Lindsay and Nadia. BFFs

[rugbyguy39]

Freshman year Part Seven: A surprisingly hot October Saturday at the lake.

   It was one of those magical days that can only happen in the fall close to the Canadian border. A freak high-pressure area had settled against the mountains and created temperatures in the high 70's (F). The cloudless sky was a crystalline blue and seemed to reach up without limit. The sun was bright and soft at the same time and the air was crisp and warm.
   
   Carley came up out of the lake like a Polaris missile. "Waaaaahhoooo!" she yelled as she arched over the water, the sun gleaming off her soccer-hardened body. Hanging around an amazon goddess and a walking anatomy chart tended to limit the amount of attention Carley got from others. Left on her own, however, people - especially people with Y Chromosomes quickly noticed her.
   
   Carley stood 5'7", most of which seemed to be legs. Years of soccer had hardened her lower body to the point there was no give in anything below her waist. Front or back. Senior boys were constantly talking about the freshman soccer girl with 'the epic ass." And, from a purely architectural standpoint they were not wrong. It was perfect.
As pleasing as her undercarriage was to look at it was even more functional. Carley was the fastest freshman in the school, male or female. She had the best vertical jump of any freshman, male or female. The basketball coach had wasted no time at all recruiting her.
   
   On this rare fall day her body was on full display. The sun was low enough on the horizon that she could expose her skin to the air. Her Scots heritage was obvious, with brilliant red hair, deep brown eyes and freckled skin so white it was almost pale blue. "I don't tan," Carley would say. "I go straight to stroke." That skin was stretched across a toned and solid upper body which was clearly in the last stages of puberty. "Healthy," was the way her mother described her in classic Scots understatement. "Carley's a healthy young girl." Healthy like a racehorse her dad would have added, if he'd been feeling suicidal.

   Carley hit the water about 10 feet from her launch point and submerged. Her feet found the bottom and she rocketed back up to the surface. When she emerged again, it seemed to Billy standing neck deep, that it was in slow motion. Face, solid shoulders, more solid arms, reaching up, dragging the hair off her face and pinning it behind her head, lean biceps slightly flexing, breasts lifted by the motion, water dripping from her top.....

   "Dude? Dude...ah Jesus, Dude." Ryan's voice brought him back to reality.

   "I'm good, I'm good."

   "Focus Dude, there's a lot on the line here," Ryan said. He didn't say what he was thinking at that moment which was 'don't, whatever you do look to my left.' Saying it would guarantee Billy would look and Ryan knew in his bones that if Billy saw even the little bit of Lindsay's glistening, tanned muscularity evident above the waterline it would be several minutes before her would be able to throw Billy off his shoulders.

   The bet was simple, who could throw whom farther. After some negotiations it was determined the best match would be the combined power of Lindsay's body and Carley's legs against the power of Ryan's larger body aided by Billy's lesser weight. The fact it caused a spilt along the gender line just added spice to the contest. At stake: Ice cream bars.

   Carley stood, yards away with mock challenge in her eyes. Maybe not so mock, Ryan thought.

   "Any day now there pigskin," Carley said invoking the football/soccer mockery they had shared for years.

   "Gimmie a second roundball, my eyes need to adjust to the blinding glare coming from that direction."

   "Don't mock a Scot, big guy. You'll pay the price for four generations."

   Ryan turned to Bill and nodded. "K, let's do this."

   He submerged and felt Bill climb on his back. He reached back and put two hands under the butt he knew would there. He lifted Bill up until he felt his feet settle on his shoulders. Ryan set his own feet, raised up a bit and then squatted back down. Billy tapped his head once. Ryan leaned slightly forward and, as they had done for years began a silent three count.

   Once again the lake erupted as a smallish teenage boy exploded out of the water. Billy had timed his jump from Ryan's rising shoulders perfectly and was soaring across the surface of the water like a miniature Superman. He hit the water like a knife, two full feet past where Carley was standing with amazement on her face.

   The lake where he hit was over his head so he had to tread water when he resurfaced.

   "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Lindsay was beside herself in admiration. "BB, you should seriously think about gymnastics, you're a natural in the air."

   "Comes from being thrown around a lot," he laughed.

   Carley was less enthusiastic in her praise. "Looks like I wasted my summer at soccer camp when I should have been coming to guy-throwing practice."

   "It's only a loss if you don't learn something from it roundball," Ryan was grinning. "And what have we learned?"

   "That the fragile male ego is a powerful motivator for one."

   "Damn straight. Bill and I have made our peace with our massive load of insecurities, we're good with it. The important thing is we are careful to only use this power for good."

   Billy swam towards shore, and was first to the four beach towels they had lain under two large Umbrellas. Ryan followed and plopped down just in time for the two girls to be in earshot.
"Pay up." He grinned.

   Lindsay gave a good-natured 'you win' expression, grabbed some money from her beach bag and led Carley to the concession stand.

   "Dude," Ryan said as he watched two extraordinarily fit bodies pad across the sand, "I'm not sure this view isn't the real prize, and the ice cream is just a bonus."

   "Hear you," said Billy who was still, mostly on his stomach craning his neck to look over his shoulder. "We're kinda crossing a line here tho, aren't we?"

   Ryan sighed. "Ya, what do you do when your buddies turn into smokin' hot babes? We're not even talking about Sim who's probably the hottest babe in the whole school. We have a very cool thing with those guys. Best we don't screw it up."

   "For sure. You're totally right on this, but if I'm going to treat Sim like she's just a buddy she's gonna have to start wearing tents or something. I can barely think when she's around."

   "Only enough blood to use one head at a time?"

   "Dude! Really?"

   "Tell me I'm wrong."

   Billy sighed. "You're not wrong. It's driving me crazy too."

   The girls returned with ice-cream bars. The four settled in enjoying the day.

   "So Rye?" - Lindsay's voice.

   "Hmmmmm?"

   "Wanna find out a little?"

   Oh shit. "Find out what?"

   "You know. Let's call it round two."

   Oh shit-fuck. "What do you have in mind?"

   "How about a lift off?"

   Shit-fuck-shit. "How's that gonna work?"

   Lindsay was looking around and then an idea hit her: "We can use Carley."

   "Ya, that's me 'Dead weight MacGreggor," Carley jumped in. "Not like I have feelings, or a brain or anything to contribute outside of 150 lbs of soccer playing body." Turning to Lindsay she asked: "What have you got in mind Buffy?"

   "We could squat you for reps. You lie across our shoulders and we go until we can't."

   "So I'd be a Barbie-bell?"

   "Better than a dumbbell," Billy chipped in.

   "You volunteering BB?" Lindsay asked.

   "No chance. I'll just watch this one."

   "So. Car? You good with this or is the whole idea demeaning? "

   "Hell yes, I'm in. I love it when you two square off."

   Lindsay got up and helped Carley up as well. She surveyed the area in front of the towels until she found a suitably solid spot. She motioned Carley to stand next to her. She had Carley cross her arms across her chest. Lindsay then reached across with her right arm and grabbed the inside of Carley's left arm.

   "Lean in," She said while guiding Carley's body behind her head and across her shoulders. She brought her left hand up and wedged it between Carley's legs. She adjusted her friend until her weight was evenly distributed.  It was an impressive sight as the 5'2" gymnast stood supporting her much larger friend forming a muscular 'T.'

   "K," she looked at Ryan. "Real squats. Your quads have to be parallel to the ground." She turned sideways so that the angle of her legs would be easy to see.

   "Yours don't really have to go that far, Linz," Ryan observed.

   "Which kinda compensates for the fact Car weighs more than I do and a lot less than you."

   "She has a point," Billy offered.

   "Whose side you on?" Ryan asked.

   "Same as always, Truth, justice that stuff."

   "Yo! Dudes! Can we get going here?" Lindsay was standing with a grin on her face.

   "Go for it," Ryan replied.

   Lindsay smoothly lowered herself until her quads were parallel. She bobbed a little below that and rose smoothly back up. It was obvious this took very little effort. The other thing obvious to Billy was the dramatic curve and flex of Lindsay's glutes as they pistoned up and down. He was transfixed and unconsciously started grinding his hips down into his towel.

   "Dude!" Ryan hissed under his breath.

   Damn. Billy caught himself and dragged concentration back from his groin to his skull.

   "Got it. Thanks Bro'."

  "Get a grip."

   "I'm fighting that very impulse actually." Ryan just glared at him "No, I'm good, I got this. But damn...you see this right?"

   "I see it and I'm starting to wonder about my chances."

   "Oh, you're screwed, dude. She's gonna bury you."

   "Thanks for the support."

   "On the plus side you get to have Carley lie on your shoulders."

   "Well, there is that."

   "50!" Lindsay had stopped.

   "What? You done?" There's no way she's done, Ryan thought.

   "No, I'm getting bored, and Carley can use a break. I figure I'll stop here. You do 50, if you can, and if you do we go again."   

   "Fair enough," Ryan agreed. He got up and walked over to the two girls.

   "Gimmie a sec," Carley smiled up at him. She walked over to the umbrellas and grabbed a water. She chugged half of it and put it back in the bag. "Unnnnnh, stiff," she said to no one in particular.

   She took two steps back on to the sand and stopped. She began to do a series of stretches, toe touches and rotations, completely unaware she was right in front of Billy. Lindsay, who had returned to her towel didn't notice, but Ryan saw exactly what was happening to his friend.

   'Ahhhh dude' he thought to himself. 'You are having a rough year.'

   "Hey Car! You good?" Ryan was really thinking about Billy and hoped Carley, who had earned a break, would be ready sooner than later.

   "M'good! The Barbie-bell returns." The look of gratitude and relief on Billy's face was not lost on Ryan.

   Carley set up the same way she did for Lindsay. Ryan reached across and mimicked Lindsay's mounting technique. Having Carley's firm body pressing against the back of his neck and shoulders was not unpleasant, he noticed. 'Focus, dude, focus.'

   Ryan took his time with the first squat. It was no problem, the balance was a little awkward but that got sorted as he did more reps. At 30, he was pretty sure he was going to make 50, but he was also sure it was going to be work. His legs were starting to burn at 40. Trying as hard as he could to make it look easy, Ryan ground out the last few reps.

   "Getting a little shaky there big guy," Carley's voice sang in his ear.

   "No...problem." He managed with a casualness his legs did not share. 50. Ryan slowly pivoted and let Carley dismount.

   "Thanks for the ride Rye," Carley was grinning. "You're a lot more comfortable than Lindsay. Lot more shoulder room." There was a gleam in her eye Ryan was having trouble reading. It really didn't help when she slapped him playfully on the butt on her way to re-hydrate.

   "Linz, I know this is fun and all but I'm not up for another 50 reps on your bumpy super-hard shoulders. Any way we can wrap this up quickly?"

   "I got an idea but if I blow this we're both going for a spill in the sand."

   "I'll risk it, what's the plan?"

   From 15 feet away Ryan could see the two girls whispering, but couldn't hear what they were planning. He could see Billy's head snap and the open-mouthed stare he was directing at Lindsay.

   'Oh boy,' Ryan thought to himself.

   Places changed Ryan was lying next to Billy again while the girls were reloading for more squats. He turned to Billy.

   "So...what?"

   "Dude, if I told you, you won't believe it. Just watch, this should be epic."

   Lindsay had already turned and was going through 10 easy reps apparently as a warm up. On the start of the eleventh she lifted her left foot in the air and pointed her toe straight out. The muscles in her right leg expanded quickly as she slowly lowered herself. It was obvious balance was a battle and the muscles of Lindsay's calf, glute, side and abdomen were now standing out in sharp relief. Still there was no shaking, no lack of control, just tremendous power and concentration working together in mind-numbing harmony.

   "You go girl," Carley whispered in her ear.

   "Nine more to prove a point and then I want to finish with something that will blow them away," Lindsay said.

   "I'm in, what?"

   From their towels Ryan and Billy could see Carley's eyes go wide followed by a flurry of nodding.
Lindsay now extended her right leg and mirrored what she'd done before. Eight more reps, each smoother and more controlled than the last followed.

   "Can you believe this?" Billy asked.

   "Barely, only because we're seeing it. For sure, I know I can't do that. She's just awesome."

   Lindsay was feeling that familiar warm glow she got when all her competitive instincts and power got a chance to converge. She liked being strong and she was discovering she really liked demonstrating it. After the tenth rep she stopped and turned to face the boys.

   "Ready?"

   "Make it happen girl," Carley said as she tightened her core and made herself as rigid as she could.

   Lindsay took a half step forward, dropped a little and then straightened. As she did she drove her arms, and Carley in them up, over her head. She stood there in triumph, legs now shoulder width apart, quads flexed, lats flaring, arms locked, the picture of strength.

   The contrast between the raw power of her body and her beaming happy young feminine face was striking. Billy and Ryan were both stunned by what stood before them. Disbelief, admiration, and desire were swirling through them.

   "So?" Lindsay asked, still holding Carley over her head.

   "Do you give?"

   "I give Linz, you win. Damn that's impressive."

   Lindsay beamed. "I know, right? I wasn't sure I could do it. Damn, I'm so pumped now."

   She gently dropped Carley back on to the sand and then just exploded backward. The impromptu tumbling run she ripped off featured three back hand springs and a summersault. She stuck the landing and then bent forward into a handstand. She then proceeded to walk 30 feet across the beach on her hands back to her initial launch point. The muscles in her back danced every 'step' of the way. She stopped. Lowered herself in an inverted push up and then drove herself straight up with her arms and shoulders. She piked and returned to earth landing perfectly on her feet.

   Carley was standing there grinning and the two guys were shaking their heads in admiration. Carley was the first to notice Lindsay eying her up, as if assessing something.

   "Liiiinnz?"

   "Hmmmmm?"

   "Whatcha thinkin'?"

   "You weigh 150, right?"

   "Yeeeeeess..."

   "Nah, not going to work."

   "What?"

   "I can squat you, I'm sure I can bench you, but I can't curl you."

   "Curl me? Jesus. How much can you curl?"

   "I've done 120, I can probably do more."

   "So. Who weighs about 120?"

   "Well I do."

   "Anyone else come to mind," there was a wicked grin on Carley's face as Lindsay grasped where she was going.

   "Hey Billy!" Both girls said in unison.

   "Run dude," Ryan said. "Run and hide."

   "What?" After that show running was the last thing on Billy's mind.

   "How would you like to help me out?" Lindsay asked.

   As much as Ryan knew whatever Lindsay had planned would not end well for Billy, he also knew there was no stopping it.

   "Sure." Billy had managed to compose himself and sprang up to take Carley's place at Lindsay's side.

   Carley took Billy's next to Ryan.

   "What's she got planned?

   "I think she's going to try to curl him."

   "No way."

   "Way."

   "Well...this will be...interesting." Carley noted the ruefulness in Ryan's comment but didn't press.

   The two looked back out towards the water. Lindsay had Billy in much the same body position Carley was in, but lying in the sand facing her. She squatted, reached down and grabbed him under one arm and between his legs. Ryan could see Billy twitch when her hand made contact. 'Oh shit.'

   Lindsay straightened in a dead-lifting motion until she had Billy braced against her quads. Being literally dragged over her shins and then onto the warm marble of Lindsay's thighs was at the outer limit of Billy's control. He could feel her, warm and hard, rubbing against him. He could feel the inevitable result building. 'God let this be quick,' he thought while knowing, deep down, he wanted this moment to last forever.

   Lindsay was experimenting with the balance and adjusting Billy to get him in the best spot. She bounced him off her quads gently, testing for the ideal start point. The effect on Billy was excruciating. His board shorts were all that stood between him and Lindsay, and they weren't nearly enough to stop what was now inevitable.
Even though Billy's back was to him, Ryan could read the signs. "Oh shit." He said out loud.

   "What," Carley asked.

   "I think you're about to see. We're going to need to talk."

   "What? Why?" And then she looked up.

   "Oh...my...God! Is that...is that...him?"

   Lindsay had finally found the sweet spot and with a final bounce she curled Billy up so that he was at the level of her shoulders. She couldn't see anything other than the back of Billy's board shorts. Carley, on the other hand had a clear view of Billy's front but she was having trouble processing what she was looking at. Despite the impressiveness of Lindsay's feat of strength, Ryan, was focused on the look of sheer panic on his friend's face.

   "Down,down,down!" Billy was pleading.

   "But, I'm just getting warmed up," Lindsay said, basically into his butt.

   "Dammit, Lindsay put me down now!" Billy was in a full-tilt squirm, which was totally ineffectual against her grip. In fact it was causing her to hold on tighter which only increased the pressure. Fortunately the panic in his voice led Lindsay to just drop him. Billy hit the sand, face down in a push-up position, did a quick roll to his right and sprinted, very awkwardly, into the lake.

   "Car," Ryan said. "We really need to talk. And I mean now."

   "K that's for sure, but you have to gimme a minute. Jesus."

   Lindsay chose that moment to rejoin them.

   "What, was that about?" She was the picture of confusion.

   "Lake's closer than the washrooms," Ryan said. Which was totally true, he reasoned.

   "Ooooo. He's peeing in the lake? That's so gross."

   "Ahhh Linz," Carley jumped in, "you know the lake has millions of cubic feet of water and 100's of thousands of fish who all go pee, and poop and make little fish in it all the time. They live there. We just visit."

   "We're swimming in a fishes' toilet?" Lindsay said as the thought occurred to her for the first time. "Only you would think of that."

   "And bedroom," Carley added.

   "Oh Ick. You're really selling me on pools, you know that."

   "Lake's still cleaner," Ryan added. "Way more water, way less traffic."

   Behind her Ryan could see Billy, neck deep in the water, back to them, clearly engaged in some furious submarine activity. Carley was looking as well.

   "Hey Rye. What's long, and hard and full..."

   "Really? Car? Really?"

   Sorry, sometimes I can't find the off switch."

   Mercifully Lindsay's cell phone picked that exact moment to go off. "Sorry guys, it's Mom, I gotta take this."

   "No worries, take your time, say hi for me," Carley said. Turning to Ryan she looked at him with 'what now?'written all over her face.

   "So?"

   "Ya, so. You saw it, him. That's his summer growth spurt, ahhh so to speak."

   "Jesus. Is that normal? I mean I took health so I get the reproductive system, but they didn't really cover anything about size. The mechanics mostly, but not...that."

   "It, he, is definitely not normal. Way above average I'd say."

   "How big..."

   "Jesus Carley, I don't know! The point is he's really embarrassed about it, he thinks he's some kind of freak. I just try to help him deal when I can. And seriously, you have to help him now too."

   "Me? How?"

   "You can't tell anyone about it. If this gets around he will just die. He's in a fragile place now but if he gets the idea people know, and he will because he's smart, like you...his life will be hell."

   "He's not going to be able to hide all that for four years," Carley was shaking her head.

   "No, but right now he really doesn't need to be the freshman freak. He gets picked on enough as it is. Maybe by the time we're juniors or seniors, the rest of him will have grown some and he'll figure out how to deal. Right now we. You and me, have to keep this to ourselves."

   Carley was looking at Ryan with unvarnished admiration.

   "You're a really good friend Rye. There is so much more to you than a hunky set of shoulders."

   "Carrr.."

   "Kidding, kidding," 'no I wasn't, you are so fine.' She looked Ryan right in the eye.

   "Ryan, you have my word that I will not tell anyone, nor talk about it with anyone other than you, and then only when we're alone." 'Which I hope will be soon and often.'

   "Thanks Car, that means a lot."

   "Hey we freaks gotta stick together."

   Ryan knew instantly what she meant, Carley hid it well but she was incredibly smart. 'It would be so frustrating,' he thought, 'to live in a world where you are constantly waiting on everyone else to catch up.' Carley's test scores coming out of Grade 8 were MENSA level and she could have been accelerated all the way to senior year if she wanted to. But she didn't.
She chose to stay with her friends, play soccer and enjoy high school like a 'normal kid.' She had run the options and decided there was no real hurry to get to university and what lay beyond. 'Smart,' Ryan thought, but that was Carley all over.

   Looking up Ryan noticed Billy had been making his way back to them but only got as far as knee-deep water before he stopped, turned around and headed back for deeper water.

   "Now what?" Ryan said. Turning to his left, she saw the reason. Lindsay was coming back towards them. Behind her was Simone, in a bikini.

   "Oh shit," Ryan and Carley said simultaneously.

[rugbyguy39]

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[Jeremy Lightning]

Really nice, fun chapter, I enjoyed reading that a great deal, some good feats of strength by Lindsay, and really nice work fleshing out Billy and Carly as characters. Of course, with Billy, it's going to be hard to keep his emotions under control when everywhere you turn, you have gorgeous girls with extremely sexy bodies. And it seems like Carley and Ryan might soon become a couple, which is good, in the first couple of chapters, I thought Ryan and Lindsay might get together, but perhaps it will be Lindsay and Billy. Whatever happens, I look forward to more! k+!

[caino]

so great!!!
and I understood everything this time!!! 
I was hoping to read about Lindsey's muscles when she was curling her friend, but your solution is very interesting, as well
thank you and go on!!!
K+

[srielley]

Good story, well written, and good character development. All I can say is, "More, please"

[rugbyguy39]

Freshman year Part Eight: late October.

   Lindsay, Nadia and the rest of the group were sitting in the cafeteria at their usual table. The topic of discussion was the up-coming Halloween Dance. Their first as high school students. They had worked their way through 'if' and were now concentrating on 'how.' Although, Nadia, was still on the fence. Lindsay, had taken the lead and was trying to work out how to convince Nadia to go.

   "K, so the theme this year is old movies," she was saying to the group. "It would be cool if we all went as characters from the same one."

   "Makes sense," Carley agreed. "Any Ideas?"

   "Justice League?" Simone suggested.

   "Not that I wouldn't love to see you as Wonder Woman, the movie's Not really old," Ryan said. "Although you guys would rock the costumes."  Billy was glaring at Ryan. He was clearly in favour of the idea.

   "You wouldn't look too bad in spandex yourself big guy," Carley was grinning. "Big 'S' on your chest."

    "Do we really want to call that much attention to ourselves?" Lindsay asked. Ryan was right and the idea was good, except she couldn't see a way of working Nadia into the mix. This was going to be a challenge.

   "Well, ya?" Carley was saying. "Isn't that the point of a costume dance?"

   "Depends on the type of attention," Sim said. "At the end of the dance we want people saying we looked really cool and we were really creative. We don't want people talking about the freshman sluts and their boy toys."

   "Hey, now," Billy said but he was nodding. They could all see the wisdom in what Simone was saying.

   "Too bad tho' cause we're kinda the JL now anyway," Carley said.

   "How do you figure?" Billy asked.

   "Every day at lunch it's just us. We're the Just Us League." Groans all around the table.

   "Isn't there some treatment for this? Some program you can enter?" Lindsay was shaking her head.

   "Twilight?" Simone suggested.

   "Those movies aren't my type and besides they just sucked," Carley countered. A pause and then more groans.

   "You're terminal, aren't you?" Lindsay said.

   "The quality of the movie isn't important," Simone said. "It's the group of characters in it. What movie would fit us, all of us, best?"

   Lindsay was quick to give Simone an appreciative look. Clearly she was also trying to work Nadia into the mix.

   "I have a suggestion," Nadia said, to the surprise of the rest of the table.

   "Great," Lindsay was happy and hopeful at the same time. "Whatcha got?"

   "The Princess Bride. If we don't mind crossing gender lines here and there I think we could pull it off very well."

   "The what?" Lindsay asked.

   "That would be awesome," Billy said. "It's one of my family's favourite movies." Ryan and Carley had also seen it and were interested, Lindsay and Simone had not.

   "Kay...so lay that out for us," Carley said to Nadia.

   "Well, Bill could be Vizzini..."

   "Inconceivable!" Billy interjected.

   "Why is there never any iocane powder when you need it?" Nadia asked with a smile as Billy laughed. Turning back to Carley: "You could be Buttercup, Ryan could be the Six-fingered Man, Simone could be Inigo, Lindsay could be Westley..."

   "And you would be Fezzik," Ryan finished. "That's perfect, if you're Okay with it."

   "Well, it is my idea, so I should stand behind it. I think I could pull it off. Even though I might look a little...soft."

   Carley's face lit up. "I think your plan has a lot of...merit."

   "Thank you. I would be happy if you all would...share it."

   Ryan jumped in. "These two haven't ...seen it."

   "Then for homework they will have to...stream it."

   "Oh my God, Carley's contagious," a clearly exasperated Lindsay said.

   "It's from the movie Buffy," Carley cut her off. "You have to download it and catch up. Nadia would be the perfect Fezzik."

   The whole group had grasped this was the best way to get them all to the dance and set about planning. In the midst of this Ryan turned to Nadia.

   "The Princess Bride? Where'd you ever see that?"

   "My family is from Russia," Nadia smiled. "I grew up in Montana. We had a Blue-ray player, satellite, Netflix and the internet. It wasn't all plowing fields with a team of oxen."

   "Touché," Ryan bowed his head slightly. "I'm really glad you came up with it."

   "I am too," Nadia agreed.

   After a quick conference it was agreed that Lindsay and Simone would stream the movie and they would then set about getting costumes. The process ended up creating three natural sub-groups: As expected, Nadia would work with her Mama, Lindsay's Mom was an adept seamstress and was thrilled to help the other three girls. Billy and Ryan were signed up for drama first semester and would start with the school's supply of costumes. Their characters wore essentially Shakespearian clothing so they liked their chances.

Freshman year A Week later: Lindsay's house:

   "These look great Mom!" Lindsay, Simone and Carley were looking at some sketches of costumes her Mom, Terri, had come up with: a red dress for Carley, leather pants, vest, boots, and a cotton shirt for Simone and an all-black combination with a mask for Lindsay.

   Terri, a lawyer and single mom, was in week-end casual mode. She had an oversized dress shirt on over yoga pants that stopped in the middle of her well-formed calves. At work, Terri made a point of wearing a business suits, usually with snug, if not tight, dresses or slacks. She was five inches taller than Lindsay's 5'2" and had auburn hair. Her chest, even Simone had to admit, was epic. The dress shirt was under obvious strain as it tried to contain her massive breasts. She had knotted the ends of the shirt under her breasts which highlighted the distance they stuck out from above her flat and impossibly small waist. The yoga pants highlighted a firm and curvy lower body that would have been the highlight on any other woman's body. Simply put; to call Terri's figure 'hourglass' was like calling the Grand Canyon 'a ditch.'

   "They're just rough sketches," Terry said, "but it gives you an idea."

   "They look perfect to me Mrs. C," Carley said. "We will totally rock these."

   "I'm sure you will dear," Terri smiled, "now let's see what we have to work with." Terri took measurements while Lindsay punched the numbers into her phone for her.

   "36...25...40," were Carley's stats.

   "Soccer booty," Carley said. "I am literally the gluteus maximus on the team."

   "Form and function," Terri, who had seen Carley play, noted. "The best of both worlds. Still, a dress doesn't give you the freedom of movement soccer shorts do," Terri noted. "I've got an idea on how we can still let you dance and look like a princess at the same time. We'll need to do your legs too."

   Carley's quads were 24 inches and rock solid.

   Simone was next. "Sure you have enough tape, Mom?" Lindsay kidded. Simone shot Lindsay a look, but there wasn't really anything in it.

   "46...26...38. My, you are a remarkable young woman, Simone." And, as she was going to be wearing pants; "Thighs...22...calves...14...inseam...35, that should do it," Terri said. She looked at Simone with understanding in her eyes.

   "My sympathies of your summer Dear," Terri said. "I have an idea what you must have gone through and I'm sure it wasn't very pleasant."

   "Thanks Mrs. C, no it pretty much sucked. The good news is the docs say I've stopped growing now. So all I have to do is deal with the new me."

   "Well, I have some experience on that front, and let me tell you now it's an on-going battle. The key thing is never to let how you look define you." Terri's tone was light but Simone could tell there was real seriousness behind it. "Other people are always going to make assumptions because they will see you, your body and your face long before they ever get to know you. You can't really control that and remain true to who you are. But, you can control how you feel about it."

   "Eleanor Roosevelt," Carley said.

   "Exactly," Terri replied.

   "Sorry?" Simone asked. Terri nodded at Carley.

   "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

   "Working on that," Simone said with a rueful grin. "It's my body so like it or not, I need to own it, I get that."

   "But that's only half the battle," Terri continued. "The other half is owning it in such a way that you don't have to compromise. Never let other people or their expectations diminish who you are. Don't be anything less than your true self, ever."

   It was clear from the passion that had crept into her voice that this advice was hard-won. Carley and Simone were now looking at Terri with admiration and a touch of awe. This was not just Lindsay's really cool mom anymore. Lindsay, who had heard this before, was looking on with quiet pride.

   "You go Mom."

   "Well I do go on." Terri gave a short laugh and relaxed. "Any time you want to talk dear," she said to Simone. "Now, as for your costume. What I can do is have the pants form fitting but the vest loose. That way it will drape off your shoulders and chest so your curves won't be on display all the time. I'll take in the hem of the shirt, and a little at the ribs so that will fit snugly. If I get it right, you'll have a lovely cool shirt you can keep for summer."

   "I thought you just said not to hide who were are Mom?" Lindsay asked.

   "There's a difference between covering up to hide from attention and covering up to control attention," Terri explained. Lindsay immediately thought of Nadia.  "One of the things you will all learn is the value of leaving things to the imagination. There is a lot of power in letting people wonder what's really there instead of having everything on display all the time."

   "Kaaay," Lindsay, didn't seem convinced.

   "It's like a song, or a speech, or a movie; how you dress is a way of sending a message, making a statement," Terri said. "A good song or speech has peaks and valleys, fast parts and slow parts. A good movie has drama and tension, but it also has calm parts that let the viewer recover for the next high point."

   "Like you don't text in all caps," Carley said. "It's like yelling and people just tune you out."

   "Exactly," Terri agreed. "Thanks for updating my analogy. So you don't want to be all out there, 'yelling'" – a nod to Carley – "all the time. You want to save that for when you think you need it. Then when you do put it all out there you will have way more impact."

   "And be in control," Simone said.

   "Well that still takes practice Dear, but yes, that's the goal."

   "And the vest will do all that?"
"It can help you do all that. Once I get it all together and we check you for the fit, I'll show you what you can do and how it should work."

   "Kewl."

   Terri turned to Lindsay, who was holding the sketch of her costume. Black tights, boots, and a black shirt that was tight through the torso but loose on the arms and shoulders. It was open at the neck. Lindsay's pecs, core and legs would be on display but her arms would be left up to the imagination. So would her face when she wore the mask.

   What you think dear?"

   "Awesome Mom, I can't wait to wear it."

   "Well, let's see how much material we're going to need," and grabbed the measuring tape. Carley took the phone.

   "36...21...32....inseam ...28, thigh...22...calf...15."

   "Ahh Mom?"

   "Yes dear?"

   "How stretchy is this going to be?"

   "The tights will have a lot of give, the boots are going to be low cut. The shirt will be something that looks like silk, so probably not much there."

   "Might be an issue," Lindsay said.

   "How dear?"

   "I'll show you Mom," and with that Lindsay peeled her skin-tight tee-shirt over her head. Looking at Lindsay standing there in her sports bra, Simone was pretty sure she knew what was coming. Carley and Terri were looking at Lindsay with mild surprise.

   "What? I like this shirt," Lindsay explained. "K Mom, can you measure my chest again?"

   Lindsay raised her arms and Terri stepped around behind her daughter and complied. Lindsay lowered her arms and put her hands on her hips. Terri got the same measurement. "36, dear." Then the tape started to move through her hand.

   Looking down Terry was surprised to see Lindsay literally getting wider. The young gymnast had clenched her fists, thrown up her chest and brought her elbows forward. Two wings of muscle were expanding laterally from her back. The tape was dragged through Terri's grip by the expanding body underneath it. Terri noted she could see the tops of Lindsay's pectorals over her collar bone. She had a front row seat to the sudden canyon of muscle that now ran down the middle of her daughter's back. It was over and inch deep where her hands were.

   "38 inches. My word dear, that's quite a trick," Terri was smiling. "How long have you been doing that?"

   "Just since this summer. It just came with getting bigger at gym camp. It's kinda cool, ya?"

   "It's very cool Dear." Terri was shaking her head. "You can relax now. I see the issue. I can work some spandex into the sides of the shirt. That will help with the fit and allow you to dance and move safely."

   "Cool, Mom, thanks." Unnoticed, Simone let out a slow breath.

   "Oh, happy to help. Happy to help all three of you, this will be fun. It takes me back to college."

   "You made costumes in college Mrs. C?" Carley asked.

   "No, but I did a lot of sewing. I had to alter almost everything I bought because nothing would fit me right," she said looking down at her massive chest. "I became a self-taught seamstress out of necessity. I started doing work for other girls just for cash on the side."

   "I thought you were a model in college," Lindsay said.

   "I was, but that money all went to fees, tuition and then law-school. This was just for running around money, movies, and chicken wings." Terri paused. "Well, I have what I need so I'll hit the fabric shop."

   Terri grabbed her phone and left.

   "Your Mom is so cool, Linz." Carley said.

   "She kinda is, isn't she?"

   "So Linz?" Simone turned to her friend.

   "Ya Sim?"

   "Does all of you do that?"

   "Do what?"

   "Do all your muscles, like blow up like that?"

   "Well, ya. I mean they get bigger when I flex," Lindsay said. "It's what muscles do, right?"

   "Mine don't," Carley said. "I mean they get harder, but they don't get a whole lot bigger. Yours explode."

   To prove her point Carley took the tape measure from the table and wrapped it around her right quad. "24." She then flexed her quad. It did not grow as much as change shape. Her leg appeared to square off as corners appeared on the outside and the dent above her knee increased significantly. "24 and a half," Carley announced. "Your turn."
Lindsay extended her right leg and Carley got down on a knee. She looped the tape around Lindsay's mid-thigh. "22. K, flex."

   Simone's head swam as Lindsay's quad exploded. The combination of growth and definition was overwhelming. The outer sweep of her leg had literally moved Carley's hands while holding the tape. "Whoa!" she blurted. "Damn, girl."

   Simone was staring past the tape at the striations forming under it. Veins boiled to the surface just above her knee. The two largest formed a 'Y' which travelled up before dipping around the head of the inner quad. There it merged with a very thick vein which ran along the inside of her swollen leg up into the rolled up leg of her shorts.

   "24, wow!" Carley was shaking her head. "That's crazy. Sim? Are you seeing this?"

   Simone managed a slightly glazed nod. "Uh..huh."

   "You should feel it," Carley invited, looking up at Lindsay. Lindsay shrugged.
Simone hesitated a second and then joined Carley next to Lindsay's bulging quad. She gasped quietly as she grabbed the muscle in her hands. She was hoping Carley didn't notice they were shaking.

   'Jesus,' she thought to herself. 'It's like silk over steel.'

   "Go ahead," Lindsay was saying. "Squeeze it."

   "I am squeezing Buffy," Carley said.

   "Huh," Lindsay said. "Can't feel it. Really?"

   "As hard as I can, look"

   Lindsay looked down to see Carley's fingers were white with effort.

   "Huh. Cool."

   Carley shook her head. "I give up. Relax for a sec Buffy." She moved the tape down to Lindsay's calf. "15."
Lindsay flexed her calf and the tape jumped. "Damn, 16 and half. How do you do that?"

   "I just tighten it up and it gets bigger," Lindsay said. Carley rolled her eyes, gave her head a quick shake then gave Simone a flat look that basically said 'can you believe her?'
Simone was transfixed. Lindsay's calf had transformed into a series of hard planes and curves. "It's like strata," Carley was saying.

   "Whaaa?"

   "Strata, layers, geology. There are like whole layers of muscle that just appear. Wild."

   "Ya..." Simone's mouth was dry. "Wild."

   Carley was running her hand along the outside edge of the inside head of Lindsay's calf. "Jeeze, it's almost sharp, it's so hard."

   "You think that's cool? Just grab right there," Lindsay said. "You grab the other one Sim."

   Lindsay stood flat-footed as her two friends put their hands on her calves. She then went up on her toes and proceeded to bounce up and down while flexing both her diamond calves.
   
   "Cool," Carley smiled,

   Simone was in a fuzzy world where she couldn't think straight. The trigger was this warm, impenetrable brick shape in her hands that kept pulsing, growing and shrinking. So hard, so warm, strong, so powerful, so...hot?"

   "Ghaa!" Simone let go with a start.

   "Sim?" both Lindsay and Carley were looking at her with concern.

   "Nuthin. Fricken puberty." Simone said keeping her head down.

   "You're all sweaty," Lindsay noted.

   "I know, sucks...be OK in a minute." With that Simone left and hit the Carter's downstairs bathroom. She splashed water on her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked herself. She didn't get an answer. She composed herself another minute. Got her breathing back to normal and left to rejoin her friends.

   "Just in time Sim," Lindsay was saying. "Time for the main event."

   'The whaaa...oh no.'

   And it was of course what she thought it was. Lindsay was standing there as Carley looped the tape around her right arm.

   'Kill me now, God, just kill me now.'

   "K," Carley was saying, "just relax."

   "I am relaxed."

   'Jesus, THAT's relaxed!?!'

   Simone sat down. Better to keep a little distance.

   Lindsay was standing with her right arm straight out. A large vein was snaking its way up her forearm to her elbow where it ducked into the gap then re-appeared on the top of her bicep.
Carley, ignored the startling topography in front of her and drew the tape tight around Lindsay's upper arm. "13 and a half. K, make it happen."

   Simone tried not to look. She might as well have tried to hold the ocean back with a broom. She was a 5'10" moth and Lindsay's arm was the flame in a blast-furnace.

   "Day-am, girl," Carley said. Simone emitted a nearly silent squeak. "15." Fifteen inches of peaked, swollen, rock-hard muscle had erupted from Lindsay's upper arm. The long head of her triceps formed a deep semi-circle of thick muscle on the underside of her arm. The medial head formed a wedge that started at her elbow and cut into the top of the long head and the bottom of the peaked bicep. At the other end, her shoulder seemed to literally wrap itself around the insert of the muscle.
Simone was trying not to hyper-ventilate.

   "Sim," you have to feel this," Carley said.

   "S'Kay, m'good."

   "15?" Lindsay asked. "Is that big?"

   "You're kidding? Right?" Carley was blinking up at her friend. "It's huge."

   "Huge? I mean I know it's solid, but how is it huge?"

   Carley was shaking her head. "Linz, you are what? 5'3?" Simone was starting to feel light-headed again.

   "5'2"

   "If you were Sim's height your arm would be 17 inches." Simone felt a rush run from her head down through her body and out her toes.

   "How do you know?"

   "Math, Buffy, math. Sim is eight inches taller than you. That's 12.9 per cent. I'm rounding but that would pretty much it."

   "And that's big?"

   "That. Is. Big. Ask Ryan how many guys on the football team have arms that big."

   "Huh."

   Simone was feeling tingly

   "Linz, I don't think you realize how off the charts you are."

   "Naaawww."

   "Ah, yaaaaa! Again, if you were Sim's height, which is average on the football team, your calves would be 18 and half, your quads would be 27 and your chest would be 43 inches."
Simone had a full-tilt head-rush. She was swaying a bit.

   "Really?"

   "Yep, math."

   "What would I weigh?

   "That's a little trickier. The weight doesn't go up on a straight ratio because you're adding volume as well as length. Also there are things like bone density to factor in. You're 120 now, but you'd be more than 134."

   "So?"

   "I'm ball-parking this."

   "How much?"

   "About 190, 195 maybe."

   Simone fell off her chair.

   "Sim? Sim?"

   She was coming around slowly. The voices seemed to be coming from the bottom of a trash can.

   "Sim? You Okay?"

   She was looking up at Carley's concerned face.

   "M'fine...gimmie a sec...feckin' puberty."
...............................................................................................

   Seven miles away Terri had parked in the lot next to the fabric store. It was in a strip mall and at this time of day was pretty much dead. Terri scanned the lot and the store windows. Nothing.

   She reached into her purse and unzipped a pocket subtly sewn into the side. If you weren't looking for it, you would never know it was there. Terri extracted an all-black, razor-thin cell phone. She tapped the screen twice then held her thumb to it.

   It took 10 seconds for the face of the phone to turn green and the connection to finalize. She scanned the parking lot again.

   "It's started."

   She tapped the screen twice and returned the phone to its secret little womb. Terri got out of the car, grabbed her purse and headed for the fabric store.

[sgsg69]

"It's started"............now you throw in mystery, intrigue........what a fricking great story!! The levels of complexity between the characters and how they are dealing with growing up, hormones, puberty is really well done. I can't wait for Natalie's reveal..........keep going, Karma time 10 to you!!

[pepperdog]

Great story, keep up the good work! Here's some karma for you

[Jeremy Lightning]

Another incredibly well written chapter, I loved what I read here a great deal, I loved that they decided to dress up as characters from the Princess Bride, one of my favorite movies growing up and still one of my favorites. I loved of course how Lindsay could expand her muscles, as a fan of stories by authors like GBM and FP909 whose sweet spot is muscle expansion, it's always fun to read, no matter how little or big they grow. And it's fun to see how Simone is affected by Lindsay's muscles. Really nice stuff overall, I look forward to more! k+!

[spoonmaster]

Love this story.  Lindsay is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite characters.  I love how she's a little naive.  I love how she's starting to love showing off her strength, and I especially love the fact that even though she knows she's stronger than her friends, she still a nice person and a good friend. 

Great read.  I always look forward to your biweekly update!

[halcyon3]

Really love this story. Some smoking hot muscle action and a truly intriguing cast of characters. Thank you for sharing this story with us all.   
With all these secrets being hinted at though, I'm starting to wonder if the BFFs part of the title doesn't stand for what I think it does. Maybe it stands for something like... "Bionically-Fortified Females"? Whatever. I look forward to reading more.

[shamus0013]

Another fantastic chapter. Keep up the great work!

[phil123]

Thanks for this great chapter. Please keep going as your characters keep growing.

[rugbyguy39]

Freshman year: Part Nine

   "These fitness test are so stupid," Carley was in full rant, holding court at their regular table in the cafeteria.

   "What's wrong with testing us for fitness?" Lindsay asked. "I'm looking forward to it."
   
   "Well, of course you are Buffy. You're going to crush it," Carley said. "I'm going to do well too, but that's not my point." Simone, Lindsay, Billy, Ryan and Nadia all just sat and waited for the inevitable.

   "My point isn't that the concept of testing us is stupid, my point is the way they test us is stupid. It's pretty close to body-shaming."

   "Not really an issue at the table," Lindsay said.

   "It is for a whole bunch of kids in our class, Buffy. Not everyone is as comfortable with their body as you are. Not that anyone has your body."

   "I'm not following how, oh say, running a mile is bad," Lindsay said.

   "Well first off, not everyone can do it. So a bunch of kids will end up walking and that singles them out. Secondly the way they score it is just dumb. They use your VO2 max and your BMI as well as your time."  Blank looks all round, except Nadia, who was looking down at the table and was impossible to read.

   "Arrrgggh! Don't you guys do your homework? The whole test is on-line...you were all just gonna show up and jump through whatever hoop they put in front of you??"

   "Ahhhh...well ya," Ryan said.

   Carley was looking straight through the ceiling and muttering to herself. "Forgive them, they know not what they do."

   "K, Rye, here's an example; You."

   "Me?"

   "Yep, you big guy. How tall are you?"

   "6'3"

   "What do you weigh?"

   "230."

   "Would you say you were fat."

   "Ahh no."

   "Well, here's news, according to the Body Mass Index formula you are....50 pounds overweight." Ryan spat is milk across the table.

   "No way."

   "Way. The formula uses your weight, height and age and spits out a number. In your case it's 28.75 which puts you in the 'overweight' bracket. The 'healthy' bracket for your height and age ends at 180 lbs. Good luck with the run fatty."

   Lindsay leapt to Ryan's defense. "Come on Car, we know Rye isn't fat – ('oh no, far from it,' Carley was thinking) – and he's going to crush the run. He's been training all summer."

   "Of course he is," Carley said, "but my point is the formula is flawed because it treats all weight the same. Ryan weighs what he weighs because he's muscular –('like a statue,' she was thinking.) – muscle weighs more than fat. It will put almost any muscular person into the 'overweight' bracket."

    "Like me?" Lindsay asked.

   "Hold on a sec, Buffy, this isn't about you. This is about all the kids, especially the girls who are going to be told they're 'overweight' – which they will hear as 'fat,' and then go out and "fail" at something they never do." The table could now see where Carley was coming from.

   "Like Debbie Jacobs," Lindsay noted.

   "Ya, a nice, quiet, shy kid, who really isn't into sports. This will be among the worst days she's going to have this semester. The school might as well give her a sweatshirt that says 'I suck' on it.

   "So, are we all fat?" Lindsay asked.

   "Annnd it's about you again."

   "To be fair Car," Ryan jumped in, "You went off on this rant, so we all have a right to see how it applies." Lindsay shot Ryan and appreciative look. The world swam just a little.

   "K, fair enough, fair enough." Carley went around the table estimating weights. She deliberately skipped Nadia.

   "K, I'm 5'7" and 150 which gives me a BMI of 23.49, healthy but right at the edge of being overweight. I'm a banana split away from being fat."

   "Billy is 5'2" and 120 which comes out to 21.95. Healthy, but you're four pounds away from bad numbers."

   "Well, the good news is," Billy said. "I could eat a rhino and not gain four pounds."

   "They kinda tough aren't they," Ryan was smiling.

   "Ya, you need to marinate them. But with shallots and a nice Béarnaise they cook up pretty good."

   Carley was giving them her level two death-stare. The one that could paralyze but didn't kill. Both boys stopped talking.

   "If I might continue...K, Buffy ends up with a 21.95 as well, but because the scale is different for girls, you have eight pounds to play with, not four."

   "Two steak dinners and four trips to the weight-room," Ryan noted. "Sounds about right," Lindsay smiled. Swimmy again.

   "Now Sim, presents a different issue," Carley continued. "Unlike you Buffy, she has ahhh, deposits of actual body fat."

   And of course that was the cue for the rest of the table to look directly at her spectacular chest. Simone was wearing a large men's plaid shirt knotted at her waist and open at the chest. A tight (as they all were) tee shirt was stretched across what her mother called her 'abundance.' Everything under it was in shadow, but all eyes were drawn, ironically to the upper side where 'My Eyes Are Up Here!' was printed under an arrow pointing up.
Simone looked around in amusement. "Hey guys, don't stare, grow your own."

   "Annnnnyway," Carley continued as the colour returned to Billy's face. "Sim comes out to 22.96, which is at the high end of normal and probably two banana splits away from obese."
Carley had been dancing around how to avoid putting Nadia in an uncomfortable spot without leaving her out of the conversation entirely. Nadia saved her.

   "According to the BMI I am 'morbidly obese," she said. "I did look at the tests online," Carley gave her an appreciative nod, "and that was the result."

   "Means, nothing Nadia, really," Lindsay said.
"Well, to be honest," Nadia continued, "I have been off far more scales than I have been on, so one more really does not matter."

   "I'm betting running is not your favourite thing," Carley said.

   "You are correct, it is not," Nadia smiled. "According to the test guidelines I am allowed to walk if I have to. They encourage walking at a 'brisk pace.' I can do that. It will probably take me about 15 minutes."

   "And the range is eight and a half to 11," Carley noted.
........................................................................................................................................................................................

   "Right ladies, time for the annual State Mandated Ninth Grade Fitness Tests," Ms. Mathias announced. Thirty Grade 9 girls were gathered on one of the classrooms off the gym. They were all wearing the standard John A MacDonald gym uniform: blue tee shirt, black shorts, socks and running shoes. Nadia, who had brought a note on her first day of school outlining some of her 'issues,' was permitted to wear a full JAMDHS sweat suit which exposed her hands and head. Everything else was hidden under XXXL grey cotton. Rachel was wearing a school phys-ed department nylon jacket and a pair of coaching 'splash pants.'

   "Before we start this, and before Carley launches into a rant about everything wrong with what we're doing," Rachel looked right at Carley and made a subtle gesture with her palms that said: 'trust me.' "I want to talk to you about why we do this and what you can get out of it."

   "You are teenage girls. That makes you complex and glorious creatures," She smiled at the class. "It also makes for challenges. Your bodies are changing," she deliberating did not look at Simone when she said this, almost everyone else did, however. "But that is far less important than what's going on inside your heads."

   "You may not realize this but your brains are still growing. They are going to keep on growing until you are about 21. In that process things get re-routed in your head, new cells show up and cause diversions in pathways already formed. If you've ever just forgotten something you knew you knew, that's why. It's  in there, your brain just couldn't locate it."

   "So it's like a hard disk," Carley said. "We have RAM and ROM in our heads."

   "Pretty much exactly like that, except you have the added complication of hormones," Rachel said. "Your brain and your chemistry are in pretty much constant conflict. What you think is always going to be affected by how you feel. Because you are walking estrogen factories at the moment, this affects you way more than guys."

   "Lucky them," said Simone, who had been at war with her emotions since June.

   "Guys have their own issues Simone, I'm not sure you'd want to swap places."

   "Like what?"

   "OK, how many of you have had a conversation or an encounter with a guy were you just couldn't believe how dumb or impulsive they were?" Every hand in the room went up.
"There are a couple of reasons for that. Their brains are growing too, but they are three to four years behind you. It's like you are 16 to them and they are 12 to you. Also, they have to deal with testosterone, which pretty much shuts off their brains. They are not trying to be ignorant and impulsive, they literally can't help it. They also, believe it or not, almost always feel really bad afterwards."

   "As I said, I want to talk to you about the tests. First off, the concept is a good one. We are all better if we work on improving and maintaining our fitness. The point of the test is to basically underline that. A fitter you is smarter, can concentrate longer, is calmer and generally more capable of confronting the challenges life throws at you."

   "But...Ms. M." Carley couldn't hold herself much longer.

   "Yes Carley the methodology of the test appears to be flawed, I know." Carley was blinking at Rachel..."how?"

   "Hey, teacher," Rachel laughed. "we might know a little about how you guys think. Plus you are about as subtle as an M1 Abrams."

   "Here's what I want you guys to think about," Rachel continued. "This test is going to throw some numbers at you that are going to seem, and worse feel negative. It is also going to put you in situations where you are going to 'fail' physically. Other people are going to do better than you." She looked around the room.

   "That's not a bad thing. What makes it potentially bad is that we, as women, are wired to feel bad when we 'fail.' What I'm saying to you is to try not to let that happen. The numbers on the tests are someone's attempt to set some standards. If you don't meet the 'standard' I don't want you to feel bad. I want you to take that as a challenge. I want you to try to get better."

   "Eleanor Roosevelt!" Simone chimed in. Carley laughed under her breath, 'good for you Sim, good for you.'

   "Exactly Simone," Rachel said. "And for the benefit of the rest of the class...."

   "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

   "Thank you Simone, well done." Simone's smile lit up the room.

   "So back to the numbers. You guys are expected to cover a mile in between eight and a half and 11 and a half minutes. Some of you will do that, some of you might even do better than that and some of you will take longer. This is a mile run, it is not a test of your value as a human being. Do the best you can. If you can look yourself in the mirror and know you didn't give up then you win this, regardless of the time it took."

   "Seriously Ms. M." Carley again. "You're saying the scores and time don't matter?"

   "They don't really," Rachel said. "Ten years from now you will all be going to job interviews. How long it took you to cover a mile when you were 14 won't matter. But gutting it out, regardless of the time, and continuing to do that whenever you face challenges will create a mindset that will get you that job."

   "We all have limits," Rachel was looking at Lindsay, "what's important is not where they are, because they are different for everyone, but learning to push past them, physically, mentally, emotionally is something you will benefit from for the rest of your lives."

   "We all good on that?" Rachel looked around the room. Like any good teacher she knew not to look for understanding and agreement. The nods were automatic, students wanted approval so they would give the appearance they understood no matter what. For the thousandth time Rachel reflected on her time as a student teacher. Kerri Harding had been hard on her, gruff, demanding, wise and an absolute God-send. She was the perfect mentor for an ex-marine gunnery sergeant. Rachel soaked up everything she said and was still amazed how much of it worked. "If you are looking for lightbulbs you will drive yourself crazy."
Some of the girls would get it. Some of them would get it sometime down the road, "depth charges," Kerri called it. "You're laying depth charges. It goes over the side and goes off sometime in the future. You'll never see it and you rarely find out if it hit anything." Some would never get it, the charge would "impact on the surface."
The important part was that she'd sent the message she needed to send.

   "The test is still bogus Ms. M," Carley was like a dog with a bone..

   "You're talking VO2 max and the BMI?"

   "Well...ya."

   "You're right in that the BMI is BS," Rachel said to a couple of faint gasps around the room. She looked at Carley and then down at her clip board for Carley's numbers. "Ya, clearly you are not border-line unfit. And I know I'm not obese."
Carley did a double-take. "How would that even be possible?"

   "Well," Rachel continued. "I weight what you weigh and I'm four inches shorter. According to this I'm 10 lbs overweight."

   "You weigh 150?" More reaction around the room.

   "You shouldn't mention a woman's weight, it's rude." Suzi Simpson said.

   Rachel looked at her. "Well it's certainly frowned on in a lot of circles, but I disagree in that your weight should not be something attached to shaming you. If you let that number bother you, you give it, and other people, power over you. If you own that number then you have the power."

   Nadia had been listening intently to Rachel since she started talking. She had never met a teacher like this. The truth of what Rachel was saying hit her like a bullet to the brain. Suddenly she, against every instinct she'd developed, spoke out.

   "I weigh 280 pounds." Every eye in the room swung towards her.

   "Nadia," Rachel jumped in. "That wasn't necessary." She was going to continue but Nadia cut her off.

   "I am big, I have always been big and that has caused attention I do not want or enjoy. But I cannot help that. This is who I am. My BMI says I am more than 100 lbs overweight. I do not know if that is true, but I understand now, thanks to you, that what that really means is I do not fit on a scale someone else created. I am not unhappy with who I am and I should not let someone else's numbers threaten that. No one else in here should either."

   The class was stunned into open mouthed silence. Rachel was looking at Nadia with admiration.

   "Thank you Nadia. I'm not sure everyone in here can appreciate the courage it took to do what you just did. But I do and I'm both grateful and impressed."

   "Thank you Ms. Mathias." Nadia said.

   "That sounded a little personal Ms. M." Lindsay, ever empathetic, chimed in.

   "That obvious?" Rachel smiled, shaking her head. "It was. I was obese in high school. Not BMI obese, but actually obese. I was miserable, I had issues and I tried to eat my way through them, which of course compounded everything and just made it all worse."

   "What happened?" Lindsay asked.

   "The United States Marine Corps. In junior year we had a visit from a recruiter. She spoke about being a Marine, what the Corps offered and what it took to get there. But the main thing for me was the confidence she had, I wanted that, I wanted to be like her, heck, I wanted to be her. So I sucked it up and waited around to talk to her."

   "You must have been scared," Lindsay said.

   "Shaking like a half-busted leaf-blower," Rachel flashed back to the moment and cringed. "I approached her and told her I was interested in joining up. She looked at me, and to my surprise, didn't blow me off. 'You liked what you heard today?' she asked me. Yes Mam I said. 'I'm a sergeant, sweetheart, I work for a living. You don't Mam, me, call me Gunny.' She went on. 'You heard about the physical requirements?' Yes Gunny, I said. 'Do you think you can meet them?' Not now, but I will Gunny. And she smiled at me. 'Well Oorah! I look forward to seeing you after graduation'."

   Rachel remembered the swell of purpose that suddenly washed over her. Her whole senior year fell into place. She had a mission and she was going to complete it.
"She looked at me and said: 'all our PT stuff is on line. Make sure you check it out.' She gave me a smile and went to walk away. I couldn't let it go. Gunny? I asked. She turned and looked at me. 'Yes?' Why didn't you just blow me off? I asked. 'Two reasons, she smiled. One, in the Corps we treat everyone with respect. Two; and this is the main one; it took guts for you to talk to me, it took more guts to ask that question. You can change your body, but you can't change your spirit. You can acquire the physical capacity to be a Marine through hard work and discipline. But I can tell right now, you already have the heart of a Marine. We need people like you'."

   The class was looking at her in silence. Rachel was feeling a little misty reliving the moment.

   "That is so cool Ms. M." Lindsay was beaming.

   "So how do you weigh 150?" Carley asked. "That's 25 lbs more than Lindsay."

   "Well, seeing as you're going to see anyway when I join you on your run..." Rachel took off her jacket and the class gasped.

   "Holy mac and cheese, Ms. M.," Lindsay was the first to react, "you are jacked!"

   And she was. Rachel who always dressed conservatively at work, had given the students no hint of the incredible collection of muscle she had built. Now, half revealed, she was wearing a USMC tank top under her jacket. It was stretched tight across a chest that looked like two hubcaps had been inserted under her skin. Even relaxed there was a deep divide between her pecs and obvious striations radiating out of it. Her neck was thick and chorded. Her shoulders looked like two pumpkins, round and rippling. The right one had 'USMC' tattooed on it.  Her arms were relaxed but still thick with obvious muscle. A vein the thickness of a lamp chord ran down the center of her bicep. Her lats, although also relaxed, pushed her arms out away from her body. Her chest was literally twice as wide as her waist.

   "Are you, like, a bodybuilder?" Carley asked. Rachel laughed.

   "No, these muscles aren't for show, they have a purpose. I'm a powerlifter."

   The class bubbled over at that. Comments of 'cool', 'how much can you bench?' and 'flex!' bounced around the room.

   Rachel was shaking her head. "Okay, Okay, settle down."

   A chant, started by Carley, gathered momentum. "Flex, flex, flex..."
.....................................................................................................................................


   In the hallway outside the room Dave Dewar and Johnny McMahon, one of the custodians, turned their heads towards the door and the noise coming through it.

   "Rachel took off her jacket again," Johnny noted.

   "Yep," Dave agreed as they walked to the staff room.

   "Fitness tests today?" Johnny asked.

   "Yep," Dave replied.
.........................................................................................................................................


Back in the room the chant came to a stop as Rachel raised her arms over hear head then brought them down in an eruption of muscle. Her bicep peeks were incredible, massive bricks of muscle stuffed over thick crescents of triceps. Two roadmaps of veins covered her forearms which looked like miniature hams as they bellied in from her elbow to her comparatively tiny wrists. Her lats were flared to the point she looked like a lightbulb.

   "Jesus Linz," Carley whispered, "I never thought I'd say this, but she makes you look small."

   "I know, right?" Lindsay agreed. "She's awesome!"

   Rachel brought her arms down but rather than stop she extended them out of the sides and then brought them together at her waist. Her pecs seemed to explode out of her tank top. There was a striated ditch at least two inches deep running down the middle of her chest. Her small breasts were straining against the outer sides of her tank top, her sports bra clearly visible. Two huge slabs of muscle were starting to threaten the integrity of the bra and the shirt over it. Rachel relaxed.

   "Wow, Ms. M." Lindsay again. "That was awesome."

   "Thank you Lindsay, just hard work, as I'm sure you know well." Lindsay beamed.

   "So Ms. M?" Carley said, "What's your record for the bench press?"

   "Well you can look it up, so there's no point in not telling you," Rachel admitted. "My record in competition, in the 60 kilo class – that's 132 lbs – is 310."

   "You benched almost two and half times your bodyweight," Carley announced.

   "Yes, and squatted 400 and deadlifted 450. In training, when I'm this weight I can bench 340."

   "Holy sheep-dip," Lindsay whispered to Carley, "she makes me look weak too."

   "While I have your attention and while we're on the subject, I'm going to be running a weight training group for girls after school starting next week. Who's interested?"

   About 80 percent of the girls in the room raised their hands, including Lindsay, which drew a 'really Buffy?' from Carley, who also had her hand up. Simone's hand was up and Rachel noted to her satisfaction so was Debbie Jacobs' and Suzi Simpson's.

   She noticed Nadia's was not.

[GreatJustice]

I'm enjoying the various strands of development running through the plot Nice work!

[Jeremy Lightning]

Another really great read, I enjoyed this greatly, it seems almost like all the girls in this universe (perhaps excluding Debbie Jacobs, but we'll see.) has some level of muscle on them, which is fine with me, the more muscle girls out there, the more I would absolutely love to live in that story universe. Rachel Mathias sounds like a really cool teacher, I wish I had someone like her when I was a Freshman in high school, more than just for her muscles, but for her motivational skills and her empathy. As someone who dealt with weight issues and still does, I think I would've been more motivated to lose weight and workout if I had someone like her to inspire me then the teachers I had. But yeah, this whole fitness test thing is a great way of showing each of the girls' athletic strengths, I'm sure Lindsay and Carley will excel, because of their already highly athletic physiques. Simone, well, she has some assets that will make running difficult, and Nadia? Well, I have a feeling that even with her admission of her weight out there, she will still hold back a lot of what she's truly capable of. But I don't think that will be the way the story goes the whole way, at least I hope not. k+!