WRITER IN THE GYM
February 18th 2008 15:41
Everyone’s been wanting to go to the gym lately. If I want to hang out with anyone, it has to be at the gym.
“Come meet me at the gym,” Jude said.
“But I’m drunk,” I said.
I got a seven day free gym pass from Jude. I’ve been getting a lot of seven day free gym passes from friends who go to the gym. I watch them run on the treadmill and do weights.
I’ve got this little fur ball of anxiety lodged in my throat. I’ve sent my manuscript to Ellis. Before the accident with his daughter, he said that he could show my manuscript to a friend from a publishing house, and he was sure that I'd be published. I don’t know what the situation is anymore, so I also sent copies of my manuscript to a bunch of other places. Everyone’s been telling me to expect rejection the first few times round. But I can be a special case, right?
Yesterday, at the gym, Jude kept staring at the girl who used the bicycle. Her name was Sarah. Actually, her name wasn’t Sarah, I just made that up. But it could’ve been Sarah. She ended up telling us her name, but I forgot. Maybe her name is Sarah. I don’t know. The gym's an arsehole.
Sarah looked at me. “Is he drunk?” She asked Jude.
“Yes,” I said.
“He thinks he’s a writer,” Jude said.
“Oh.” Sarah felt that she needed to add something to the “Oh,” so she added, “I don’t read books. My cousin’s gay.”
I saw this big man on the treadmill, white iPod earphones jammed into his ears, jogging for his life. I wondered what made him want jog for his life now, and not before, not after. I remembered the day Vail took me to buy gym clothes with her. Her shoes cost four hundred dollars.
There was a poster on the wall: a smiling, happy, thin girl and the words: GAIN CONFIDENCE WITH OUR ONE YEAR MEMBERSHIP – NO SIGNING UP FEE smacked on top of her.
Jude got Sarah’s number. Afterwards we drove to South Bank and made a few jokes, had a few coffees, had a few beers, watched movie previews. I went home. I looked at the mirror while I swayed around. I sat on my bed and stared at the wall. I looked at my laptop and it looked back at me. I lay down on my bed. I grunted. My phone rang and I fell asleep.
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'If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself."
I hate gyms, the smell of sweat and perving guys ... must be the most booring place on the planet.
Comment by Always Eighteen
Always Eighteen
Yeah, and maybe I'll gain less alcohol and more muscle
Comment by Always Eighteen
Always Eighteen
Hahahahaha was he being a smartass, or was he serious about it?
I kind of want to die young, so I'm thinking I'll start my unhealthy diet when I'm about thirty.