topics. [discontinued]

brayden

Sweat trickled down my forehead each time my arms lifted.

Up and down. Up and down.

The weights on either end of the dumbbell only intensified the electrifying pain that shot through every bone in my body, stretching out every muscle in my upper half.

This was practically my everyday morning routine. I'd wake up and head right to the gym. I never intended on making sports an important part in my life, but a couple years ago, after making the varsity football team while only being a sophomore, I decided to take it a bit more seriously. That meant staying healthy and fit. Which also meant less eating and more lifting. Exercise was also a great stress reliever, which was
fortunate for me.

"I think you've done enough for today," the coach shouted to me. I turned my head and lowered the weights, leaving it only centimeters from my chest.

"Coach, the homecoming game is soon and-" I started to protest, but he lifted the dumbbell off my chest before I could even finish my sentence.

"Trust me, you will be fine," he told me and placed the weights back on their designated rack.

I sighed frustratingly and ran a hand through my hair. Coach Johnson threw me a small towel to wipe my face with and I sat up, ridding my body of what seemed like buckets of pure sweat.

All of a sudden, I felt a vibration in the pockets of my gym shorts and pulled my phone out, which was the culprit of the buzzing. The caller ID read, 'Ryan', and I mentally face-palmed right as I read his name. We were assigned as partners for a science project and I completely forgot that we were supposed to meet at my house today.

I clicked answer and almost instantly started apologizing, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Ryan chuckled, "Don't worry about it, bud. I've got myself occupied for now anyway." By the sound of Adventure Time playing in the background and a crunching noise every so often, I knew for sure where he was and what he doing.

"Alright. I'll be there in about ten minutes. Don't eat all the popcorn," I joked and smiled widely, although I knew he couldn't actually see it.

"Alright. Bye Bray," he ended the call immediately after his goodbye, not even giving me the chance to say it back; probably wanting to get rid of me so he could continue watching the tv.

I grunted and pulled myself up from the lifting bench. I made my way into the locker room and went searching for my designated locker. When I found it, I scrolled the dial to the correct number combination. 5-23-07. The date that I met Ryan. Cheesy best friend thing to do, I know. But, it's easy to remember, so why not?

I pulled out a sling bag full of my random gym essentials and swapped my running shoes for a pair of full black vans. I sat down on the bench and pulled the shoes onto my feet, not even caring that my socks smelt revolting.

All of a sudden, I heard the slam of another locker. Then, saw Mitchell walking down the aisle, probably heading towards the door. I got up from the bench and slammed my locker as well, then jogged off, trying to catch up with him. His hand was pushing open the door to the outdoors when I yelled, "Yo, dude! Wait up!"

He looked behind him to see me and held the door open until I got to it. "Thanks, man."

"No problem, what's up?" he said as we walked down the sidewalk, heading for the school's parking lot.

"Have you seen Mitch anywhere? He wasn't at school today," I asked, concerned. Mitch and I had just recently made our relationship official and Mitchell is the only one who knows about it as of now, although I was planning to tell Ryan once I got home.