The Hall Speaks #fallsemester

RA Unbecoming

#Carly

Carly used her shoulder to push through the double doors of Corbin Hall. She held her hands near her face in case she had to cover it. She saw Jody working, writing notes in a log. A few residents walked by, though none of them glanced in her direction. She headed straight toward the lobby bathroom. She wanted to clean her face before she set foot on her hall. She couldn't face them, especially Jenna.

Suddenly however, she felt a strong hand on her shoulder, forcing her to turn around.

"Carly?" Ethan said nonchalantly.

She turned around, glaring at Ethan. Carly growled under her breath. "What?!" she managed to get out.

Ethan's head jerked back slightly. His eyes widened in surprise, then quickly returned to normal. "Oh... I see you're busy, never mind."

"You repulse me!" she said, pushing Ethan away. "Just, just... move," she demanded, her voice colder this time. Then she stormed off toward to the lobby bathroom.

#Ethan

Ethan felt anger building in his body, making his skin hot. He tightened his jaws so that he wouldn't cuss her out in front of the residents. He turned around, gripping the straps of his book bag with both hands to avoid destroying something. All he wanted to do was ask Carly about their upcoming program. However, with her lashing out like this... he hoped he could pull it together before he saw her again, or it would get nasty very fast. He could feel his muscle tensing up, ready for a fight. He knew exactly where to go: the gym.

After storing his items in the locker room, he walked into his sanctuary, the weight room. He decided he would start out with the upper body. Since he still felt like punching his fists through wall, he figured he'd keep them occupied. Moving toward the bench press, he started putting weights on the bar, first one at a time, than two. Lifting the weights effortlessly was satisfying to Ethan. For him, picking up the 20 pound weights was like lifting a feather pillow.

Cracking his knuckles, he lay down on the bench. Another student with curly brown hair came up to him.

"Hey man, do you want me to spot you?" asked the male student, positioning himself in front of the bar to assist Ethan.

"Sure," said Ethan as he focused.

He faced the ceiling, and his eyes focused on nothing as he pressed 405 pounds. First one rep, then two, then three, it was effortless for Ethan.

"Dude, you're like a beast... you should enter the campus strong man competition," insisted the student.

Ethan felt the stress easing up. "Maybe," he replied, putting the weights back on the bar.

Ethan continued to work, moving from the bench press to the leg lift machine, then lastly to the free weights. With each repetition he emptied his mind of Carly, his short-lived football career and what he'd been doing to get money for his steroids. Eventually he looked at his watch and realized that he needed to get ready for class.

He took a shower in the locker room and got dressed. Ethan scanned the area for students, making sure he was alone. When he didn't see anyone else around, he pulled open several lockers, looking for anything valuable he could sell. His desperation had made him crazy, he knew this, but he couldn't allow himself to care. The steroids made him feel like a soldier and stronger than his brother—he'd risk everything to keep that.

From behind him, a familiar voice called out.

"You can't find a girl of your own?!" shouted Patrick, who had followed Ethan in the locker room. He had been working out as well, but Ethan, who was so focused on his own exercises, didn't even notice him in the same room.