| It was Friday, and a lot of kids were slacking today. Lizzy, however, was not, at least in her second-to-last class of the day. The girl doesn't always get into huge school spirit, but on game days, she at the very least does a bit, and she's wearing a red tanktop and black shorts for her afternoon workout today. The tall girl is just starting the class and is warming up on the deadlift. It's not the most popular exercise, so she doesn't have to fight for the station terribly often, which was just fine with Lizzy. She's got her water bottle set off to the side, along with a little blue sweat towel.
Game day is always a light workout day for Austin. The coach makes sure he goes easy so as to not walk onto the football wore out. So, he's spent most of the first part of class on the treadmill, running a few miles. He's wearing sweat pants and a tight Spartans Tshirt with the sleeves and collar cut off, showing off his muscular upper body, despite his short height. Stepping off, he's now glistening with sweat and grabs a towel, running it through his dark, spiky hair. He doesn't usually talk much in the workout gym, though, he doesn't usually talk much anywhere since no one wants to talk to a murderer. He looks over at Lizzy, watching her lift for a minute with a bit of interest.
Lizzy doesn't know Austin terribly well, despite the fact she also runs in the sports circles of the school. The girl finishes her warm-up set and starts to putting the larger plates on the bar. She notices Austin looking over at her as she moves to the other side of the bar to even out the weight. She gives him an easy nod. "Hey Austin. Good luck today!" It was always a good idea to wish the quarterback good luck on the field, and knowing his reputation around the school, Lizzy figured a friendly bit of encouragement wouldn't hurt.
The girl then goes back to putting the weight plates on the bar, sliding them on before putting the safety clamps on the ends to keep the weights from sliding off, just in case. She didn't expect them to, not with a deadlift, but you never knew. Plus it was one of those rules that were polite to follow.
Austin takes a few steps her direction, tilting his head a bit to read how much weight she's prepping. He wraps the towel around his neck and nods, "Thanks." He watches her another moment, and then simply asks her, "You're in here everyday liftin' more and more. None of these other girls hardly even lift." He shrugs, "What's your deal?"
The weight, Austin would be able to tell, is 275 pounds. The tall girl shrugs a little before she squats down to grab the weight. "I compete in powerlifting competitions. Figure I may as well use classtime to work on it". The girl then straightens up, lifting the weight in the process, and continues her set. Lizzy doesn't assume the boy heard of that though. If it wasn't a school sport, most people didn't pay it that much mind.
"Besides, it's kind of fun to break a few pre-conceived notions, and I enjoy the sport," Lizzy adds as she completes her set and goes to adjust the weight again. "Get to compete against other people and myself".
Austin nods and takes another drink of his water. "Two seventy-five." He looks impressed. "Where do you do power lifting competitions? That's... That ain't a school thing, right?" He drinks once more. "And what sort of pre-conceived notions are you fighting?" He smirks, "Girly ones?"
"School doesn't have a team, no. Be nice if they did, but since they don't, I just go to various ones across the state. There are actually quite a few of them, though usually it means a bit of a drive," Lizzy explains as she ups the weight once more, this time bringing it up to 350 pounds. "Something like that. Not so much fighting them as giving people a chance to rethink things a little. But mostly it's the challenge I like". An easy shrug is given as she starts lifting again. The lifts are getting noticably more difficult, but the girl keeps at them.
"I'd ask if you want to work in, but I know you're not going to be doing anything serious today, not with the game tonight". That'd be silly. "Even I tone it back a little during basketball season," Lizzy admits as she finishes the set and reaches down to take a drink of her water.
Austin agrees, "I'm not allowed to do any lifting on game day. Especially arms." He shrugs, and like an egotistical jock, he lifts his arm and makes a muscle. His bicep is big for a kid his age, like a softball, and he smirks, a little proudly. "I do okay, though." Putting his arm down, he watches her lift again. "So, what do you get? I mean, if you win?"
There's an amused look on Lizzy's face when Austin pops his bicep. "Not bad," the girl says as she goes to up the weight a little bit more. She gives her arm a flex, and a pretty large bicep pops up as well, for a kid their age. "Though bicep training isn't something I focus on. They get enough work with the other lifts I do that I don't put that much focus on them. Back, chest, and legs are what I do the most work on". Since those were the core lifts for powerlifting, it made sense, though she certainly trained other muscle groups for support. "Though it's actually on the list for today, oddly enough".
Lizzy then answers the actual question. "Well, aside from a medal or a trophy or something like that, you start making a name for yourself. Get into some of the bigger competitions, and you can actually get quite a bit of cash for doing well. Eventually, you start getting sponsorships, though I won't get any of that until I'm an adult and I give up amatuer stuff like the basketball team". Which Lizzy wasn't going to do anytime soon.
"Yeah, but," Austin starts, looking like a big dumb jock, "It ain't like football. I mean, what can you DO with that? Is it a LOT of money? Do you do like, I dunnow, Olympics or some shit?" He shakes his head, "I don't get it? I mean, do guys think muscle chicks are hot or whatever?"
"You can make a decent amount of money. Moving to Olympic lifting is possible. Something I'm thinking about doing," Lizzy says, being patient with the guy. She lifts the weight again, this time straining much more to get five reps completed before she sets the weight back down. "I'm not doing the sport for money though. If I wanted a girl's sport for money, I'd have worked on my tennis game". Or something like that.
She actually laughs at his comment about girls with muscle being hot. "It depends on what guy you ask. Some guys do. Some guys don't. Some guys say idiotic things right before they get their jaw busted," Lizzy adds with a shake of her head. "Besides, I do it because I enjoy it. I'll probably do something with computers though, if I can't cut it in the sports world as a pro. How about you? What're you doing when you get out of here?"
Austin steps over near her and holds his hands out by the bar, spotting her as she does her lifts, and moving back a step when she sits it down. "If it ain't for money, then I don't get it. Why would you like it?" He really does look lost now. "Tennis sucks," he agrees. "Computers? Yeesh." He shakes his head, "That's above me." When she asks what he's doing when he gets out, he looks downward a moment, and shrugs, "I don't care." Looking back at her, he adds, "As long as I'm out of here."
"You play football. Hoping to ride that out of here," Lizzy says. It's not a question, not based on what he said about wanting out of town. "You got anything you do just for the hell of it? Something you put a lot of hours into, just because you like it?" Lizzy ups the weight a little more as she speaks.
She lets the statement about not caring what he does when out of town hang for a second, but doesn't pursue it. "I haven't figured out just what I'm doing. Those are just my two biggest options, if you made me choose now," Lizzy explains. "Still got two years to figure out the college stuff. Then four years of that". So there was time. She goes back to lifting, only doing a set of two this time around as she works right around her maximum weight.
Austin nods his head, "Plan to get a football scholarship and get the fuck out of here," he says, confirming for her what she's already assumed. The weight room coach looks over their direction, scolding, "Language, Mitchel."
Austin gives a little wave at the man, and then rolls his eyes, "Sheesh." He chuckles, and then shrugs, "Anyway, after that I don't really care. I just want..." He looks off again, shaking his head. "Well," back at her, "to start over." He shrugs again, apparently his favorite action. "Something I put hours into. What, like a hobby?"
"Seems like a fair enough thing to want. College is a good place for that, and you've got talent. Otherwise you wouldn't be the starting QB". The girl takes a moment and starts re-racking the weights now, having completed her deadlifts for now. "I'm just hoping to earn a spot in college with basketball. My grades aren't all that hot. Studying is just boring as hell". The coach looks over at her, and she just gives him an innocent smile.
"Anyway, yeah. A hobby. I mean, you play ball, but you gotta have something else that occupies your time. Can't be doing football 24/7, much as people might think that's the case".
"I work," Austin shares. "But really, this time of year? It's work and football. Not a lot of time left after that." He looks at the coach and smiles innocently when he glares at them, and then he shakes his head, returning his attention to the girl. "Studying is stupid," he declares intelligently. Scratching the back of his neck, he offers, "I don't really... I mean, I've never really... I dunnow." He smiles, "Don't tell anyone, but, I mean, I play piano. That count?" He shakes his head, "But, I'm not doing that for a living. I figure, I'll probably ride the football thing as long as my arm holds out, and then maybe find a nice quiet warehouse to work in or something. Stay out of people's way."
"Nothing wrong with that. I got no musical talent, but that's cool". Lizzy walks over to the pull-up bar and starts doing some pull-ups. "Sounds like you got yourself a plan to work off from," the girl observes as she continues her workout. She had no problems talking with the guy, but she wasn't going to stop doing what she was doing either. "You been doing that hobby long?" she asks curiously.
Austin shrugs, almost shyly, "We had an old upright in my house when I was kid. I took lessons when I was maybe, four? Five? So, since then." He takes another drink of his water, putting the cap back on the bottle. "Now, I mostly just play my guitar. Cheap electric keyboards aren't really the same as a piano, ya know?" He sighs, "Anyway. Good luck I guess. With the lifting thing."
"Slip into the music room maybe when nobody is around and use one of their's," Lizzy suggests as she finishes off her first set. "Do it at the right times and nobody will notice you, I bet". That was Lizzy's belief. "Thanks. And again, good luck tonight," she adds with a smile before she reaches down to take a drink of water.
Austin nods, not really answering, and heads back over to the stretching mat, where he sits and begins doing some stretches.
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