The dull copper ring sits on Eric Vernon's calloused palm. It's cold to the touch but there is this unexplainable energy emanating from it. For a moment there, he almost believed the obvious lie the clerk from the store told him about. He said that the ring is magical. Wear it and Eric will have the powers to merge with another person. It's a stupid lie, of course. And he was stupid enough to pay ten bucks for such a stupid little thing. He could have bought something else with the money. Something worthwhile like food or a new cheap t-shirt.
In front of his bedroom mirror, Eric looked at himself while wearing the ring. He thinks of himself as unique than other guys his age. But when you see his typical short cut brown hair and pale complexion, and amber-colored eyes, one could say that they already saw all the 12-year-old boys in his neighborhood. While he has similarities in spades, what makes him truly unique is his muscular body relative to the kids his age. While some people call him a geek, his interests are not constrained to popular culture. Eric is a member of his middle school's wrestling team and a damn good member at that. Just this year alone, he brought enough trophies that he could call them training equipment just by their sheer weight. But while he may be muscular, it doesn't mean that his gains are well-defined. He's still a kid with a growing body. And besides, his muscles are built for strength and not for show.