Alpha Obsession

Chapter 14

bonus holiday chapter :)

I chose to embrace hell

The next morning took me in a different direction from my normal comfortable routine. Typically, I woke up so late that I only ever had time to grab a quick snack before heading to school. Today, however, I was up at the first crack of dawn. I made a 'man's breakfast': bacon, eggs, sausage, and toasted bread with a glass of milk on the side. The goal was clear and fueled by a strong desire that grew overnight. I wanted to bulk up, for that, I'd need more protein.

Later at school, I skipped going to the lunch room during the break. I caught the gym teacher as he was cleaning up some of the equipment in the weight room. "Mr. Kent. What's brought a student like you around these parts?" a student like me..? My chest tightened a bit on instinct, and I had to resist the urge to groan. Apparently, Hunter wasn't the only one who noticed my inferiority.

"I was hoping you could help me... you know with physical stuff. I want to...tone up?" it sounded like a question and my cheeks felt hot. Coach Clinton raised an eyebrow in a silent question. He knew that I wasn't right when my confidence was this fractured. I raised a hand and took a deep breath to steady myself. Take a moment to remind myself to, take a moment and find myself; take a moment and ask myself, if this is how I fall apart. It's not. "I want to get stronger. I'm not into computers and science that much, so I don't want it to look like I am. I want to be able to defend myself physically too. I have no idea where to start, so will you help me?" I asked much more confidently. The coach looked me over for a moment before coming to a decision.

"Alright. I can't see anything too wrong with that motivation. But I'll tell you right now: don't expect me to baby you as I might have during group classes. I expect you to give your all the very first time I ask you to do something. You either do it, or you leave; plain and simple." I nodded my agreement. "You can start by helping me clean up. Grab a cloth from the closet," he instructed. Part of me wanted to complain right then and there, but I realized it was probably one of those roundabout tests I've seen in movies. Sure enough, it probably was.

After cleaning up, Clinton started barking instructions spontaneously. Twenty push-ups, thirty squats, then twenty more push-ups. Five minutes sprinting around the gym, ten minutes jogging, and then five more minutes of sprinting. I was a sweaty wreck by the time he told me to stop, and I crashed right there on the floor. My face and neck felt hot and by lungs burned like all hell, but the coach just smirked over me.

"That was part one of the Clinton routines! If you want my private training, then you'll need to come back after school to finish the rest. This is how it is every day, so go ahead and call it quits right now if you can't keep up. The gym next door might be more relaxed and your speed in that case." It wasn't just the exact number of exercises that burned me out. The couch had been watching me to see exactly when I tired myself out, before adding extra onto the set. I pulled myself up and showered before my next class.

The rest of the day was one giant groan as far as I could perceive it. At the end of the day, I wanted to go home more than ever before. But, I wanted to change more than anything. Hunter's image was still burned into my mind from the times we interacted. His words from our last conversation still hung over my chest like a rope. The constant layer of paranoia that came from his attention added to my desire to change. So, I was back in the weight room after the final bell rung. "What's next?" I said facing the adult athlete.

He smirked and proceeded to make my body hate me. He started me off with more running and then moved me onto weight lifting. I spent an entire hour in that torturous dungeon of a gymnasium. Every bit of muscle on my body felt sore and burned out by the time I set out for home that day. It suddenly made more sense why no one asked coach Clinton for private lessons. He's a slave driver!

I woke up an hour early the next morning and spent that extra hour just trying to pull my aching body out of bed. It felt a hundred times worse than before I went to sleep and I was tempted to skip school entirely. If it wasn't for a sudden tingle down the back of my neck that told me Hunter was awake, I actually might have gone back to sleep. He was watching me closely, seeing my exhaustion and I could just imagine his commentary, 'you tried exercise? Ha! Go back to sleep, idiot!' it stung more than my tiredness. I got up and dragged myself to school.

"You can go faster than that, Kent. Pick up the pace, or go home!" Clinton barked as I ran during lunch. It sucked because I knew that he could see my difficulty. His form of training bordered on downright cruelty. But...I needed him. There was no way I could keep up a steady exercise routine without guidance, and that meant he was my only option. It was either put up with his hell or let go of my goal. I chose to embrace hell.

So, this was a pretty short chapter. As you can guess, I'm totally just setting up for the events that are about to unfold. Jake's decision to get stronger will make a significant difference in the coming year, so go ahead and cross your fingers while hoping for the best ;)

Also, if it's Christmas for you as well, Happy holidays!