Chapter 7: 2 fullfilling weeks

Albert Smith P.O.V ( Old Smith)

2 weeks passed in the blink of an eye usually with school ending my days would only get boring i didn't hate the silence but seeing the school grounds so empty my work often had a wistful or melancholic mood to it but this year was different Stephen kept his word and would come have lunch with me from Monday to Friday. This kid was a lot more mature than kids his age he also told me what had happened to him at the end of his school year and I could understand why he was trying to change his habits for the last 2 weeks he didn't miss a day from training, one day I got curious about what kind of training he was doing so I watched him from afar and I must say I was surprised for one hour straight he will do sprints with almost no pauses in between.

On Monday he came here with a new haircut, he explained to me that this haircut was called Pompadour and to get the pompadour with a skin fade you want to ask your barber to keep plenty of height and length in the fringe, then taper the hair shorter through the rest of the top towards the crown. For the back and sides, you want a skin fade and you want to specify how high up you'd like that fade. When I asked him he was explaining this to me in so much detail he said that I should think about getting the same haircut with my Galibardi Styled beard so it would fit perfectly. I didn't know what he was talking about so I just laughed it off and continued eating the food he had brought 

Compared to what he looked like when he first came here to ask me if he could use the school facility he was looking a lot healthier he grew some muscles or maybe it was just there but was hiding behind a little layer of fat that was now gone because I didn't feel like he had bulked up, maybe a little bit but not enough to notice also his skin got darker because of all the time he spent outside, and with his new haircut he was looking like a totally new person if, before these two weeks, the aura I was feeling coming out of Stephen was I am a quiet but determined person but now his aura was screaming 'Look at me I'll be a star'.

The first week the food he brought wasn't bad but I wouldn't call it good either from our conversation, I learned that he was cooking everything by himself and that he was still learning so I just ate without complaining, and like I said I was not like it was bad. What surprised me was that with each passing day, I could taste improvement in his food i asked him if his mother or someone in his family was teaching him how to cook but then he gave me a pure youngster answer which was '' I'm learning from Youtube videos'' I knew what was Youtube because of my granddaughter but this kid sure learn fast I thought

Today the sun was out with almost no wind but Stephen had passed by to drop the food he had made into the mini fridge I had installed in my shed 2 years back. During these two weeks, I took the habit of checking on him 15 minutes or so before he finished his training we would then walk back to my shed together for lunch. Seeing this kid pushing himself so hard for his dream when 99% of kids just gave up because training and doing the same thing day after day is too hard for them looking at this kind of was poetic in some way and what if he really made it one day I thought. I'll be able to tell my great-grandchildren that I saw this young man rise I was there when he was only a lanky kid training himself and trying to make his dream come true

To get to the sports field of the school I had to cross the parking lot and today's parking lot was fuller than usual since it was a Friday and kids were playing soccer I wasn't surprised about this what got me surprised was the number of women here today usually the ratio men/woman was pretty equal since both parents would come and cheer for their child but today even from afar you could see that there was almost twice the number of woman and girl than men and not far from were Stephen was training I could a group of teenage girls talking to each other and looking toward him every now and then 

Sigh, so that's why hehe I thought laughing at the situation unfolding before me it only took 2 weeks for these young girls to notice that there was a handsome young lad training himself while their little brother or cousin was playing soccer. And I'm pretty sure Stephen himself is obvious about all the buzz surrounding him right now, I do not swing that way but I was able to tell that this kid was becoming more handsome with each passing day, but it wasn't just the teenage girls that were looking at Stephen, even older women were taking a quick peek at him when their husband wasn't looking at them. Getting closer I understood why they were all looking at him like that with how hot it was today Stephen had taken off his shirt and was running bare-chested 

After 2 weeks of training even if he hadn't bulked up, he had lost all the fat his body didn't need as a result you could see that his abdominal muscle was starting to show themself give him another month or two and he'll be sculpted like a male model. Hehe I wonder what it would be like at the end of the summer if it's like this now I can't imagine what will happen after he had trained for 2 months straight, 'these husbands might need to watch their wives and daughters more closely hahaha' I thought laughing in my head

Stopping at the edge of the running track I waited until he finished his runs before stepping forward toward him and coming to a halt right beside him

'' So you done for the day, kid?'' I asked young Rose who was sprawled on the ground trying to catch his breath

'' Haha yes, Old man... ha...ha.... I'm done just let me get my breath...ha...ha... back and I'll be good to go'' said Steph panting 

'' You might want to put your shirt back on before you get jumped on'' I said a little mischievously looking at the gaze those young girls were sending toward Stephen

''Haha you are right, anyway starting next week I won't be able to take off my shirt for at least a month so they won't be able to look anymore, but I must say... is it just me or are their gaze a little scary?'' asked me Steph while walking toward his stuff on the sideline before wiping off his sweat and putting his shirt back on

'' Hahahaha you got good instinct young Rose, anyway what are you talking about not being able to take your shirt off for a month are you getting surgery or something?'' I asked him with concern 

'' Old man if I tell you, you better not rat me out to my parents'' Said Stephen looking really serious

'' I can promise you that if it's nothing illegal or dangerous'' I said back to him 

'' Well today is my birthday and I saved money for the last two years to get myself tattooed, I've made a friend playing in an online game and he is a pretty well-known tattoo artist in Nashville so I asked him if he would be willing to tattoo me, of course, we can't do this where he is working so we will do this at his place'' he said with a wide grin on his face, I could see how excited he was about this

''Sigh, why are all children's so eager to act like adults nowadays my daughter was the same she got a tattoo when she was fifteen she thought I didn't know but I was aware the whole time she was trying to hide it. Until one day my wife found out about it, and let me tell you she wasn't happy about it. You know that's for life right are you sure about this?'' I asked him 

'' Yes I'm sure, I know my Mom will probably kill me when she learns about this but I've made up my mind. Before the summer started I wasn't sure to go through with it but after making the decision to change after what happened at school I thought that it would mark the start of my journey toward my goals I know it may sound stupid but I feel like I've been given a second chance and can make up for my regrets I know I'm not old enough to talk like this but that's what I'm feeling and also for the first time in my life I feel that I'm doing something for myself without caring about the consequences'' Said Stephen with something in his eyes you would only see in people who get a second shot at life which is weird coming from a man this young, damn that girl who I can't remember the name really woke a monster up I thought

''Just be sure to not get addicted to this feeling you know people tend to get carried away once they get a taste of these dangerous feelings I don't want you to turn into a degenerate because you always look for that thrill'' I said to him with concern

'' Dont worry it is the only time I'll do something like this I have dreams to accomplish I won't get carried away just from this I've got more self-control than that'' Said Stephen looking at me in the eye i could feel his sincerity when he said that that put me at ease enough to drop the topic

Stephen Rose P.O.V

I was really glad when Old Smith showed up today at the end of my training I could feel the gaze of the girls around me getting a little bit too invasive to my liking since the day I got my system my confidence grew more and more with each day passing the fact that I could feel the change in my body was helping me a lot. I also began to take care of my appearance I always knew I wasn't ugly but now I could call myself handsome without any shame this may sound like bragging but both my parents were beautiful people and being a mix between the two I wasn't less beautiful then them, in fact, my Mother always says that I took the best from both of them at 16 years old I was already 6feet tall with sword-like eyebrows, emerald green eyes, black silky hair and a sharp jawline with an easy to miss cleft chin if you don't look closely enough, all in all, I was a looker.

After talking about my project of getting tattooed and explaining my reasoning to Old Man Smith we sat in the shed to eat lunch as usual but today I had to bring cake since it was my birthday, seeing the cake I had brought Old Smith slapped his thigh with his hand hard enough to scare me a little

'' I forgot, Happy Birthday Stephen, I would have forgotten about this if it wasn't for the cake damn all your story about wanting a tattoo almost made me forget something so important'' Crumbled Old Smith after wishing me a good birthday 

'' Haha thank you I thought I'd share my joy by bringing some cake, my Mom always said that true happiness is sharing so I thought I'd share a little bit of happiness with you with this cake'' I said with a smile

'' Your mother is really wise'' said Old Smith while nodding his head

I wolfed down my food since I was a little pressed for time today I had started doing a daily training of 100 pitches with a tennis ball to work on my pitching mechanics I wanted my muscles to remember the feeling of a perfect throw building muscle memory was important from what I had read. I wasn't throwing my hardest I was just making sure that every step of my pitching mechanics was spot on at first it was hard because my body couldn't follow the image the system had given me but I was getting there, by the end of the summer I should be there or almost there it was slow progress but I could see improvement every day

Anyway I needed to get home fast if I wanted to get my 100 pitch done before my Mom and Dad came back home, my mother had warned me that we would be going to my grandfather's home for my birthday party this year probably because they didn't want me to notice my grandfather driving here with my gift hehe little did they knew my mother had already spilled the beans to me

'' Well I need to go now, I need to finish my training before my birthday party. Don't worry about the Tupperware I'll take it back Monday have a great weekend Old man. " I said after taking the last bite of my lunch and walking out of the shed

'' You too young lad take care of yourself and enjoy your day, see you on Monday kid'' said Old Smith with a kind smile on his face

'' I will'' i said with a big goofy smile on my face before starting to jog back to my house