As the Cookie Crumbles

I don’t remember how I got tricked into this.  

I’m standing in the gym, wearing the most uncomfortable wrestling suit with this weird helmet squeezed onto my head.  I’m standing next to my best friend, Josh Hodgens.  He has this look on his face, like he could do anything.  Of course, Josh always has that look.  Because technically, Josh can do anything.  He can bench press at least 20 times more than I can in a few minutes without getting winded.  He has big tough muscles.  He’s smaller than me, but could beat me in a wrestling match if he could make it last long enough. 

I’m a big guy.  My mom says I’m “big-boned.”  I’m not big-boned.  Big boned would mean I was tall.  I’m chubby.  More than chubby.  My stamina is a lot lower than Josh’s and I’ll be surprised if I make it through this. 

“You ready?”  Josh asks punching me in the arm.  His eyes are wide, just like they get when he’s on a sugar rush or when we’re at someone’s front door waiting to get into a party.    

I grimace.  “I don’t know Josh.  I--”

“Clavell!  Where’s Carter Clavell!”  I look up.  Josh punches me again.  This time it hurts. 

“Go man,” he says.  He’s smiling still.  I uneasily step out onto the mat in the middle of the floor. 

“How old are you, Carter?”  coach asks as I step forward. 

“I’m fifteen,” I say.  I shift my weight.  Before I came I had four slices of pizza from the cafeteria and two tall cups of soda.  The caffeine rush from the Coca-Cola has started to wear off and I’m getting tired. 

“Alright.  Halverson!  Gordon Halverson!”  A very skinny freshman comes out.  He looks at me and his eyes get big, like he’s looking at a big elephant. 

“Let’s see what you two’ve got,” coach says.  He blows the whistle and the freshman, Gordon lunges at me.  I can tell he’s done this before because he’s strong.  He runs towards me and we hit the ground.  I wrestle him.  He’s strong, but I’m stronger.  And a lot bigger.  Josh cheers.  I finally get the kid on his back and he taps out. 

“Nice job Carter,” Coach says.  Not until I get up do I notice how tired I am.  I’m panting hard.  Josh whacks me on the back when I get closer to him. 

“You okay buddy?”  he asks.  I nod, still panting. 

Later they call Josh’s name.  He easily takes down the junior they put up against him and we leave together after he’s done.  We stop at a little grocery store to get ice cream.  I get two scoops of mint chocolate chip and a scoop of strawberry on top of that.  Josh stares at the choice for a long time before ordering mango sorbet.

“Can’t eat all that sugary stuff now,” he said nodding toward my ice cream.  “I bet both of us made the team.  That means you have to slim down buddy, work up those muscles.”    

“That has sugar don’t it?”  I ask nodding at the sorbet. 

“No dude.  It’s got this stuff called stevia in it.  It’s a plant but it isn’t as bad as sugar.  This stuff is great,” he said.  He takes a big spoonful and gulps it down.  “Try some.”  He holds the cup out to me. 

I cautiously dip my spoon into the mango colored stuff and taste it.  It tastes like a really sweet mango.  It’s pretty good for fruit flavored ice cream.  I go for another spoonful but Josh jerks it away.  “You’ve got your own ice cream man,” he says.  I dig into my own ice cream, mixing the strawberry and the mint.

After we finish the ice cream we go back to Josh’s house.  We head up to his room.  Josh lays down on his weight bench and starts bench pressing.  He can easily bench press 65 pounds and is working on hitting 70.  I sit on his bed and hear it creak under all of my weight.