Synopsis: After an unfortunate encounter with a bully on the beach, nerdy student Ford finds an old fitness program left on his front doorstep. By following its strangely compelling instructions Ford discovers you can never take body building too far. The dark, dark journey of a nice young man becoming a hulking brute and taking the young women around him along for the ride.
SUNDAY: Beachside Showdown.
Marina was in a foul mood and somehow she knew that Ford was at the source of all her woes.
Not
Stephanie
, no. Steph was her friend and everybody loved her. Marina knew herself to be beautiful, every day of her life reaffirmed it. Boys stared slack-jawed at her as she walked past, girls loudly admired her and people just did things for her if she smiled the right way. Steph though...
Steph was
drop dead gorgeous
.
Steph was such a charismatic force of nature that even the older girls at Alpha Phi Theta were intimidated by her. She was a shoo-in as a pledge--already pre approved, in fact. Marina hadn't known that could even happen--and would probably make chapter president in under three years instead of the usual four.
Guys did whatever Steph wanted without her even asking. Steph could hint that she needed help writing a math paper and half the chess-club would trip over themselves for the chance to write it for her. Marina wasn't sure Steph knew how to do calculus but she was passing the course with perfect grades.
Steph even had college faculty members subscribed to her social media.
Her Instagram following was huge. Steph had been the all-american blonde cheer-leading captain in high-school then somehow continued to further bloom in her first year of college. Her online presence was growing exponentially every day, she could make or break small businesses with her "recommendations" and had even turned down a local sponsorship deal from the big twenty-four hour gym off-campus.
She said she didn't need it. Like her body was naturally trim, athletically lean and impressively busty all the time.
Marina believed her too. Stephanie was her friend.
No, this whole awful weekend was Ford's fault.
Stupid
Ford with his
stupid
face and his
stupid
glasses.
That was why Marina had chosen him after all; for his glasses.
At first glance he had seemed like just enough.
Just nerdy enough to fit her new image. Just cute enough to be seen with her online (not enough to compete with her for the limelight, of course). Just old enough to make her seem accessible to her target male audience. Just pliable enough that he could be swayed by a pretty smile and a little flirting.
It wasn't her fault Ford thought she was his girlfriend. It had only been a few weeks and she hadn't put any labels on their relationship.
Then he had taken her to that beach and embarrassed her in front of that golden Adonis of a Man.
Mac
.
Steph had invited her to an exclusive, hidden beach to meet hot young guys. Stephanie had never approved of her
association
with Ford. So her dear sweet sorority sister-to-be had arranged for her to meet
Mac
.
She had almost swooned when he looked at her with that brilliantly handsome face and strong jaw. With that statuesque build that she had only seen before on magazine covers. He had been interested in her, his roving eyes had said as much, then Ford had to ruin
everything
by butting in.
Stupid little Ford and somehow, after all of that, he
still
had the temerity to text her?
Got your glasses.
People often argued that text messages couldn't convey subtle tones but Marina knew better. She was a dab hand at deploying insidious subtext on Twitter while retaining the perfect facade of innocence. Steph was a grand master who could cut a person down with a backhanded compliment that sounded completely sincere.
Yes, Ford's three word message rang too much of a schoolyard taunt for Marina's liking.
Got your glasses.
Worse still, she had to find her own way to his parents house to retrieve them. She had discarded her designer frames just as soon as they had got back to Ford's shitty old car on Friday. How could she not? Mac had said she'd look better without them... or something to that effect.
Everything had gone a bit hazy after Mac's massive dick had come out. All Marina knew was she had needed it as much as she had needed her next breath in that moment.
Now the old headaches were back and she was squinting to read her phone. Beautiful girls did
not
squint. She worried she was developing lines around her eyes.