8:05 AM
An hour and a half later, Jay pulled in to school in his well-worn truck. As he stepped out, he caught a glimpse of himself in his side mirror. His stubble and sculpted itself into a somewhat scruffy chin goatee. He gave it a stroke before heading inside the building.
What he saw inside made his heart skip a beat. And her name was Katherine.
Katherine Lockheart. She was the standard that all the other girls in school were based upon. She was who all the boys wanted to date. The best part was, she didn't even seem to know it. She didn't seem to care about cliches or popularity hierarchies. She was kind, sweet, and was always the first to offer help when asked for. An angel walking upon the face of the Earth. Or, at least a world created as a simulation by the Chronivac. And it was she that Jay had dropped his exercise regime for.
Jay's "memories" of Katherine, or Kat to her friends, flooded back to him. He had been determined to get Katherine to go out with him. However, there was one catch: she only like guys with... "extra padding." The more, the better. It was something Jay had observed when she turned him down for a date, but turned around and went out with one the football team's linebackers. Jay had simply been in too good of shape for her. So Jay had gone and, to the horror of his football coach, cut back on his exercises. A lot. He'd also made some adjustments to his diet, hoping his family genes would kick in and give him some cushioning Kat would go for.
Jay watched as she smiled her perfect teeth at a group of boys who practically swooned for her as she walked by. Her perfectly blue eyes met Jay's and her smile grew wider.
"Hi, Jay," she said as she walked by.
Jay remained silent, lost for words. He watched her walk away until she turned a corner and vanished. It was only then he realized he'd been holding his breath.
"Whew," Jay sighed, breathing out again. As he did, he felt his stomach press against the waistline of his pants. He looked down to see his lack of exercise and high-fat diet seemed to have been working, as he could see his stomach was now definitely round, rather than straight, and pushed outward slightly on the fabric of his shirt. He briefly worried about purposely letting himself get out of shape, especially when he was so young. But then he remembered the way Kat had just looked at him and decided anything would be worth that.
"Uh, Jay? You coming to class or what?"
"Huh?" Jay looked over to one of the lockers to see Matt, one of his friends from elementary school who had apparently aged along with him. "Oh, yeah! Coming." The pair began walking down the hall.
Matt smirked and pointed at the beginnings of Jay's gut. "Trying to get to Kat, I see?"
Jay grinned. "You bet. I have the genes for it, so it shouldn't be too hard."
Matt laughed and pointed at Jay's hairline. "Hah! That's not all you have the genes for. Just be careful, okay? I don't want to see you hurt yourself. Katherine may be pretty, but she doesn't keep boyfriends. Besides, you're our team player. The couch is already blowing a gasket over..." Matt motioned back to Jay's stomach, "...that!"
Jay shook his head. "Don't worry about me. Besides, I can loose it all again before season starts back up."
Matt quirked an eyebrow incredulously. "You sure? It's a lot harder to lose than to gain, y'know."
"I know, Matt," Jay replied, annoyed. "Really, you need to stop worrying. You're like my Dad!"
With that, the bell rang as the two entered home room and took their seats.