New year, new me as they said. Noah had been victim to that mindset for the past ten years. Every year he swore he'd improve. Every year he made plans, had ambitions, set goals. All for it to crumble when his procrastination would attack again. He quickly lost motivation before January was even over. Nothing changed. It was a new year and he was still the same old guy with nothing going for him.

Not this year though. Yeah, I know, I know, that's what they all said but he absolutely, definitely meant it this time. He had just turned twenty-one and was starting his first year of college. If he was going to succeed and become a film maker like he always dreamed of as a kid, he had to get his act together and stop procrastinating. That was the only thing holding him back and he wouldn't let it this time. He was serious.

That's why he bought a gym membership. Again, I know, I know, everyone did when the new year rolled around just to drop it when the motivation eventually ran out. But Noah's case was different. He didn't just get a membership, he got the extra premium deal which included a personal trainer in one. Yeah. He was dead serious.

Now, getting jacked wasn't exactly the point of this. He was self conscious about his body, sure, but from what he could tell, film makers didn't walk around shirtless in the studio. No, the point was for him to get off his ass and do something. Going to the gym just made sense. Especially since he had a personsl trainer now, he couldn't just procrastinate, he was now responsible for not wasting someone's time. If that wasn't motivation enough, he wasn't sure what would be.

So that's why he was here now, standing awkwardly in the corner of the gym, looking around for his new personal trainer. In his anxiety, he'd gotten here thirty minutes earlier than planned so now he just had to wait. He quickly shifted his gaze to the ground when he accidentally made eye contact with someone, seeing the judgment in their gaze. He didn't know what to do but just standing here seemed to earn him a lot of looks as well and he didn't like that.

When he got his fifth judgemental glance of the day, he decided that he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. He walked around for a while trying to find an available machine before watching a guy get off the bench press. He hesitated for a moment before deciding damn it all and getting on it anyway. He should've just not because he completely forgot to change the weights and based on the way that guy looked, there was no way Noah would be able to bench as much as he did.

And he was right because when he wrapped his hands around the bar and tried lifting, the air was forced out of his lungs when the bar fell on his chest. He struggled to take a deep breath before putting all his strength (which was basically none) into pushing it up. His arms trembled as he got it barely an inch high. He huffed and puffed as he faltered, not being able to put the weights back. Just when he felt like he was actually dying, someone came up behind him, helping him put it up.

He gasped as he sat up on the bench, trying to catch his breath. When he turned around to thank his lifesaver, his heart dropped as he realized it was his personal trainer. Great. He'd just made a fool of himself. He was sure the man had already lost all hope in him based on that first impression. "Thank you so much..." He mumbled sheepishly, glancing away out of pure embarrassment.

"I-I forgot to change the weights." It sounded dumb, even coming out of his mouth which usually said dumb things, but he was hoping the man wouldn't judge him. Even if the fact that he was already sweating before they'd even began was worth judging. Especially since they'd be seeing each other a lot more often from now on. The last thing he wanted was for things to be awkward.