The downstairs couch by the television enveloped her in soft cushions. Her father, Nefri, and Luthial were out running errands. Dew was running around chasing illusions with Delia. Josh slept on a cot in the garage. Melting into the tv room sofa after some improvised training on a boring Wednesday morning was as good an activity as any. Her favorite glass filled with cold chocolate milk sat on a coaster as she watched day time television: My boyfriend has another baby mama and she's the queen-pin of the San Jose drug cartel! Nadia laughed and almost shot chocolate milk out her nose and over the blanket when the first chair flew.

"Where do they find these people!?"

Of course, as soon as the fighting started, they moved to a commercial break. Boo! Nadia sunk down into the sofa as the commercials droned on.

"Have you been injured in an accident? Slips? Falls? Has a bus slammed into and rolled over your body? Are you suffering from back pain, neck pain, bursitis, or sinusitis? Call 1-800-555-1212 for the law firm of Good, Long, and Everhart. We know the law."

It broke into a jingle.

"You can count on us!

For knowing the law

Protecting your life!

Above the law!

Like the ruling class!

You can count on us!"

She'd heard this commercial a thousand times. They aired it non-stop. Stupid law firms. The television droned on with stupid boring advertisements bereft of baby mamas, maternity tests, flying chairs, or suspicious drug cartel overlords.

"The sleek design and futuristic contours of the Seniormobile Steakcutluss won't be the only thing to catch your eye. The smooth handling and quality transmission constructed by overseas sweatshop labor will ensure a driving experience like no other. Drive like a citizen, a senior citizen. Seniormobile."

Something weird happened followed by a loud voice.

"Spittles, Spittles, Spittles, Colors in your mouth! Tastes like cavities filled with rainbows!"

Little animated elves were singing while working in a tree.

"We are elves,

who bake cookies in trees,

even though they're highly flammable!

Our cookies are deliciously moist,

So put them in your mouth.

Look!

Fancy colorful packaging!"

The blanket went over her head. Would these commercials ever end? Would she ever find out who was the real mother of Steve's twins? At this rate she'd lose interest before they brought out the maternity test. Wait, how did they not know who the mother was?

A Village People song began to play from the television, Macho Man. Nadia peeked her head out from under the blanket.

"Have you become puny and weak?!"

Nadia nodded slightly, "Maybe a little, haven't been training as much lately."

"Is your body so soft and girly it's like an evil wizard cast a spell on you to make you a girl!?"

"Oddly specific but yes. One hundred percent," she nodded as she crawled out of the blanket and took a big gulp of chocolate milk, "It's a huge problem."

"Well, let's make you a MAN again!"

Nadia jumped over the table and stumbled toward the television down on all fours as her shorts swayed back and forth to the music.

"You're speaking my language!"

"Our work out program is guaranteed to make you drop, and GIVE ME FIFTY! We build and sculpt only the manliest of manly men! If you can't handle our workout program, then you can't handle being a man! So, get to Scrummy's Workout Warehouse at 21 Beefcake Street in Huntingdon PA and turn that soft shell feminine form into some premium testosterone infused MAN meat!"

Stars shone in Nadia's eyes as the light of the television screen flickered on her face and lyrics of Macho Man tickled her ears. Her hips bounced a little to the music as she sat on her knees with her arms against her pajama shirt.

"I want to be a premium testosterone infused piece of man meat right now!"

"Now running a limited time promotion. One Day Free! That's Scrummy's Workout Warehouse at 21 Beefcake Street. LIFT HARD! GET STRONG! BE A MAN!"

The comercial ended with a huge explosion.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!"

Oh wait, he wasn't home. Well anyway, the show was finally back on. But she didn't care. The TV went off because it was all nonsense anyway. She bounced up and went to grab a pen and paper before she forgot that address.

Gym clothes? Some of her mom's stuff was in the attic and would probably fit her near perfectly now. Problem solved.

-----

A metal shed stood in a loose gravel and stone covered lot at the end of Beefcake Street. A few cars sat on the lot as the afternoon summer sun burned. An air conditioning unit hummed to the left side. There were huge garage doors. The sign by a small metal door recently painted in white. She parked her bike in the grass nearby.

Stolen story; please report.

Okay, she was dressed in a spandex black gym shirt and shorts that she thought looked pretty good on her. She wore loose shorts over the gym shorts but only the tight short sleeved spandex shirt. The gym clothes under her tied shorts were black with dark red accents. Nadia was glad her mom hadn't gone for the flashy designs.

The cooler air refreshed her skin after a long bike ride. Black hair absorbed a lot of heat when riding in the sun it ran down most of her back. She glanced around the gym as her gym bag hung over her shoulders.

One or two working treadmills and a training bike stood nearby. They looked in poor condition. The focus of this gym was weights, weights, and more weights. A glimmer sparked in Nadia's eyes as she saw a few muscular guys. One did bicep curls, another worked on bench press, and a particularly round muscle man practiced dead lifts. The leg press machine was empty.

Rock music played in the background. The scent of sweaty gym clothes filled the stuffy atmosphere like a steam. Fans rolled air that seemed less cool the longer she stayed inside. It had been way too hot riding here. The man returning to the counter sweat profusely.

"Welcome to Scrummy's Workout Warehouse. Do you have a membership?"

"I'm here for the free trial. I have my school ID, an ID card, and a letter from my dad. I should be good to go."

The desk clerk slapped the counter and thumbed a sign, "Under 18 must have parental consent and be accompanied by an adult."

A big sweaty guy with brown hair approached. He was pretty muscular and looked good in a tank top. Wait, Bill!?

"She's with me. I was waiting for her. She wanted to try the one-day thing but just register her as my guest."

"Okay, sure thing Mr. Sloan."

Nadia leaned forward, who would have guessed Bill would be working out here! Wait, they were the same age. How was he Mr. Sloan. Did he have a fake ID? Nadia followed him but then veered towards the free weights.

"Why don't you bench a bit? Nathan has free weights all over his house. But he doesn't have benches or racks, at least from what I remember."

Hair pushed back as she tilted her head and walked to the benches. It had been a little while since she tried bench press and she wasn't sure how she felt about assuming the proper form in front of one of her best friends.

She put a fifty-pound weight on one side.

Soft hands rubbed her face. It didn't matter, she just needed to exercise until she couldn't anymore. Bill was right. There wasn't much point of doing things she did at home all the time.

She put a fifty-pound weight on the other side.

The bench foam felt a bit flat. Her pendant hung over the tight spandex of her gym clothes. Her chest helped center it and keep it from sliding. The rule of the day would be no using her powers unless she absolutely needed to not be crushed. This was forty pounds less than she had been doing on her own, without using her powers for an assist, the last time she'd been at a gym.

Bill glanced over but didn't say anything. The bar lifted slowly off the rack and Nadia brought it down to her chest while breathing slowly and deliberately. Her chest tensed as she pushed the weights back up. Feet squared, back arched, and heels lifted as toes pushed up and calves tensed. A drop of sweat formed on her forehead as she brought the weights down and then raised them slowly and deliberately. Bill delayed his final set to watch her. He gulped silently.

The weights on her bar matched his own but this was her warm-up. He couldn't stop staring. This girl didn't look out of the ordinary, but she flexed like a monster. Her thin arms held incredible tone. Suddenly, she just stopped the bar midway down in the center of her repetitions.

And she just held it, then she turned her head to look at him. She stared at him. Bill began to sweat even though he merely laid and watched. Meanwhile, Nadia just held the weights perfectly still midway through a motion with her arms bent.

"Are you using a fake ID?" she asked quietly.

Bill sat up, walked over to the other side of the bench, and doubled his plates to match his body weight as Nadia shrugged and finished her set. Bill hopped back on his bench, set himself down, laid his back flat.

The weights lifted off the stand as he grimaced. They shook, they wobbled. He managed the first lift, then barely managed the second as his feet lifted off the ground and the bar heavily listed. A petite hand caught the center of the bar. Bill turned bright red as the underside of Nadia's spandex outlined chest hovered over his face. With one hand she helped him lift most of the weight and brought it back to the stand.

"That's a good way to hurt yourself," she said.

His shoulder rotated as he tested to see if he pulled something. Then without a word he sat up, took a drink of water, and wiped his face. He turned bright red as he took some breaths and shifted to discretely adjust his clothes.

"I can lift my own body weight easily. I'm just fatigued. And distracted."

"Well, you shouldn't be trying to lift much more than you can safely handle."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me. That was my last set for this exercise anyway. And no, I don't have a fake ID. My dad has a membership and since I'm almost 17 they are letting it slide."

"Oh," Nadia said as she added ten-pound weights to each side of her bar, "Umm, would it be alright if maybe we worked out together?"

He tensed, squinted, struggled with himself, and leaned slightly forward. His reaction brought back a memory. She wore spandex; it pressed her chest really tightly. It outlined her waist and the top of her hips. Her red over-shorts were loose but very short, as they were for wearing to bed on hot days. The spandex hugged her thighs down to the bare knee. Nadia realized what Bill might be having trouble with. Leaning over him so closely she practically breathed on his ear only made it worse. She backed up and started putting the plates away while Bill limped to the locker room. Then she took a long deep breath.

"No, that's his problem, not mine. I'm doing a full workout."

The plates went back on and Nadia started her second set. She added more weight for her third so that she had twice her body weight on the bench. Some of the other lifters began to stare and Nadia wasn't sure if it was because of how much she lifted. There were no other women here. Bill came out of the locker room wiping his forehead and went over to the squat racks. She decided to join him.

"Feel better?" she asked.

He frowned, "I'm fine. How's your cousin doing? He sent me a letter but the handwriting looked a bit off. It looked like he had someone write it for him."

"I'm pretty sure he wrote it himself. He wouldn't pass off something like that," Nadia said with a bit of offense taken because she had written it herself, "Why would you even think that?"

"Okay, so it was like his notes but only super neat and smaller. Everything was easy to read. I could read every word. That's not Nathan. It was also stupid-dumb, emotional, and sentimental. Like getting a letter from my mom. I swore any minute the i's would start being dotted with hearts. Is he dying?"

Nadia slapped his shoulder, hard, "He's going through a lot right now. That's all I can say."

They both started with their own body weight at the squat rack. Bill looked relieved when she saw Nadia using smaller weights than him. A devilish eye glared at Bill as they started their warm up squats.

So, she wrote like a girl? But would she lift like a girl?

-----

It was nearly sunset when she returned home. She walked to the TV room, flopped on the sofa, and melted into the cushions. She heard the sound of sloshing water and dishes clinking about in the kitchen as her little sister jumped on her lap and got cozy.

"Nadia home!" Natalie shouted.

"Yes, I'm back!"

"How was your work out?" Norman asked, "Was the new gym nice?"

"The place was a dump, but they had racks and benches. I had a good work out and I didn't use my powers. Just my muscles. I can barely move! I'm going to heal myself for a faster recovery."

"That's nice."

"And I met Bill there. He almost died trying to keep up with me on squats. I lifted so much they took some instant pictures. No powers!"

"That's nice."

"They had to call an ambulance for Bill, possibly a hernia."

"That's nice."

"That's nice! That's nice! That's nice!" Natalie yelled before hugging her sister and getting her hair mushed about playfully.