Chapter 26 - The Gym Rats

Preston, Jess, and Drake had been best friends for forever - Trevor could tell from the first time he laid eyes on them.

He had been hauling a suitcase with a broken wheel from the elevator to his dorm. It was move in day at JTU, just before the beginning of the first semester.

Trevor had spent the better part of the day getting Sadie settled across town. There’d been a mix up with her housing, tears were shed, and she’d been hungry (per usual). So, hours after everyone else had arrived, Trevor made his grand, clunky entrance.

Finally entering his dorm room, that’s when he first saw them. And it wasn’t a good impression. Quiet and shy as he was, Trevor took one look at his roommates and internally groaned. The two men looked like meat heads, muscle-bound jocks who probably played football, went to a lot of parties, and engaged in the occasional date rape.

Soon enough, Trevor would learn the part about parties was right, but that was about it. He needn’t have worried. “Hey guys!”, he called out, lugging his albatross of a bag behind him, “sorry for showing up so late. Long story. But I’m Trevor and… I guess I live here”.

Trevor had been so distracted by taking in his roommates that he hadn’t had time for their friend. She was pretty, in an easy going, yet strong girl next door kinda way. She had medium length red hair pulled back into pony tail, clashing amazingly with her otherwise all black attire. It took only a moment, but Trevor decided she was cool.

The trio had stopped talking when Trevor came into the room, and Jess was the first to respond, “Hiya Trevor! I don’t live here, obviously, but I’m Jess. These two lug heads followed me across the state, but they’re your roommates, Preston and Drake.”

The two got to their feet. This was clear how they were often introduced. “Hey bro, nice to meet you, welcome to the pad”, Preston said, while Drake added, “we got here yesterday, so we claimed the beds. Let us know if you want to switch or something. Would you —“

“Now now, don’t overwhelm the poor boy, he only just got here”, Jess interrupted, flashing Trevor a smile, “Trevor, do you need us to clear out while you get settled and unpack? That way you can hide your teddy bear and we’ll never know… at least not yet”

At that, she cackled as Trevor replied, “Nah that’s alright, no need to clear out and no need to swap beds. This one looks great. But I can unpack later. What’re you all up to?”

“Well, before I was rudely interrupted”, answered Drake, “I was about to offer you a beer. Should we start with that?”

“Absolutely”, replied Trevor. He smiled. This was gonna be alright.

———

“Well, well, well, look who’s here!”, called Preston as Trevor opened the door to his room.

“Ha! Yeah! Mr. Varney himself deigns to visit. Who would’ve imagined?”, added Drake.

Trevor flushed, even if in good spirits. His lack of attendance back at the dorm hall wasn’t something he wanted to call attention to. It had been a month since he’d moved in, and it hadn’t gone unnoticed that he was spending 4 nights a week at Sadie’s place.

“Very funny, guys”, replied Trevor with a hint humor, “what can I say? My girlfriend needs me”

“Oh yeah, sure, it’s just your company she needs”, Drake joked, emphasizing all the right words, before asking, “But anyway, how is the infamous Sadie?”

Trevor wasn’t sure how to answer. If he wanted to be honest, he would’ve responded with, “Great question, Drake. Sadie seems happy enough. I just walked in on her guzzling horchata and a burrito before starting on a pizza I brought her. Or, if not happy, at least probably full”. But instead, he went with, “Oh you know, same old same old. She loves it over there at Varney”.

Just then, as if on sitcom-esque queue, Jess strolled in. With nary a knock or a greeting, she flung herself right onto Trevor’s bed. Still standing in the middle of the room, Trevor laughed and said, “well hey there, Jess, make yourself comfortable”.

Jess was facedown, but was clearly audible when she said, “Sorry stranger, this is Trevor’s bed. We haven’t seen him in ages, and may not know what he looks like anymore. I do sure hope he’s out there somewhere.”

“I was already getting the third degree from the guys, but hello to you too”, said Trevor.

Jess sat up, a wry sort of smile lining her face. “Alright, I guess we can forgive you then, but we need something from you in exchange.”

“Anything. Name it.”, Trevor flicked back, not knowing at all what to expect and thoroughly entertained by it.

“Next Saturday. Go to the gym with the brain trust here. They want to get you there more than the once, and that’s the only way they know how to bond. Then, the three of you come meet me after my shift. There’s a party I want us to go to. And the catch? No bailing or you buy beer for a month. Bring Sadie if you have to, but no disappearing to Varney.”

“You’re on!”, Trevor exclaimed. He wondered if Sadie would actually want to go, “And after all, it doesn’t sound like the plan involves a meal”.

———

“Can you… believe… she hasn’t even… been here yet?!”, complained Trevor between reps, “It’s only… a… 15 minute… bus ride!”

“I hear you, bro”, sympathized Preston, who was standing above Trevor, spotting for him.

It had been 6 weeks since Trevor had followed through on his promise to Jess and the guys. The gym and the party couldn’t have had more different vibes, but Trevor couldn’t recall ever having more fun.

Of course, as he’d expected, Sadie had been a no show. Officially, she said she had plans of her own and didn’t feel she could cancel. But knowing Sadie as he did, Trevor knew it probably had more to do with that being Fried Chicken night at the Varney cafeteria.

Trevor was on the verge of beginning a new set when Preston asked, the gears in his head visibly turning, “But why do you think she hasn’t been here yet? You were spending tons of time at her place that first month”

“Maybe that was the problem”, Trevor answered, “I just kept going to her and didn’t set up any boundaries. I dunno. And she never wants to do anything other than hang out in her room anyway, so It’s not like she’s soooo busy, you know?”

Preston again twisted his face in thought. He was clearly putting an effort into this conversation. “But… like… doesn’t she go to parties, hang out with friends, and stuff like that? I mean… she must be busy sometimes”

Trevor sighed. That was the big conundrum. “It’s hard to tell”, he began, “I think she partied with her neighbors a couple times early in the semester. But most of the time, I think she’s alone. Well, she did just make a friend recently, someone from her track team practices, but I haven’t met her yet. Between us, I think she just hangs out, watches movies, and eats.”

This time, Preston’s response was faster, “Wait! I thought you said something about her being a track star. And now she just hangs around and eats… what?!”

Trevor considered whether he’d said too much. Sitting around was clearly what Sadie was doing, and her body was changing on a week-to-week basis. No longer thick-looking, she was definitely looking chubby recently, with her round face and fat ass unmissable. But he didn’t need to tell Preston all that. Instead he went with, “Yeah man, it’s weird to me too. I’m so bored with going over there. She just doesn’t want to do anything lately, let alone, you know, actually run.”

Preston laughed as Trevor finally began his set anew, “Dude. Sounds like you’re with a couch potato, not an athlete. You gotta get outta there before she becomes a fatty.”

“Too late”, thought Trevor in response.

———

“Are you kidding me?”, demanded Trevor, standing in the middle of Sadie’s room, “I thought you knew we were going to Jess’ place. I really wanted you to meet her and my roommates.”

He had watched as Sadie squirmed in her desk chair. It was looking smaller every time Trevor saw it, perhaps because its occupant was blowing up. That was the only way Trevor could describe Sadie’s rapidly increasing size. Balloon-like and going mostly to her rear-end, Sadie’s appearance, at least in Trevor’s eyes, was beginning to bear little resemblance to the crush he’d delivered pizza to a year earlier.

“Oh yeah…”, Sadie replied vaguely, “I guess I forgot… When Daphne said she was cooking a thanksgiving meal, I was just so excited, you know?”. It was a lame excuse in Trevor’s book, but he knew the promise of a meal was enough to get his girlfriend to forget about other plans. “At least she’s finally made a good friend”, he thought.

He sighed, resigned to the disappointment. “It’s alright. You can always meet them another time”, he said, knowing full well that she’d had three months of opportunity, most of which was clearly wasted on meals.

Sadie smiled, looking relieved at the reprieve, before asking, “Speaking of meals, what should we do tonight? Wanna grab a pizza and bring it back here?”, she paused, before adding, with a wink, “and maybe I can even get some sausage on it… if you know what I mean”.

Trevor did his best not to groan. “Does she have to make everything about food?”, he whined to himself. And besides, he wasn’t really feeling it - lately, whether she realized it or not, Sadie’s body had erupted in stretch marks, and Trevor found it a major turn off. Shivering at the thought, he feigned a tempted expression, and said, “Wish I could, babe, but I made plans tonight. I’ll try to come by after to take you up on… sausage, but I gotta go. I’m really sorry.”

A few days later, Trevor begrudgingly found himself at Daphne’s dining table. On the one hand, the very sight of the food in front of him was nauseating. But on the other hand, Daphne seemed to be genuinely impressive. She was fit-looking, dark-featured, and carried a (comparatively) large rack. “This”, Trevor mused, “is what a Varney runner should look like”. The contrast between his chubby girlfriend and her new college bestie was like night and day.

It was a gulf likely widening, by the way, given Sadie’s worsening condition. It had been cold out as they trudged their way from Myers to Tellum Hall. Sadie was a few paces behind him, but even with the crunch of icy ground beneath his feet, he could hear her breathing. “Goodness she’s gotten out of shape”, he had thought.

Between his own musings and his desire to get back to JTU for a gym session, or at least a real meal, he was caught by surprise when Sadie stopped eating for a moment, turned to him, and asked, “Everything alright?”

“She must’ve noticed I’m not eating anything. Shit.”, he thought, as he whispered back, “All this stuff is so fatty. Do you see any salad or bacon-less meat on the table anywhere?”

“No”, whispered Sadie in reply, excitement accentuating each letter, “but if you’re not gonna eat what’s on your plate, can I?”

At this, Trevor looked at Sadie, her chipmunk cheeks, her greedy smile, her double chin, and found himself repulsed. Then and there, he had a heartbreaking realization, he didn’t know this girl any longer. She was never going to be what he wanted, deep down. As he thought to himself, finally, “I need to end this”, he offered his plate to his former high school crush and answered, “Sure, alright, be my guest”.

———

Trevor’s heart raced as slammed his foot on the accelerator, leaving Sadie’s pig-like dimensions to fade into the darkness. He was desperate to put as much distance between himself and Varney as possible and, if he was lucky, never return.

He’d done it. He’d finally done it. He was relieved and devastated at the same time, the emotions rising and falling in ways he’d never experienced before, as if they were breaking upon the shoreline of his mind. After weeks of hesitation and frustration, He and Sadie were finally over.

Had it taken almost two months for him to pull the trigger? Yes, but it felt so good to finally have it over with. After all, finals were a terrible time, and even though he almost did it on the way back to Rose Falls in December, he just couldn’t work up the nerve. She’d sprung the news of her dismissal from track, and totally thrown him for a loop.

He spent winter break doing all he could to avoid her and was surprised, then, to be contacted by her step-dad. “Is she okay?”, “Is she depressed?”, “Is she making friends?”, “Is she pregnant?”, Greg clearly asked every question he could think of to get to the heart of Sadie’s transformation, and Trevor had nothing for him.

Of course, he could have said, “Well, sir, a year ago, she told me she hates eating healthy and wanted to explore the foods she hadn’t been allowed to try”, but Trevor knew it sounded like bullshit, and now he knew it was.

“It’s not just fun, you piece of shit”, she had said, “It turns me on. I get off on it. I’m gonna get so fat, you won’t believe it, and I’m gonna love it”. That, finally, seemed to be the truth, even if Trevor wasn’t even remotely ready to process it.

Trevor came out of his reverie as he parked outside of his dorm at JTU - he hadn’t really registered anything beyond leaving Varney. He looked up at the building ahead of him, the shimmering lights of JTU’s night life, and took a deep breath.

He’d been so frustrated with Sadie, and was glad to have ended things, but a portion of him mourned the loss of his one-time crush, their pizza sessions, and spring break. It was all in the rear view now.

Gathering his belongings, Trevor managed to fit everything into the duffel bag he’d purchased over the break. “No more broken suitcase for this guy”, he thought with delight.

Entering his room, the sound of voices and laughter greeted him. Preston, Drake, and Jess were arranged in almost a mirror image of the first day Trevor met them. They looked up as he made his presence known, “Hey guys!”, he called in his most confident-sounding tone.

“Ahoy there, Trev”, Jess called back first, “how was your break? All fun and games with Miss Sadie?”

Trevor didn’t think the conversation would get there that quickly. “Well actually…”, he began, “we broke up about 20 minutes ago”.

The trio were quiet for a moment, likely surprised at his casual tone, before Jess asked, “Wow… are you, uh… alright?”

Looking inward, Trevor saw his life in Crestfield, at JTU, and saw an experience that was about more than just a fat girl across town. Everything was going to be okay. “You know what?”, he answered, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders, “I think I am.”