Jill Rhodes Part 2 Chapter 2

Tuesday arrived and the students of Portsdown High were back in school after the long weekend. Monday was Faculty Workshop day, which none of the students knew anything about other than an excuse to party harder on Friday or take that trip to Disneyland. For Jill, it was an opportunity to spend the day working out. Her arms were still sore as hell from her monster workout on Saturday, so she stayed at home doing stretches and sit-ups. If one intense afternoon made her shoulders more sculpted and bolder, then one intense afternoon working her abs should produce similar results. But the arrival of a new week meant that Jill had to take her mind off her new obsession for now and jump back in the game of school.

It was a warm day, so Jill wore a T-shirt and shorts to school. To most of students she passed by, nothing really seemed different about her. She of course turned a few heads, but that was normal. She was hoping to run into Linton or Adrian to see if they noticed the changes to her physique, minor as they were. She also kept her eye out for Alex.

Right as the sun rose high enough to completely bathe Portsdown High in a deep orange, the sound of a clock chime blasted from the school’s PA system, signaling five minutes till the first class. Jill quickened her pace, maintaining her confident stride in spite of her haste. A blast of cool wind washed over her right as she rounded a corner into the fountain courtyard, where this weird abstract sculpture looking like something out of a digital nightmare spewed cascading water into a square pool below. She climbed the adjacent stairs to the second level, where she meshed with a river of students streaming out of the cafeteria nearby as they headed for class.

Tuesday mornings were spent in the airless borefest that was English 12: American Literature with Mr. G. Fortunately, this was the one class that Jill shared with a few members of her Portsdown gang, namely Rhonda and Tara. Most of the other 22 students were already seated as Jill walked in, taking her seat near the back where Rhonda and Tara sat parallel to one another. Rhonda mouthed a “hey” to Jill as Jill sat down behind her, while Tara, sitting to her right, waved and smiled. “I love your hair!” Tara whispered, pointing at Jill’s shoulder skimming blonde hair which she let hang free for a change.

Jill smiled and tilted her head and whispered back, “I like your top,” nodding at Tara’s fashionable leather jacket and A&F shirt combo.

Tara’s eyes lit up, “I know! I got it the other day, like it was on sale-“

“Alright, I hope you guys had a great extended weekend,” Mr. G’s voice cut through the murmurings in class, “We’re gonna be going over Bartleby the Scrivener, which you were supposed to read for today, did you guys do that?”

There was an awkward silence as Mr. G stared at a no-talking, motionless class. Finally after an agonizing five seconds, a few students nodded their heads and made little sounds and grunts to indicate the affirmative. Jill laughed quietly to herself, doodling shapes into her notebook. She made a brief glance up at Mr. G and found him looking straight at her, with this weird vacant stare. She instinctively pulled out her copy of the short story from her backpack and nodded very slightly at him. She and Tara quickly exchanged knowing looks as Mr. G commenced his lecture. In Jill’s mind, there were three general types of teachers at Portsdown High: the straight-up borefest drone that put the whole class in a coma, the popular, tough as nails teacher that knew how to talk to the students, like Mr. U, and the weak, overly passionate loser that few students paid attention to while most others talked all kinds of smack behind his or her back. Mr. G was in that last category. He seemed like he did nothing but live and breathe literature, though his wedding ring indicated obligations beyond that. Yet, as the lecture went on, Jill couldn’t help but shake her head at his incredulous interpretations.

“And so, by refusing the obligations expected of him, Bartleby is basically saying no to Wall Street, no to capitalism, no to this, this endless cycle of greed and corporate free for alls. So Bartleby, then, is this champion of this 1850s version of “Occupy Wall Street.” And the narrator, all he can do is try and pay Bartleby to leave. I mean, think about it. He’s a man of Wall Street, and his only answer to a man who has been emotionally decimated is to pay him. Think about it. Isn’t this the problem with our current corporate culture?”

Jill rolled her eyes. If anything, Mr. G’s lectures were mildly entertaining for their sheer ludicrousness. She wanted to see Rhonda’s reaction, but she could only stare straight at her back. Tara, wanting to attempt some kind of a discussion, raised her hand. Mr. G nodded at her.

“But the narrator does like, more than just pay Bartleby, right? He visits him in jail and he gets upset when Bartleby has died, so-“

“Y-yes, Tara, but only after he’s allowed the police to take Bartleby away. By that point he may as well have not done nothing, it makes no difference at this point. Yes Jill?”

“I think that Bartleby’s is sort of rebelling against not just Wall Street but like everything, this whole social…uhm…construct of work and money, that’s like so powerful that all he can do to fight it is to just like, die.”

“Yes. Absolutely. Very good!” Mr. G said, his mood seemingly lifted up all of a sudden. As he continued with his lecture, Jill waited for him to look away from her direction, and she and Tara gave each other sneaky looks, with Tara sticking her tongue at Jill. It was a little game the two of them played from time to time.

Class was over at 9.15. As Jill got up along with everyone else to head for the door, Mr. G called her over. Tara and Rhonda looked at each other and then Jill, who said, “I’ll meet you guys outside,” before walking over to Mr. G.

Mr. G waited for the classroom to empty out so that only he and Jill remained. “Good job with participating in class today. Did you like Bartleby?”

Nothing like charming the teacher to get that easy A. Jill put on her best act. “Oh yeah! I loved Bartleby, I mean, I like wish I could cause so much chaos by doing nothing.”

They both laughed. Mr G then reached into his bag and pulled out a book, “That’s great, that’s great. Yeah, it’s one of my favorites from Melville. Now, I don’t want to keep you from your friends, but I wanted to let you borrow this book of mine…” He reached into his bag and pulled out a thick book.

“Ooh…”

“Because I know you’re planning on writing your final paper on The Awakening, right?”

“Mm Hm, yeah!”

“So this book talks about the environment for women of that period, everything from legal expectations, as well as the social expectations people had of women. I think it’ll be really helpful for your research, and it goes into way more detail than anything you’d find on, say, Wikipedia. So I want you to have this, and you can just, you know, get it back to me when you turn in your paper.”

“Cool, thanks! This will definitely help.” Jill said, stuffing the heavy book in her bag. Mr. G smiled and nodded. There was a brief silence between the two. Jill wasn’t sure if she should just leave or not. It seemed like Mr. G wanted to say something else, but was conflicted about it.

“S-so, how was your weekend? Obviously you got all of Bartleby done.”

“Oh, yeah. And I worked out a lot too, you know?”

“Yeah, I mean yeah, you look really, uh, gre…uh- healthy!” Mr. G said, waving his hand, trying to get the right word out, “Well anyway, I guess I will see you Thursday, alright?”

“Alright cool, thanks Mr. G. Have a good one.” She said, turning around and heading for the door.

“And enjoy the book!”

“I will, thanks!” Jill replied. As she neared the door, she could see a reflection of Mr. G behind her in the adjacent window. Instead of packing his bag and leaving himself, he simply sat there, staring at her as she opened the door.

Mr. G waited for the door to slam shut before biting his lip and looking down, despising himself. “You look really healthy?” what the hell, dude? What on earth compelled him to say such a thing to her? He scratched the top of his head, feeling the thinning crown of hair, and was reminded quite starkly of how Jill was one of the most beautiful creatures he had seen in his entire life, destined to be an actress or supermodel of some sort, and how he was an aging ex-hippy doomed to a life at the mercy of a cash-strapped LA Unified School District. He rubbed his wedding ring, staring at the thing like some parasite latched onto his finger, and then started packing his folders and papers into his bag. As he did so, he thought about what compelled him to make such a bold advance at the most beautiful girl on the planet who also happened to be his student. She was far beautiful today than usual, but like an itch he couldn’t find, he could not figure out what it was exactly. The problem with being around anyone on a regular basis is that you eventually establish in your mind what you know of them, and that establishment becomes difficult to change. Still, the girl was so receptive to him, so attentive in class, and so *beautiful*, and *he* was her mentor. Mr. G picked up his bag and made his way out of the classroom.

Jill deposited her backpack in her locker and headed out of the building where her two friends awaited. “What did Mr. G want with you?” Tara asked Jill as they walked towards a bench to hang out between classes.
“Oh he just wanted to me to borrow his book for my final. Omigod he was *so* checking me out during that whole conversation.”
That comment seemed to spark something in Rhonda’s mind. She slowed her pace, causing Jill and Tara to slow down as well.
“Speaking of which, something’s different about you…have you been working out?” Rhonda said, scrutinizing Jill from head to toe, to head again. Jill scoffed.
“Pfft, uh, hello? I work out like every day?” she said playfully. Tara laughed.
“No you bitch, you’re like, like…buff!” Rhonda said.
“Mm hm,” Jill gave her friends a confident smile, “Check this out…”
Jill set down her purse on the bench and hiked up her shirt, revealing her midriff. Tara and Rhonda’s eyes turned into small moons as they let out a collective “Omigod!” What was once Jill’s toned tummy was now a solid six pack of abs.
“And check these out!” Jill said. She then flexed both of her arms, and to Tara and Rhonda’s further astonishment, her biceps bulged quite noticeably, rising up like hidden weapons stored inside her arms.
“Hoooly shit, Jill! I-you-I mean, since when did you start working out like that?!” Tara exclaimed, half excited and half shocked.
“Mm, only for a couple days really,” Jill replied nonchalantly as she continued to flex her guns.
“Are you serious? Are you on steroids or something?” Tara said, the excitement in her voice still ever present.
“No!” Jill said, giggling, “It’s a secret…but I’m not ‘roiding up, don’t worry.” Her eyes met with Rhonda’s, and she noticed that unlike Tara, Rhonda had a somewhat worried look.
“Uh, no Jill, women only gain muscles like that at that speed when they use steroids, because testosterone builds muscle, and women happen to not have a lot of it. Hello? This is like common knowledge?” Tara said. She was certainly smarter than she looked.
Jill simply scoffed at Tara, “Ugh, yes I *know* that, I’m not ‘roiding up okay? I don’t even have a *reason* to be injecting steroids, I’m not doing sports and stuff. I’m telling you, I’m just like genetically gifted alright? There *are* women who can get buff without needing drugs. And besides, steroids don’t even work that fast,” she then turned to Rhonda and flexed her biceps, slower this time, “Whaddaya think, huh?”
Rhonda stared at Jill’s arm as her bicep stretched and bulged. She seemed to struggle with her words for a moment, but after a few seconds of hesitation, the life seemed to creep back into her demeanor, if only slightly. “I mean-it’s amazing. I mean, we should talk about it more later,” she said, looking straight into Jill’s eyes.
“So you just started hitting the weights more recently and bang, muscles?” Tara said.
“Yeah, like pretty much. I mean I only used to do weights for toning, right? But I tried going a little heavier, and yeah, bang, muscles!”
“Dude, Jill, can you *promise* me something? Please? Don’t be an idiot and overdo it and turn into some muscle freak.” Tara said, putting her hand on Jill’s knee.
“Sure, if you promise you’ll let me film a Tara-Linton sex tape!”
Tara screamed and threw her purse at Jill. The trio descended into mindless laughter. Right then, Linton and Adrian appeared behind the girls.
“I thought I heard you guys!” Linton said as the three girls squealed in surprise, “What?!” Linton exclaimed.
“Nothing, nothing!” The three of them said, tapering their laughter down.
Linton chuckled and quickly turned his attention to Tara. “How’s it going, babe?” He said, leaning down to kiss her. As they kissed, Linton eyed Jill for a microsecond, who also happened to be looking at him. She smiled wryly at him and shook her head. “You girls still down for Neo So this Saturday?”
The three girls nodded in agreement. The five of them were frequent patrons of LA’s hottest new nightclub, but this particular Saturday night would be special: DJ Tenlaton, a rising star in the scene, was going to be spinning that night. “You guys…getting all excited about a guy who plays other people’s music,” Adrian quipped.
Linton chuckled and nudged his pal in the sternum, “Dude, you are going, and I don’t wanna see you shouting “Freebird” or some shit like that.”
“Do I? Do I dare?!” Adrian’s voice got all maniacal as he rubbed his hands together.
“I will kick your ass bro, swear to God.”
“What time you guys planning on getting there?” Rhonda asked, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up at the two men.
“I think it would be a good idea to get there a bit earlier, like ten. I’m just done with being stuck on the fucking freeway on a Saturday night, like that shit just stresses me out, like-” Linton said.
“Babe, hold on, you gotta check this out,” Tara interrupted. She grabbed Jill’s arm tried flex it, but Jill quickly got the idea and did it willingly. Linton was so alarmed that he took a step back.
“Sweet Jesus, how the-? Are you on the juice?” Linton exclaimed.
“No juicing my dear Linty,” Jill said confidently, “Just good genetics, like you!”
“Those are some impressive guns.” Adrian said, seemingly unfazed, “You trying to become a bodybuilder or something?”
“No, I think I’ll stick with fitness model!”
“Just be careful with the ‘roids. Wouldn’t want you getting all square jawed.”
“Adrian!” Tara protested.
“Just saying!”
Linton, who had been doing nothing but scratching his chin in confusion, smacked Adrian on the shoulder. “Dude, we need to get to practice, we got like five minutes.”
“What’s the matter, Linty? Afraid of buff girls?” Jill said coyly. The six feet behemoth that was Linton smirked and began walking away towards the football field with Adrian.
“Nah, just the ones on the juice. I will see you girls later!”
“Bye guys!” The three girls chimed amidst laughter.
As Linton and Adrian drew farther and farther away, Jill could tell by the way they gestured to each other as they spoke that they were talking about her. It was a gratifying feeling.
“Is it just me, or did he actually seem terrified of you?” Rhonda said.
“Aww my poor Lint. Big on the outside, pussycat on the inside.” Tara remarked, gushing over her boyfriend, “Oh! But I need to remind you two, you’re still helping me with the dance, right?” Jill and Rhonda replied in the affirmative. “Great! So, I’ve settled on a more formal sorta vibe since last year’s was more casual, so now we need posters. Can you guys come up with some ideas for those?” Again, they replied in the affirmative. “Awesome!”
The five minute warning sounded across campus, and with that, the girls stood up to disperse to their next classes. Tara said her goodbyes to Jill and Rhonda, who were both headed in the same direction. As their perky friend disappeared round a corner, Rhonda’s mood suddenly changed.
“The V-Fit formula…I’m guessing you took it?”
“Hell yeah! Never felt better. All the other stuff I’m taking seems to pointless now,” Jill said, flexing her bicep once more, “Why, something wrong, Rhon?”
Rhonda hesitated, some kind of battle of wills was going on in her mind, “No, nothing, I mean, just promise me you won’t take anymore doses, okay?”
Jill stopped walking and her expression now became as grim as her friend’s. “Don’t take-? Dude, girl, what’s going on? So it really is steroids? Are you telling me that?”
“No! No, no, it’s not that, I’m just—look, it’s just that it’s a new product, and I’m guessing you’ve read the info that came with it, but I’m just telling you, just lay off on it until it hits the market and more independent studies can be done, okay? I’m not saying you’re in trouble or anything, I’m just saying, like, better to be safe than sorry.”
Jill was slightly more at ease. “I guess.”
“Just promise me, okay?”
“Ookay, I promise, Rhonnie.”
“Thanks. I know I sound weird but, you know…” She lost her words right as they arrived at Rhonda’s next class.
“Yeah…?”
“Uhm, nothing. I mean, you’re my friend so I care, okay? I’ll see you at lunch.” With that, Rhonda opened the door and walked in. Jill remained standing in the hallway, perplexed for a second, and then resumed her journey to class. After retrieving her books from her locker, she decided to make a quick pit stop at the ladies’ room. With minutes to spare before the start of 9.30 classes, the ladies’ was completely empty. Jill set her things down on the counter and washed her hands. As she gripped the knob to turn on the water, she felt a sense of power in her hands, as if she had the strength to easily rip the knob off the counter. She tugged at it, but it did not budge. Jill simply shrugged and bathed her hands in the icy water that came forth. After drying her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror and lifted up her shirt, admiring her abs.
Just then, she heard the sound of a toilet flushing behind her. She quickly pulled her shirt down as she saw Alex emerge from one of the stalls.
“Hey! Nice to see you!” the bitch exclaimed as she walked over to the sink next to Jill.
“Hey back.” Jill said.
“How’s it going? You’re looking great by the way. Have you been working out?”
“I have indeed!” Jill replied as she flexed her bicep for Alex.
“That’s awesome,” Alex said as she washed her hands. Jill was a bit disappointed at Alex’s underwhelming response. “I mean, I go to the gym a lot myself, Genesis Fitness, do you know that place?”
“Yeah, I go there too.”
“Oh, awesome! Yeah, I usually just lift for tone, not to bulk up or anything, but it must be great to discover that you’re an easy gainer, I mean, assuming you’re not on steroids or something, right?”
“No, no steroids, just genetics.” Jill said flatly.
Alex turned to Jill briefly and gave her the most curious look. “Sure,” she said, before turning her attention back to her hands.
The sarcasm in that one word was not lost on Jill, who felt a small bomb explode in her head. She also couldn’t help but notice that Alex was wearing a T-shirt and jeans combo that, despite its simplicity, seemed to accentuate her figure perfectly. I mean *perfectly*, as if the T-shirt and jeans were specially fitted for her. Her shirt accentuated all her svelte curves, and she wore the most perfect matching bracelet that seemed to have the magical properties of enhancing the shape of her incredibly toned arms. Her jeans curved at just the right place, accentuating her butt just nicely without looking too baggy or too tight, and one could see the figure in her legs in spite of the material that covered them.

“I like your shirt and jeans, by the way.” Jill said in a sort of kneejerk reaction.

“Oh, why thanks,” Alex said without turning to face Jill. “I mean, I just got these at the thrift store down where I live, so they’re no big deal, really.”

Thrift store? No big deal? And why didn’t Alex return the compliment by complimenting Jill’s…I don’t know, shirt, shorts, biceps, abs, *anything*! Didn’t this bitch know how things worked down here? Jill was desperate to find some way to make herself feel more adequate in front of Alex, but Alex moved with a purpose as she toweled her hands dry, rubbing every inch of her hand with the paper towel with machine-like efficiency. Alex picked up her bag and strode towards the door, her every movement was so graceful; she must have been a professional dancer to have beauty in such a simple motion. As she opened the door, she turned back to Jill, who was standing by the sink looking awkward as hell.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again; maybe we’ll catch each other at the gym sometime!”

Oh, you will, Jill thought. You will.