Chapter 3: Swolemates’ Soulmates
Bex Pop
Oh wow, yesterday’s game was amazing! That last minute comeback was as spectacular and fast as a rocket! In the post game talk, Coach Turunen was really proud of us; especially of me. He recommended that we should probably do some more exercises to help us out more. I mean I could definitely use some more, I mean I’m built; I have some abs, I have some arm muscles though I think I can definitely make them slightly more defined.
I wear my grey top, grey shorts, and that red sweatband before I walk over to the college’s gym, it's nice actually. It doesn’t get that crowded because most of the athletes say they’re missing out on some equipment. And to them, eh, I’m just a basic gal; just give me a treadmill, some weights for bench presses, and a punching bag and I’m good! Well, I just need to connect my headphones and find some weights… and let’s go!
“♪You’ve got your Big Gs, I got my Hash Pipe♪”
Totally locked into the zone of both Weezer and exercising, I just close my eyes and continue lifting; thinking I have this entire gym to myself. I actually don’t realize until the song ends and I go to check my phone. As I open my eyes, I notice Tommy standing by my side.
“Oh hi Tommy! How’ve you been?” I reply, as I go from laying down to sitting on the bench press mat.
“I’m good Bex! I just decided I should head here to exercise a bit more.”
“Ah yeah, I get that feeling; just been doing some bench presses.”
“Yeah… You know, Bex I’ve been wondering, how much can you lift?” He replies, fidgeting with the strap of his swim bag
“148.”
“Wow… and you’re like 137lb right?” Tommy says, sounding a bit flustered and embarrassed.
“Yeah, I am.”
“That’s… Wow… Impressive…” He replies, sounding a bit bummed.
I notice his tone; Tommy has told me in the past that he feels that he can’t enter sports. So I try my best to cheer him up:
“You know hon,” I say in a motivating tone, “There’s more than just liftin’ weights. We can always try some endurance and jog!”
“Oh yeah, just like when we first actually met. You know that sounds like fun.”
Tommy helps me get up, and we’re swiftly off towards Golden Gate Park! Well I’m gonna be leading Tommy and just doing some basic endurance and pacing stuff. I just hope it works out.
A bit later
“♪Keep On, Keep On, Keep On, Yeah♪”
We’ve been running for a little while now, though I’m starting to notice that Tommy is starting to lose pace with me. I turn around and stop for him, waiting for him to catch it for me. We sat down on a bench, the one where we officially became a couple, so that’s a fun fact! I turn to him, hearing him gasping for air.
“You know Becky… I don’t know if I can do it… It’s tiring stuff…”
“Aw, why do you say that?” I ask, sounding a bit bummed out.
“It’s just, I don’t know… I’m not as athletic as you…”
“Aw Tommy…” I ask, trying to hype him up; “Don’t worry about that, you can do it!”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah hon! Now just turn on “American Gigigo” and let’s get rolling again!”
“Alright then! Sounds good! Lead on Bex!” Tommy exclaims, sounding excited.
We get up once again, taking a quick sip of water from the bottles we brought and we continue running. You know, it’s pretty convenient that our college is right by Golden Gate Park, we can basically get our own trials and what not! I mean, I think it’ll be fun jogging up and down the hills of the city; but I mean it’s much more fun not having to stop and wait for traffic like every block. We continue on our jog, it’s really fun actually! We just tell each other jokes and talk about our lives.
“You know Tommy, I’ve been telling people in the restaurant I work at ‘Buon Appetito” recently!”
“Aw that’s nice, I’ll assume it’s like “Bon Appetit” but in Italian.”
“Yeah, it is, you know I think it’s a cute gesture, saying it in Italian; it’s like ‘Provecho’ right?”
“Yeah, I use it with my family under the same context.”
“That’s pretty nice, you know maybe I can mix it up instead of saying ‘Enjoy your meal!”
We take another 25 minutes of a jog, right before heading back towards the college. You know, I’ve already mentioned this; but just going out on a run with someone you care about is honestly really nice! My parents, and also Tommy’s parents, do like walks in the morning, it’s honestly a pretty good way to be active if you’re not as exercise heavy as me. We quickly make it back to the dorms. It's a Saturday so I don’t have to deal with classes, but I don’t want to miss out on my schedule of doing nothing until the night shift at the restaurant. Whether it’s the weekdays’ jog at 5am, or just the 9am ones during the weekend, these moments will always be fun.