That feeling when a newcomer is better than you at... well, everything

Ken will always act according to the first impression a certain group of people have of him. After exercising he feels more sociable, so the impression the people of the gym had of him was: a chill guy, not very talkative but still nice, who looked like the average otaku but actually did pretty well on his first day. It was one of the best first impression he got.

And there he was, being completely humiliated in comparison with Mirena’s first time at gym. Of course, she could make a fool of everyone there, even the more veterans, but still his pride forced him to say:

—A warm up? Yes, of course is a warm up. We’re just starting here!

Ken vs. Mirena, an encounter that attracted everyone’s attention had started. A girl who lived tons of incredible adventures, strengthening both her body and soul in the process, against a dude whose only physical activities were walking to the closest subway station and going one hour to the gym three days a week. A modern David vs. Goliath.

The first stop was the half rack. They both carried the heaviest weight over their shoulders and began to do squats. Since the attention was mainly focused on Mirena, Ken cheated a little bit. After each repetition, he changed the position of his legs and feet. First the legs close and with the feet pointing forward, then more open with the foot in diagonal. That way he wasn’t working just one muscular group but two, quads and abductors. Still it was painful as hell, but at least he managed to follow the overwhelming rhythm of Mirena.

Weigh bench, power tower, Smith machine, seated row machine, they used absolutely everything, not wasting any second. Even if it was difficult for Mirena to get used to this weird machinery, it still was a huge challenge for Ken to don’t lose against her. With all his muscles burning in pain, he continued struggling.

Then, they went to the treadmill.

—How do you use this? —asked Mirena. Her face and clothes were very sweated, but her respiration was calm. Completely different to Ken, who was having a hard time trying to use his lungs appropriately.

—It’s a… walking… machine…

—You sound kinda tired.

—Why… do you… think that…? I can still go on! This is like my daily routine! —He managed to control his breathing a little, so proceeded to explain her how the machine worked.

—So, let’s start with level 10! —The max level. Of course.

—To bad there isn’t a level 11 —replied Ken with confidence. But in the inside, he was really nervous. He never used the treadmill at that level.

The belt began to rotate so fast. It was like seeing the street through the window of a car in movement. Mirena jumped above it without thinking, so Ken did the same thing.

He felt like if his legs were about to tear apart, disintegrate atomically into the void. He was sweating waterfalls, with his long hair waving wildly. His heart was beating so hard, like if it wanted to break his chest, run away and never do exercise again.

It was so fast, but he couldn’t stop. The shame of losing against Mirena wasn’t the main concern right then, but the fact that, if he stopped, he would awfully fall from the walking machine. He felt like he was going to be trapped there forever, just running until the end of the days.

His legs were getting tired, and her foot were at the edge of the machine.

“This is it! This competition is stupid! I quit! I need to slow down this machine!”

But the buttons were too far away. He stretched his fingers, and only by a few centimeters didn’t reach the buttons. Thanks to the adrenaline, his legs were able to go beyond their limits and run faster one last time.

Suddenly, Mirena jumped out from the machine.

—This is fun! But a little slow. Hey Ken, let’s have a race outside!

At that moment he reached a button. The belt slowed down abruptly, making him fall anyways.

A race around the block. The entrance to the gym was the starting and finish line. The owner was equipped with a chronometer. He was very entertained seeing the competition between those two. Ken and Mirena were standing side by side.

—Ready… —said the owner, raising his hand. He waited some seconds to make it more dramatic, and then lowered it—. Go!

As expected, Mirena’s start was way faster. Her acceleration speed quickly gained a huge advantage against Ken. But once he reached his top speed, he was able to follow Mirena’s back at a decent distance.

It was a friendly race, but it didn’t feel friendly in Ken’s thoughts:

“I’m going to lose. There is no way I can beat her. Everyone is going to see how pathetic I am.”

He imagined a hypothetical scenario. After winning the race, Mirena was surrounded by bald and buffed men with sleeveless shirts, all of them surprised because of her abilities.

—Come with me babe, I’ll be able to satisfy you better than that weakling.

Then everyone laughs at him, even Mirena. He falls on the ground, exhausted, and she looks down on him with disdain.

—Yeah, take me out of here —she responds, hugging the buffed men.

“Like hell I’m going to let that happen!” Ken closed his eyes. “I still can do it. She is amazing, but she must be tired. Now she is a human, after all. In fiction, the characters can fight for days in a row, but the body of a real human been doesn’t work like that. I can do it! I saw it in an anime days before. If you keep pushing your body, eventually your brain will release endorphins that will kill the pain. Just a little more!!!”

He kept running with the eyes closed, suffering because of the burning pain on his legs. They were begging him to stop, but he ignored it.

“Just a little more! A little more!!”

—This is not working!! —Endorphins never came. But when he opened his eyes, the gym entrance was just a few meters of distance, and Mirena was at his back—. Eh??!! How did this happen? But now that I’m so close, I can’t give up.

With or without endorphins, he kept pushing his body beyond its limits. Mirena was faster, so every second the distance between both was shrinking. Every second a little closer, until both passed the finish line almost at the same time.

Ken fell on his knees. From his perspective, he thought he had won, or at the very least, tied.

—That was a great race! —said the owner—. But your second lap was faster than this one, Mirena.

—Really? Well, I guess I’m feeling a little tired right now.

—Second lap? —Ken’s brain was about to melt down. “Your second lap was faster”. That implied the fact that Mirena ran at least three laps in the same time period he only made one. A crushing defeat. David couldn’t defeat Goliath this time.

As expected, none of the apocalyptical scenarios Ken imagined happened. All the other people returned to their routines, and the owner of the gym congratulated Mirena. Of course, he wasn’t so stupid as to still believe she never had done exercise before, but didn’t ask any questions about it.

—That was fun! Are you all right? —said Mirena to Ken.

—Yes, of course. It was a good race. —Somehow, he managed to stand up.

—I want something cold to drink so badly!

—Me too. Our hour has finished, so let’s go home.

Mirena began to walk, humming happily. But Ken was petrified in the place, without moving.

—What’s going on? Didn’t you say we’re leaving?

—Yes, we do. Let’s go.

Again the same thing. Ken tried to walk, but all his muscles were in pain. Abs, chest, arms, legs, the back, all his body was refusing to move. His body was shaking in pain.

—Are you really all right?

—Maybe I overworked myself a little bit.

—Why did you do that? You tried to follow me?

—No, no, it’s not that. Sometimes happens. I enjoy exercising too much and keep pushing myself when I shouldn’t.

Mirena kneeled on the ground and pointed her back.

—Come on, go up.

—Eh???!!!! —He was so tired that his face was already red. But after hearing that, it was even more red if possible.

—What do you mean?

—I’ll carry you!

Six streets until the apartment. Six streets full of people. There was no way he could do something so shameful like that in public. Actually, even in private he would be too embarrassed to do something like that with Mirena.

“What if I get a bon… ehem, I mean, it’s technically like hugging her from behind, is so weird! Of course I want to do it, but not like this! Not yet! Also, the people is going to watch and talk about it. ‘Hey, look at that guy. He needs to be carried by his girlfriend, so lame!’ Or things like that. There is no way.”

—I can walk by myself —said and that instantly became a lie as he fell.

—Don’t be so prideful and get on!

—Fine, fine.

Ken used his last energies to stand up and climb on her back. He tried to touch the least possible, but in a position like that was impossible. She grabbed his legs and began to walk.

He had his eyes closed. By doing that, he tried to make the embarrassment a little lighter. If he couldn’t see, he could imagine he was being carried by a spirit through streets where no one sees him, and nobody talks about him. But it was impossible. Not having her smell so close, not feeling the warmth of her body, nor hearing her breathing.

—Your heart is still beating pretty fast… —she said.

—I guess I really overworked myself. — “Or maybe is because we’re in this position, don’t you think?”

—Can I ask you a question?

—You ask a lot of questions anyways.

—Hey, I’m new here. I think is logic to have so many questions.

—I think it is. What did you wanted to ask?

—Why do people in this world train like this? I mean, here there are not monsters to defeat and you have machines that makes everything easier. Then why?

—For health reasons, I guess. Or maybe to feel a little bit of an adventure in this boring world.

—With places like this one to visit, it doesn’t seem so boring to me.

—The first time is exiting, but once it becomes part of your routine, it loses the charm.

—That sounds pretty pessimist…

Again, Ken realized he was talking too much. He was showing his disgusting real personality to her. The pessimist guy, angry against the world, was coming out.

—I’m just saying what a lot of people thinks, it’s not necessarily what I think.

—And what do you think?

—I think that you shouldn’t be carrying me like if I were a kid. It’s humiliating.

—Oh, come on. Just enjoy the travel.

—It’s easy to say when… —while saying that, Ken opened his eyes and saw to Mirena. He wanted to argue, but the words immediately disappeared from his mouth.

She was beautiful. He already knew that, but seeing her from the side and so closely reminded him of that fact. And then it was as if all the other people in the world had disappeared. He could only focus on her, so happy and carefree.

“Who cares if someone is judging me right now? This moment is a treasure…”

He finally understood the value of a moment like that, and his heart could finally rest a little. He relaxed the head on her shoulder and obeyed Mirena’s words. He looked up to the sky. The same sky as always. Repetitive and boring. But that day, while talking to her, it felt special. Looking at it, he simply enjoyed the ride.