Free Narrative Essays - I Never Get the Girl

"Come on, you wuss, just three more reps," I muttered under my breath. I was in the gym, doing curls. It had been a long day, so I decided to torture myself on purpose. (I sometimes wonder about my own sanity.) Some popular pop song was playing on the radio, but I was ignoring it, as usual. Either the gym or I smelled heavily of sweat; I had a strong suspicion towards the latter. As I finished my curls, my arms burnt as if on fire. Time for a half-minute break, then back for another set. I was absolutely determined to get back into shape. Last year, towards the end of my senior year, I was in the best shape of my life. I weighed 175 pounds and could bench-press 230 pounds. I was 7 percent body fat. I would go to track practice to do the sprinter's running workout, and then join the weightmen to lift. So when I weighed myself that day and found that I weighed 185 pounds, I was more determined than ever to get my body back to what it had been. Exercise was the only thing on my mind. Nothing in the world could have possibly sidetracked me for a second. Time was up. I started curling again and counting under my breath, "One, two, three, four."

Then everything stopped. There was no sound, no movement. The smell of sweat was gone and all my ambition to destroy my body ebbed away. As she walked in the gym, I knew that the day had finally come.

I had first noticed this girl at the beginning of the fall semester but had always been too shy to approach her. That was quite odd, as I had never been the shy type. Never in my life could I remember being too scared to start a conversation with someone. At some point during the semester, in my infinite wisdom, I decided that I should let her come to me. My logic went that if she were interested in me, she would start a conversation with me. Of course she would never be nervous about approaching me; only idiots are uncomfortable starting conversations with complete strangers.