her arms were sore as hell but Jill felt a wave of adrenaline wash over her, like she had been bestowed with super powers. She looked at her arms in the mirror and felt them. They felt solid and strong from all that lifting. It was a wonderful feeling.

She was so engrossed in her new strength that she didn’t see Pindar in the mirror, walking up to her from behind. “What’s going on, Jilli Vanilli?!” he said jokingly. Jill had just set the weights back on the rack when she heard him. She spun around in surprise, as if Pindar had snapped her out of a trance.

“Omigod Pindar you scared me!” she said, laughing.

“Eeeey what’s going on my little Jilly! Good to see you!” he said as they hugged. Being one of Genesis Fitness’s personal trainers, Pindar was a man in peak physical condition. His burly frame wrapped around Jill, making her look like a small child being hugged by her parent.

“Aww thanks! Gosh I haven’t seen you in a bit!”

“Yeah, I’ve just started working with this new client who can only do weekday nights, that’s why.”

“Oh yeah? Who?”

“Oh, this reaaaally buff Asian girl, I mean she’s like one of those genetic freaks you know?”

“Yeah? She hotter than me?” Jill retorted, quickly striking a model’s pose as she laughed.

“Oh no no no. I mean you’re fit, this girl is like a bodybuilder you know? She’s just wanting to down and get her size more under control, that sorta thing. I actually think she’s like 17 or something.”

“Oookay...!” she replied, her mind not quite grasping the idea of a 17-year old Asian bodybuilder girl.

“So what’s going on? Was I hallucinating or were you just lifting the 12 pounders?”

“Nope, no hallucination. I dunno, I just like, felt like going a bit heavier today. Like maybe get a bit more toned.”

“Mm well you know what, you should try doing some shoulder presses. For your body type, toned shoulders would really bring out a lot in your figure.” Pindar drew a vague hour glass shape with his hands as he said “figure.”

“Oh, okay well I will definitely give those a shot.”

“Alright cool,” he said, he then pointed at his watch, “Listen, I gotta run now to meet a client…”

“Is it that Asian muscle chick?”

“Naw, that’s on the weekdays. This one’s some old lady.”

“Mmm...So minors on the weekdays and cougars on weekends? What’s going on Pindar? Something you’re not telling me?” Jill said, giving him a knowing look.

Pindar guffawed, “Goddamnit Jill! Okay I’m getting away from you now before you get me fired or something!”

They both laughed and waved each other goodbye. Jill turned her attention back to the weights. Without hesitation, she grabbed the 15 pounders and started pumping. This time it was definitely more of a struggle. Her arms shook as she struggled to hoist the weights above her head.

“One.” She muttered, her voice trembling with exertion.

Slowly but surely, she grew more comfortable with the weights and was soon pumping out reps like there was no tomorrow. Jill was astonished. Before this, she could barely manage a set with the ten pound weights. Was it that V-Fit wonder formula? Could it really have been? Or maybe it was some sort of weird placebo effect. But it couldn’t have been a placebo effect, because she really was lifting those weights. Either way, after doing several sets of shoulder presses, her arms were wiped out, though her mind was going wild from the adrenaline rush. She couldn’t tell if she really was getting stronger, or if the events with her parents and that bitch Alex were fueling her determination. But she knew that she liked what was happening.

She stayed at the gym for another two hours, going on slow walks on the treadmill every so often to rest her muscles. All of a sudden all the stupid mind games and ogling men faded away, replaced with her one mission: she would tone herself up and show herself off to everyone at school, especially Alex.

She had just finished her last set of dumbbell presses and was about to head for the locker room to change and then leave when she noticed that a familiar figure at the far end of the hall was looking at her. It was Kee Yoon. The girl was in the middle of a floor stretch, but had her head turned uncomfortably to look at Jill, like she was trying to be discreet about it. Jill and Kee Yoon’s eyes met for a split second before the little Korean girl had a mini-panic attack and turned her head away, resuming her stretching routine as if nothing had happened. What was up with that weird girl? Was she in the gym, watching Jill this whole time? Still, Jill didn’t dwell on it. Many students from Portsdown High frequented Genesis Fitness because of its proximity to the school.

When she woke up the following day, her entire body was in total agony. She let out a weak moan as she heaved herself off her bed. She already knew she was spending all of Sunday at home, moving as little as possible. As she walked into the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror and saw that her body was slightly more toned, especially her shoulders, which looked bolder and gave her figure a more assertive look. Or maybe it was a placebo effect. She sat down on her bed and thought about it. She could not believe how effective this V-Fit formula was, and a wave of excitement overwhelmed her. She decided she would be working out with nothing but the weights just for this coming week, all to reassert herself at Portsdown High.

Description
The weekend had arrived and Jill woke up feeling unusually fresh from her slumber. Sauntering out of her room, she walked down the corridor to the kitchen towards the sounds and smells of cooking. Dad was reading the paper with his cup of coffee in one hand, while Mom was lifting bacon and eggs out of a pan onto a plate.

“Hi Dad. Hi Mom.” Jill said as she walked straight to the fridge.

“Morning sweetie.” Both parents replied without diverting their attention from their present tasks. Jill opened the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice. Unscrewing the cap, she was about to drink it straight out of the carton when

“Sweetie don’t do that!” Mom barked in a condescending, sing-song voice, “Get a glass, pour it in, and then drink.”

Jill let out a frustrated sigh and obeyed.

“Don’t sigh at me like that. Unless you’re the one buying groceries, you’ll do as I say.”

“I am, Mom. God! I’ve only been awake five minutes and you’re stressing me out!”

“Jill honey, just humor your mother and come sit down,” Dad said without taking his eyes off his paper, as if this were a regular routine. Jill obeyed. Mom plopped the plate of bacon and eggs onto the dinner table. Mom wasn’t a really good cook; she hadn’t bothered to drain the fat off the bacon and the eggs still had a visible layer of uncooked white on top.

“Don’t give me that look. I haven’t got time to be Gordon Ramsay for you. Your father and I are too busy working our butts off to pay for your college.” Mom said in a nonchalant voice as she sipped her coffee. Jill scoffed and rolled her eyes and took a small bite of the bacon. Damn it, she mentioned college. That pretty much meant-

“Speaking of which, how are your applications going?” Dad said. Damn it!

“They’re fine,” Jill said. Actually, she hadn’t even started.

“I know you want to go to SC, but if you can do Berkley or UCLA your mother and I really think that would be the best.”

Jill didn’t say anything and continued to eat her breakfast.

“You still haven’t started them, right?” Mom said. The woman knew her daughter too well.

“Mom, its October. The deadline-“

“Is in November if you’re applying for the UCs! Your father and I are working our butts off for your future-“

“But I don’t want to go to a UC-“

“-and the least you could do is just humor us a little and start applying already! And do you have any idea how much tuition is at USC? LA and Berkley are just as good, if not better, and it’ll be so much cheaper! Do you know how many people would kill to go to college?”

“Honey, calm down.”

“Can’t you just stop being so, so spoilt and give back for once? And I mean you wouldn’t be giving back because we’re paying for it anyway!”

“I’m not your slave!” Jill shouted. She stood up quickly and ran back to her room.

“One day you’ll get it, Jill. One day!” Mom shouted as Jill slammed her bedroom door behind her.

She stayed inside for about an hour, only so her parents would finish breakfast and clear out of the kitchen, which she had to pass through to get to the front door. She needed to get out of the house. She packed her backpack with her gym clothes and water bottle and made a beeline for the front door. The mood outside was dramatically different from the mood inside. The sun was shining. The air was cool. Birds were chirping. Already she felt a little better, but she still needed to get away. She got in the used 2002 Corolla her parents got her for her 16th birthday and drove off.

Jill had been going to Genesis Fitness ever since it opened near her neighborhood two years ago. It was a fully equipped fitness center, with everything from the obligatory cardio machines, to weights, to saunas, to group workouts. The main workout room was vast in size, with classic rock tunes echoing throughout amidst the hum of treadmills and the clanking of weights. Far from simply being a big room with equipment lying around, the walls had decorative multi-colored square tiles arranged artfully. The front of the gym had all the treadmills and cycling machines placed against a glass wall, which looked out to the street outside. Behind them were the several rows of elliptical trainers. A sign saying “No Weights Beyond This Point” marked the point between the cardio machines and the weight section, where racks and racks of weights lined the walls, and dozens of weight machines were neatly arranged throughout the section. Though Jill was at the gym almost every day, it was only on the weekends that she would hit the weights.

She was standing in front of the mirror wall curling a set of seven pound weights. The parental fracas from earlier drifted away from her thoughts as she admired herself in the mirror. Trying to catch the various glimpses the men in the gym were giving her in between their sets was also part of the fun. One particular guy was doing a good job at it by looking at her, and then looking somewhere else before returning to his workout, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t looking at anything or anyone in particular.

As she set the weights down after finishing a set, she couldn’t help but feel compelled to try a heavier set of weights. Normally she wouldn’t go past seven; ten was the most she could do sets with, but she felt a strange sensation, as if she suddenly realized that she could lift heavier weights all along. The 12 pound dumbbells seemed to speak to her the most. She wrapped her fingers around them and heaved back. The weights were, as she expected, a more difficult proposition than she was used to. She did one rep and her arm sunk back down from the sheer weight. She did another and it was the same. She kept curling them, expecting to tire quickly, but to her surprise, it was the opposite. The weights were actually becoming easier to lift. A small smile formed on her lips as she continued to curl the dumbbells. She felt confident and powerful as she watched her small but sturdy biceps just barely rising out of her arm with each rep. Before long, she had finished 30 reps and was compelled to move on to the 15 pounders. Her arms were sore as hell but Jill felt a wave of adrenaline wash over her, like she had been bestowed with super powers. She looked at her arms in the mirror and felt them. They felt solid and strong from all that lifting. It was a wonderful feeling.

She was so engrossed in her new strength that she didn’t see Pindar in the mirror, walking up to her from behind. “What’s going on, Jilli Vanilli?!” he said jokingly. Jill had just set the weights back on the rack when she heard him. She spun around in surprise, as if Pindar had snapped her out of a trance.

“Omigod Pindar you scared me!” she said, laughing.

“Eeeey what’s going on my little Jilly! Good to see you!” he said as they hugged. Being one of Genesis Fitness’s personal trainers, Pindar was a man in peak physical condition. His burly frame wrapped around Jill, making her look like a small child being hugged by her parent.

“Aww thanks! Gosh I haven’t seen you in a bit!”

“Yeah, I’ve just started working with this new client who can only do weekday nights, that’s why.”

“Oh yeah? Who?”

“Oh, this reaaaally buff Asian girl, I mean she’s like one of those genetic freaks you know?”

“Yeah? She hotter than me?” Jill retorted, quickly striking a model’s pose as she laughed.

“Oh no no no. I mean you’re fit, this girl is like a bodybuilder you know? She’s just wanting to down and get her size more under control, that sorta thing. I actually think she’s like 17 or something.”

“Oookay...!” she replied, her mind not quite grasping the idea of a 17-year old Asian bodybuilder girl.

“So what’s going on? Was I hallucinating or were you just lifting the 12 pounders?”

“Nope, no hallucination. I dunno, I just like, felt like going a bit heavier today. Like maybe get a bit more toned.”

“Mm well you know what, you should try doing some shoulder presses. For your body type, toned shoulders would really bring out a lot in your figure.” Pindar drew a vague hour glass shape with his hands as he said “figure.”

“Oh, okay well I will definitely give those a shot.”

“Alright cool,” he said, he then pointed at his watch, “Listen, I gotta run now to meet a client…”

“Is it that Asian muscle chick?”

“Naw, that’s on the weekdays. This one’s some old lady.”

“Mmm...So minors on the weekdays and cougars on weekends? What’s going on Pindar? Something you’re not telling me?” Jill said, giving him a knowing look.

Pindar guffawed, “Goddamnit Jill! Okay I’m getting away from you now before you get me fired or something!”

They both laughed and waved each other goodbye. Jill turned her attention back to the weights. Without hesitation, she grabbed the 15 pounders and started pumping. This time it was definitely more of a struggle. Her arms shook as she struggled to hoist the weights above her head.

“One.” She muttered, her voice trembling with exertion.

Slowly but surely, she grew more comfortable with the weights and was soon pumping out reps like there was no tomorrow. Jill was astonished. Before this, she could barely manage a set with the ten pound weights. Was it that V-Fit wonder formula? Could it really have been? Or maybe it was some sort of weird placebo effect. But it couldn’t have been a placebo effect, because she really was lifting those weights. Either way, after doing several sets of shoulder presses, her arms were wiped out, though her mind was going wild from the adrenaline rush. She couldn’t tell if she really was getting stronger, or if the events with her parents and that bitch Alex were fueling her determination. But she knew that she liked what was happening.

She stayed at the gym for another two hours, going on slow walks on the treadmill every so often to rest her muscles. All of a sudden all the stupid mind games and ogling men faded away, replaced with her one mission: she would tone herself up and show herself off to everyone at school, especially Alex.

She had just finished her last set of dumbbell presses and was about to head for the locker room to change and then leave when she noticed that a familiar figure at the far end of the hall was looking at her. It was Kee Yoon. The girl was in the middle of a floor stretch, but had her head turned uncomfortably to look at Jill, like she was trying to be discreet about it. Jill and Kee Yoon’s eyes met for a split second before the little Korean girl had a mini-panic attack and turned her head away, resuming her stretching routine as if nothing had happened. What was up with that weird girl? Was she in the gym, watching Jill this whole time? Still, Jill didn’t dwell on it. Many students from Portsdown High frequented Genesis Fitness because of its proximity to the school.

When she woke up the following day, her entire body was in total agony. She let out a weak moan as she heaved herself off her bed. She already knew she was spending all of Sunday at home, moving as little as possible. As she walked into the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror and saw that her body was slightly more toned, especially her shoulders, which looked bolder and gave her figure a more assertive look. Or maybe it was a placebo effect. She sat down on her bed and thought about it. She could not believe how effective this V-Fit formula was, and a wave of excitement overwhelmed her. She decided she would be working out with nothing but the weights just for this coming week, all to reassert herself at Portsdown High.