New ongoing story - New Life

[phil123]

The story changes and I would like to read what happens next.

[El_Roy_1999]

To Ava’s surprise, it was a rather short drive and they ended up at an all-you-can-eat buffet. It wasn’t too classy, but the bodybuilders didn’t care. Instead, they just stormed in, paid and started shoveling food on their plates. It was crazy. Ava was still on a diet, and she could understand that they all wanted to just relax, but this was a little excessive for her tastes.
She watched as the three musclewomen stuffed themselves, laughing, drinking and generally being merry. Pauline asked:
“Not hungry?”
“I’m on a diet. Sorry.”
“Screw this! Tonight, we dine in … Ellie’s All You Can Eat!”
Marla leaned over to her and said:
“She literally makes this joke every time we get here. Every fucking time.”
“And it never gets old! God, girl, I gotta stay in shape all year round. So once a year, I get my awesome ‘I don’t fucking care’ evening. And that is today!”
Ava agreed. Now she was getting hungry herself. Whatever. She went and got herself something from the buffet. Nothing too deep-fried.
Once she was eating, Tara asked:
“So your mom tried the bikini division?”
Ava nodded. Pauline laughed:
“Wow. Remember? That was like forever ago!”
The other musclewomen joined in.
“Oh yes. We were all tiny.”
“I seriously thought I was going to be a fashion model back then …”
“Yeah, no. Girl, you were too big even at that time. But you did well …”
She slapped her friend’s muscular back. Then they turned to Ava:
“So, what do you think? Will your mom stick to it?”

[El_Roy_1999]

Ava shrugged.
“I don’t know. I guess so. My dad died of a heart attack and she looked as if she was going to be right next. Then she changed everything and now look at her.”
The musclewomen nodded. That was impressive.
“And how about you? Got any plans?”
The young woman scowled:
“Hey! I already lost a lot of weight! I’ve been training hard and eating right all summer long.”
The athletes looked at each other, then they started pounding on the table and shouting “Flex! Flex! Flex!”.
The waitress rolled her eyes. Thankfully, the place was quite empty at this hour, so there were almost no other patrons that could get annoyed by the noise. Ava, on the other hand, blushed. She turned a very deep crimson and made calming gestures, but since the others wouldn’t stop, she reluctantly took off her jacket and rolled up her sleeve.
As she lifted her arm, the bodybuilders made a rising “Whoo …”-sound. She got even more embarrassed. Then she flexed her arm.
“Ooh … Yeah!”
The three musclewomen laughed and high-fived. Then they nodded:
“Looking good. Nice!”
She couldn’t say whether they were making fun of her, but there was a bit of a lump on her arm and she knew that it was quite hard. Of course, she was nowhere near their size, but then, she didn’t need to.
Tara said:
“Impressive. Two months is a really short time to build a good physique if you start with nothing. Especially if you do it naturally.”
Then they all laughed.

[El_Roy_1999]

“What’s so funny?”
“Seriously? In that business, pretty much everyone is on drugs. You don’t get that big unless you have really strange genetics or you get shot up with a ton of stuff.”
Marla butted in:
“Yeah. I mean, my shopping list looks like a clinic’s sometimes. So much stuff … I still wonder how I do it without just dying!”
She guffawed. Ava was a little shocked. She knew about the steroids and growth hormones and everything. Sure. But she hadn’t expected the bodybuilders to be so open about them.
“But isn’t that dangerous?”
“Sure, but so is driving. You have to know the risks. And you have to trust the right people. If your mom wants to make it big and win a title, she’ll have to go down that way.”
Somehow, that didn’t sit well with Ava. Wasn’t that cheating? And there were side-effects. She had heard some of the bigger bodybuilders talk on videos and the voices had been very deep. Like men’s. Even deeper sometimes. She certainly didn’t want her mom to go down this route.
Pauline had already moved on in the conversation:
“So, what do we do now? The usual, or do we do something intelligent for once?”
Ava asked:
“What would that be?”
“I dunno. Usually, we end up at a strip club and we stay there until they throw us out. We’re regulars at a place around here and I think they’re starting to warm up to us.”
Tara rolled her eyes:
“In your dreams … Last time, she had an arm-wrestling match with the bouncer. Poor guy.”
Marla laughed:
“So it’s settled. Time to get that guy for a second round!”
They cheered. Ava was starting to feel really uncomfortable.

[El_Roy_1999]

“Okay … This might just be too much for me tonight.”
Ava got up. She was stuffed and she did feel tired. Somehow, she had expected to be more comfortable around those women.
Pauline cocked an eyebrow:
“You sure about that? Just come with us! It’s fun!”
Marla chimed in:
“Yeah! We’re going to show you how to party. This will be awesome!”
The young woman shook her head.
“I’m sorry. This was nice and I hope to see you again at the next competition, but … Maybe it’s for the best not to overdo it on the first outing.”
Marla scoffed:
“Seriously? Wow. Teenagers nowadays are so much more responsible! Remember us?”
Pauline chuckled:
“Hey, at least we haven’t set anything on fire yet!”
They laughed out loud. Tara rolled her eyes and got up too.
“I’m walking you to the bus station. This place can be a bit scary at that hour.”
Ava nodded and thanked her. Then she said goodbye to the other bodybuilders and stepped outside with Tara. The air was warm from the day, but it was obvious that the summer was over again. It never lasted long in these parts.
They left the restaurant and walked down the street together. The other restaurants and bars around here were loud and bright. This place was so different from Ava’s hometown, it almost made her wonder how that happened. At this time, there would be no one on the street, just grey walls and maybe some wild animals coming in the town to raid the dumpsters. She stayed close to Tara as they walked past a few loud, very drunk teenagers.

[El_Roy_1999]

“Hey, look at her! That woman, she’s like, super buff! Hey, lady, you been working out?”
Tara smiled vaguely and continued. She mumbled something of an affirmation, then went on quickly.
“Hey! Hey! You!” The young man stumbled in their direction and ended up right in front of them. “You. Yes, you.” He pointed at Tara’s shoulder and said: “You’re cool. I really like it when a woman has … like … yeah. Muscles! Like you.” He burped. “Yeah. That’s it. That’s it.”
Ava and Tara maneuvered around him and managed to evade him, just leaving him standing there. He might have said something else, but they were already far away.
After a moment, Ava sighed:
“Thank you. It’s nice that you’ve been accompanying me.”
“Don’t mention it. We all have to be careful nowadays.”
They walked in silence for a while, then Tara said:
“Don’t let the others intimidate you. They can be annoying, but they’re nice. Deep down. When they’re on their cycles or when they just finished a hard diet, they can be very jocky.”
“And you?”
“Me too. But right now, I’m just happy it’s over.”
“I can understand. Mom was getting really cranky lately.”
“What can I say, it’s a strange sport. But it certainly pays off. If you want to get into it, just ask us. We’re eager to help.”
“So I’ll be one of you?”
Tara laughed and did the voice:
“One of us! One of us!”
Ava grinned and they reached the bus station. They embraced and Ava said:
“Have fun!”
“Oh, we certainly are. It’s your loss, really. But I’m going to send you some pics!”
They kissed each other’s cheeks and Tara left. Ava stayed at the stop and waited.

[El_Roy_1999]

Finally, she had a moment of calm to herself. She sat on the bench, looking at the sky and taking deep, relaxed breaths. This was a fine night after all. Her mom’s success was great, meeting those weirdos had been nice and, well, eye-opening and all in all, this was a fascinating way to finish the summer break. Now she just had to spend some time with Jaden and everything would be great …
That’s when she remembered the backpack. She decided that this was the best moment to find out where that stink came from. She could probably just get whatever thing had rotted in there and be rid of it and it would be far away from home. Not stinking up her apartment was certainly a perk of this situation.
She pulled back the zipper and opened the pack. Hm. The smell was disgusting. She hesitated. Why not throw away the entire bag? It wasn’t as if she was using that thing much …
She gritted her teeth and peeked inside.
Yuck.
The smell was overwhelming and there was something gooey inside. She hesitated. Maybe she should just dump the whole backpack and be done with it. Even if she found whatever was stinking in there, would she really consider using it again?
She stopped, took a handkerchief from her pocket and reached inside. She found something soft and squishy and groaned. At least, it wasn’t wet. Instead, her fingers touched some porous lump in there. She gagged. The smell only got worse. Better be done quickly.

[El_Roy_1999]

Ava pinched the lump with her fingers and pulled it out fast. It detached from the plastic insides with a smacking sound and she brought it to the neon light above her. It was a blackened lump of whatever organic material this had been before.
She felt a shiver run down her spine. This thing was disgusting and the stench was eye-watering. The young woman got up and walked over to the bin. She should just toss it in there and be rid of it. As long as it didn’t do anything funny …
The peach.
That lump was the peach she had found on that weird tree down in the building!
The sudden realization made her drop it and she almost tried to catch it before pulling back. It hit the tarmac and broke open in a cloud of black dust. The motes stayed in the air for a while, gently floating to the ground. Somehow, the smell was gone.
As the dust settled, she saw some white thing lie in the remains. She wasn’t certain, but it looked … alive. Or at least like a kind of living being. She just couldn’t say what kind of animal or plant it was supposed to be.
The thing was oblong, with several white appendages, some long and spindly, others thick and covered in dimples. There was something like a row of bumps or horns on it. If anything, it looked like a kind of deep-sea creature pulled up to the world above. And then, it moved.

[El_Roy_1999]

Ava’s shriek was probably heard all over town. She stared at the ugly clump of white goo. The thing jerked and twitched, then it pushed itself along the ground. Just watching it was incredibly gross. It had this weird way of moving, looking part alive and part dead. Whenever it contracted itself to flop along a little further, white knobs and tendrils shot out, split up and were reabsorbed into it.
The young woman watched it with growing disgust. That thing was so incredibly awful, she really didn’t know what to do. She just felt sick. On the other hand, she couldn’t take her eyes of it either.
After a while, she said half to herself:
“What the hell are you? I’ve never seen anything like that. And why was it in that peach? Something like a worm?”
The thing eventually reached a crumpled soft-drink can and pulled itself inside. In a sudden moment of curiosity, Ava grabbed the can from within a plastic bag and dropped it inside. She quickly knotted the bag and took a deep breath now that the smell was somewhat isolated.
Okay. That thing was super creepy. She really had no idea what to make of it. Maybe she should show it to Jaden?
She definitely should find someone to analyze it. If Jaden was just as clueless as her, she could bring it to the university and show it to some of the professors. They could tell probably tell her more. At least she hoped that there was some way of dealing with that disgusting thing.

[El_Roy_1999]

Ava finally reached her apartment. The bus got stuck in a traffic jam and the way from the stop to the cramped building which she shared with oh so many other students had been a chore, complete with the streets getting broken up by construction workers and masses of people running around aimlessly. Still, she wasn’t tired. Instead, she felt excited. The young woman unlocked the door and let herself in, immediately running into Milla, her roommate. She was a slim woman with long curly brown hair and tanned skin. She had clearly indulged in her love of piercings again, her earlobes now stretched to over an inch. She also sported a ring in her septum. With her wrappy outfits, she always looked a bit like some exotic fantasy queen. As she heard her friend come in, she turned around in a flourish and jumped at her.
“Hey, Ava! You’re back! Cool!” She released her from the sudden embrace, took a step back and looked at her: “Whoa, girl. What happened? Did you lose some weight? Nah. A lot of weight?”
Ava nodded proudly.
“I did. And I’m going to continue to do it. You like the look?”
“Girl, you know me: I loved you before, I love you now. But it does look good on you.”
Ava laughed and embraced her, lifting and twirling her. Milla got all dizzy.
“Wow. You’re strong. Just what exactly happened at your place?”
“You wouldn’t believe it.”
“Try me.”
“My mom got into bodybuilding.”
“Okay. I don’t believe you. Pics, or it didn’t happen.”

[El_Roy_1999]

A moment later, they were sitting on the couch-slash-bed in Ava’s tiny room.
“Okay. Pics. It did happen. I can’t believe it. She looks crazy. But crazy good. I never knew those people were real, you know? I always thought this was just clever lighting and editing.”
“It’s hard work.”
“And you did it too?”
“I did, but I still have a long way to go. I had two months, she has been working out for maybe a year.”
Milla grinned.
“You know what you gotta do? You have to train hard and get bigger than her. This way, you can surprise your mom.”
Ava made a stupid face.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah! This way, you can go ‘Guess who picked up the freshmen fifteen!’. And then, you flex your arms.”
Milla did and her tiny upper arms looked exactly the same. Ava shook her head.
“I don’t know about that …”
“It was just a joke. Although … I’d like to have a strong friend. There’s always so much to carry!”
“Hey, just because I trained a little doesn’t mean I was weak before. Also, I’m not supposed to do all your carrying anyway.”
“But you could …”
Ava rolled her eyes.
“Whatever …” She decided to change the subject. “So you got your nose pierced?”
Milla craned her neck.
“Yeah! Do you like it? I also got some others, but … They’re a little more secret.”
Ava blushed and asked:
“What exactly?”
“Oh, just my nipples … And my … You know …”
“Seriously? But didn’t that hurt?”
“Sure. But now that it’s all healed, it’s great fun. I can’t wait showing them to Ewan.”

[El_Roy_1999]

Over the next days, Ava settled in again. Classes started and she found herself being very busy. Now it turned out that ignoring her notes during the summer had left her with some trouble to keep up. She had to spend quite some time revising last year’s lessons and didn’t really find any time for anything. At the same time, Milla was spending a lot of time with the girls from her sorority and with all those guys she brought home. This made learning even harder. The constant noise was hard to bear and Ava found it difficult to think straight.
She had to find a way to clear her mind.
Ava sneaked out, evading the grunts and moans from Milla’s room and went on a walk. If she could just think for herself, things would certainly fall into place. That’s when she found herself walking briskly over the campus. Her walk turned into a jog, and soon, she was running. She wasn’t wearing the right shoes or clothes for this, but she liked the sudden freedom. After a fifteen minute run that left her sweaty and out of breath, she realized she had to train again. Even if that meant losing time for studying, she had to look after her body.
The young woman breathed deeply, then looked at herself in the reflection in the library window. She was losing her shape again. She shook her head. Not again.
So, without further debate, she headed for the university gym.

[El_Roy_1999]

The place was quite crowded. As she later understood, this was normal at the start of the term. The various teams recruited members over this week. Later on, it would thin out until only the professionals and those with scholarships remained. Ava looked around, running into a few people from her classes and some she already knew from last year. As far as she could tell, most students joined some sports team and focused on that. When she saw just how much training was scheduled, she hesitated. She wanted to focus on her studies and find out more about that ugly blob of slime. That would take up a lot of her time.
Honestly, she wanted to continue what she had started at her mom’s place. It would be best if she had that food too. Not cooking for herself had been great. She looked around. Maybe they had a bodybuilding section?
Surprisingly, it took her a moment to find it. She had expected it to be crowded with people, but actually, the team’s stand was mostly deserted. Two big hulking guys were sitting behind a table, watching their phones. They were wearing tank-tops and they were very buff. There was a rather simple banner on top which proclaimed that this was the place to get swole, but other than that, they didn’t advertise much. While the other stalls included folders and even tablets that showed self-made image videos, there was just a rather sad plastic trophy, declaring that the school team had won the third place in the regional section.
Ava was pretty sure that those guys would leave her alone when needed.

[El_Roy_1999]

She walked up to them and waited for them to notice her. That didn’t happen. Instead, the pair just sat there and continued scrolling on their phones. She waited some more, but nothing. Eventually, she grew tired of it and cleared her throat.
“Ahem.”
Neither looked up. Instead, one of them mumbled:
“Gesundheit.”
The other one commented:
“Dude, you don’t ‘Gesundheit’ people when they clear their throat. You only do that when they sneeze.”
“Oh. Sorry. Man, I really just say it every time somebody makes one of these noises. It works best, I guess?”
“Yeah, dude, but you’re doing it wrong. That’s impolite.”
Ava rolled her eyes and said:
“It’s also impolite when you don’t even notice people right in front of you.”
The second guy said:
“That’s right. Damn it, Kemal, you have to watch your manners.”
The first man sighed, put down his phone and looked at Ava.
“Yes?”
“You’re the bodybuilders, right?”
The young man grinned and flexed his arms. They were quite impressive:
“Damn straight! I’m Kemal and this is Tobie! We’re the founders and only members of the club. There was one before, I guess, since that’s where they got the trophy from, but … Anyway, we’re the swolest guys on campus. Yeah!”
Tobie got up and showed off his lat spread.
“Nice, huh? We’re awesome!”
They high-fived. Ava started having second thoughts about all this. She also realized they were only a little taller than her, if at all.
“Okay … So, boys, I’d like to join up.”
“What?”

[El_Roy_1999]

“Seriously?” The pair couldn’t believe her.
“Why would you want to? I mean, we’re bodybuilders! We’re just going to pump iron and grow swole!”
Ava shrugged.
“Well, that’s kinda what I want too, so …”
Kemal couldn’t understand her:
“This is not some kind of a joke, is it? Or a prank?”
He turned to an invisible audience and declared:
“Very funny! Yeah! Make fun of the stupid muscleheads!”
Ava rolled her eyes:
“Guys, please. I’ve been working hard over the summer to get fit and to lose some weight. My mom made third place at a bikini competition and I really need to be stronger and tougher. So, are you going to help me or not?”
Tobie grinned:
“Got a picture of your mom?”
Kemal joined in:
“Yeah. Pics or it didn’t happen!”
Ava groaned:
“Just how old are you? Twelve?”
“Hey! That was uncalled for!”
The young woman sighed:
“Listen, I’m really having second thoughts here. Is this some kind of test, like in those Kung Fu movies, or are you really that stupid?”
At last, a little bit of sense seemed to creep into Tobie’s and Kemal’s minds and they said:
“Okay. Sorry about that. You can sign up here …” They handed her a slip of paper that was yellowed and ancient. It was probably still from that ancient bodybuilding club. Once she was done, Kemal added: “And you can come and join us for daily practice whenever you want. I mean, we’re three people now, we can just set things up the way we like them!”
Tobie held out his hand:
“Welcome to the club, Ava!”
She shook it vigorously.