Second Chance - Part 3

[qzxkj]

Part 3

I could barely get to sleep that night, I was so excited about getting the equipment in the morning. Which exercises did I want to do first? I wanted to do everything it was so hard to choose.

I got up early the next morning, it was like Christmas when I was younger, I just couldn't wait until Dad got back. While I waited I decided to read the same pages on the Internet again that demonstrated the exercises, I already remembered it all but this was better than pacing around the house impatiently.

Dad eventually pulled up in the small truck and I immediately dashed out to help. He was giving me directions on what to do but honestly I was useless, he pretty much set it all up in the garage himself.

"Wow Dad, you bought a squat rack too?" I commented in awe.

"Well, if you want something done right you can't be doing a half assed job" he said as he finished stacking the weight plates.

"They did a special deal for the lot, and they gave me something else too"

He reached into the passenger seat and pulled out a large black plastic tub of whey protein.

"The guy at the store said to take this after you work out, I'm sure you already know what to do with it" He handed it over to me, i grasped it with both arms almost hugging it, it was heavy. I was too stunned to respond.

"Oh and you'll need this too" He pulled out his wallet and put a $50 note on top of the protein powder tub.

"Is that gonna be enough for your food?"

"Uh, Y..Yeah, yeah definitely" I managed to say, barely moving my lips.

"Okay, well it looks like it's all set up now, I've gotta head off, I'm late now"

"Sorry.."

"It's okay, I'm the boss!" He laughed.

He then came over and squeezed me shoulder gently "Be careful, you might hurt yourself, keep it light for now okay?"

"Okay"

"Alright, I'm off"

I watched Dad drive off, still unmoved since he gave me the 2 kilo tub of whey protein.

When I could no longer hear him driving down the road in the distance I slowly turned around and stared at dumbbells, bench press and squat rack sitting there, shiny and new. I put the protein tub down, pocketed the $50 note and pulled down the garage roller shutter.

Mum and Dad used to park their cars in here but the automatic shutter stopped working and they never would end up fixing it, settling with parking just outside the shutter instead. So it was now just one big empty room with some storage boxes stuffed into the corners. No one ever came in here, I was going to be able to do what I wanted, uninterrupted and in peace.

Now I was alone with the weights.

I approached the bench press, inspecting it, Dad had perched the bar onto it already but with no weights on. He probably thought I wouldn't be able to lift much more than the bar - he was probably right. I moved on and took a closer look at the squat rack, it was intimidating but it was my favourite part, maybe because it was a complete surprise. I always knew that my parents would be willing to support me in anything I asked for, but I had never asked. I couldn't help but wonder why Dad had helped out with so much, maybe he was proud of me just asking him.

"Okay, I'm ready now" I said to myself.

I returned to the bench press and got myself in to position. Gripping just the bar with no weights, letting my small hands get a good feel of the cold metal.

What if I couldn't lift the bar I suddenly thought, I hadn't really gauged how weak I really was. It can't be that heavy right?

No.

I'm gonna lift this damn bar. My teeth gritted and bared, I braced myself and pushed with all the might of my non-existant muscles.

The bar wobbled and displaced now suspended in the air. What a relief, that wasn't so hard I thought. The bar was still heavier than it looked.

I slowly started to lower it down to just above my chest, and then in a clean silent motion pushed it back up to the top.

I smiled in relief, I didn't know what I'd do if I couldn't lift the bar.
With a surge of confidence I completed the set and with a bit of an awkward struggle, returned the bar back in place, sat up and took a quick rest.

After I finished all my sets I was really feeling the burn in my chest, it felt great, I knew I was going to enjoy more of this.

I proceeded to move on to deadlifts and squats, I had already practiced the motions with no weight while researching but now with the added weight of the bar it was tougher, but my little body fuelled with the determination of a muscle-hungry mind pushed me through.

Every time I completed I rep I would imagine the muscles breaking down, they'd never had to deal with this strange new stress, I was going to force them to have no other choice but to grow, every rep was one step closer to growing bigger. I was getting my first taste of iron and all I wanted was more.

I had to complete the session with dumbbell curls, partly because I hadn't used them yet and I wanted to use every bit of equipment like a kid at a park playground, but also because there was just something about bicep curls that sent me into euphoria the moment I started them.

When I finished I was exhausted, but exhilarated. But there was one more thing I needed to do to round it off. I grabbed the tub of whey protein and made my way to the kitchen.

After reading every word on the back and reading the 'Directions of Use' at least 5 times. I proceeded to make the protein shake using the shaker that Mum used in one of her diet fads, the shaker became a relic in the depths of the storage cupboard, now rediscovered.

After a thorough shaking, I prepared myself for the first sip. I paused before it reached my lips.

Here goes.. I thought.

I took the first sip, letting it wash around my mouth. Immediately I put my hand around my mouth, preventing myself from spitting it out, my eyes began to water, the taste was awful, it definitely didn't taste like a chocolate milkshake the back of the tub promised. Eventually I got the first bit down, taking a moment trying not to throw up. I felt like I had just been a contestant on Fear Factor.

I gripped the protein shake tightly, still reeling from the horrid taste. I took a moment to regain my composure. I tried again with my nose blocked but the thought of what I had just experienced stopped me again.

I had to do this, I wasn't going to let this beat me. I had to psyche myself up for this.

I brought the shaker back up to my lips again and threw my head back drinking as fast as I could.

Just think about the protein feeding your muscles, I thought. Think about growing bigger and stronger, lifting weights with the big muscles you're gonna grow, the thick powerful muscles that are gonna make you bigger than everyone at school, no one's gonna fuck with you, chest and arms are gonna be so fucking huge and tight in your shirt everyone's gonna be staring at your huge fucking muscles. Feeling your huge thick muscles busting out of your clothes.

"FUCK!" I yelled out, slamming the now empty protein shake onto the benchtop. I didn't even notice the taste that time.

~~

Later that night, Rachel, Shane and James came over to start playing the new campaign for Dungeons & Dragons.

Rachel was looking as outlandish as normal, now wearing a shirt with characters from an obscure anime on it.
Shane looked as scrawny as I was, except he was taller and it made him look bigger, his dark brown hair parted down the middle and had a bit of length.
James was kinda chubby, 'baby fat' would be another word to describe it, he was about the same height as Shane, but had short sandy blonde hair.

I knew that all of them would ultimately not deviate much from their current appearance in 12 years time.

While Rachel started to set the table up (she wouldn't let anyone help), James and Shane were eager to go straight into an in-depth discussion about the latest computer games we were apparently all playing, fortunately I still remembered the finer intracacies of Age of Empires and Diablo and was able to join in on the conversation.

"I heard they are coming out with a sequel" said Shane.

"I hope it's going to be good" James replied.

"I think it will be, and we'll probably be obsessed with it for a long time" I said, knowingly.

"Okay we're ready" said Rachel, she handed out sheets to each person, mine had 'Bard' written at the top, with an illustration Rachel had done of an effeminate elf playing a pan-flute, the rest of the page was filled with numbers and the names of spells and songs.

I grimaced.

The miniature action figure that Rachel selected for me as well was a similar looking elf with what looked like a lute.

"That's the only bard miniature I have" she said.

"I don't think I wanna be a bard" I blurted out.

"How come?" she said, her voice strained.

"I've been a bard before, I wanna try something else"

Rachel motioned a slap at me, I flinched.

"Why didn't you tell me? I told you to call me if you wanted to be something else! Well what do you want to be then, a Wizard? Sorcerer?"

"You could try being a Warlock" said James

"I'm going to be a Warlock" Shane said, "maybe try a Cleric instead Duncan" Shane suggested.

"I want to be a Fighter" I said, silencing everyone.

"What?-"

"Really?"

"A fighter? You?"

"Yeah, I want to try something different"

After a moments pause, Rachel snatched the bard paper from my hand, crumpled it up and threw it aside, she pulled out a blank sheet.

"A Fighter's main attributes are Strength and Constitution" She began to recite, as she filled out the new sheet. "They rely on their physical power to defeat their enemies and muscular size to endure an enemy attack and to protect their weaker allies" She looked up at me "You might want to choose a new miniature for your character" she passed along a box comprised of all sorts of miniature figurines; huge black dragons, elves brandishing bows, stout dwarves grasping war hammers, a wizard that looked like Gandalf.

Ah, here we are, I thought to myself as I pulled out my miniature and placed it on the table.

"Whoa!"
"Cool!" Shane and James exclaimed.

The small figurine showed a muscled form of massive proportions, thick veins running through the enormous arms and across the ripped abs and bare-chested torso. There wasn't much covering the waist before the thick tree-trunk sized quads connected with the equally insane sized calves that even the huge boots and greaves could barely contain. The muscled titan was wielding an oversized war axe no mortal could ever dream of lifting with just one arm. Spiked shoulder armour rested on the impossibly wide form with an impressive and long cloak draped behind. The rugged manly face slightly obscured by the armoured helmet that was worn.

The mountain of muscle dwarfed Shane's frail Warlock figurine and James' lithe Ranger.

That's more like it, I thought.

"He looks like a barbarian" said Rachel, unimpressed.

"Yeah except Fighters are way more intelligent than barbarians are, hey Duncan" Shane said, "You can play a smart Fighter!"

"I think I will"

After a few more minutes, Rachel handed the character sheet back to me, to my disappointment she didn't do an illustration of my new warrior.

"I'll have to draw it later, I haven't drawn muscles like that before" she said pre-emptively.

"It says my character has a ring, usually you don't start out with a ring, what's it for?" I asked

"Oh that's for later on, at the moment it's just a ring, no spoilers!" she said, Rachel always made impressively elaborate stories for our games.

Rachel then proceeded to lay down the rules, all of us had played before but sometimes the open endedness of the game could cause havoc.

"..There will also be no trying to kill each other or duelling citizens in the street to the death, try and stick to the quest guys" she started.

"But that was fun last time" moaned James.

"And guys, no time travel or inter-dimensional portals or anything with time please, I was pulling my hair out last time that happened"

"But that was the best part about the last campaign!" Shane protested.

"Yeah going back in time is awesome!" James started.

"It is" I added grinning.

"You get to change things that you stuffed up the first time" he added.

Yep you certainly do I thought.

"You know what's going to happen before it happens, it's like you're psychic!"

Well that's gonna be a bit different for me now, but it's a 25 year old super-nerd mind inside a 13 year old body, high school is gonna be a breeze, I thought.

"Then it just got silly" Rachel started, "You all just kept going back in time and saving everyone from dying, even eachother!"

.. I didn't think of that.

[GTlifter]

Wow I just read all 3 chapters And they were all amazing. I love every little detail u have going on and I know where he is coming from about protein shakes scaring u at first but u have to beat them and make progress

[Ender]

A really cool story... I have to admit I make the same wish, that Duncan does in part 1, just obout every night but never wake up being 13 years old again but knowing what I do now... Why can't things like this every happen to me...

Ender