Jace burst out of the faculty building, his head in a spin. His hopes of catching up to Simon fell away - he didn't see Simon anywhere and as far as he knew had no clear way of contacting him. So he had to just wait until Simon got in touch with him, or think of another creative plan to get out of this life. Creative thinking, however, was no longer Jace's strongest attribute and as he stood blinking in the sun he felt lost and aimless. He was suddenly self-conscious of the looks he was getting from passing students. Many of them were admiring, but he got the sense that a few were surprised to see someone who was so clearly a jock standing outside the faculty building at this time of day. He started walking, without a clear destination in mind. Jace figured he needed somewhere to rest and then he could plan his next move.
Jace hoped that - like when he was José - if he followed his feet, he would instinctively end up where this life lived. He tried to conjure up a plan, but his thoughts were thick and unfocused. In the absence of other ideas, he felt how easy it would be to slip into Jace's life - become a young, hunky wrestler star. He could sleep around, become the BMOC, ace the sport but... what then? What were this life's prospects for after college? Jace was sure he would be bombing his classes - whatever they were. He could not end up as some washed up former jock. Jace was so in his head mulling over his options, it took him a moment to realise that he was standing outside the front door of a standalone house. Had he made his way to Jace's home? The porch was littered with empty beer cans and he spotted a few balls on the lawn, strewn amongst a messy garden with a rusted barbecue and beach chairs. He stepped back and saw on the front facade of the house three towering Greek letters, almost mocking his inability to read them. With a sinking feeling, Jace realised he had ended up at a frat building.
Jace tentatively pushed open the unlocked front door. "Erm, hello?" he shouted into the empty hallway. He didn't get a reply - maybe the other guys were still asleep or out of the house. The ground floor of the house was a mess, covered in empty pizza boxes, vats of protein powder, and more beer. The house had a persistent musky, unclean smell. Jace shuddered, he couldn't believe this was his life now unless he fixed something. His body still on autopilot, he made his way upstairs until he found a locked door. Not surprised to find a set of keys in his pocket, he unlocked the door and entered his room. Jace felt a wave of familiarity as he entered the room. He could feel his body physically and mentally relax, as if he had come back to his home, his safe space. Jace could almost recognise the unmade bed, the clothes littered across the floor, and the desk covered in rubbish and protien bars rather than any books. He could even recognise the smell because, he realised, it smelt like him - like a sweaty changing room. He tried to bat away these thoughts, reminding himself that he was only here temporarily as he figured out his next move and that the items in the room - the singlets and jock straps on the floor, the set of weights in the corner, the empty condom wrappers - they weren't his. Even if they felt, intrinsically, his. Jace's head hurt - this was all too much to take in - and he made his way to the unmade bed. He just needed five minutes to lie down and think, but as soon as he hit the pillow he immediately passed out.
Jace jolted awake to the sound of laughs and shouting from downstairs. "Fuck man, what time is it?" he mumbled. He was momentarily taken aback from his voice, which seemed deep and gruff. He rubbed his throat, feeling a thick Adam's apple and stubble, and inspected his hands, their thick sausage fingers covered in hair. He remembered. He isn't Josh, a bright postgrad with a hopeful future. He's Jace. He's a wrestler, a jock, a frat boy. He's slow, and thick, and trapped. He remembers his previous bodies and lives - the bartender, the pool boy, the graduate, the bouncer - but the memories and faint and fleeting. For now, this is who he is.
Jace pulled himself around of bed, marvelling once again at his veiny arms as he did so. He yawned, scratching his eyes as a wandered across the floor towards a full-length mirror on the opposite wall. It was the first time he had had a chance to see himself and, well, he was fucking big. Not tall and massive like Jamal, but stout and thick. He wasn't any shorter than he had been as Josh, but all of his muscles and bulk painted the illusion of someone small, someone who almost seemed like they needed to be stretched out. Everything about him was thick - his short neck, his square head, his squat torso, and his bulging legs. He stripped off his tank top and let it fall to the floor, gasping as he saw his upper body in its full glory. What grabbed his eye was the hair - the front of his torso was covered in thick dark hairs, streaming over his shoulders. He turned around and even some hairs creeping down his back. This should have put him off, but he couldn't help but admire how his dark hair contrasted his tanned skin, and how despite the carpet he had his muscles were still clear to see. He casually flexed, feeling his bis and tris and - in a moment that caused him to laugh out loud - managed to make his hairy pecs dance.
He grinned, and as he caught his shit-eating face in the mirror noted that he was one handsome motherfucker. He could imagine girls going crazy for his thick hair, tan skin, and strong facial features that were blocky enough to go with his blocky body. He had dreamy green eyes that offset his tan skin perfectly, although they stuck him as being a bit unfocused. That didn't matter though, cause what the girls would really love he thought, was his bod. He felt up his firm body and ran his hands through his hairy chest and grinned again when he felt a rise in his sweatpants. Now that, his fuckstick, was what the girls were really interested in he thought absent-mindedly. He started to rub his dick through his sweatpants, proud that despite his smaller height he still had a giant knob. Without thinking, Jace pushed with sweats to the ground so he could get a better grip, laughing when he had to use two hands to jerk it fully. His dick was thick and veiny, sticking out from an untamed bush. His legs now on show, he admired his thick thighs and chunky ass, and loved how jacking himself off made all the veins in his arms pop. He was a short king, he was a fucking stud, and he was... he was... about to nut all over his fucking mirror. Jace exploded, eyes rolling back as he drenched his mirror. He breathed deeply, feeling more content and grounded than he had in days. For the first time in he could remember, he felt whole.
Jace knew that this life wasn't his and that he needed to find a way out of it at some point, but was there any harm in just chilling out for now? What was the rush? He had always been such a highly strung guy, and there was kinda of a nice thrill in just letting his body take over. If anything, Simon bailing on their tutoring session was a bit of a win - he got to live the kind of life he never would have been able to when he was at college, the life of someone who didn't have to worry about studies or exams. Someone who could just fuck about and have fun. For now and until he figured out a way back, that sounded pretty good Jace thought.
Jace picked up a jock strap from the floor and used it to haphazardly wipe his cum from the mirror, before hearing a firm knock at his door. "Yo Jace, you in?" Jace pulled up his sweatpants and squeezed on his tank top as he opened the door. Jace had to crane his neck to look up at the towering guy who had opened it. He had full blonde hair, a handsome cleanly shaven face and a lean V-shaped torso. Jace felt a flicker of recognition and continued to stare the guy out. "Yo, earth to Jace," the guy said. "You good? You're acting even more spacey than usual." Jace laughed, feeling pretty comfortable around this guy. "Yeh, sorry man. Just up from a nap so a bit out of it." The swimmer laughed, "oh yeh, what's your excuse the rest of the time then?" Jace laughed along, even though he didn't really get what the guy was on about. That was fine though, he seemed pretty chill. "Anyway man, some of us are gonna chuck the ball around out front if you're game." Jace nodded enthusiastically - that actually sounded perfect, a great way to take his mind off things and an excuse to show off his new bod.
Jace soon found himself back on the front lawn with five of his frat brothers, chucking a ball about and chatting. They were all casually dressed, mostly in some form of active wear. All five of the guys had athletic builds, some more lean and wirey, some with a bit more heft. Jace realised with some disquiet than he was the shortest of all of them - the others guys must have all easily been over six foot, so part of him felt a bit intimidated when they all crowded around him. He reminded himself, with some pride, that although the other guys were taller, he was the most muscular. He could probably bench press and squat way more than these lanky fuckers! He was also the hairiest, had the best arms, and probably had the biggest dick of all of them! He was damn proud of his body, of the unit he had put together.
One of the biggest guys who almost rivalled him in bulk - a black linebacker Kyle - held his nose performatively when Jace got close. "Dude, you fuckin' reek. You still wearing that same shit you wore to the gym this morning? You ever gonna fucking change?" Jace just smiled; he hadn't even noticed he was still in the same clothes, the top still damp with sweat and the sweatpants (he now noticed awkwardly) with a dried cum stain down the right leg. He knew Kyle was just joking though, he was his friend! Jace played along. "Haha, it saves on washing man! I even more this stuff to a tutoring session this morning!" The other guys paused, looking baffled and bemused. Kyle laughed "Jace, what the fuck were you doing at a tutoring session this morning?" Jace looked around, seeing his friends looking confused. "For... Ancient Greek. I came top of the class last year" Jace tailed out sheepishly. With that, the other guys exploded with laughter. Jace felt put out my this, was it so surprising that he studied Ancient Greek? Kyle clapped Jace on the shoulder. "Dude, who are you kidding, you can barely read English let alone Ancient Greek! What the fuck are you doing trying to learn that shit?"
Jace was getting pissed off now - he wasn't this fucking dumb idiot everyone assumed! He was smart! "Well, it's my major!" he shouted back. The blonde swimmer, Billy, looked concerned now, and approached Jace. "Jace, you know that your major is sports science right? That's the only course the school would let you in on and you're flunking that, even with our help. You can't just switch to something else." Jace tried to think, but his head felt tight and muffled. Maybe Billy was right, maybe Ancient Greek was over his head. And at least with sports science, it was taught in the school gym building. He guessed that he was there pretty much all the time anyway!
From the recesses of Jace's mind, a shout of protest echoed out. That wasn't right, he had studied classics, he knew all shit, and he hadn't ever set for in the college gym before! If he stayed in this life, is this who he would become? Jace didn't even know if this guy he was now had parents, or family, or a girlfriend. And all these guys acting like they were his friends, he hadn't even existed before today. Jace could feel himself getting worked up, getting angsty, and as if on cue, Billy came over and gently put his arm around Jace. "Look Jace, I know you sometimes don't feel great about, you know... not always being the smartest in the room. But you're a fucking beast on the mat right? That's what matters." Jace couldn't help but nod along - Billy, who loomed over him, was so smart, so confident. And he was right, he was a fucking beast on the mat. He could take down any of these guys, easy. He smiled, and Billy ruffled his hair. Jace felt comforted, felt protected. He almost felt like he was their little brother, even though they were all the same age.
The guys started throwing the ball around again, chatting away as they did so - about classes, about girls, about sports. Jace for the most kept quiet, just happy to be hanging out with these guys. It helped take his mind of his problems, even if he didn't always understand what the guys were on about - two of the guys got in a heated argument about the economy which was completely over his head - but he was increasingly finding that he didn't care. The guys would chat with him, speaking slowly and asking him simple questions about wrestling, about whether he had had any luck with girls, whether he had been to any parties. Jace just made up answers, but they seemed to believe him. He enjoyed being part of the group, being looked after. It felt easy. Soon, he and some of the guys had taken their tops off. Jace relished the opportunity to show off his hairy, built torso, and couldn't help but admire his arms as he threw and caught the ball. Being out here in the sun with his bros, his worries about Ancient Greek, Simon, the app and being Josh faded away. He felt strong, he felt good. Sure, he wasn't the brightest guy any more, but had being smart as Josh made him happy? He had been unemployed with no solid goals. Why was he in such a rush to get back?
Billy broke Jace's concentration. "Wait, dude, aren't you supposed to be at practice? You haven't forgotten again have you?" Jace paused. Shit, had he? Honestly, he couldn't remember shit. Billy laughed, "bro, you better get down there. I don't want your fucking coach shouting at us again to keep you in line!" Jace panicked, started to run inside, hearing Billy shout after him "and remember your gear this time!" Jace bundled up the stairs and ran into his room. He was, despite everything, excited. Excited to try out this body for real, excited to see what this life had in store for him. He stripped out of his sweats - giving himself a quick wink in the mirror - and grabbed a random jock strap from the floor, forgetting that he had used it as a cum rag just an hour earlier. He found a singlet on the ground which - at least to Jace's mind - seemed clean enough. He was only gonna sweat in it anyway! The singlet fit perfectly, exenuating his muscular body and highlighting hairy pecs. Even though he was in a rush, Jace couldn't help but flex in the mirror - he looked fucking good. Jace knew that, deep down, this short king, stocky frat boy wasn't him, that he shouldn't be wearing a cum-soaked jock strap or a used singlet, that he shouldn't be excited about training. But he didn't care, this felt good.
Jace grabbed his phone to pull up directions to the gym but his phone was still stuck on the TaskRaccoon app, on that stupid tutoring task. He was over that now, he didn't need any more tutoring. He just wanted to make it to his wrestling practice and grapple some guys, work up a sweat. But Jace, clumsily pawing at the app with his thick fingers, couldn't close it, couldn't pull up Google Maps. He kept getting the same prompt, some shit about a penalty if he backed out of the task. Jace knew he shouldn't, knew that something bad could happen, but right now he didn't care. He felt best when he let this new body take over and not overthink things. Gazing at himself and smirking in the mirror, he cancelled the task and was overcome with a blinding white light.