Jill's Story - Story (Patreon)

A Eurasian girl by the name of Dawn was born with a special genetic gift: she could build muscle mass with incredible ease and speed, well past human limits. This trait came into fruition at the end of her puberty, where she discovered that simple exercises yielded dramatic results, and her strength increased exponentially, allowing her to lift heavier weights and thus build muscle at a more rapid pace. She would eventually put on over a hundred pounds of bulk over the course of a year, with her body achieving peak muscularity by the time she turned 21. When she was invited onto a variety show to lift an enormous 800 kilogram barbell, Dawn discovered her body quickly adapted to the resistance of the weight by growing in muscle mass in a few seconds. This evolution in her genetic "gift" meant that she could potentially have unlimited strength. She would later achieve a degree of fame, and would travel to China for the Olympics, winning the United States a gold medal in weightlifting.

Her success piqued the interest of the Chinese Olympic Committee, who had Dawn swabbed for blood and urine samples. A team of scientists were assembled to find a way to "mass produce" Dawn's genetic gift into a serum, so the Chinese could apply it to their athletes in the future. Because the serum would contain genetic material derived from a female, it was decided that for safety reasons it be administered only to females in Dawn's age range. Eventually, a quantity of the "Dawn Serum" was derived, and tested on a 16 year old girl named Li Hua. The first thing the serum did to Li Hua was induce an uncontrollable urge to lift weights and gain muscle. The second thing it did was weaken the genetic barriers present in all females that kept them from developing large muscles. In a very short period of time, Li Hua transformed herself from a meek, skinny five foot girl into a six foot, hulking mass of muscle. Her athletic abilities skyrocketed as well. However, Li Hua's transformation invoked severe emotional trauma on her and her family. She was complete alienated from everyone around her and was seen as a freak. Still, the committee agreed that the serum was a complete success, and with more supervision, their future athletes would win more medals for China without attracting suspicion.

Li Hua was then brought to the States by a sympathetic scientist who had worked on the serum. She was put through many months of therapy and studying by American scientists trying to understand her condition and the serum that caused her muscle growth. While the condition she inherited was deemed to be permanent, she worked with both mental and physical therapists to slowly reduce her muscle mass to more manageable levels that allowed her to move about in public without arousing attention, as well as fight the urge to gain it all back with an out-of-control workout. Living under the Chinese scientist's roof, and enrolled in college, she started a new life and lived in peace. She would later meet Dawn, the girl whose DNA served as a catalyst for her physical change. Compared to Li Hua, who was now about the size of a medium-weight bodybuilder and weighed 140 pounds, Dawn had embraced her muscularity and was a good 300 pounds of muscle. The two became fast friends, and Dawn would help Li Hua come to terms with her ordeal and eased her into the more accepting and free-spirited American culture.

While Li Hua went on to live a stable life and leave the past behind her, the legacy of Dawn's "special" DNA would not die there. Back in China, the government's sports authority was now busy destroying evidence of the serum and all records of Li Hua. Now that their top secret "test subject" had been brought to the States, they had to get rid of anything that would jeopardize their standing with the Olympic Committee and their chances of Olympic gold in the future. However, one over-zealous member of the team that developed the "Dawn serum" managed to keep a sample of it. He had synthesized the serum before-hand; enough to fill up a syringe bottle, then sold it on the black market for a large sum of cash. The Dawn serum was then purchased by a sports and health pharmacy based in California called V-Fit, seeking to use it to develop a new line of protein powder.

Enter Jill Rhodes, an 18 year old girl studying at Portsdown High in Santa Monica. Jill stood about five feet and five inches tall, and had looks that many of the guys at school would go berserk over. She worked out daily, resulting in a body that was toned and athletic. She was also a part-time model, earning extra cash for herself by posing for teen magazines. In short, she was the ultimate high school boy's fantasy: blonde, blue eyes, pretty, and fit. Amongst many of the guys at Portsdown High, Jill was regarded at the top of the pyramid of the hottest girls to be associated with, in more ways than just friendship.

Despite her incredible looks, Jill was a rebel at heart, and regarded high school culture with disdain. She looked at the guys who constantly oggled at her as stereotypes, as mindless imbeciles who treated women as objects and not people. She viewed many of the girls who tried to befriend her based on her looks as equally shallow, only associating with other girls who looked as good as them. By being good looking herself, Jill was often "accepted" amongst the popular kids, and she would play her part and put up a facade of friendliness, albeit with an underlying tone of sarcasm and wit. Although she was regarded as one of the hottest girls on campus, Jill regularly turned down every request for a date, or any kind of physical encounter with a guy.

Jill was also fond of conducting acts of sabotage against who she perceived as the useful idiots whose sole purpose was to be victims for her amusement: the jocks, cheerleaders, bimbos, the preppy students, and so on. From planting stink bombs in the boy's locker room before football practice, to turning off the lights in the auditorium during a complicated cheerleading routine, to calling the police during parties filled with under-aged drinking, Jill was truly a hell-raiser for the high school stereotypes. Yet no one suspected her of any wrong-doing, because of her ability to make her victims think she was one of them.

Jill lived with her parents in Santa Monica. Her dad had to make frequent business trips to Shanghai, while her mum worked a regular 9 to 5 job and spent most of her time outside of her job doing more paper work at home. Life could get lonely for most kids in that situation, but for Jill it only instilled an independent and free-spirited personality. Fortunately, she kept a circle of very close friends who would sometimes participate in her antics. Her closest friend was Rhonda, whom she knew since middle school. Rhonda worked as an intern at the V-Fit Sports Pharmacy, hoping to advance a potential career in pharmaceuticals. After school and work she and Jill would often go to the gym together to work out, and on the weekends the two and their friends would all hang out. They were indeed a very close knit bunch.
Being an incredibly healthy and fit girl, even for her age, Jill was a gym rat. Her frequent trips to her local gym had not gone unnoticed, and she began to notice that many of the guys at the gym were spending more time staring at her than actually exercising. While she was on the treadmill, a line would form at the treadmills to her left and right. She enjoyed the attention she got and would frequently dress in revealing sports attire, which would drive some of the men to flat out flirt with her. Jill also had an obsession with health supplements. Every morning she would down a combination of herbal supplements, vitamin pills and so on, and before each meal would swallow a couple more. She even had a small pill box which she carried in her bag at all times. On occasion, she would have a protein shake. Most of her supplements were supplied by Rhonda, who regularly smuggled them out from the V-Fit stores while interning there. All in all, Jill saved nearly a thousand dollars thanks to Rhonda.

One Saturday at the mall, Jill and Rhonda were milling about the various shops when they came across a sports-wear shop. Rhonda remembered something and turned to her friend.

"Dude! I just found out V-Fit's coming out with this new all-in-one version of V-Ultra Gold...it’s supposed to handle everything for you, my boss was telling me how it’s the GNC killer...just all with one new thing."

"You serious?"

"Of course I'm serious, girl. It was totally kept under wraps until now, ‘cause they're putting it out in a couple months. They're calling it V-Ultra...Platinum.”

“Aw, you have to steal me some!”

“Seriously girl, the way my boss and all his friends were talking about it, I've never heard them sound so confident like this before. It’s fucking crazy."

"That sounds SO, awesome!! This sounds totally like a spy thing, you know? Is there some, I don’t know, super secret behind it? I mean there must be if they're getting such a hard-on over it."

"Oh oh yeah, there is! It's based on this herb...it's...unghh, damn it, why can't I remember?! Okay, like, I forgot the name, but they found it in China, up in some mountain or something, I dunno...but basically there's two versions of it they're gonna put out...the normal powder, and a liquid version.”

“Liquid-?”

“Dude, I know where they keep the liquid extracts...I was planning on swiping a couple of bottles and selling them to this guy I know...he says he'd buy 'em off me for nearly a grand each! Can you believe that shit?"

"Oh my gosh are you kidding? A grand? Why?!"

"He says that he worked with it in China but got fired, at least that's what he told me. Like, he said the main extract alone was good enough, like he said just a tiny bit of it is so powerful that all the other shit V-fit's putting into the final product is just to hinder the concentration so that people have to buy more of it regularly. Dude, he said one bottle of the main extract is enough for 20 bottles of the one V-fit's putting on sale!"

"Swipe me a bottle too?"

"You want one? You gonna pay me a grand for it?"

"Aw, come on, Rhon..."

"I'm just kidding you silly bitch! 'Course I'll get you one!"

It was Monday again, and the drudgery of school had returned. Amidst her eagerness to see if Rhonda actually went through with their little scheme, Jill had to keep up with the challenges not just within the classroom, but outside of it. Among them was Linton, one of Portsdown High’s football stars. She saw him through the bustle in the corridor heading towards her, two of his fellow football cohorts in tow. It seemed that he saw her, too. His expression changed to a combination of predatory instinct and delight, as if he were a lion and Jill a gazelle. As they passed each other, he leaned towards her, his hand poised to lightly slap her ass. Jill saw this coming, and artfully evaded the attack. Her lithe 5’5 frame slipping past the six foot blonde behemoth was a portrait of size versus speed. She turned and the two exchanged a knowing look; this was a game they were familiar with. No words were necessary. They went about their business, and as Linton and this minions continued down the corridor, she overheard one of them, Adrian, say to Linton,

“Dude, the fuck was that?”

“You just wait bro. I’m gonna hit that shit so hard one day. She wants it, it’s so obvious.”

“Dude, good fuckin’ luck, man.”

“Bro I’m not gonna be one of those losers, a’ight?”

They were out of hearing range by now. “Dumbass” she muttered, smiling wryly. Unfortunately for Linton, he was not an exception to the rule. She was just another one of her toys with which to practice her deception. What was special about him, however, was that she hadn’t thought of a way to send his dreams crashing down just yet. She wanted something new. Revealing text messages and pictures and that sort of shenanigan wasn’t doing it anymore.

She walked into the cafeteria, seeing Rhonda sitting at a table. As Jill walked over to her friend, she felt her left shoulder suddenly cock back as little Kee Yoon accidentally collided with her. The meek Korean girl turned into an orphaned puppy, alternating between picking up her fallen books and profusely apologizing to Jill. Jill simply rolled her eyes and continued on without saying a word. That weird girl always seemed to be stalking her; Jill could swear that half the time she was walking around campus, she could see Kee Yoon peeking out from some corner at her. Ugh.

Anyway, she reached Rhonda and sat down in front of her. Jill popped several pre-meal supplements before pulling out the boxed salad she prepared at home. For some reason, her old friend didn’t seem too excited to see her. Rhonda tried to avoid eye contact, but Jill leaned over the table and gave her a knowing look.

“Did ya get it? Hm?”

“Uhm, yeah, yeah I got it.”

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah! Yeah I’m fine. It’s just…uh…”

“Yeeees?”

“Look, you, uh,”

She unzipped her backpack and pulled out a featureless cardboard box. Jill watched as she opened the lid. Styrofoam beans spilled out as she reached inside and pulled out a small bottle. It was the size of a shot glass. She then pulled out a small pack of disposable syringes and laid them on the table.

“What-what are those for?”

“You don’t drink this, you have to inject it.”

There was silence as Jill gave Rhonda the “omigodareyouserious” look.

“Oh. My God. Are you serious?!”

“Dude, yes I’m serious! Look at it!” Rhonda said as she removed the cap and showed her the pin hole top where a syringe would be inserted. Jill took the bottle and examined it.

“Dude, what is this? Is this an all-in-one or some crazy, I dunno, steroid?”

“It’s the Ultra Platinum. That’s the GNC Killer you’re holding,” Rhonda said unenthusiastically, looking at the table and not at her friend, “The literature’s in the box, you can read it when you like get home.”

She slowly pushed the cardboard box across the table to Jill, who looked in and saw a brochure and more disposable syringes inside. The whole thing seemed ludicrous, particularly the part about the injections. She just could not see herself injecting a damn supplement into herself.

“Girl I need to go. I gotta, I gotta like go.”

“Rhon, are you okay? You’re like more stressed out than usual.”

“No, no I’m fine, really. It’s just, I mean, I…”
“Does it have something to do with-?” She touched the bottle.

“Oh no! No, no, it was, uh, nothing. Just…you know, my classes just really suck and like, I mean, homework and all that, you know? And just the idea that I’m about to graduate..”

The look of concern on Jill washed away and she gave Rhonda an understanding nod. Some words of reassurance later, the bell rang and it was time to return to class. Jill felt a sense of disappointment, looking at the box her friend left her. Still, not wanting to be wasteful, and entertaining the notion that she would at least sleep on it, Jill emptied the contents into her backpack and threw the box away. She popped her post-meal supplements before walking off to her next class.
It had been two days and Jill still had not touched the Ultra Platinum, which still lay in her backpack along with the syringes and brochures. It was Wednesday now, the day she had physical ed class. She used to enjoy PE since her sports bra and shorts attire meant that she was driving most of the guys in class crazy during class, but her instructor, Mr. U, put an end to that by proposing to the department more modest clothing requirements. Shit.

PE consisted of the ritual stretching exercises followed by calisthenics and finally some random sport of Mr. U’s choosing, whether it was basketball or dodgeball. Besides Jill, there were twelve students in the class. Among them were Bywater, the silent, mysterious mormon kid, and Adrian, one of Linton’s cronies. Adrian in particular was a tough nut for Jill to crack; he was, of course, another idiot football meathead, but apparently he was blessed by a pixie one evening to resist Jill’s temptations. She still tried anyway.

Jill was easily the hottest girl in the whole class. Most of the other girls were either fat or ugly, or a combination of both. At least to Jill, anyway. She could manage the basic exercises with ease, though she dreaded basketball days. In addition to just not being any good at it, she kept having the damn ball stolen from her by Bywater. Christ she hated those days. Thankfully, today was volleyball day.

Mr. U was running a couple of minutes late, so the kids were in the sports auditorium hanging around. Jill walked in and, as usual, wearing her modest T-shirt and shorts sports attire, and attracted a number of stares from the guys and looks of envy from the girls. It was a routine she was used to. That is, until…

Until

Who was THAT?! Jill’s attention quickly zeroed in on a hostile unknown sitting against the wall, a distance apart from the rest of the class. She had dark hair. Clearly looked like a mixture of races. Slender. Pretty. Who was she?

Jill struggled to maintain her composure. Setting her bag down, she exchanged the usual fakey pleasantries with some of the kids in class. All the while, she kept an eye on the unknown, who stood up and begin doing some light stretching. She had an unbelievable figure, and seemed to be as tall, if not slightly taller than Jill. Unacceptable!

The aloof unknown didn’t interact with the other students, as if existing in her own little realm. She made several brief glances at Jill, and each look was loaded with all the worst kinds of smug, all-knowing arrogance. Jill would have walked over and slapped the bitch for looking at her the wrong way, but then Mr. U walked into the auditorium and shouted for everyone to get off their asses.

Class went on as normal, though Jill’s mind was half on the unknown. She was standing about five students away from Jill, next to Bywater, participating in all the exercises, so she was clearly part of the class. So she’s a new student then? She has to be. But then why didn’t Mr. U introduce her or something? Well, he did seem rather stressed today, maybe he forgot to. Either way, she was stealing the show! She had better posture, she did the exercises like a fitness trainer, and worst of all, she could actually do the pushup exercises like the guys, without having to rest her knees on the floor! Jill seethed with contempt. And does that bitch have to keep looking at-

“One! Two! Three! Four! Fi…Jill, stop staring at Bywater’s ass and do the pushups right!”

Jill looked at Mr. U, completely aghast. She leaned up from her pushup position, remaining on her knees to look at Mr. U in astonishment. Bywater looked over at Jill, uncomfortably surprised.

“No I, I wasn’t-“

“Come on,” Mr. U said in a cynical sing-song voice, “You’re making the man uncomfortable, being on your knees like that. Don’t tempt him, Jill! He’s Mormon!”

The class erupted in laughter at Mr. U’s unbelievable comment that would have gotten him fired if he were anyone else, but a former marine does tend to command a different breed of respect.

“Alright kids settle down! Five!”

Jill was mortified. She looked back at the unknown, who returned her stare with her now signature smug foxy look. After the warm-up exercises, Mr. U had the class move over to the far end of the auditorium where two volleyball nets were set up. He divided the class so that the guys and girls played within their genders, and much to Jill’s displeasure, the unknown was on her team. Jill tried to keep her distance from her. There were four girls on each team, and though her mortal enemy was on her team, Jill’s confidence was boosted by the fact that the other team mostly had the chubby girls in the class.

The game commenced, and things went swimmingly. Jill was holding her own against team fat ass. She was about to send the ball into an undefended part of the enemy team’s court when all of a sudden, that bitch came out of nowhere and spiked the goddamn ball right on the edge of the boundary, winning their team more points. The nerve! Jill wanted to scream at her and order her to get her stupid ass out of her way, but all she could manage was a look of utter contempt. The bitch totally ignored her.

A little later in the game, team Jill was on the verge of claiming victory over team fat ass, who were floundering about with the ball as if it were on fire. Jill was about to deliver the killing blow when, right as she jumped to spike the ball over the net, the bitch came out of fucking nowhere and hit it instead. It all happened so fast, so suddenly, that a blindsided Jill instinctively tried to avoid colliding with the bitch and recoiled back, lost her bearings, and belly flopped spectacularly onto the floor with a resounding thud. Both teams erupted in a collective “Ooh!” followed by laughter as Mr. U blew the whistle to signal the end of class.

“I’d give you a 10 out of 10 but next time you should practice your Olympic diving in the pool, not the auditorium!” Mr. U said, struggling to contain himself. More laughter from the class. Jill slowly picked herself off the floor; the entire front of her body feeling like it had just been slapped by a giant ruler. Worst day ever.

Jill was in the locker room, standing over the sink next to the toilets. The air itself seemed permeated with humiliation, and she had no doubt in her mind that the whispering amongst the girls was concerning what just transpired in class. Sure enough, as she was about to change out of her PE clothes, Margaret, one of the girls from team fat-ass, walked over to the sink next to her to wash her hands. The pudgy bespectacled sophomore was so, so far below Jill’s league that she wouldn’t dare.

Jill heard Margaret snicker as she washed her hands. She gave her an indignant look, but Margaret ignored her and simply toweled her hands off and walked away. Unbelievable.
After regaining her composure, she changed into her camisole and jeans. In her hand she now had her pill box, about to down her pre-meal supplements before heading to the cafeteria for lunch. Suddenly, she heard the door open behind her, followed by the sounds of someone skittering very quickly behind her towards the toilets. Jill spun around to see who it was, and to her displeasure she saw the bitch walking over to her.

“Hey!” the bitch said, all friendly and fakey.

“Oh, hey.”

“Look, I’m sorry about…back there. Things were pretty rough in my previous high school, so like, I’m really sorry if I seem like a total bitch. Are you okay?”

“Oh no it’s okay. I’m fine.” Jill said. Yes you are a total bitch. Please stop talking to me. Go away.

“I’m actually new here, transferred in from San Pedro High last week. I’m Alex.” She extended her hand to Jill. Jill looked at her for a moment, incredulous, but shook her hand anyway.

“Jill” came her monotone reply. Alex’s eyes suddenly lowered at Jill’s pill box.

“Hey! You also take Psicnogenol? Me too!” Alex said, pulling out her own pill box and showing it to Jill, “What else you got there?”

Inside, Jill was exploding. Is this bitch trying to rival her in every way imaginable? Still, she put on her best artificial enthusiasm and showed her the pill box “Visionex and Chelated 5 for pre meals and I’ve got like,” she gave a fake laugh, “a million other things for other times of the day!”

The two bantered for a short while, name dropping various dietary supplements, protein powders and their ilk amidst the conversation. It seemed like Jill was warming up to her former rival, until she realized that she could not say anything to Alex that Alex didn’t already know, or was much more familiar with. And yes, standing three feet away from her, Jill could tell now. Alex was taller than her by at least three inches.

School was over and she was locked up in her room at home, her parents vaguely audible through the door as they murmured about work and the stock market. She lay stomach down on her bed, propping her head up with her hands. All she could think about was Alex. She was so much smarter, prettier, taller, and had a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of all the things Jill had interest in. Her whole body felt flabby compared to Alex’s unbelievably toned figure. Her arms felt jiggly. Her abs felt flat. Her ass felt deflated. Her legs felt weak. Her boobs felt like two swollen mosquito bites. It was driving her mad. It was like she was the newer, updated Jill, and the old version had to endure coexisting with her. Is this how she would leave Portsdown High going into college? Being a fucking expired product?

No.

She reached under her bed and pulled out her backpack. Unzipping the front pocket, she shook the backpack and let the Ultra Platinum, syringes and brochures fall out onto her bed. She grabbed the brochures and quickly read each one. Nothing about them seemed particularly sketchy; this was a legitimate, currently unreleased product from V-Fit, one of the most powerful health giants in the world. The brochures had chemistry-speak that was beyond Jill, but they also kept going on about how this was the “GNC Killer”, the future flagship product of V-Fit, the product they were putting all their energies to making it the last thing any health nut would desire. As far as she could discern, it was a miracle combination of the best antioxidants, amino acids and herb extracts, all carefully combined into one wonder-supplement. Jill felt like she was on the edge of a cliff. She picked up the bottle and a syringe, and looked at them for the longest time.
Well, it’s just a health supplement after all, she thought. They’re just a small equation in the larger scheme of things. But at the very least, she would feel better knowing that in spite of it all, she still hand the upper hand over Alex in something.

She removed the syringe from its packet and unscrewed the Ultra Platinum bottle. Gently, she punctured the exposed rubber seal with the needle and extracted a small dosage, based on what she had read from the product literature. She rested the needle on her brachial artery and without dwelling on the ludicrousness of it all, slowly pushed it into her skin and pressed down on the plunger. She winced and quickly pulled the needle out, dropping the syringe and grabbing a band aid.

Inside Jill, V-Fit’s unreleased, future flagship product went to work in her bloodstream, latching onto her genes, traveling up into her brain, invading her hormones, rapidly evolving into their own new breed of hormones, and weakening her genetic barriers. It was conducting a massive, invisible takeover of her body.

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.
Tuesday arrived and the students of Portsdown High were back in school after the long weekend. Monday was Faculty Workshop day, which none of the students knew anything about other than an excuse to party harder on Friday or take that trip to Disneyland. For Jill, it was an opportunity to spend the day working out. Her arms were still sore as hell from her monster workout on Saturday, so she stayed at home doing stretches and sit-ups. If one intense afternoon made her shoulders more sculpted and bolder, then one intense afternoon working her abs should produce similar results. But the arrival of a new week meant that Jill had to take her mind off her new obsession for now and jump back in the game of school.

It was a warm day, so Jill wore a T-shirt and shorts to school. To most of students she passed by, nothing really seemed different about her. She of course turned a few heads, but that was normal. She was hoping to run into Linton or Adrian to see if they noticed the changes to her physique, minor as they were. She also kept her eye out for Alex.

Right as the sun rose high enough to completely bathe Portsdown High in a deep orange, the sound of a clock chime blasted from the school’s PA system, signaling five minutes till the first class. Jill quickened her pace, maintaining her confident stride in spite of her haste. A blast of cool wind washed over her right as she rounded a corner into the fountain courtyard, where this weird abstract sculpture looking like something out of a digital nightmare spewed cascading water into a square pool below. She climbed the adjacent stairs to the second level, where she meshed with a river of students streaming out of the cafeteria nearby as they headed for class.

Tuesday mornings were spent in the airless borefest that was English 12: American Literature with Mr. G. Fortunately, this was the one class that Jill shared with a few members of her Portsdown gang, namely Rhonda and Tara. Most of the other 22 students were already seated as Jill walked in, taking her seat near the back where Rhonda and Tara sat parallel to one another. Rhonda mouthed a “hey” to Jill as Jill sat down behind her, while Tara, sitting to her right, waved and smiled. “I love your hair!” Tara whispered, pointing at Jill’s shoulder skimming blonde hair which she let hang free for a change.

Jill smiled and tilted her head and whispered back, “I like your top,” nodding at Tara’s fashionable leather jacket and A&F shirt combo.

Tara’s eyes lit up, “I know! I got it the other day, like it was on sale-“

“Alright, I hope you guys had a great extended weekend,” Mr. G’s voice cut through the murmurings in class, “We’re gonna be going over Bartleby the Scrivener, which you were supposed to read for today, did you guys do that?”

There was an awkward silence as Mr. G stared at a no-talking, motionless class. Finally after an agonizing five seconds, a few students nodded their heads and made little sounds and grunts to indicate the affirmative. Jill laughed quietly to herself, doodling shapes into her notebook. She made a brief glance up at Mr. G and found him looking straight at her, with this weird vacant stare. She instinctively pulled out her copy of the short story from her backpack and nodded very slightly at him. She and Tara quickly exchanged knowing looks as Mr. G commenced his lecture. In Jill’s mind, there were three general types of teachers at Portsdown High: the straight-up borefest drone that put the whole class in a coma, the popular, tough as nails teacher that knew how to talk to the students, like Mr. U, and the weak, overly passionate loser that few students paid attention to while most others talked all kinds of smack behind his or her back. Mr. G was in that last category. He seemed like he did nothing but live and breathe literature, though his wedding ring indicated obligations beyond that. Yet, as the lecture went on, Jill couldn’t help but shake her head at his incredulous interpretations.

“And so, by refusing the obligations expected of him, Bartleby is basically saying no to Wall Street, no to capitalism, no to this, this endless cycle of greed and corporate free for alls. So Bartleby, then, is this champion of this 1850s version of “Occupy Wall Street.” And the narrator, all he can do is try and pay Bartleby to leave. I mean, think about it. He’s a man of Wall Street, and his only answer to a man who has been emotionally decimated is to pay him. Think about it. Isn’t this the problem with our current corporate culture?”

Jill rolled her eyes. If anything, Mr. G’s lectures were mildly entertaining for their sheer ludicrousness. She wanted to see Rhonda’s reaction, but she could only stare straight at her back. Tara, wanting to attempt some kind of a discussion, raised her hand. Mr. G nodded at her.

“But the narrator does like, more than just pay Bartleby, right? He visits him in jail and he gets upset when Bartleby has died, so-“

“Y-yes, Tara, but only after he’s allowed the police to take Bartleby away. By that point he may as well have not done nothing, it makes no difference at this point. Yes Jill?”

“I think that Bartleby’s is sort of rebelling against not just Wall Street but like everything, this whole social…uhm…construct of work and money, that’s like so powerful that all he can do to fight it is to just like, die.”

“Yes. Absolutely. Very good!” Mr. G said, his mood seemingly lifted up all of a sudden. As he continued with his lecture, Jill waited for him to look away from her direction, and she and Tara gave each other sneaky looks, with Tara sticking her tongue at Jill. It was a little game the two of them played from time to time.

Class was over at 9.15. As Jill got up along with everyone else to head for the door, Mr. G called her over. Tara and Rhonda looked at each other and then Jill, who said, “I’ll meet you guys outside,” before walking over to Mr. G.

Mr. G waited for the classroom to empty out so that only he and Jill remained. “Good job with participating in class today. Did you like Bartleby?”

Nothing like charming the teacher to get that easy A. Jill put on her best act. “Oh yeah! I loved Bartleby, I mean, I like wish I could cause so much chaos by doing nothing.”

They both laughed. Mr G then reached into his bag and pulled out a book, “That’s great, that’s great. Yeah, it’s one of my favorites from Melville. Now, I don’t want to keep you from your friends, but I wanted to let you borrow this book of mine…” He reached into his bag and pulled out a thick book.

“Ooh…”

“Because I know you’re planning on writing your final paper on The Awakening, right?”

“Mm Hm, yeah!”

“So this book talks about the environment for women of that period, everything from legal expectations, as well as the social expectations people had of women. I think it’ll be really helpful for your research, and it goes into way more detail than anything you’d find on, say, Wikipedia. So I want you to have this, and you can just, you know, get it back to me when you turn in your paper.”

“Cool, thanks! This will definitely help.” Jill said, stuffing the heavy book in her bag. Mr. G smiled and nodded. There was a brief silence between the two. Jill wasn’t sure if she should just leave or not. It seemed like Mr. G wanted to say something else, but was conflicted about it.

“S-so, how was your weekend? Obviously you got all of Bartleby done.”

“Oh, yeah. And I worked out a lot too, you know?”

“Yeah, I mean yeah, you look really, uh, gre…uh- healthy!” Mr. G said, waving his hand, trying to get the right word out, “Well anyway, I guess I will see you Thursday, alright?”

“Alright cool, thanks Mr. G. Have a good one.” She said, turning around and heading for the door.

“And enjoy the book!”

“I will, thanks!” Jill replied. As she neared the door, she could see a reflection of Mr. G behind her in the adjacent window. Instead of packing his bag and leaving himself, he simply sat there, staring at her as she opened the door.

Mr. G waited for the door to slam shut before biting his lip and looking down, despising himself. “You look really healthy?” what the hell, dude? What on earth compelled him to say such a thing to her? He scratched the top of his head, feeling the thinning crown of hair, and was reminded quite starkly of how Jill was one of the most beautiful creatures he had seen in his entire life, destined to be an actress or supermodel of some sort, and how he was an aging ex-hippy doomed to a life at the mercy of a cash-strapped LA Unified School District. He rubbed his wedding ring, staring at the thing like some parasite latched onto his finger, and then started packing his folders and papers into his bag. As he did so, he thought about what compelled him to make such a bold advance at the most beautiful girl on the planet who also happened to be his student. She was far beautiful today than usual, but like an itch he couldn’t find, he could not figure out what it was exactly. The problem with being around anyone on a regular basis is that you eventually establish in your mind what you know of them, and that establishment becomes difficult to change. Still, the girl was so receptive to him, so attentive in class, and so *beautiful*, and *he* was her mentor. Mr. G picked up his bag and made his way out of the classroom.

Jill deposited her backpack in her locker and headed out of the building where her two friends awaited. “What did Mr. G want with you?” Tara asked Jill as they walked towards a bench to hang out between classes.
“Oh he just wanted to me to borrow his book for my final. Omigod he was *so* checking me out during that whole conversation.”
That comment seemed to spark something in Rhonda’s mind. She slowed her pace, causing Jill and Tara to slow down as well.
“Speaking of which, something’s different about you…have you been working out?” Rhonda said, scrutinizing Jill from head to toe, to head again. Jill scoffed.
“Pfft, uh, hello? I work out like every day?” she said playfully. Tara laughed.
“No you bitch, you’re like, like…buff!” Rhonda said.
“Mm hm,” Jill gave her friends a confident smile, “Check this out…”
Jill set down her purse on the bench and hiked up her shirt, revealing her midriff. Tara and Rhonda’s eyes turned into small moons as they let out a collective “Omigod!” What was once Jill’s toned tummy was now a solid six pack of abs.
“And check these out!” Jill said. She then flexed both of her arms, and to Tara and Rhonda’s further astonishment, her biceps bulged quite noticeably, rising up like hidden weapons stored inside her arms.
“Hoooly shit, Jill! I-you-I mean, since when did you start working out like that?!” Tara exclaimed, half excited and half shocked.
“Mm, only for a couple days really,” Jill replied nonchalantly as she continued to flex her guns.
“Are you serious? Are you on steroids or something?” Tara said, the excitement in her voice still ever present.
“No!” Jill said, giggling, “It’s a secret…but I’m not ‘roiding up, don’t worry.” Her eyes met with Rhonda’s, and she noticed that unlike Tara, Rhonda had a somewhat worried look.
“Uh, no Jill, women only gain muscles like that at that speed when they use steroids, because testosterone builds muscle, and women happen to not have a lot of it. Hello? This is like common knowledge?” Tara said. She was certainly smarter than she looked.
Jill simply scoffed at Tara, “Ugh, yes I *know* that, I’m not ‘roiding up okay? I don’t even have a *reason* to be injecting steroids, I’m not doing sports and stuff. I’m telling you, I’m just like genetically gifted alright? There *are* women who can get buff without needing drugs. And besides, steroids don’t even work that fast,” she then turned to Rhonda and flexed her biceps, slower this time, “Whaddaya think, huh?”
Rhonda stared at Jill’s arm as her bicep stretched and bulged. She seemed to struggle with her words for a moment, but after a few seconds of hesitation, the life seemed to creep back into her demeanor, if only slightly. “I mean-it’s amazing. I mean, we should talk about it more later,” she said, looking straight into Jill’s eyes.
“So you just started hitting the weights more recently and bang, muscles?” Tara said.
“Yeah, like pretty much. I mean I only used to do weights for toning, right? But I tried going a little heavier, and yeah, bang, muscles!”
“Dude, Jill, can you *promise* me something? Please? Don’t be an idiot and overdo it and turn into some muscle freak.” Tara said, putting her hand on Jill’s knee.
“Sure, if you promise you’ll let me film a Tara-Linton sex tape!”
Tara screamed and threw her purse at Jill. The trio descended into mindless laughter. Right then, Linton and Adrian appeared behind the girls.
“I thought I heard you guys!” Linton said as the three girls squealed in surprise, “What?!” Linton exclaimed.
“Nothing, nothing!” The three of them said, tapering their laughter down.
Linton chuckled and quickly turned his attention to Tara. “How’s it going, babe?” He said, leaning down to kiss her. As they kissed, Linton eyed Jill for a microsecond, who also happened to be looking at him. She smiled wryly at him and shook her head. “You girls still down for Neo So this Saturday?”
The three girls nodded in agreement. The five of them were frequent patrons of LA’s hottest new nightclub, but this particular Saturday night would be special: DJ Tenlaton, a rising star in the scene, was going to be spinning that night. “You guys…getting all excited about a guy who plays other people’s music,” Adrian quipped.
Linton chuckled and nudged his pal in the sternum, “Dude, you are going, and I don’t wanna see you shouting “Freebird” or some shit like that.”
“Do I? Do I dare?!” Adrian’s voice got all maniacal as he rubbed his hands together.
“I will kick your ass bro, swear to God.”
“What time you guys planning on getting there?” Rhonda asked, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up at the two men.
“I think it would be a good idea to get there a bit earlier, like ten. I’m just done with being stuck on the fucking freeway on a Saturday night, like that shit just stresses me out, like-” Linton said.
“Babe, hold on, you gotta check this out,” Tara interrupted. She grabbed Jill’s arm tried flex it, but Jill quickly got the idea and did it willingly. Linton was so alarmed that he took a step back.
“Sweet Jesus, how the-? Are you on the juice?” Linton exclaimed.
“No juicing my dear Linty,” Jill said confidently, “Just good genetics, like you!”
“Those are some impressive guns.” Adrian said, seemingly unfazed, “You trying to become a bodybuilder or something?”
“No, I think I’ll stick with fitness model!”
“Just be careful with the ‘roids. Wouldn’t want you getting all square jawed.”
“Adrian!” Tara protested.
“Just saying!”
Linton, who had been doing nothing but scratching his chin in confusion, smacked Adrian on the shoulder. “Dude, we need to get to practice, we got like five minutes.”
“What’s the matter, Linty? Afraid of buff girls?” Jill said coyly. The six feet behemoth that was Linton smirked and began walking away towards the football field with Adrian.
“Nah, just the ones on the juice. I will see you girls later!”
“Bye guys!” The three girls chimed amidst laughter.
As Linton and Adrian drew farther and farther away, Jill could tell by the way they gestured to each other as they spoke that they were talking about her. It was a gratifying feeling.
“Is it just me, or did he actually seem terrified of you?” Rhonda said.
“Aww my poor Lint. Big on the outside, pussycat on the inside.” Tara remarked, gushing over her boyfriend, “Oh! But I need to remind you two, you’re still helping me with the dance, right?” Jill and Rhonda replied in the affirmative. “Great! So, I’ve settled on a more formal sorta vibe since last year’s was more casual, so now we need posters. Can you guys come up with some ideas for those?” Again, they replied in the affirmative. “Awesome!”
The five minute warning sounded across campus, and with that, the girls stood up to disperse to their next classes. Tara said her goodbyes to Jill and Rhonda, who were both headed in the same direction. As their perky friend disappeared round a corner, Rhonda’s mood suddenly changed.
“The V-Fit formula…I’m guessing you took it?”
“Hell yeah! Never felt better. All the other stuff I’m taking seems to pointless now,” Jill said, flexing her bicep once more, “Why, something wrong, Rhon?”
Rhonda hesitated, some kind of battle of wills was going on in her mind, “No, nothing, I mean, just promise me you won’t take anymore doses, okay?”
Jill stopped walking and her expression now became as grim as her friend’s. “Don’t take-? Dude, girl, what’s going on? So it really is steroids? Are you telling me that?”
“No! No, no, it’s not that, I’m just—look, it’s just that it’s a new product, and I’m guessing you’ve read the info that came with it, but I’m just telling you, just lay off on it until it hits the market and more independent studies can be done, okay? I’m not saying you’re in trouble or anything, I’m just saying, like, better to be safe than sorry.”
Jill was slightly more at ease. “I guess.”
“Just promise me, okay?”
“Ookay, I promise, Rhonnie.”
“Thanks. I know I sound weird but, you know…” She lost her words right as they arrived at Rhonda’s next class.
“Yeah…?”
“Uhm, nothing. I mean, you’re my friend so I care, okay? I’ll see you at lunch.” With that, Rhonda opened the door and walked in. Jill remained standing in the hallway, perplexed for a second, and then resumed her journey to class. After retrieving her books from her locker, she decided to make a quick pit stop at the ladies’ room. With minutes to spare before the start of 9.30 classes, the ladies’ was completely empty. Jill set her things down on the counter and washed her hands. As she gripped the knob to turn on the water, she felt a sense of power in her hands, as if she had the strength to easily rip the knob off the counter. She tugged at it, but it did not budge. Jill simply shrugged and bathed her hands in the icy water that came forth. After drying her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror and lifted up her shirt, admiring her abs.
Just then, she heard the sound of a toilet flushing behind her. She quickly pulled her shirt down as she saw Alex emerge from one of the stalls.
“Hey! Nice to see you!” the bitch exclaimed as she walked over to the sink next to Jill.
“Hey back.” Jill said.
“How’s it going? You’re looking great by the way. Have you been working out?”
“I have indeed!” Jill replied as she flexed her bicep for Alex.
“That’s awesome,” Alex said as she washed her hands. Jill was a bit disappointed at Alex’s underwhelming response. “I mean, I go to the gym a lot myself, Genesis Fitness, do you know that place?”
“Yeah, I go there too.”
“Oh, awesome! Yeah, I usually just lift for tone, not to bulk up or anything, but it must be great to discover that you’re an easy gainer, I mean, assuming you’re not on steroids or something, right?”
“No, no steroids, just genetics.” Jill said flatly.
Alex turned to Jill briefly and gave her the most curious look. “Sure,” she said, before turning her attention back to her hands.
The sarcasm in that one word was not lost on Jill, who felt a small bomb explode in her head. She also couldn’t help but notice that Alex was wearing a T-shirt and jeans combo that, despite its simplicity, seemed to accentuate her figure perfectly. I mean *perfectly*, as if the T-shirt and jeans were specially fitted for her. Her shirt accentuated all her svelte curves, and she wore the most perfect matching bracelet that seemed to have the magical properties of enhancing the shape of her incredibly toned arms. Her jeans curved at just the right place, accentuating her butt just nicely without looking too baggy or too tight, and one could see the figure in her legs in spite of the material that covered them.

“I like your shirt and jeans, by the way.” Jill said in a sort of kneejerk reaction.

“Oh, why thanks,” Alex said without turning to face Jill. “I mean, I just got these at the thrift store down where I live, so they’re no big deal, really.”

Thrift store? No big deal? And why didn’t Alex return the compliment by complimenting Jill’s…I don’t know, shirt, shorts, biceps, abs, *anything*! Didn’t this bitch know how things worked down here? Jill was desperate to find some way to make herself feel more adequate in front of Alex, but Alex moved with a purpose as she toweled her hands dry, rubbing every inch of her hand with the paper towel with machine-like efficiency. Alex picked up her bag and strode towards the door, her every movement was so graceful; she must have been a professional dancer to have beauty in such a simple motion. As she opened the door, she turned back to Jill, who was standing by the sink looking awkward as hell.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again; maybe we’ll catch each other at the gym sometime!”

Oh, you will, Jill thought. You will.

Saturday arrived, and as the morning sun forced shafts of light through the window blinds, Kee Yoon slowly slid out bed. Rubbing her eyes and clearing her throat, she slid her feet into her furry flip flops and shuffled slowly into the bathroom. She looked at her haggard face in the mirror. Every morning was a disappointment. She kept expecting to wake up looking perfect for once, but it was always the same story. Sagging eyelids. Frazzled hair. Gummy lips. She moaned in disappointment and began her morning ritual of applying God knows how many different facial cleansers, soaps and what-have-you. She woke up much earlier than her brother and parents so she could have plenty of time.

As she massaged various varieties of facial products onto her already immaculate skin, she turned to her room to glance at the dress she was going to wear tonight. She had it neatly laid out on the small couch next to her bed, an expensive designer dress that her mother bought her on her last birthday. She didn’t quite like it. She remembered feeling like an arrogant little princess trying to show up the Americans when she wore it to last year’s prom. Then her mother threw away her cherished, simpler dresses, and now she didn’t have much of a choice. She rinsed her face and shuffled back into her room, walking outside in careful, measured steps, so as to not wake anyone up. She approached the sliding door to the balcony and slowly opened it. Her body was immediately blanketed in warmth as the sounds of distant traffic and brooms sweeping concrete floors greeted her. The balcony was small, but large enough for one person to move about comfortably.
Stepping outside, she slid the door shut and turned to her easel, which had a large cloth draped over it. Pulling the cloth off revealed a large half-finished painting of an ocean. It was simple in its content, but Kee Yoon had spent an enormous amount of time making sure that each wave and undulation in the water was perfect, with just the right amounts of color and sharpness given democratically to every inch of water. Though Kee worked with a variety of media, her mother refused to allow anything beyond her pencil work to be done inside the apartment. Kee was deeply uncomfortable with the idea of working in plain sight of everyone inside and outside the apartment, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. She gently felt the dried acrylic with the back of her hand, gazing longingly at her depiction of a seemingly endless sea, held back only by the horizon. She turned away from her painting to face the massive apartment building that sat uncomfortably close to her balcony, and sighed in resignation. She leaned over the edge, seeing someone sweeping the ground floor below. In the distance, where the building met the road, she gazed at her favorite bagel shop that her mother would sometimes bring lunch home from.

“Something wrong, babe?” Linton snapped out of the deepness of his thoughts as Tara’s gentle voice pierced the veil. He stirred slightly and remembered where he was: that nice little bagel place she loved so much. She told him last Wednesday that today would be a warm day, so it would be perfect to spend the whole day together before topping it all off with a night at Neo-So.
“Naw, I’m alright. I’m cool.”
“You suuuure?” Tara tilted her head and smiled at him, sipping her coffee at the same time.
“I told you, I’m cool, Jesus,” Linton snapped as he realized he had been sitting with the sun in his face the whole time. He quickly shifted his chair into a shaded spot.
“Sorry,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. He furrowed his eyebrows and cursed himself inside.
“No, it’s alright babe. I was just thinking about stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“Nothing important, really. Let’s just like try and enjoy the day, you know?”
Before Tara could reply, she heard the server call her name behind her.
“I got it,” Linton said as he stood up to get both of their orders. Leaning against the counter, Linton waited as the server plated their egg and ham bagels onto the tray. He turned his head to look at Tara, whose back was facing him. Her skin was a perfect light beige hue and her blonde hair seemed to practically reflect the rays of the sun. She was one of the hottest girls at school, and she was his. It almost felt like cheating, the way she fell for him so easily during their sophomore year. And the best part? She seemed to think he was Portsdown High’s Brad Pitt, and no matter what he did and who he fucked, it was as if some part in her head refused to believe or comprehend any of it. Maybe Tara really had no clue, but it wasn’t a big secret around school. Since they became an item two years ago, Linton had bagged the other hotties in school. There was Michelle, Jennifer T, Audrey, and that smoking hot Egyptian chick Talia. And he was still with Tara, who was, by the way, on track to become prom queen. There was only one girl at Portsdown High that still occupied his target list, and things were starting to get  weird with her. A small part of Linton was terrified of what she might look like tonight.
As he carried the tray over to their table, Tara turned and gave Linton the sweetest smile ever. All of a sudden, a pang of guilt hit him like a train. He felt like a little pussy for feeling that way. He wished he could kill those feelings right away and man the fuck up dude, but it didn’t change the fact that that one smile made him feel like crap for everything he’d done behind her back, if only for a few seconds. Linton summoned everything inside of him to squash the emotional pest within him and sat down, placing the tray on the table.
Tara delicately lifted the top half of her bagel and evenly divided the egg and ham filling between the two halves. She then cut each half into segments and ate them one by one. Then she looked up and saw Linton chomping on his bagel like it was a donut, and burst out laughing, much to her boyfriend’s confusion. It was the small things that she loved the most with Linton. The way he seemed oblivious to his unsubtle ways. The way his inner child would creep forth from his manly exterior when faced with her pet cat, Tulip. The bigger things about him weren’t too shabby, either. He did get kind of annoying when he put on his jock face, but Tara knew that it was just him maintaining the right image in front of his football peers. Still, she wasn’t too thrilled that Adrian was tagging along for tonight for that precise reason, but at least she had all of the morning to spend with the real Linton.
They drove down to Manhattan Beach instead of the usual Santa Monica Pier, which Tara had grown bored of. As they walked down the sloping path towards the boardwalk, he bought her an ice cream cookie sandwich at the local creamery. He knew that she was cautious about her weight, but he also knew she was deeply in love with him.
The sun went down over Los Angeles, and as the hour grew late, the 405 and 110 freeways slowly lit up like Christmas trees with only red and white lights, depending on which side you were looking at them from. In the heart of that hive of scum and treachery known as Hollywood, LA’s hottest new nightclub, Neo-So, opened its steel plate doors to the masses. Hundreds of eager night clubbers, all dressed like it was the party of a lifetime, formed a line that snaked all the way down the street and round the corner. Thumping bass pulsed from within the building, clearly audible to all the unbearably excited clubbers outside.
“Oh thank God!” Jill exclaimed as she saw a car pull out of the metered parking spot in front of her. As soon as the car completely vacated the spot, she swiftly slid into it, pulling the best piece of parallel parking, saving her from the outrageous $20 parking lots that punctuated the Sunset strip. Jill stepped out of her car, and almost immediately attracted several stares from other clubbers heading for Neo-So. She felt confident and powerful, having worked her body in the gym every day since Tuesday till today. Dressed in a sexy halter top and skirt, the realization of the changes in her body really hit her as she felt herself surrounded by the sounds of the Los Angeles night life. She walked a short distance towards Neo So, and it didn’t take long for her to recognize Adrian, Tara and Linton standing on the street corner, waiting for her. She waved at them as she crossed the street.
As she got closer, she noted the distinct looks on each of their faces as they saw her approaching. Linton’s was a sort of brooding worry. Tara’s was one of total shock. Adrian’s typical confident look didn’t break. Boy was that guy a tough one to crack.
“Wow, Jill!” Tara exclaimed as her boyfriend looked on, his face seemingly unable to decide if it should looked worried or confident. Maybe it was just that her attire created optical illusions to bring out all the right qualities, but Jill seemed more muscular than when he last ran into her a few days ago. In fact, it was totally unmistakable now: she was buff. As she walked up to Tara, Linton noticed how much broader Jill shoulders were compared to his girlfriend’s. Her abs were also bold and visible in spite of the dimly lit sidewalk they stood on. And Jesus her arms and shoulders were fucking toned. It didn’t make sense. She must have been on the juice. There’s just no way.  

“Hi guys! What’s up?” Jill said, her voice still as girlish and feminine as it always was. Okay, so if she wasn’t on the juice, was it really the amazing genetics? The possibilities ran through Linton’s mind so quickly that it nearly stunned him.
“Jill, I mean, wow, you look amazing,” Tara said.
“Thanks girl. Linton, lost for words?”
“Pfft, in your dreams,” he replied, smiling coyly, “Let’s get in line before it gets too long.”
The four of them joined the tail end of the line, which by this point was so far from the club that the music coming from inside was barely audible. Linton sighed, “Shit, getting here early didn’t do shit for us.”
“Say, where’s Rhonda?” Tara asked.
“Oh she had some crap at work she had to do, late night shift.”
“Aw, poor girl,” cooed Tara.
“So what’s going on, Jill?” Adrian interjected, “If you’re not on the ‘roids, there’s got to be something else to it, right? I mean-“
“Ugh, she’s genetically gifted, remember?” Tara scoffed.
“Yeah but-“
“There are a few women who can build muscle like guys, you’re looking at one of them!” Tara said, gesturing to Jill grandiosely. Jill gave a cheesy smile and flexed her bicep.
“Not even guys can build muscle the way you do, Jill. Really, what’s going on?” Adrian said, unfazed, his arms folded. Jill gave him an increasingly hostile glare. His prodding was not welcome.
“Adrian, can you just leave the interrogation for later?” Tara said. Linton, who was looking on silently, couldn’t tell if she was crossing over into being dead serious or not.
“Later? Look at the line, we’re gonna be here forever!” said Adrian.
As if on cue, a tough looking bouncer appeared before the group. He certainly looked the part, being bald, dressed in a black suit, and wearing one of those cool ear pieces with a telephone wire coming out the back.
“What’s up, what’s up you lot,” the bouncer said in a striking English twang, “Is it just the four of you?”
There was a moment of surprise, but Adrian, collected as always, replied “Yes.”
“Come on,” the bouncer said as he gestured for them to abandon the line. Tara turned to Linton and smiled excitedly.
“This is awesome!” she squealed as the four of them streamed past dozens of hapless clubbers who could only look on enviously. Jill was used to being “expressed” into clubs with her friends on the grounds of their sheer good looks; I mean you’re talking about two football hunks and two blonde girls, but this was still the shortest amount of time she’d had to wait to get inside any club, let alone the one that everyone’s been talking about for the past few weeks. Maybe the bouncer liked her muscles.
The music got louder and louder as their express lane to good times got them closer to Neo-So. The club had a minimalist post modern look, and it was clear that someone had put in a lot of money and love into building it. Inside, a complex array of lights bathed Neo-So in artistic, deliberate shades that alternated slowly between harsh primary colors and more muted ones. The whole place looked very artsy and very cyberpunk. Though DJ Tentalon wasn’t due for another hour, the DJ they had on was spinning some mean beats on his turntables, and Tara didn’t waste any time joining the dance floor while dragging Linton along with her. That left Adrian and Jill standing next to each other awkwardly.
“I can’t dance to this crap! I’m getting a drink!” Adrian shouted to Jill over the music.
“I’ll go with you!” Jill replied. The two of them headed for the bar, and as they did so Jill attracted stare after stare from both guys and girls in the club. Of course, she always did attract stares when she went clubbing, but it was obvious that these stares were a different kind. She liked the change, and it made her body feel more powerful. She loved the way her sleeveless turtleneck showed off her bigger arms and shoulders, which she spent most of the past few days working out. A wave of euphoria washed over her and she smiled to herself.
The bar was in a separate room from the dance floor, and was thus a little quieter, although Jill could still feel the pulse of the music in her chest. Adrian got a Red Bull and Vodka, Jill got a Rum and Coke. They found a booth and sat across one another.
“Looks like you’re already getting some attention,” Adrian said, glancing at a booth adjacent to them with two guys and girls, all staring at Jill.
“I quite like it, to be honest,” Jill said. In spite of the complex relationship between her and Adrian, she always did feel that she could be more upfront with him than anyone else. Perhaps it’s the way he made it seem like he already knew everything, and therefore there was no fear that he would respond in a bad way to anything.
“Is that so?” Adrian said, sipping his drink.
“Yeah,” Jill said, pausing to think. The music was helpful in filling the gap where an awkward silence would be in any other situation, “I used to think that having muscles was like a bit gross, but they’re not gross, they’re powerful.”
“Alright, so now you can tell me what your secret is. It isn’t ‘roids, that much is clear to me, otherwise your voice would be an octave lower by now and your jaw line would be getting all angular. So?” Adrian said, leaning closer to Jill. She simply sat back and smiled cunningly at him, holding her drink to her lips.
“I’m a biological miracle, Adrian.”
He laughed and leaned back. Of course she wasn’t going to tell him, “I figured you’d say something like that. Don’t worry, I’ll find out,” He took another gulp of his drink, “You know, Linton’s getting jealous of you.”
“Oh yeah?” Jill said, raising her eyebrow and smiling wryly.
“Jealous, scared shitless, I don’t know which one. He doesn’t want to admit it of course, but I can tell.”
This time it was Jill’s turn to learn towards Adrian, “How do you know? What does he say?”
Adrian took another sip, “I see him in the locker room after practice checking himself out. Admiring his biceps and shit. He never does that. Never. And the look on his face when he’s doing that, it’s like he thinks you’re using voodoo magic or something, draining the muscles from him.”
She laughed triumphantly, “I don’t know if I told you this before, but he was a pretty skinny kid back in sixth grade. But when he started getting all into like football, that’s, you know, when he started…”
“Gotcha.”
“…to build himself into, like, modern Linton.”
“Man. This whole thing sounds kinda tragic when you put it that way!” Adrian said, and they both laughed. In that moment, there was a brief moment of understanding between the two. As their laughter died down, they found themselves gazing into one another’s eyes wordlessly.
“There you guys are!” cried Tara as her and Linton approached the booth. Linton sat next to Adrian and Tara next to Jill, “Ah, I love this place. Love it. Tentalon should be in a few minutes! What’ve you guys been talking about?”
“Current affairs!” Adrian quipped as he eyed Linton.
“Dude, you sound like how my brother talks to my parents,” Linton said, laughing, “Where did you go? Out! What did you eat? Food!”
“The lights here are amazing. Jill, you gotta come dance with me. The lights are too amazing.” Tara said as she grabbed Jill’s wrist and dragged her along towards the dance floor. Jill gave  Adrian an “Oh well” sort of look as they rose from their seats, and the two guys followed them out as well.
There was a loud cheer as DJ Tentalon began his set, and the music became noticeably louder and the lights flashed more dramatically, alternating between staccato strobe lights and deep colors that probed the sea of dancers like an army of searchlights standing sentinel around the dance floor. As arpeggiated sequencers looped over and over to an earth-shaking programmed drum beat and blasts of overdriven sawtooth and square synthesizers, Jill and Tara gyrated their bodies wildly in ecstasy while Linton dry humped his girlfriend and Adrian simply bobbed his head, drink in hand. Although Jill was a regular clubber, her new muscles made her feel sexier and assertive on the dance floor, as if the whole place was dancing to her, not the other way around. As the song wore on, she stopped feeling the music. She did not feel enveloped in the beat, because she felt as if every swing of her hips, every thrust of her toned, muscular arms and every bend of her knees was making the music happen. For a brief moment, Jill was certain that the music was feeling her.
The experience was cut short when Tara patted Jill on the arm, snapping her out of her trance. Jill opened her eyes and saw that her friend was sweating like a pig. Her hair had lost its shape as it cling to her face from all the sweat. She signaled that she needed to take a breather and Jill understood. Together with Linton and Adrian, they slowly made their way through the crush of the crowd back to their booth near the bar.
Concealed in one of the few unlit sections of the club, Kee Yoon watched vicariously as Jill and her friends made their way back to the bar and slowly followed them. She was careful not to bump into anyone, as if she were walking in the middle of the wrong side of a freeway. She had a drink in her hand, something she realized would help her blend in, although it was just water.
Kee found a nice, dark spot close to the bar counter and simply watched Jill sitting at the booth, talking excitedly to her friends. She took the occasional sip of her water, a paltry attempt to not appear out of place, but with the way she clutched her arm with her free hand and stood with both legs pressed together, she knew it wasn’t working.
“Need some company?” said a voice to her left. Kee Yoon let out a high pitched yelp and jumped as she turned to face the young man that was now standing next to her, “Whoa, easy there. Ha! I don’t bite,” the man said. Kee Yoon scrutinized him. He looked to be in his late twenties or thirties, and she didn’t like how his shirt was unbuttoned all the way down to his chest, “You look a little lonely there. Need some company?”
Kee Yoon quickly shook her head and smiled nervously at the man. She held up her drink at him to try and imply that she was busy enjoying her drink, but she realized a second later how that made no sense.
“Yeah, I know the drinks here are a fuckin’ rip off. Mind if I buy you one?” said the man, leaning uncomfortably close to Kee. She winced as her nose was blasted by the putrid mixture of alcohol and bad breath emanating from his mouth.
Kee took a step back and held her hand up, “Oh no no,” she said meekly.
“Come on, you’re a pretty lady. I love your dress. Lemme get you a drink and we can sit down somewhere,”
Kee Yoon kept backing away and when her back hit the wall, she realized her formerly tactical decision to watch Jill from the darkest, unseen part of the club was now a huge mistake. The man kept approaching her.
“You scared? Cute Asian girl like you, you don’t need to be scared! Come on, I’ll take good care of you.”

Jill grabbed a paper towel from inside her purse and wiped the sweat from her face. Of course, Tara was a total mess compared to her.
“Jesus, you’re like sweating puddles!” Linton remarked as he put his arm around her. Tara smiled as she toweled her face off and kissed him on the cheek.
Amidst the jovial banter, Jill took a sip of her drink and as she peered above the rim of her glass, she saw two figures in a dark corner by the bar. Instinctively, she realized that the body language of both figures wasn’t quite right. She lowered her glass and leaned forward to get a better look. Tara and Linton took note and followed her gaze.
No, it couldn’t be. Was it really that girl again? That weird Korean girl that kept following her around? Jill recognized the scene immediately as the intoxicated man was practically about to pin Kee Yoon to the wall.
“Aw shit, someone’s about to get raped!” Linton guffawed. Tara snapped around and gave her boyfriend an indignant look, “What? We’re in a crowded place, someone’s probably gonna-“
Jill got off her seat and marched towards the scene between the two figures. With her fists clenched she could hear the creepy dude’s ominous words to a petrified Kee Yoon as she got closer and closer to them.
“Look, come on, there’s no need to be scared, I just don’t want you to be lonely ya know?”
“Hey!” Jill shouted. The man turned around. Standing before him was one seriously hot chick dressed to kill. But wait a minute, this girl was fit as hell. She had her fists clenched, which made her arm muscles bulge visibly. The man stared at Jill for a moment, confused by this combination of sheer beauty and muscular strength. He looked back at Kee Yoon, who looked even more terrified of Jill than of him, then looked back at Jill, who was giving him a death stare. Maybe he shouldn’t have had so much to drink. He slowly slinked away from Kee Yoon and without saying another word, walked past Jill out of the bar room, looking confusingly into her stern eyes as he passed by her.
Kee Yoon, still backed into the wall, looked straight into Jill’s eyes for a microsecond before staring at the floor, thoroughly embarrassed. As Kee continued to stare at the floor without moving, Jill looked at her for a moment, and without exchanging words, turned around and walked back to her table.
“Nice going Jill! Awesome!” Tara said as she and Adrian clapped, “Is it just me or have I seen her at school?”
“Yeahp, she goes to school with us,” Jill said as she sat down and finished her drink.
“Well I am proud of you, girl,” Tara said, patting Jill’s bulging shoulder.
“Yeah. That was actually impressive, the way that dude fucked off like that. Looks like those muscles of yours have some practical application,” Adrian said. Jill could tell that he wasn’t being sarcastic for once.
“Pfft, ‘practical application’? Who says that, dude?” said Linton, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened. He gulped down his drink and then gestured for Tara to scoot out of the way, “I gotta hit the john.”
“Me too, actually, I need more paper towels,” Tara said, “And seriously, awesome job, Jill. You rock.”
With Jill and Adrian once again left alone, they bantered for a while before Adrian felt something in his thigh and whipped out his smart phone to check the text message he received. As he typed away, Jill sat back in her seat and smiled to herself. She looked down at her arm and admired the power that coursed within her. She clenched her fist and watched her bicep rise out of her arm, this time far more pronounced and bulging harder than it used to when she first hit the weights last week. Adrian, Linton, Tara, Kee Yoon, the club and everything else in life momentarily seemed to become a distraction as she felt another wave of euphoria wash over her. It was an amazing feeling that she wanted, needed more of.

Fall semester went by day by day, and as the temperatures started to drop and the summer faded into overcast skies and dead leaves, Jill found the most opportune time to start covering  up her body when at school and busting out her hoodie for the first time in months. She was reveling in the changes that were happening to her, but even then the attention she was starting to attract was becoming too distracting, even for her. Last week Mr. G literally did not stop staring at her for the entire duration of class, along with half the guys in class. Mr. U was also starting to give Jill the suspicious stare. While Jill specifically singled out PE as her “show the muscles” moment in school, her “motivation” for that, Alex, had been conspicuously absent for the past couple of classes. So for now, she would hide her body from the denizens of Portsdown High. Her bodily subterfuge had a few unexpected benefits, however. Rhonda became less distant and estranged, and she and Jill were talking like best friends once more, instead of Jill’s muscles becoming the centerpiece of every conversation. More amusingly, Linton was clearly anxious to see if indeed Jill was getting bigger underneath all that fabric. It was killing him, and Jill could tell without him needing to say a word. Which is not to say that Jill wanted things to go back to normal, of course. You have to keep in mind that it’d been only a month since Jill injected herself with a mysterious untested super supplement. A girl needs a little time off from all that excitement sometimes.

Speaking of excitement, her little dust-up at Neo So that one Saturday had left her shaken. Such an overt show of power, with none of the subtlety and unspoken signals she was so fond of. She remembered feeling powerful in that moment, but when she returned home, she felt as if for those few seconds, she had stepped out of herself and watched this imposter occupying her body stand up to that drunken fool in an assertive, no, *masculine* sort of way. Perhaps she just needed some time to acclimatize to not just her changing body but her changing attitudes, but at any rate, she laid off the weightlifting for the time being and went back to cardio. She also had to tackle the two strangers she lived with at home. Okay, that was a little harsh, but Jill didn’t even want to imagine her parents’ reactions once they actually took a minute out of their goddamn lives checking the stock market and talking to investors and lawyers to realize that their daughter was suddenly turning into an amazon. Thankfully, dad had just gone on a weeklong business trip to Shanghai, so Jill’s problems were halved while she brainstormed how to deal with the issue.

It was around her first week in a month without bulking up that she started to feel a force underneath her thick hoodie and sweatpants. Something bubbling under her skin that was threatening to break free and expose itself from the confines of its fabric prison. It was like her mind and body were being bombarded by millions of little itches she couldn’t scratch. She couldn’t quite *feel* the sensation, but she knew it was there, and it bothered the living hell out of her. Her brain felt like it was on fire and she was sometimes overwhelmed with a desire to just strip off her clothes and show her body off for the entire world to see. She was only calmed when her thoughts diverted to her ever-changing body, and the thought of continuing to transform it. But thoughts weren’t enough sometimes. Thoughts were only real to the person who thought them. Jill wanted to make her thoughts real not just for herself, but for everyone around her.

She was on the treadmill at Genesis Fitness, almost unrecognizable to many of the gym’s frequent clients because of her unusually conservative sweatshirt and pants attire. As the syncopated rhythms of Dream Theater pulsed through her headphones, Jill could feel the crackling, burning sensation wracking her brain. Her body was sticky and sweaty underneath all those clothes, and the combination of the two was killing her.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar figure. She snapped her head to the right and, two treadmills down, saw Alex on one of them. That bitch. Clearly she wasn’t sick, so she was skipping PE for two weeks now. Jill felt a gripping sensation in her heart when she leaned forward to get a better view and saw that Alex was dressed in a sports bra and shorts, looking unbelievable. Her body was glistening with sweat and her hair was sticking to her face as she sprinted at full speed on the treadmill. She looked so confident, so unbeatable. The treadmill was at full tilt and it was running at full speed, from the looks of it, yet Alex was looking like a trained Olympic sprinter.

Jill felt foolish now, barely going at jogging speed on her treadmill and only at a slight tilt. She felt fat in her baggy sweats. She heard some men behind her laughing. They must have been laughing at *her*. At how stupid she looked. She turned around, and saw two meatheads having some ridiculous conversation with one another. Almost immediately one of them locked eyes with Jill, and in a moment of embarrassment she spun around like nothing happened. What the hell, Jill? Since when did you go around looking at guys? You *never* looked at guys in the gym, *they* were looking at *you*. The sensation in her brain grew with intensity. Then, as the song shifted gears into its chorus and her ears were blasted with an onslaught of double bass drums and overdriven guitars, she ripped off her headphones, punched the emergency stop button, and hopped off the treadmill as it slowed to a halt.

As she approached the weights section, she felt her heart beat faster, and the crackling sensation died down like clockwork.

“Hey Jill!” called out Pindar’s distinct voice. Jill looked over and smiled as he walked over to her.
“Hey!” She smiled and waved at him.
“Good to see you again. You’re moving rather quickly for the weights!”
“Heh, yeah. I needed a break from all that cardio.”
“Right! How’s the weightlifting going?” Pindar replied, clearly oblivious to what lay underneath Jill’s clothes.
“Oh, awesome. I could use a spotter actually, if you’ve got a minute.” Jill said. She didn’t, really, but she wanted an excuse to show off to him.
“Sure, sure. Just give me a minute, I gotta go take care of something, but I’ll come find you.” He said, patting her on the shoulder before making his way into one of the adjacent offices.
Jill finally reached the weight rack, this time finding herself at the rightmost end of it, where all the heavier dumbbells were. This was her moment. As she stood by the weights, nobody batted an eyelid at her. She counted six guys and two women in the immediate vicinity, and it was as if she didn’t exist. Without trying to be too theatrical about it, she slowly took pulled off her sweatshirt, revealing her chiseled abs first, followed by her sports bra, and toned pectorals and powerful arms. As she set her shirt down by a corner, she immediately noticed the stares she was now receiving. Many of them were trying to be nonchalant about it, but more so than before, the sense of astonishment was palpable, especially from the women.
Jill’s body, liberated from the confines of her sweatshirt, was enveloped in the gym’s air conditioning, and she felt comfortable for the first time in days. She picked the 30 pound dumbbells; a far cry from the 15 pounders she struggled with a month ago, and moved from set to set without taking a break. Aside from the sight of her muscles bulging with each pump, she could feel her whole body seemingly getting tighter and tighter. She did every conceivable exercise with the dumbbells, taking only a few seconds for a breather in between sets. She couldn’t believe it; it was as if she had this huge reservoir of unspent energy that had just accumulated inside her for all those weeks, now being expended at once in this one workout. Every time she finished a set of 15 reps, she immediately moved onto a different exercise. Eventually she settled into a pattern where she went in circles around the weight section, doing reps on each and every machine, one after the other. She was a machine. As the bigger guys around her played on their smartphones for minutes in between sets, Jill was pumping iron without end around them, making it seem as if they were working out in slow motion by comparison. At some point, she lost her sense of time as she went about her weightlifting marathon. She didn’t even have to think about it anymore.
Jill just finished a set on the leg press and was about to move on to the shoulder press machine when she saw that guy was using it. She decided to take the opportunity to have a breather for once, instead of moving on to the next machine. Her gaze wandered over to the wall mirror, and she let out a gasp and put her hand to her mouth as she saw her reflection in the mirror. She wasn’t hallucinating, but it was *impossible*. She was bigger, noticeably bigger. More ripped. Bulkier. More muscular. All that from that one workout. In total shock, Jill continued to look at her reflection. Her muscles bulged powerfully, but it wasn’t just that. Her whole frame seemed to have widened, thickened somewhat. Her shoulders were broader, her abs were more defined than ever, and her whole body was bulging muscle not because it had been exercised a lot, but because it had *gained* muscle mass. She looked over to the treadmills to see if Alex was still there. She was not. Disappointment.
As she continued to look at herself, she thought about the permanence of the changes to her body. She felt like she was saying goodbye to what used to be her lithe, curvy figure, as it was being encroached upon by thick, hard muscles. She looked down at her chest and saw that her pectorals were thicker, rising noticeably out of her torso and, like some kind of virus, invading and annihilating those two womanly virtues of hers that swooned boy’s hearts for years. She pushed against her breast with one hand, and was alarmed at how shallow the softness went before her hand felt the rock hard pecs that lay underneath. A feeling of dread came over her. She could swear it was the same feeling her dad felt when he realized he was going bald. These were her boobs, for God’s sake. She watched them grow when she hit puberty at 12, and though there were other girls at school who had much bigger ones, they gave her that womanly confidence that made her one of the hottest girls at Portsdown High. And they were disintegrating before her eyes beneath a rising tide of muscle.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that it took her a moment to see Pindar standing behind her in the mirror. She spun around in surprise, seeing Pindar’s face. His eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets. Jill couldn’t help but giggle at his comical expression, and her anxiety washed away in an instant.
“H-hey!” Jill said, smiling girlishly at him.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” was all Pindar could manage. Jill laughed at him and flexed her bicep, which looked noticeably bigger and bulged harder than when she was at Neo So.
“You must have really taken your time getting here, look how big I’ve gotten!”
“No, but-that was like 30 minutes! Jesus, Jill, you’re ripped. Are you-?” he looked around, and lowered his voice, “Are you on anything?”
“Nope, I just have freakish genetics,” Jill said, reiterating a now familiar line, “If I was on ‘roids or anything my face and voice would be all gross.”
“No, no you’re right. I’m not accusing you or anything. I’ve just never seen anything like this. You bulked up like that in a month?”
“Yeahp!”
“No protein shakes? T-100? That kinda stuff?”
“Nope, just my usual supplements and V…good genetics!”
“You must be a freak of nature or something,” Pindar said, laughing nervously, “Because I’ve never, ever seen anything like this.”
“Anything like what?” she said coyly.
“Oh, uhm, you know, ripped body, but cute face and voice,” Pindar said, feeling a bit foolish. Jill put him at ease when she giggled, and in return he laughed. In his eyes, she had suddenly transformed into the perfect women. He had a thing for bulkier girls, but all the other female trainers he worked alongside were too old for him, and while there was a cute fitness girl here and there at the gym, none of them measured anywhere to what Jill was now. In an instant, he felt privileged to know Jill, who had suddenly gone from an acquaintance at the gym to the most beautiful woman he’d ever come across.
Though it was kind of pointless by now, he spotted Jill as she worked out, as he said he would. As she went from the bench press to the shoulder presses, he felt like he was in the presence of a celebrity; at least, a celebrity of his mind. Jill was so perfect, and he felt stupid for having treated her as a mere acquaintance all these years. He wished he had taken the time to get to know her a little more, hell he wished that he knew she was going to get huge like this years ago. As Jill struggled slightly with a rep with the 40 pound dumbbells, he pushed his hands up on her arms and helped her finish the rep. He felt how thick and dense her arms were, and couldn’t believe that an 18 year old girl could build this kind of inhuman muscle so quickly. Suddenly, he realized that he wasn’t pushing his hands on her arms as much as he was groping them, and eased off his touch. He glanced at Jill’s face in the reflection of the mirror, and much to his relief she didn’t seem in the least bit bothered by it; in fact, he could swear that she cracked a smile.

Jill pulled up to the driveway and stepped out, having returned home from the most epic workout of her life. As she walked towards the front door, she smiled and looked down at her thick, powerful body. Her arms were particularly impressive; what used to simply be featureless sticks now had all sorts of details and sections. She admired the way her biceps were neatly partitioned from her bulging shoulders, and she could just about make out the individual serrations in her triceps. There was also thick vein that was running down each bicep and branching off at her forearms. Her whole body was turning into a work of art.
She walked in the front door and was immediately faced with her mother, chopping vegetables at the kitchen. Jill realized that she had forgotten to put on her sweatshirt and her muscular body was plain as day to mom. Shit.
“Oh my God! Jill! What in the hell did you do to yourself?!” Mom screamed, dropping her knife and making her way towards her daughter. For once, Jill couldn’t find words to talk back. “My god! My GOD! Ahh!”
“I know what I’m doing, mom!” Jill said as mom hovered around her personal space like a demented fly.
“What the hell is this?! What is- You’re taking STEROIDS now? Look at yourself!!! Have you completely lost your fucking mind?! Have you fucking seen yourself in the mirror?!”
“Mom!”
“Explain yourself! Now!”
Jill calmed herself, resisting the urge to sock mom in the face and send her flying across the room. She took a moment to collect herself, “Look mom, I know it looks bad, but I like literally discovered that I can get big like this naturally like very easily, and I’m just doing it for a few-“
“You are on steroids and you will not use them anymore before your voice gets deep, and you will NOT lift weights anymore until you are back to the way you are! I’m going to deal with this…this clusterfuck, and until then you will NOT go to the gym!”
“Mom-“
“Not! Another! Word! My god, Jill. It’s bad enough you’re giving your father and I such a hard time over college, now you’re…you’re destroying your body by turning into a MAN! Christ, my god, my own daughter…” She stormed off from the kitchen down the corridor, her voice trailing off, on the verge of tears.
Jill was left standing there in silence. Her first thought was of Alex laughing at her, hiding in the bushes somewhere, watching the whole thing. She wanted to be mad at mom like always, but she had to admit, it was her own damn fault for forgetting to put her sweatshirt on. She could feel the crackling in her head slowly creeping back in. But now it seemed like hitting the gym again would trigger a nuclear apocalypse. She looked down at her body once more, and in spite of the embarrassment, she could not deny how much bigger she was now. The crackling subsided. Slowly but surely, she found the will to move from her spot and head for her room.