Ronnie woke up on a Saturday morning to the sound of heavy metal blaring throughout the house.
"Will you shut that shit off?!" he yelled, burying his face in his pillow. The music only grew in volume.
After ten minutes of blaring music, Ronnie gave up his fight. He grumpily emerged from underneath his blankets, and headed to the bathroom. He headed to the scale, the first thing he did every morning. He stepped on to it.
110 lbs. Dammit.
Ronnie was a 20 year old college student, but unfortunately for him, while the other boys gained facial hair and bulked up as their age progressed, Ronnie stayed skinny and scrawny, without any hair to be seen, besides the greasy brown ones that lied atop his head. He had always been a skinny boy, and desperately yearned to be like the other men. To NOT look like he was still a sophomore in high school.
His hand passed over his never-used razor, and he grabbed his toothbrush, trying to ignore the blaring rock music echoing through his dorm.
After he had dressed himself sufficiently in a button-down flannel and a slightly large pair of jeans, he headed in to the kitchen, where his roommate Mark was jamming out to the deafening music and wolfing down cereal. Mark was on the heavier side, and his freshman fifteen was instead a freshman fifty. His wife beater clearly outlined his beer belly.
"Turn the music down fatass!" Ronnie yelled. He was barely audible over the blaring music.
"Turn the whining down shrimp!" Mark replied. The two often bickered with each other. Mark would always make fun of Ronnie for being too scrawny, and Ronnie made fun of Mark for being a little heavy. In reality, Ronnie was quietly envious of Mark's body. Sure, he was a little fat, but it was better than being a toothpick.
Ronnie attempted to reach for Mark's phone, so he could shut down the music, but Mark swatted his hand away.
Ronnie sighed. "This is why all of the people down the hall hate us!"
Mark shrugged as he continued to wolf down his cereal, as milk and crumbs got caught in his beard.
Ronnie made a quick protein shake and walked back in to his room and slammed the door, attempting to drown out the music. He drank a protein shake every morning in attempt to gain muscle mass,
He opened his laptop, and was going to start writing an essay due on Monday, when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He answered it.
"Yo," Ronnie said.
"Hey Ron," his best friend Brett said. "Come over to my place in an hour. Joey and Luke are coming too."
"Bro... I'm kinda busy writing my English essay..." Ronnie said.
"Nah, man," Brett said. "You're coming here in an hour. Trust me, we've got something hella fun planned."
Ronnie thought for a second. Finally he sighed, "Fine... I'll be there in an hour."
"Awesome dude. See ya soon," Brett said before hanging up.
Ronnie wondered what "fun" thing they had planned. After all, his friends, Brett, Joey and Luke were just about as scrawny as him, and they were never invited to any college parties or events. That's how they had become friends. On the opening day of college, none of the other college guys with regular bodies would talk to them. So, they all flocked together, forming their own little posse. They were mocked for their skinny appearance, but the boys stayed strong together. But despite having each other for moral support, all four guys wanted nothing more than to have a muscular, athletic body that all the jocks had.
An hour later, Ronnie knocked on Brett's dorm room. Almost instantly, Joey opened the door.
"Finally, Ronnie! We've been waiting FOREVER!" Joey said. Ronnie laughed and followed Joey back in to the room. Brett and Luke were sprawled on Brett's sofa, playing video games.
"Hey Ron!" Brett yelled. He paused the game to get up and greet his best friend. His curly blonde hair bounced as he walked. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good," Ronnie said. "Where's your roommate?"
"He's spending the day with his girlfriend," Brett said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey! After today, we're gonna get all the ladies," Luke exclaimed.
Ronnie was confused.
"Relax, Ronnie," Brett said. "I'll explain."
He walked in to his bedroom, and came out holding a small, golden lamp. It was covered in a bit of rust, but it shimmered and captivated Ronnie's eyes.
"What is that?" Ronnie chuckled. "It looks like it's straight out of Aladdin."
Joey and Luke laughed. "It is," Brett said. "This is a magic lamp."
Ronnie stared at his friend in disbelief, and then started laughing. Brett waited for his laughter to die down."
"Good one," Ronnie said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Really though. Is there like pot in there or something? And how much was that? What type of metal was it?"
Metal... Ronnie suddenly began thinking of Mark's shitty music again. He rolled his eyes.
"No," Brett said. "It's really a magic lamp."
"Brett, buddy," Ronnie laughed. "Do you realize what you're saying?"
"It's true," Luke said. "I went on a date with this girl yesterday, and needless to say it didn't work out... but next to the restaurant there was an old antique shop, so I checked it out. I saw the lamp, and asked the creepy old clerk dude what it was, and he said it was an ancient lamp of a genie! So I bought it... for $50."
"And after this," Joey said. "We won't have to worry about girls anymore. They'll all be running to us and our sexy bods!"
"Guys," Ronnie said, trying to fathom why his friends were being such idiots. "That story you told me sounds like it came out of the plot of a Disney channel original movie. And Luke, you totally wasted $50!"
"Ronnie!" Joey said. "Think about it man! Yeah, I was skeptical too, but if somehow it is an actual genie lamp, all of our problems of being weak and scrawny are GONE! We called you here because we KNOW you want that as much as we do. Besides, if it doesn't work, it's Luke's money."
"Hey!"
Ronnie thought about it. His friends were right. It was totally insane, but it was nice of them to invite him, and who knows? Maybe it would work... He chuckled.
"Alright," Ronnie said. "Let's get started."
The boys all gathered around Brett, who held the lamp in the center of all of them.
"Okay," Luke said. "The guy said to rub the lamp, and then we would be able to make our wishes."
Joey sighed, outstretched his hands, and softly rubbed the golden lamp back and forth.
