Torn.

Admittedly, the answer to that question was plain. Lyla was a short girl on the chubby side, so it was easy to imagine she was here to lose a bit of weight. Well, I say short, but she was slightly taller than me. I guess the reason I always thought of her as short was because I always saw her next to Thomas.

Lyla was wearing workout clothes, her light brown hair was tied into a ponytail. She was alone and looked around nervously, almost afraid of approaching anyone and anything. Definitely her first time here.

I closed my eyes and grit my teeth while I finished my stretchers. Mom gave me an odd look, noticing my expression in the mirror.

I had nothing to do with Lyla. She was the one who broke up with a friend and left him heartbroken. That she was at the same gym meant nothing. I didn’t need to say hello or anything.

I finished my sets, chugged the last of the water bottle I'd bought and couldn’t help but look towards the entrance again. Lyla was still there, and if I had it right, she was strongly considering leaving. Mom followed my eyes curiously.

I shuddered with frustration, clicked my tongue and started making my way to her. If mom hadn’t been with me today, that 100% would’ve been me. Mom’s eyes followed me with further curiosity as I walked, and I had to do my best to ignore it. She’d have questions later, I knew, but none that I couldn’t answer easily.

“Lyla,” I called. With my soft voice and the sound of machines, I wasn’t sure if she heard me, but she turned towards me as if I had yelled at her.

“O-Oliver?” She spoke my name nervously and started looking around. “W-Why are you here?”

“Thomas isn’t here,” I said. I immediately saw her relax. I jumped to an assumption, but I was right. “I… came here with my mom.”

Lyla smiled brightly. “Oh! That’s nice.”

Slowly, I nodded. There was an awkward silence between us. We’d never really spoken more than a few hellos at school. Why did I even approach her? Oh, right.

“Is this your first time here?” I asked her.

“Y-Yeah. I… I wanted to…” She stammered and looked down at the floor. She hesitated, but whatever her reasons to be here, I didn’t want to hear them.

“It’s my first time here, too,” I told her, and she seemed to cheer up at that. “I was just about done, but I can show you around if you want.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, thank you! This is just so intimidating I… didn’t even know where to start.”

“I’m not an expert. It’d be better if you asked one of the trainers,” I said. But if she was feeling the same way I would…

“...I’d rather you show me around, if it’s not too much trouble,” she said with a pleading smile.

I sighed internally. Yep. Better to ask someone you barely know than a total stranger. I almost considered asking my mom to give her the tour, but it didn’t feel right. I’d come to her already. I had to finish what I started.

I nodded and gestured for her to follow me. I practically gave her the exact same tour mom gave me just an hour ago, though mostly in a flat tone. I showed her the rooms, the machines and how to use them, adding that I’d only just learned all this myself, so she really was better off asking a trainer if she had doubts or she’d be risking injuries.

“And that’s about it,” I said once I finished explaining the bench press. I don’t think I’d ever spoken as much, but since Lyla was just listening, it was mostly a monologue and not a conversation. “Now… My mom is probably waiting for me, so I should go.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks a lot, Oliver. I was really nervous about coming here, but now I feel like I understand things a little better.”

I nodded.

“H-Hey.” She swallowed, nervously looking at the floor again. “Will you tell Thomas you saw me here?”

“...” I pressed my lips. “I don’t know if I should. He’s still trying to get over you.” My words may have been blunt, but in a way it was frustrating to be talking to the girl that hurt my friend.

And then my sixth sense flared up unexpectedly. I saw Lyla grimace, and a pang of pain hit my chest for a split second. I thought this only happened with Sarah, Grace and Mila, but last night it happened with Thomas and now with Lyla.

Worst was that it made me understand. Lyla was just as sexually frustrated as Thomas, and every bit as heartbroken over their breakup. I swallowed a groan. I didn’t want to understand this but it seeped into me like a sponge absorbing water. It was unsettling, but I knew that everything I was feeling was true.

“Well, good luck, Lyla.” I waved casually, and after she returned my goodbye I went back to mom. She was next to the leg press and her hands crossed under her chest and a knowing grin.

“One of your friends?” she asked.

“No,” I said flatly. “My friend’s ex-girlfriend. I didn’t want to talk to her, but… she looked lost.”

“Ah. I see.” Her grin faded, but she still smiled at me.

“Having a social life is really complicated,” I said.

Mom chuckled. “But it’s worth it, don’t you think?”

“I guess.”

We went to take our showers and met back at the car. We stopped by a restaurant to buy lunch and returned home by the time Isabelle was having her own breakfast.

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