Susan Turner, 28 years old and recently divorced, was beginning to wonder if things were ever going to turn around for her. Earlier that year, she caught her husband, whose construction company was just starting to finally take off, having an affair with one of his clients, Andrea, a trashy looking woman in her mid 30s who had obviously had some work done. Susan thought she was a hag, though she knew she was obviously predisposed against her. Though Andrea did not have an attractive face, there was little denying she had a very good body for a woman of her age, particularly with the help modern science provided her physique. Not many men would be able to look past her plastic, gravity-defying DDs, and, as disappointing as it was to discover, her husband was no exception.
Susan was glad of one thing—she caught her husband after his business took off, which meant she was able to take him to the cleaners during the divorce. With some shrewd investing she would never have to work again. After moving out of her old home she began to feel very lonely, however. Both of her parents had passed away years ago, and she had only one sibling who she was not very close with and only saw sporadically. After several years of marriage most of her friendships dwindled as well. So she began looking for secretarial work in order to have something to do. After applying for every open position she could find she finally landed one assisting the dean of students at the University of Texas. The pay was decent, the benefits were great, and she would have free access to the gym—-something she was especially excited about due to her new resolve to get back in shape and get her life in order.
In order to help support her and her husband, Susan logged long hours at her previous job. That combined with the fact that she still did most of the cooking and cleaning meant she left very little time for herself and had somewhat let herself go. She always had been told she had a very cute, young looking face, with nice plump lips, and was still carded for alcohol and even the occasional rated R movie. She had longish, dirty-blonde hair --more dark than blonde now, she had to admit to herself. She was 5'7 and though she still had a decent body standing in front of her full-length mirror she looked hard at all her problem areas, pinching the fat on her tummy and turning around to see the cellulite on her upper thighs and ass. Recently, she never took time or spent the money to keep her hair and nails looking nice either, and even after her husband was earning more than enough to take care of that, her old habits had already set in. Her habit of dressing conservatively for work and putting on sweats and socks as soon as she stepped through the door also set in. She knew she was partly at fault for letting the glamour go out of their marriage, but she had a lot of responsibility and her husband was no better. He complained about how she dressed, but he never went to the gym himself and he was beginning to get the gut that was so prominent of his father.
Looking at herself in the mirror in disgust she said "No more" out loud and took a picture of herself with her camera phone as a record. She wanted a fresh start. She wanted to live differently, to become a new and better Susan, and she resolved to do something about it.
Summer Term
Susan moved into her new place in April. It was a beautiful, tiny one-bedroom home right next to campus, which meant she would be able to walk to work. That first night her excitement was dampened, however. After organizing her things all day she went to bed early that night around 10 p.m. and one hour later was awoken by noise coming from the house next door. It was a loud party. She cracked open her window to listen to what she could hear. She heard dozens of girls laughing and chanting "Zeta!" Clubby dance music was blaring. "Ugh, that crap is terrible," Susan scoffed.
"Great," she said to herself in disgust, knowing she didn't really mean it. "I moved right next door to a sorority house. I'm going to have to hear those peppy bitches every night...and see them..." she thought, feeling sad at the thought of having to look at young, snobby, beautiful girls every day while she felt so bad about herself. "Maybe it will give me more motivation to workout at least..." she thought as she tried to fall back to sleep.
She heard bottles clinking and some boys in the background. "They sound pretty cute," she thought, and then immediately checked herself. "Those are nineteen year old boys, get a hold of yourself"— but she had to admit that a little part of her wished she was out there partying with those spoiled, pampered girls and their deep-voiced frat boy admirers...
Susan wouldn't be starting her job until summer term began in late May, but she was already given her ID card so she had a little over a month to focus on getting in shape.
The first week it was hard to get back into the swing of things, but she kept working at it. After that first week things began to get easier and she really started to work herself hard, coming home drenched in sweat. She had never been one of those girls she resentfully called "gym bunnies," so she stuck to what she was comfortable with, running on the treadmill and riding on the bike. She wanted to add some light strength training exercises to balance the cardio, but she had no idea how to use the machines and wasn't sure what exercises would benefit her. She didn't want to bulk up, obviously, but she knew strength training would help her tone up her arms, abs, thighs, and ass.
After running on the treadmill and biking for a while she worked up the nerve to ask one of the staff for help. She walked up to the counter towards a young, scrawny-looking kid, probably a freshman or sophomore, unsure if he would be able to help her. "I don't actually work here, my friend does" he smiled. "I just finished working out, and stuck around for a little to hang out with my buddy. He's the one over there wiping sweat off all the machines," he smiled. "I can help you though. My name's Mike by the way."
She had to admit he was cute, even though he was tall and lanky. "Five years ago and I would have been all over this kid..." she thought to herself with some regret. After being married to a 30-year-old man, a 19-year-old kid just seemed a little too boyish.
For the next 45 minutes Mike showed Susan some exercises that would work her thighs, abs, arms and ass. "Do you work out here a lot?" Susan asked in a flirty tone that surprised her.
"I've just started up the past couple months. I'm here on a baseball scholarship and coach has really been on me to bulk up a bit, turn those warning shot pop-outs into home runs, hopefully." He gave his million-dollar smile again. "If you keep coming in you're definitely going to see me around."
"What a nice kid..." she thought on her drive home, completely exhausted, passing out as soon as she got home. She woke up and made dinner—some vegetables, rice, and grilled tilapia. Another thing she had vowed to change was her diet. No more pizza, burgers, and fries. She vowed to only cook lean meats like chicken and fish, and whenever she was hungry in between meals she would only snack on fruit or vegetables.
By the time she started work she was feeling much better about herself. She was much more energetic and confident, but she knew she had a long way to go.
She didn't mind her job. It was dull but easy, and one student worker in her office was extremely friendly to her. Her name was Kay, and Susan was surprised to hear she was a Zeta and lived next door to her.
When Kay asked for her name Susan surprised herself by answering "Susan, but my friends call me Alexis."
"How does that work?" Kay asked, smiling.
"My first name is legally Susan, but I absolutely hate it," Susan responded. "In middle school everyone called me "the boy named Sue.' My middle name is Alexis and I prefer that, so that's what my friends call me."
Susan's middle name was Alexis, but none of her friends had ever called her that before. She hadn't even really had any friends for several years now. "A little white lie won't hurt though..." Susan thought. "I've always despised my name and I have been saying I need a fresh start. Maybe going by a new name will help me craft a new image for myself."
She had seen Kay in the gym before, quite frequently in fact. Kay was a little tomboyish with short, shoulder length brown hair, but she was in absolutely perfect shape, tall—she was 5'10'' and skinny with a perfect heart-shaped ass that made Susan very jealous.
