Page 48 of My Cosplay Escape
“Why don’t you go staff the floor?” Alice says. “I can handle the front desk.”
“You sure?” I ask.
“The air is better up here, and you are too young for hot flashes. I am sure. Go do some stretches and mind the cobwebs.”
Alice is right. It is a tomb. The Kids Club closed for the night ages ago. Everyone is at the beach, in a pool, opening their freezer drawer for the seven hundredth Popsicle. I’d sleep in a freezer tonight, if it were an option.
I am so tense. I didn’t have time to stretch after my run this morning. And more than anything, I want to stop sweating. Glancing quickly around the empty gym, I peel off my sticky polo and grab the TRX bands and lean hard into them. In my neon green sports bra, I feel mildly better. The fan oscillates air over my sweaty body. Maybe on my break, I can run down to the pier and dive into the ocean. I loop the bands onto my feet and rotate into a supported downward dog of sorts. I groan appreciatively as the stretch finally settles into my back.
Alice’s signature red sneakers come into my line of sight. “Sarah, this member has some questions about the free weights.”
I notice a pair of Vans sidle into view. “And those straps she’s using,” says a familiar voice.
I wince and freeze. More like I wince and fall on my shoulder.
“You okay?” Alice asks.
Adam helps me back to my feet before I can bark at him that I’m fine. “Yeah. I’ll show Adam around.”
“Oh.” Alice’s eyebrows dance up. “You two know each other.”
Adam says “Yes” at the same time I say “Not really.”
Alice nods but looks smug as she walks back to the front desk.
I grab my sweaty shirt and pull it on. Goldfish, of all the days to wear a neon sports bra. “What do you want?” I say, glaring at Adam. Trying to glare. It’s hard to glare at anyone when you know they’ve just seen your belly button.
Adam ignores the question. “So… you really do work here.”
“Of course I work here.” I refasten the straps to a higher bracket and hand them to Adam. “Take a step forward.”
He does. “I came to say I’m sorry—”
“Lean back,” I command, pushing his chest. “Arms straight.” What is wrong with me? Why am I finding excuses to touch him?
“—and ask if you’d like to grab a drink with me after work.”
It’s my turn to ignore him. “Pull yourself up. Ten reps. Quick as you can.”
“How about that drink?” Adam asks on rep seven of his TRX pull-ups.
“How about never?” I pull the bands and adjust them. “Side squats.”
“I don’t need TRX bands for squats,” Adam says.
I take personal offense at that. I toss a band back and adjust the height of the single band to my size. I slip my right leg in and squat low, with my right leg swinging straight out in a perfect right angle. “You try,” I say, handing him the band.
“How about a movie? Dinner? Another run?”
“Are you trying to get me expelled?”
“I’m trying to tell you that I’m no longer an Econ 101 TA. I switched with a buddy. I’m helping out with Econ 450, if you want to find me there.”
I am slightly grumpy that he can do the move. Not effortlessly like me, but he can do it. “Other leg,” I tell him.
“How ’bout it, Saire?”
I’m trying to process what he said. He switched sections. Did he do it for me? Did he do it to avoid further ugliness? How do I even feel about this?
