At Sarah’s house (Part 1)

Mila had said her family was well off, and Grace clearly had money to burn with nothing but an allowance. Turns out Sarah was a rich girl as well. I suppose almost everyone at our school was, and my sister and I were the odd ones out.

Sarah’s house was far from town, as she had said. Built on a large plot (to which we had to wait for an electric gate to open), Sarah’s home was practically a luxury villa. Seriously, it didn’t look like a house at all, but more like a small, expensive hotel.

Box-like in its modern-style construction and with large windows on the white walls, the house had two floors and a large garage to the side. Flowers and trees of various colors adorned the front garden, and well-trimmed grass covered the entirety of the plot.

“…Is this really your house?” I asked, unable to mask my disbelief.

“Over the top, isn’t it?” Sarah laughed. “It’s my mom’s dream house. My parents dropped over half their savings on this and finished building it only three years ago. Then we moved in for good. Mom used to work at a luxury spa and she liked it so much she told my dad she wanted a house that WAS a luxury spa. You can’t see it from here, but there’s an indoor pool in the back.”

“Oh. Grace told me that yesterday.”

“And so I have a question for you. In whose house do you think the three of us hang out the most?”

I chuckled. “Yours?”

“Duh.” Sarah laughed again. “They’ll look for any excuse to come over. My folks love visitors, so that doesn’t help me keep them away.”

“…Are your parents really okay with me coming here?”

Sarah nodded. “I told them I wanted to bring a friend over since it was raining. Dad asked me if it was a boy. I said yes but that I could easily break your arm if you tried something funny. He said okay.”

Ouch. “I’ll behave, then.”

Sarah parked her car in the garage and turned to me with a smirk. “Oh no, mister. You and I are doing all sorts of nasty things today, like we promised.”

I swallowed. “I… I want to, but what you told your dad…”

Sarah sighed. “I’m exaggerating. I told my parents… a bit more about you. They trust me, okay? They know I’m not a stupid girl.” She rolled eyes away from me and added, “Well, not anymore. My point is that they’re really okay with you being here, so don’t worry about that.”

I had resolved myself to this before coming here, hadn’t I? Be cautious and responsible, but go for it. We both wanted it, right? And Sarah was on the pill.

“Alright,” I said. “If you’re sure we won’t get caught.”

“I know my family.” Sarah grinned. “They’ll be back by midnight at the earliest. Now, let me show you what we can do here.” We got out of her car and she led me into her house through the front door to give me the tour.

To start with, the moment we stepped into the house we felt a slight shift in temperature. It was warmer inside, and Sarah pointed to the heating system. Then there was the spacious living room with flawless marble flooring, fluffy gray carpets, and white sofas with blue velvet pillows. In the adjacent room, the kitchen and the dining room were combined, with a glass sliding door leading to the backyard where I could see the pool in its own dome of glass.

“We heat the pool during autumn and winter so we can use it all year,” Sarah told me. “Again, mom’s idea.”

The tour continued. The house had a movie room with a huge TV on the wall and a sophisticated audio system I was a little jealous of, a room with a big hot tub, and a game room with billiards, table tennis and foosball tables. But the most impressive thing had to be the honest to god sauna. It was just like one would imagine, a wood-lined room with three benches to fit around six people.

“The bedrooms are all on the second floor. I’ll show you mine later. For now let’s go to the basement.”

Basement!? This wasn’t over!?

The last place of note Sarah wanted to show me was the gym built right under her house. It had a carpeted floor and one of the walls was a huge full length mirror. There was a small rack with dumbbells and weights of different sizes and a plethora of different machines of which I only knew and understood the treadmills.

Grace wasn’t kidding when she said Sarah had an entire gym in her house.

“W-What does your family do?” I asked, trying to stop myself from gawking.

“Dad’s a psychiatrist, mom’s a chiropractor,” Sarah explained, rubbing the back of her head and looking a bit bashful. “They also own a sports store that sells all kinds of equipment, machines like these included. I started helping at that store this year.”

Entirely different worlds. I think it hadn’t hit me since I barely interacted with anyone for years, but my schoolmates and I lived in entirely different worlds. Maybe my family could afford one of these machines if we saved for two or three months, but an entire gym like this? Or the house, for that matter?

Just to be clear, I didn’t hold anything against Sarah or the other girls. Nothing at all. Still, though… I was a little jealous. I wish I had the money to buy a better guitar, a better amp, a better PC. No, even before that. I’d replace the washing machine, the kitchen stove, maybe install a heating system for the winter. I’d change the sofas I knew my mom disliked, or tell her to remodel the whole living room as she pleased. That’s if I had the money, of course.

Sarah must have noticed I was uncomfortable, so she looked at me with a bit of worry. “Oliver?”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing.” I chuckled and easily brushed my envy aside. “It’s just a lot to take in. It’s an amazing house.”

“I do think it’s a bit much, but I like having it all here,” Sarah admitted. “I had considered inviting you to a gym today, but we can work out here, too. Are you up for it or would you rather do something else?”

To be honest, I was curious about my own physical state. I felt healthier, stronger, with more stamina. How far did that go? I nodded to her.

“Great.” Sarah then got a scrunchie from her jacket’s pocket and tied her hair into a ponytail. She started to unzip her jacket, revealing the loose sweater underneath. Then she started to pull up said sweater, and my heart jumped.

No. No, I was getting ahead of myself. Under her sweater, Sarah was wearing a black sports bra with a white trim. It held her breasts firmly and showed her smooth, toned stomach. She then started taking off her pants, showing she was wearing black leggings under them. Just like that, Sarah was ready for a workout.

I couldn’t stop my eyes from looking at her up and down. Sarah truly looked amazing. A slender, toned body with the perfect curves around the hips. Her sports bra supported and pushed up her already big chest and made it look a little bigger. Her tight leggings also accentuated her butt.

“Have you… gotten offers to be a model?” I found myself asking her.

Sarah’s eyebrows shot upwards, and with a smirk, she asked me, “What? What makes you ask that?”

“S-Sorry. I just remembered that Mila has gotten offers, and I couldn’t help but think that you’d make an amazing model, too.” I could totally see Sarah posing for sports magazines, wearing different workout outfits or something like that.

Sarah laughed. “Thanks. But no, I haven’t gotten offers.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I guess Mila has that foreign appeal, and she posts like three times more on social media than I do. Not that I care that much. I work out for myself, not to get a modeling job.”

“For yourself?”

“Exercise makes the body release endorphins, hormones which help relieve pain and stress and even improve your mood. I… Uh…” Sarah grimaced. “I used to have some serious anger issues. Since I started exercising, that doesn’t happen anymore. Though I suppose I’ve also grown up. Some people still tell me I have a nasty attitude, but hey, can’t please everyone.” She shrugged.

“You’re amazing,” I told her, a big, goofy smile on my face. She saw her own issues and worked to fix them in the way she knew how. “I… wish I could be a bit more like you.”

Sarah’s eyes widened and her cheeks turned pink. “W-What are you talking about? You started working out too, right?”

Oh shit.

“W-Well, yeah… Just a bit,” I lied and kept it at that. Change the subject! Change the subject! “A-And speaking of, where should we start?”

Sarah was all too happy to change the subject as well. “With a warm up, of course! Now, take off that jacket.”

I took it and my sweater off and we got started.