He returns, with drinks!

It takes another minute or two, but eventually the big, overly-muscled shirtless guy pushes open the side room's door, using his elbow to press down on the handle and slowly push the door open, careful to not spill any of the two drinks he's carrying. {if@ Strength == 1}You shoot your arms up into a T for when his head comes through the doorway, so that he sees just how dedicated you are to this. He looks impressed.{endif}

"Oh hey friend! Wow, you get dressed fast. That's awesome." You hands you one of the drinks, which you happily take. You could use another break. "Forgot to say, my name's Newton. So cool meeting you." You takes a big drink from his cup. From the smell of yours, you'd guess it's basically lime cordial, though there seems to be a sort of dust floating in it...

"I'm Debbie!" you say, proud of that fact.

"Oh, no kidding? I've got a little sister named Debbie. She's house sitting for my cousin right now."

Your eyes narrow. You feel as though you are in direct competition with this other Debbie. This is just like that time in year four when someone new came to the school and had similar hair to you and ended up with way more friends. That won't happen again! This little fake Debbie is as good as dead!

"She's super mature for a six year old. They grow up so fast. Next thing I know, she'll be benching me." He sniffs, and wipes a proud tear from his eye.

Okay, she can live.

"I'm actually planning on being a Warrior myself. Going into my last year at Coinpilfer soon, once the holidays are over."

Hey, you've got a lot in common! Plus, if he's that close to being a Warrior, then he's probably also not dirty at all.

"Anyway, finish up your drink and let's get back to it!"

"Right!" you say, and knock back the rest. Mm, tasty~.

Bending over to pick back up the dumbbells, you pause, and look back up at Newton again. "What was the powder in mine?"

"Extra protein, bro! Helps you get strong. Come on now, let's hear those muscles creaking!"

Over the next several hours, frequent breaks included, Newton gives you a full-body workout, treats you to a several-egg lunch that he calls fuel, and gives you special, practised muscle massages. You'll do as many squats as you can (4), then go back to the dumbbells while he massages your thighs, then do some core-building yoga positions while he massages your arm muscles, then take a short break while he massages your belly. It's a slow build, but returning happily to the gym every day for the next ten days, you start to see real improvement. By the end, you can do 15 squats, and have moved up to holding 1kg dumbbells in a T for six seconds. All the while, Newton treats you to lunch each day (though admittedly, it's basically just a bunch of eggs....), and makes sure you're going through at a good pace. You leave the ten days with a happy wave to Newton, feeling more capable and confident in yourself than you have in a long time. You're definitely a lot stronger than you were at the start of this, but you've got to get back to making enough money to save up for university. {if GymFondle == 1}Lifting buddies are way better than personal trainers!{endif}

"See you around, Debbie! Remember, this stuff takes a lot of time, and each time you really don't feel like getting up to do some exercise, that's when it's most important to make yourself!" Newton calls out to you, as you make your way back down the street from the gym.

"Thanks, Newton!"

"BUT DON'T GO TOO HARD ON YOURSELF!" You're far enough away now that he has to yell basically as loud as he can, and he's doing these big overhead arm waves to get your attention. "EVERYBODY TAKES DAYS OFF, DON'T LET YOURSELF GET SO UPSET ABOUT ONE THAT YOU THINK IT'S ALL RUINED AND TURN IT INTO TWO!"

"THANKS NEWTON!"

Geez. He's a great guy, but he's just too full of advice. Also, turns out that chocolate milk right after exercise is super good. Well, it's always good, but after exercise it's even good for you. Hopefully you'll run into Newton again sometime?

((...What? Not everybody's out to get you.))