by Sam Crescent
“Will do, boss.”
Later that night, Noah was chatting with his friends on social media. It was late, and he’d not seen them all day as he’d been catching up on his own workout, and then school work. His parents still weren’t back, but that wasn’t anything strange. There were many times when he was home alone.
Searching for Elsa’s name, he found her easily enough, with a few friends as well. Over her page, he saw a couple of pictures of her with Kimberley. The pair was inseparable at school. They were always having lunch together, sharing class.
He was about to send her a friend request, and decided against it. No one needed to get suspicious, and he’d given her a promise, which he intended to keep.
Chapter Three
“Why are you scribbling crap into a notebook?” Kimberley, or Kim, asked.
Elsa glanced up to see her friend frowning across the bench at her. She had been doing everything that Noah had asked of her. “Nothing, no reason. Mom asked me to keep a diary of everything I eat,” she said, lying easily. It wasn’t hard. Kim had been at her house many times when her mother talked about what to eat and the right food to take in.
“She’s wanting you to lose weight again?”
“She’s never really stopped.”
“No offense, Elsa, but your mom is a little mean.”
“Not mean, not really.”
Kim raised a brow.
“What?”
“She’s always pressuring you to lose weight. I don’t think that’s nice,” Kim said.
“It’s nothing. I’ve got a handle on it.” Elsa picked her fork up, and stared down at her meatloaf. School food was horrible, and everyone had to be careful about what they picked. Three years ago, Kim had gotten food poisoning because of something she ate.
“Are you sure? I hate that your mother makes you feel that way.”
“Don’t worry about it, Kim.”
“I’m always here for you, you know that right?”
“Yes, I do, thanks.”
She ate her meatloaf while Kim talked about her father opening up another supply store. This time he was branching out, going to England with the hope of getting into Europe.
“Wow, that is a big deal.”
“Yeah, it’s all he’s talking about, and of course it’s driving Mom up the wall. She’s trying to paint every chance she gets.” Kim was an artist, like her mother. “How about we hang out tonight?”
Elsa was about to answer when they were interrupted by a group of guys, Noah’s friends. She tensed up, waiting for the taunts.
“Hey, paintbrush, are you ready to do some studying?” Kurt asked.
Noah leaned against the tree, and Elsa glanced at him. When he raised his brow at her, she quickly turned her attention to her friend.
“Go away,” Kim said, glaring at Kurt.
Instead of him going away, Kurt took a seat beside her. Much to Elsa’s discomfort, Noah took her right, while Ryan took her left. Adam, the other friend, sat on Kim’s free side.
She was a little confused as to why they were getting special attention.
“Why? We’re friends, really good friends.”
“What do you want?”
“Seriously, this is how you treat lab partners?”
“Kurt, we have to work on one project together, that is all.”
“What is going on?” Elsa asked, looking from Kim to Kurt and back again.
“Nothing,” Kim said.
“Our biology teacher put us together, and we’re to complete an assignment as a team.”
“Have you done what I asked you to do?” Kim asked.
“Which was?”
“Find an actual disease for us to write about?”
“Nope, but I was thinking we could do one of the sexual ones.”
Elsa scrunched her nose up. “I’ve got to head to the library,” she said.
“Do not leave me, Elsa.”
“I can’t help it, I think I’m going to throw up. Meet you there?”
“Fine, fine.”
She saw her friend’s cheeks were a nice shade of pink, and there was even a small smile across her lips. Kim may be pretending not to like Kurt, but all the other signs were there.
Leaving the bench, Elsa made her way to the trashcan and tipped her leftovers inside. She placed the tray back in the dinner hall before leaving. Making her way toward the library, she gave Denise, the librarian, a wave. She went to the back of the library and started looking for the chemistry book she needed to complete her homework. Scanning over the shelves, she wasn’t expecting anyone, so when Noah started to talk, she jumped.
“Hey,” he said.
Glancing behind her, she glared. “What the hell?” She whispered each word, looking around to make sure no one was watching.
“What are you looking for?”
“Why did you follow me?”
“I wanted to talk to you, and can I say you walk really fast?”
She frowned. “You’re in the library.”
“Yeah, I know what one looks like. I come here as well. I even know Denise.”
“I’m sort of, erm, yeah, you’re confusing me right now.”
They were both whispering.
“I was just going to make sure you were coming to Bruce’s tonight?”
“Yes, I said I was going to be there. I’m not going to back down now. I told you that.” She grabbed her bag and rummaged around in the chaos to grab the diary she had started. “I’ve even been doing what you asked. It’s all going to be in there.”
“Make sure to put down that you threw half of it in the trash as well. It has got to be as accurate as you can make it.”
She nodded. “I will do, boss.”
Turning back to the shelves, she started scanning the books. All the time she was aware of Noah not leaving.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“All day Sunday I couldn’t get Kurt to shut up about your friend.”
“She’s a great girl.”
“Yep, and I’ve got a feeling he’s seeing that.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure Kurt is going to go chasing after my friend.”
“Why not?”
“Last year he was calling her metal mouth and chubbers. Now he wants to get to know her. Kim’s not going to forgive him easily.” She may have seen her friend being happy by the attention, but she’d never allow herself to fall for him.
“That’s their problem, not ours.”
“We don’t have a problem, Noah.” She turned to smile at him.
He pursed his lips, glancing up and down at her. She wore a baggy shirt and loose jeans. They were her comfortable jeans, and sneakers. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
“What are you staring at?”
“Have you ever thought about wearing clothes that actually fit you?”
“That’s really weird right now.” She looked down at herself. “I’m fine the way I am.”
“You’re right. I’ll catch you later.”
As quickly as he invaded her life, he was gone, leaving her completely confused. “I will never understand that guy.”
By the time Kim came to her, Elsa was already making notes from the chemistry book she found.
“You took your time.”
“Don’t laugh, okay?”
“I’m not laughing. I’m curious is all.”
“Let me grab my book, and we’ll talk.” Kim rushed off to grab whichever book she needed.
Writing down her notes, Elsa jumped as Kim threw her book onto the table. “Okay, so last Friday, Mrs. Donald gave us all a new assignment. She picked who we partnered up with, and I ended up with Kurt. Obviously, he’s not letting me live it down, and now he’s everywhere. At the weekend, he even came around to my place just so we could study.”
“Do you like him?”
“Not really. He’s a bully. Mean. Kind of cute, but I don’t want mean and cute. I don’t want any guy ruining my chances of getting int
o a good college.”
“I know what you mean.”
“Do you think I’m being mean?”
“No, not at all.” She smiled at her friend. “I think it’s kind of sweet. Let’s hope the cheerleading squad doesn’t start attacking us.”
Kim nodded. “That’s the last thing I want to deal with right now.”
“Does Kurt have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say that he did, and I didn’t exactly ask. The last thing I want is for him to get the wrong impression.”
Elsa stared down at her chemistry book and kept herself busy. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if her friend did date Kurt. He was one of the hottest guys in school, and everyone expected him to date one of the cheerleaders.
Something was happening to her head, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. Guys like Kurt and Noah never dated girls like them.
****
“Are you ready to work your butt off?” Noah asked as Elsa climbed out of her car.
“I’m ready. I had to lie to my parents and tell them I was going to the library, but I got here.” She held up her key card as well. “Are you ready to work my butt off?” She frowned. “Scrap that. It sounded completely wrong.”
“It sounded dirty to me.”
They entered Bruce’s gym to find a new guy on the front. Noah didn’t recognize him, and they both scanned their cards, heading toward the changing rooms.
“I’ll meet you out in the main corridor.”
“Sure.”
He watched her disappear into her changing room, and wondered what was wrong with her. They didn’t know each other all that well, but from what he did know, Elsa was usually a bubbly person, apart from her bitchiness to him on Saturday, which he could understand.
Entering the male changing room, the scent of sweat met his senses. He changed quickly and waited out in the hall for Elsa to appear. She was tying her hair back as she left the room.
“Hey,” she said.
She wore a baggy shirt, this one even baggier than the one she’d worn at school, and some cycling shorts, most of which were covered by the ugly ass shirt.
“Do you not own something that fits?”
“Why would I wear something fitting to the gym? People will see my rolls and lumps.”
Wow, talk about low self-esteem. His mother would have a field day with this girl. Yes, his mother was a model, but she was also petitioning to bring to light the eating disorders that occur within the industry.
“Never mind. Let’s go and get warmed up.”
They entered a room that had over thirty people. There was a lot of space, so he didn’t have to worry about helping her out.
“We need to stretch those muscles, get them warmed up so we don’t hurt ourselves while we exercise. We’ll do this now, then move onto some minor weights, treadmill, and we’ll cool down with more stretches.”
“Okay.”
Once again, she didn’t seem all that thrilled. Pushing forward on what he was about to do, he showed her each stretch, and she copied him with the pose.
“Go down as far as you can, touch the tip of your toes or in our case sneakers, draw your arms up, and stretch up to the sky.”
Elsa giggled. “I feel like I’m in gym class.”
“It’s not much different.”
“So we have to do this stretch as well?” She stepped forward, stretching out her hamstring, and lifted her hands up as if to push against something.
“Yes, yes, that’s right.”
She impressed him by showing off a few more exercises. Noah followed her, and when they were nice, warm, and ready, he took her toward the weight’s room.
“Am I going to end up looking like one of those body builders with huge muscles?”
“No.”
“Good, my mom wouldn’t go for that look either. She doesn’t like them.”
“What exactly does your mom like?” he asked. He sat her down on the edge of a bench, and gave her some female lightweight barbells. He grabbed the ones he was using to start off. “Now, rest your elbow on your knee, and lift up.” He showed her what he was doing, and she followed along with him. Together they pumped some weights, his by far heavier than hers.
“My mom just wants a blonde, size nothing doll that she can play dress up with. I’m not the perfect doll, so she tries to make me so.”
They changed hands, and he watched her work the barbells. She wasn’t getting out of breath, and he was able to see that she wasn’t overly unfit.
He increased the weights for her, and did the same for himself.
“Have you ever thought of talking to her about it?”
“I’ve tried. My dad has tried, when he’s not busy working on a case.”
“Your father’s a lawyer, right?”
“A kickass one.”
“Is that what you want to be?” he asked.
“Nah. You don’t want to be a plastic surgeon?”
“Nope. I can’t stand the thought of cutting someone open or changing them just because they don’t like it.”
“Really? I bet your father makes a fortune from all the tummy tucks, and people’s quest for perfection?”
“He does, but that doesn’t mean he loves it all the time.” Noah put down the barbell, and led her toward the machine that had her lying down on her back with her on either side of the bench. “Push this up.”
“Come on, spill about your dad.”
“He does work for burn victims, crime victims, and children born with defects that their parents want changing. He’s not some asshole.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. You know plastic surgeons have a bad rep.”
“I know. Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
Her body tensed, and the ugly ass shirt rode up her with each press.
Noah stared at her body, what she considered her imperfections, and he grew aroused. “Swap,” he said.
She pushed up and stood. He sat down, and started to push the weights up. “There was a time that my dad was stuck up. He did tit jobs as if they were going out of fashion, and was always talking about my mom having work done to help her career. He had porn stars on his books, celebrities.” He couldn’t argue with Elsa’s assessment. It was all true.
“What happened?” she asked.
“He was at a party, getting his name out. Mom was there, and she kept asking him to leave. She hated being with him when he was selling the perfect body. Everyone always assumed that she went under the knife to be so slender. You know liposuction?”
“Everyone knows about lipo.”
“Yeah, well, my mother didn’t have any of that shit. She’s a model who was happy with her faults.”
“She sounds like one hell of a woman, who doesn’t like to be crossed.”
He chuckled, swapping once again with Elsa. “She is.”
“So what happened?”
“Dad was determined to stay, and so we stayed. I was twelve at the time. At around one in the morning, we decided to leave. I sat in the backseat, and they were arguing. Mom called him a pretentious prick who didn’t care about anyone but himself. She accused him of having an affair, and everything. He shouted at her, told her she was nothing but a whore. Anyway, to cut a long story short as that is embarrassing as hell, Dad wasn’t paying attention, and he crashed into another driver. Mom’s face slammed up against the glass, and I was struck as well.” He turned, showing her the scar down the left side of his body where the metal of the car had somehow crushed, striking him in the side.
“Oh my God. How did I not know this?” she asked, reaching out to touch his scar. The mark didn’t bother him.
“It’s not something I advertise.”
“What happened?”
“Mom had lacerations to her face, and after my accident, I had to go to the care unit for kids. Dad had to switch and change between my room, and my mom’s room. It was a hard few weeks. Dad got to see all these people that had suffered. I sh
ared a room with a kid who had suffered burns to part of his face and neck. It was like my dad had only ever seen a way of making the beautiful even more beautiful. To hold them up to a higher standard than anyone else.”
“The work had gone to his head?”
“Yeah. After we got out of the hospital, Mom asked for him to change, as otherwise she wanted a divorce, and she’d take me with her. There was no way her son was going to turn out like him.” Noah shrugged. “Holy shit, I can’t believe I just said that to you.”
“I’m really pleased you did. I talk about my mom all the time.” She shrugged. “Parents, huh?”
“They suck at times.”
“Your dad is different now?” she asked.
“Yep. He still does the tit jobs, the lipo, and stuff. However, he now has a foundation to help those that have been hurt. It’s a good job that he does.”
“You’re proud of him?”
“Yeah. There was a woman about two months ago who had gotten away from her ex, but he’d left her scarred. Every time she’d look in the mirror, she’d remember this guy. My dad, he healed her, and now she is doing better than ever.” Noah smiled. “How can I not be proud of a guy who does that?”
She smiled, and he couldn’t help but look at her. She was so beautiful.
Where the hell had all that truth telling come from? He never shared any of that kind of shit with anyone, not even with Kurt, Adam, or Ryan.
Noah didn’t understand it. Sure, he’d grown up with Elsa being in the background of his life. They had gone to the same preschool, kindergarten all the way up to high school. Never had he given her more than a passing thought, and yet right now, he was telling her stuff he didn’t even tell his most trusted friends. It made no sense, no sense at all.
Chapter Four
The following Saturday, and three training sessions, about to start her fourth, Elsa waited outside of Bruce’s gym. She glanced through the food diary checking to make sure she’d put everything in order, and that it was easy to read.
When she spotted Noah’s car, she climbed out, holding onto her bag.
“Hey, baby,” he said.
Handing him her diary, she offered him a beaming smile. “Meet you in the warm up room?”