The 40 minutes flew by, and my cool down began. I slowed to a fast walk and wiped the sweat off my brow. I pulled my headphones out of my ears, and took a quick look around the room. I had a minute and a half left before the treadmill stopped on its own.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a group of people, guys and girls, clustered against the wall. It wasn't an unusual thing to see. There were always groups of people lurking around, some with no real interest in working out, just there to try and get with a guy or girl. The unusual thing about this group was that they all seemed to be staring at me. They would glance over, and then whisper amongst each other, and then glance over again. I had never seen anything like it before, and I raised an eyebrow at them.
Although I was known around campus as an art student, I was never considered unpopular. I had never been the victim of bullying, nor had anyone tease me or make fun of me. In fact, a lot of people had known my ex, and liked him a great deal. For the most part, people liked me as well, but being shy, I just never immersed myself within a large group of people. That's why I found that little clique’s behavior to be highly unusual.
I gave them an obvious and pointed shrug, as if to say, Hey what's with all the staring? I brushed it off, and started heading toward the free weight area. I could still feel their eyes on me, and my stomach began to turn, as if I knew that they had a clue to a secret that I knew nothing about.
There was a girl lifting weights when I walked over, and she already had her eyes on the group of people as well. She had a quizzical look on her face, and I hoped she didn't think that I was some loser, too. The whole thing struck me as a little bizarre, but maybe I was just having one of those days.
The girl turned to me when I approached, and smiled awkwardly. Yup, she thinks I'm a loser. Wonderful.
I picked up some 15 lb. free weights, and sat down on a bench to do bicep curls. I never lifted heavy weights, I mainly did free weights just to add a little muscle to my body, but I didn't want anything crazy.
“Don't worry about them.”
Surprised, I looked up at her. “Excuse me?”
She pointed to the group, which was kind enough to turn away. “I'm talking about those nitwits. Really classy bunch over there that can't stop staring at you.”
“Yeah ... I'm not really sure what that's about.”
“You don't know? Really? Well, I know we like to think that guys keep their mouths shut, but it's rarely the case. Sorry,”
I dropped the weights as I grew a little annoyed. Was this puzzle day? If so, I had no idea what the hell
was going on. “I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“It's ‘cause you slept with Jet.”
“I did what?”
“Jet's roommate has a fairly large trap, and he was talking about you and Jet getting it on pretty hot and heavy last night after he stopped over at your place. After that, it spread, which is why you seem to have caught the interest of that group over there.”
“I've never met Jet's roommate.”
“It doesn't matter; Jet obviously filled him in on the two of you, and Kyle spilled the beans. It sucks, I know. Guys can be such pigs.”
I stared down at the weights I had dropped, trying to process the information I had just been given. I looked back at the group, which at that point had moved on to more interesting things. They thought I had slept with Jet. That's why they had been staring at me. They were probably wondering why a guy like Jet would sleep with a girl like me.
“I didn't sleep with Jet, though.”
“You don't have to hide it, girl, we aren't in high school anymore. Everyone does it.”
I laughed nervously. “No, that's not it. I seriously have never slept with Jet ever, nor do I intend on it.” The girl looked me over carefully, so I added, “I honestly don't know why those people think I did.”
“Well they think that because Kyle told them. Kyle isn't the kind of guy that goes around telling lies, so I'm guessing that for whatever reason Jet told him you guys did the nasty, and Kyle exposed it.”
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Some guy I had never met was going around campus telling everyone that I had slept with Jet last night. I was going to strangle Jet when I got my hands on him.
“That son of a bitch.”
“Yeah, guys are pricks. I typically try to avoid them at all costs. Just not worth the headaches.”
I put back the free weights, no longer in the mood to finish my workout. I had to get the hell out of the gym and away from the stares I was getting. “Well I appreciate you giving me the heads up, but I have to go now and murder someone.”
“Yeah, no problem. Good luck.”
I hurried out of the gym, avoiding eye contact with anyone. I wondered how many people knew?how many people were gossiping about my wild night with Jet. What a prick. I headed across campus to my apartment, and unlocked the building door. I made a quick dash up the stairs and burst through my apartment door. I was happy to see Julie there.