The Nerd and The Gym Rat - Part 1

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Part 1/2

The day he came into the gym, I had to nudge Eddie in the ribs to stop him laughing. It wasn't exactly a cruel laugh, but more of a shocked one. The kid was small, skinny, awkward and uncomfortable, all rolled into one little ball of nerdism.

I could tell by his stuttering and the fact that he couldn't lift his eyes from his own sneakers that the kid wouldn't last five minutes in this gym, not without some help anyway.

"Brandon" I told him, extending a hand.

He shook it gently, and mumbled "Toby".

"Well Toby" I said, "I'll be real with you bro, the guys who train here are either bodybuilders, fighters or dudes who would chew you up for breakfast and shit you out before lunch".

The boy gulped.

"So you can either take your chances, or you can pay for personal training. Your call, kid".

Naturally, I offered my services to everybody who came into the gym, but Toby was the first guy who most certainly needed them. He dug his hand into his pocket, and pulled out a twenty and some change.

"I guess I'll take my chances" he smiled sadly, and Eddie and I watched as he nearly crippled himself on the Smith machine.

"That kids a liability" Eddie growled, and he was correct. Five minutes later, Toby dropped a dumbbell on the foot of a particularly large weightlifter, and it took the two of us to keep him from pummelling the little nerd.

"Alright listen" I said, when he finally stopped shaking, "I'll help you out, but you've got to stop being so... Awkward".

He looked up at me with his big blue eyes and shrugged. "I don't have any money".

"Well either I teach you how to not kill yourself, or I pay for your funeral when you do, so either way you're costing me money, kid".

It had been almost three months since that day, and admittedly, I'd grown rather fond of Toby. He followed me around the gym like a lost puppy, and asked so many questions that my brain would seize up, but he was a good kid.

He'd turned eighteen just before he joined, and from what I'd gathered, he had a pretty tough life in school and out. His dad was a cop, and a giant douchebag according to Toby, and some rumours had been spread around his school about him a few years prior which had stuck, and made his life pretty miserable ever since.

It was easy to see that the kid lacked confidence, and as well as he was doing in the gym, he still remained sheepishly quiet outside of it.

I can't say I had anything in common with him, other than the fact that both of our dads were assholes, because I'd always been a very outgoing guy. I was twenty-nine, worked full time in the gym and did pretty well for myself. Without sounding cocky, I knew I was a good looking guy. I looked after myself, physically and otherwise, and never had a problem getting my needs met. I guess I had that surfer look, if surfers spent every waking minute grafting in the gym, of course.

He didn't live too far from me, and one evening when he was leaving the gym, I heard a commotion outside and found him being cornered by a bunch of loser jocks. He didn't want to talk about it, so we didn't, but I'd been driving him home ever since.

"You gonna' go to college?" I asked him one night as we locked up and got in the car.

"I guess" he shrugged.

"You guess? Dude, you're smart, don't waste it by hanging around here for the rest of your life". He was smart, very smart in fact.

"You're making good progress" I told him as we drove, "I think I even noticed some abs coming through, huh?"

His cheeks flashed red as he squirmed in the seat.

"You'll have the chicks flooding you when you get to college, especially if you keep working out" I nodded, and it was true.

Toby was a handsome kid, though he refused to let anybody see that. I'd caught him through the mirrors a few times, and more recently as of late. The more he was looking after himself, the more striking he was becoming.

"You have to be able to back it up, though!" I laughed, "so you better be practicing your moves". I jerked my hips forward with a grin, but Toby cringed harder.

"What?" I asked, "ohh... You take them from the bottom, huh? Well that's good too, chicks love being in control, it's like they–"

"I'm a virgin" he said, and stared out the window.

I did a double take. There was nothing wrong with being a virgin of course, but I just assumed that every guy his age had fucked someone. Even if it was a pity fuck.

"Oh" I nodded, "yeah, well I mean... That's cool"

"No it's not" he sighed, refusing to look back at me.

"Dude, sex isn't everything" I said, and now I was the one squirming.

"Isn't it?" He scoffed.

"Well yeah, I mean it's pretty good, but you'll find the right girl eventually".

"I don't want..." His voice trailed off, and suddenly it all made sense.

I stared at the side of his head. Part of me wanted to laugh. Not because I was making fun of him, but because I'd tortured the poor kid for months by forcing him to listen to mostly Eddie droning on about girls.

"You're gay" I said, rather than asked, and he audibly groaned.

"I said you're gay" I laughed, "not that you're dying. What's the problem?"

Toby shot me a quick glance, and returned his eyes to the usual spot on his shoes.

"Fuck this" I snapped, pulling over to the side of the road.

I reached over, grabbed his chin and turned his head toward me. Our eyes locked, though he could hardly keep contact.

"Say it" I said to him sternly, "say it out loud".

"Say what?" he sighed.

"Say my name is Toby Ryan and I'm gay".

He looked at me like I'd punched him in the nose, and pulled his head away.

"Just bring me home, please" he growled.

"Not until you say it".

"Brandon!" He hissed, "I want to go home!"

"And I want to hear you admit this big bad secret that you've been carrying around on your shoulders all this time".

The teen slumped back in the chair and sighed loudly.

"My name is Toby Ryan and I'm... I'm..."

"Go on" I urged.

"Gay" he mumbled so low that even he couldn't hear it.

"Good" I nodded, driving again, "because so am I".