The First Day of High School, Again
Rob and Dustin, as they were every evening, are in the gym working out. Peter had been tagging along with them for the past few days. Rob and Dustin were serious about their workouts and Peter had promised to not joke around or use any magic at the gym. Dustin enjoyed working out with Rob and they both had been making impressive gains but Rob had started to become obsessed with working out. In the morning after Rob and Dustin raced the back stairs, Rob had started running between 5 and 10 mile before eating breakfast. After the other guys had gone to school Rob would run through the gymnastic workout routine he had found. And as the guys got back from school Rob would be finishing off a second 5 to 10 mile run. Later Dustin and Rob would go to the gym and Dustin would need to drag Rob home after. The effect this regiment had on Rob’s body was awesome, he had become dramatically leaner and more muscular, and each muscle displayed the striations of individual muscle fibers. But Dustin was a bit concerned and had asked Peter to come with them to the gym to assess things. They agreed Rob had gotten a bit carried away.
The three buddies finished up their planned routine but Rob wanted to throw in another exercise. In chorus Peter and Dustin firmly said “NO!” and one under each of Robs arms carried him to the locker room. Rob accepts that tonight’s workout was over and the three hit the showers. As they soaped up Peter said, “You know Rob, when I regressed you I thought I had made you quite a stud but what you’ve done since then is remarkable. You are beyond “shredded” and I think you’re bigger.” Rob grinned like the ‘Cheshire Cat’ and replied, “You’re right! I’m bigger and leaner. I guess I’m having a growth spurt, I’m an inch taller and nearly an inch longer else where,” as he casually stroked himself. “I was happy with what I had but if this continues I may need to have you adjust it to keep it manageable.” Dustin almost doubled over in laughter saying, “Just don’t talk to Ty about, there’s no telling what you’ll end up with down there.” And he strokes himself too, every one laughs and Rob continues, “ I have a quarter to half inch gain on all my measurements except my waist where I lost a half inch. I’ve never felt this good before.” “That’s great Rob, but Dustin thinks you may be over doing the exercise a bit and I tend to agree, you need to have something more in your life than working out 10-12 hours a day,” says Peter. Rob nods his head and loses the grin saying, “Your right of course. It’s that being a jock feels so incredible I wanted more. And to avoid having to deal with people I threw myself into working out the way I used to throw myself into my work.” Rob started to rinse the soap off his muscular body and continued, “When we started this we had talked about me going back to High School with you guys. I guess the memories of what High School was like the first time made it easy to get involved in anything to avoid going back.” Peter finishes rinsing and says, “Well, that was too easy. So do you still want to give High School another try?” “It won’t be the same as the first time. The other kids will take one look at you and you will immediately rise to the upper levels of the ‘food chain,’” added Dustin still lingering in the warm water. “First time I was a little short chubby little nerd, this time I’m a studly jock type that already knows most of the answers. Life should be a lot different for me this time, and there will be girls around, I went to an all boy Prep School the first time,” said Rob. Starting to dry himself, Dustin remarks, “No Girls! That must be weird!” “Well that’s the only way I know High School so to me having girls will be weird. And for me college, engineering school, was a continuation of that, there were three women during my four years there. One was a senior when I was a freshman, and the other two were freshmen when I was a senior. None of them were in the electrical engineering department,” said Rob as he finished putting on his pants and started on his shoes and socks. “I think there were some advantages because they didn’t have girls around to impress the jocks didn’t have as much of a reason to humiliate the nerds. But the nerds didn’t get any practice dealing with women,” said Rob. And Dustin, who was still naked and flexing at his reflection in the mirror, says, “It still sounds weird to me.” Peter pops Dustin on the backside with a towel and says, “Quit admiring yourself and get your clothes on. Well Rob, should I make arrangements for you the start classes anytime soon?” Rob sighs, “Yeah I guess and sooner is probably better that later.” He looked in the mirror, felt his rock solid abs, smiled, did a quick double bicep pose and pulled on his t-shirt. Peter followed him out of the locker room as Dustin complained that he was being rushed.
This was to be the teen Rob’s first full-time interaction with the outside world as a ‘real’ teen. Up till now the teen Rob lived as a total jock with little contact with anyone but Ty, Peter and Dustin, now he needed to define a more complete persona that was believable for the athletic teen he was now. Who was he now and who did he want to be? Inside there was still the mind of the slightly chubby middle age nerd, but now that mind resided in the body of the truly awesome jock teen stud. Yes, being a jock would be a major component of the new Rob. His compact tightly muscled body would allow him to excel at any sport, but the idea of team sports did not appeal to him. The few jocks that he had known and was friendly with in his prior life were high school wrestlers. Their lean muscular bodies had become his ideal of the perfect male body, and now he had that sort of body. The idea of testing his strength and skill one-on-one with an equal was appealing, but there was another sport that had attracted him for as long as he could remember. He remembered watching male gymnasts on TV and the grace and strength of the sport. He remembered how, when he was in Jr High School, he had tried to talk to a coach about his desire to become a gymnast. And the reaction of the coach, to the idea that the pudgy doughboy that stood there wanted to be a gymnast; was not just to laugh at him to his face in private but to repeatedly ridicule him in front of his classmates. He remembered how that crushed his interest in any athletic activity for years to come, and how in High School when he started to think about asking to workout with the wrestling team to get into shape, the memory of the earlier rebuke stopped him from acting on his desire to be more athletic. Now he had a body that many jocks would envy and the coaches would want to exploit in order to make themselves look good.
He wanted to be a gymnast this time, but he was more then a brainless jock. Who did he want to be? Just like any other teen Rob needed to decide what he would do with his life but unlike other teens Rob had made this decision before. Although the last few years of his old life had been be less than fulfilling he generally enjoy his life as an engineer. He would have liked to have had more control and freedom in the projects he worked on. He wasn’t the same person he was the first time and the additional confidence he felt now in his new muscular body would grow with time. Maybe he would he be happier taking a totally different path? Rob shook his head.
Yes, he was on a new path. One Rob didn’t fully understand yet. After he had decided to stay on with Peter, Dustin and Ty, Rob had been in bed ‘contemplating the nature of the universe’ in the manner of teen guys before going to sleep. The intense workouts and his body’s natural hormone flow made it an imperative several times a day. Rob heard a quiet but insistent coughing from near the foot of his bed. He opened his eyes to find Prince grinning down at him chuckling. Rob wipes his hand on his abs, sits up in bed and says, “From talking it Peter and Ty, I gather you must be Prince,” Prince nods, “And if it wasn’t for you sending Peter to join Dustin at the gym, Peter and I must likely would not have met,” Prince again nods, “And I wouldn’t be here now, right?” Again Prince nods and Rob says, “I am grateful but why is the idea of privacy so hard for you guys to grasp. People aren’t pets.” Prince laughs. “You’re right, it’s that we sometimes forget that most people aren’t as aware as we are. Your point is well taken, I think you were a good choice.” “Choice for what?” Rob asked. Prince wanted Rob to help Peter and Ty but was evasive as to what Rob could do to ‘help’ some one with Peter and Ty’s gifts. After several minute of listening to Prince ‘babble’ like Yoda, Rob came to understand Prince wasn’t sure what that help would be, but Prince believed Rob would be able to provide it. Prince was concerned that both Peter and Ty were at times impulsive and didn’t always think through the consequences of their actions. Rob had experienced first hand Ty’s capricious nature, spending several hours with Dustin looking like six-year-olds in a strange city. But Prince was more concerned that Peter when angered would become impulsive. Rob assured Prince he would do what he could and Prince was gone. Rob decided that he should hold off any definite career planning until he had a better idea what his position was in this somewhat bizarre second family, of which he was now part.
That left the issue of ‘style,’ something he had actively avoided having in his previous life. Maybe to have some style would be a good thing. Peter, Ty and Dustin all told him the standard dress code was t-shirt and jeans or cargo shorts but the since it had been chilly sweatshirts, sweater and cargo pants would be ok too. He didn’t think jeans and a t-shirt was the statement he wanted to make but he also did not want to draw attention to himself or did he? After some thought Rob decided that just being the “New Kid” would draw more attention to himself then he really wanted until he had his bearings. Rob decided that a baggy sweatshirt and cargo pants would be a good choice. He didn’t want to advertise his body right away and in the loose fitting clothes Rob looked pretty average maybe even a bit thin because his low body fat level show in his face. He wanted to get use to being back in school before he added the hoped for distraction of being a hunky jock to the mix. Peter ‘zapped’ up the necessary paperwork to document Rob’s existence as Robert Karlowski, a recently orphaned cousin from New Orleans. His record showed that Rob was bright and athletic. He was well liked by students and teachers alike, but he could be a little moody on occasion. In general, Rob was a really nice guy, more or less the perfect student. With all the pieces in place Rob would start High School for the second time on the next Monday.
It was 3:00AM Monday and Rob was wide a wake. He had slipped easily enough into sleep but at 1:30 his eyes had snapped open. And nothing he tried would let him slip off again. So Rob finally decides to get up and go for a run. It wouldn’t help him get to sleep but it was better than laying there and generally helped clear his head. Rob pulled on a pair of shorts, a sweatshirt and his cross trainers and quietly left the house, and started down the street at a quick pace. It occurred to Rob that couple of months ago he would have turned on the TV in hope of finding some thing to occupy his mind instead of being out here with his thoughts, running for the shear joy of feeling his body move. The old Rob was fading, but he was still there with his fears, uncertainties and anxiety. That is what woke him up, a case of nerves about his first day of school. Rob continued to run along the moon lit street and his thoughts drifted back over the years the pain, the humiliations, the regrets, and the anger grew in him. Rage at all the bullies, the stupid, unthinking, uncaring people that had hurt him. With the memory of each insult, and taunt Rob ran faster. Rage at fate for the hand he was dealt. But most of all he was angry with himself for allowing so much of his life to have been wasted furious over things that were beyond his control and in the larger scheme of things so petty. And how he now had the chance to change some of those memories and find out what his life might have been. After running for what seemed an eternity he stopped and his legs buckled under him and he crumpled to his knees. His labored breath smoked in the chill air, the sweat dripped from his body and in the growing light of dawn steam seemed to be rising from his skin. The old Rob wasn’t gone but had lost its ability control the new Rob. By now the Sun had crept over the horizon and Rob started to jog home.
By the time Rob got back to the house, the rest of the guys were up. When they realized Rob was missing Peter reached out mentally and sensed that Rob was all right but quickly pulled back before getting too deeply into Rob’s mind. Peter did not fully understand but was willing to respect Rob’s desire for Peter and Ty to respect the privacy of his thoughts. Rob let himself in and peeled off the still soaked and now clammy sweatshirt and headed for the kitchen. Rob pulled the container of grapefruit juice out of the refrigerator, collapsed in a chair at the table and downed about a quarter of the juice. Peter asked, “Did you have a good run?” Rob looked up, smiled, and answered, “A truly great one!” Peter could see a peace in Rob’s eyes that he hadn’t seen before. Peter smiled back and said, “You better hit the shower or you’re going to be late for school.” Rob’s smile broke into a grin. Rob stood up and hugged Peter tightly and said, “I’ll never be able thank you enough for this.” Rob bounded out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Fifteen minutes later Rob came bounding back down, and did a hand string on the way to the door. A smile gathered on Peter’s face, for the first time since he had transformed Rob, Peter was sure he had done the right thing for Rob and that Rob was going to be all right. And Peter left to join Dustin, Ty and Rob on Rob’s first day of high school.