Fun fact for you guys.. I actually wrote this bit before Taylor's Elle interviews came out and I found it really interesting how well some of it fit with what she said. Hope you like it!
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After breakfast, the girls got dressed and headed to the model's gym. Karlie lead them through an unmarked door and into the main area. The songwriter looked around at the empty space, genuinely confused why they were standing in what looked like a warehouse with a single reception desk in the corner; the shelves lined with smoothies and protein drinks being the only indicator they are in the right place.
"Come on." Karlie grabs her hand and smiles at the guy behind the desk before pushing open the double doors. Now the songwriter understands. She sees different sized punching bags and some kind of boxing ring, row after row of equipment and machines that she wouldn't ever imagine using. In another area, she sees things she had no idea would ever be found in a gym; some massive tractor looking tires, heavy looking metal chains, and thick ropes. She blindly follows the model through the space, seeing people throwing boulder sized basketballs at each other and jumping on blocks stacked at least 6 feet high.
Karlie chuckles at the overwhelmed look on her girlfriend's face as they head into the locker room. She pulls her lock out of her bag and starts putting their things into her usual locker. The model strips off her jacket to reveal a neon yellow sports bra that matches the neon yellow strips in her dark gray workout leggings. Taylor full on stares at the way her girlfriend's muscles strain and flex as she undresses and stores the items in her locker.
Karlie puts her lock on and turns around, noticing her girlfriend is wearing a jacket. "Are you gonna take your jacket off?"
The songwriter nervously fiddles with the zipper, looking down and tugging at it as she debates whether or not she wants to take it off. She knows her body looks nothing like Karlie's. She doesn't have the lean muscles or beautiful tan skin. When she was getting dressed back at the apartment, she put on the tank top and shorts that the model had given her and all she could see were her imperfections.
The model reads her unease and bends down, caressing the blonde's cheek with her hand. "Hey. You don't have to take it off if you don't want to." She says softly, removing her hand and giving the girl a quick kiss. "I just think you might get a little warm with it on."
Taylor glances down at the jacket and then back up into green eyes glowing with warmth and affection. She nods her head and stands up to remove the jacket, handing it to Karlie who puts it in the locker and shuts the door. Their hands link together and the model leads her back through the main room over to an area lined with massive floor length mirrors, where Karlie's trainer was waiting.
The songwriter catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror and tries not to cringe at what she sees. She's always been incredibly self conscious about her body. Most of it stemming from her being teased and bullied as a pre-teen. She wasn't overweight by any means, but that didn't stop the kids from making fun of her for having a round face and wearing looser fitting clothes. She used to skip lunches and would make up excuses for why she wasn't hungry at dinner, hoping to drop the weight. By the time she was in middle school, she was dangerously thin. Her parents were obviously concerned, but she had other pressures to stay thin that they didn't know about.
The heads of her record label encouraged her to stay thin, warning her to keep a strict diet or she could lose her contract. Several times she was told she would need to lose weight and start dieting. If she didn't look stick thin, she was too fat. And being fat didn't sell. It only got harder when she was one of the only girls in her high school that hadn't hit puberty. She ended up being an incredibly late bloomer, and her body took even longer to develop.
