It was early. The sun had yet to rise, and Seth was sitting in his truck on the first day of school in his gym clothes. He liked to use the school gym to lift weights before the football team got in there during first period. He sighed and rolled his head on his headrest to look out the window at the silent building, looming in the dark. Senior year.

On one hand, it had started well. He'd finally put down his rivalry with Jayson, and was getting ready to get his instructor black tab.

But none of that really compared to the crushing void he felt when he thought of Madeline. Seth and Emma had used the whole weekend to release their pent-up attraction towards each other—her parents were pulling extra shifts at the hospital for some reason—but none of it did anything to ease the swirling anger and numbness in his heart.

Seth punched the steering wheel half-heartedly and got out of his car, dressed in gym shorts and a sleeveless shirt, carrying his backpack. He made his way into the building, the hallways brightly lit, empty and waiting for the arrival of the new school year's students.

Seth walked in the stillness down the halls to the school gym and began setting up the squat rack and going through the motions of his workout. The weight was heavy, but he just zoned out through it, barely feeling the bar on his back as he descended to a squat and stood back up.

Seth finished his set and added another forty-five-pound plate on each side, then sat down on a bench and waited to begin his next set. Looking around the gym, it was empty. Seth hung his head.

The doors slammed open and broke him out of his reverie. Andrew stood there. He had quite obviously kicked the doors open. "Boom, baby!" He shouted. "Oh, hell, no, Seth. You are not going to act like that!"

Andrew ran over to him. "Get under the bar, you weakling, it's just a fucking relationship! Get a move on and lift some fucking weight it's senior fucking year!" He shook the squat rack like an enraged baboon.

Seth smiled a little and got under the bar, walking it out and setting his stance. Down. Up. Down. Up. Seth lifted it six times, saw Andrew shaking his head in the mirror and did four more reps. Those hurt. Seth racked the weight and turned to face Andrew. "Thought I'd have my morning peace and quiet."

"Bullshit. I'm your best friend and it's my job to make sure you don't have peace and quiet after a breakup. Seriously, though." Andrew punched Seth in the shoulder. "How are you holding up? You didn't answer your phone all weekend. I called you a bunch of times like I was a girl or something."

Seth shrugged. "I'm not a crying mess. So there's that."

"Emma probably helped with that."

"Wait, how do you-"

Andrew held up a finger and whipped out his phone. He scrolled through Instagram, then held up a video. It was posted to Emma's account, but it was Seth crashed out on the couch and snoring. Emma was trying not to laugh in the background of the audio. "Nice, dude," said Andrew. "Emma's hot. Hotter than Madeline, I think."

Seth made a face and got under the bar.

"Uh-uh," said Andrew. "315 was your working set at the start of last year."

"For four," said Seth. "I just did it for ten."

"Nope."

"C'mon."

Andrew didn't reply and instead slapped another 25 on each side. "Ten again, Seth. If I can't give you therapy, maybe a workout can."

Seth glared at him before unracking the weight. Heavy, but manageable. Ten reps came and went with pain, but no trouble. Seth racked the weight. "You working out?"

"Nah, I'm just here to watch you suffer. Wrestling hits the weight room around twelve."

"Ah." Seth sat back down on the bench and looked at Andrew blankly.

"Seriously, bro." Andrew sat next to him. "Have some fun with Emma. Take her to homecoming. Acting like you're over Madeline will help you actually get over her."

"I do like Emma."

"See, good!"

Seth glanced over at Andrew. "But isn't it a little messed up to be dating another girl right after I break up with Madeline?"

Andrew looked at him incredulously. "If any of the gossip that went around this weekend is to be believed, she cheated on you. And I know you. I've known you since fourth grade, bro. You wouldn't have broken up with her for anything less than that. And if that's the case, then you shouldn't feel the slightest bit of remorse for banging Emma."

Seth sat up and got ready for his next set. His legs were full of blood and lactic acid as he settled under the bar and hoisted it out of the rack. One. Two. Three. The set continued.

"You're gonna have to give me details, Seth," said Andrew. "Whenever you're ready, I mean. All I know right now is from this cheerleader I was hanging out with this weekend and it seemed unreliable at best. She heard from a friend who heard from Sarah, so..."

Seth grunted his acknowledgment as he stood up and racked the weight. He turned around and leaned on the bar. "She's been cheating on me since before summer, Andrew."

"Oh, shit." Andrew's eyes got wide. "I'm sorry, dude. That's bad."

Seth again shrugged and turned his head away, unsure of exactly how to respond.

"Well, I can tell you want to change the subject," said Andrew. "You should probably know David and Anthony are gonna be tracking you down the moment today starts."

Seth whipped his head back to Andrew. "Why, Andrew?" He said, using a controlled tone with an edge of aggravation to it. "This doesn't have anything to do with you showing up there over the summer does it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I may or may not have found my ways into certain parties."

"Dammit, Andrew."

"Hey, there's no wrestling over the summer."

"Still."

"Eh. Did you hear about the ER over the weekend?"

Seth glanced at the clock in the gym. Thirty more seconds in his rest. "Huh?"

"I'm surprised you haven't since Emma's parents are doctors."

"They were pulling longer shifts, yeah."

"A bunch of people were killed by a wild animal."

"Get out," said Seth. He started to get under the bar. “What happened?”

"No one knows. They think there’s a bear on the loose, but the police won’t let anyone anywhere near the operating rooms.

"So how do you know?"

"How come you don't, lover boy?"

Seth unracked the weight. "Dammit, Andrew. I'm single. I'm trying wrap my head around that." He started squatting. "It's really... tough." This last set was significantly harder than the ones that proceeded it.

"It'll be in the news in a couple of days."

Seth remained silent through the whole set, doing one extra rep before he racked it. He sucked in air. That was painful. He looked back at Andrew. "Sure it will. Cheerleader was just saying that to impress you."

"Bet."

Seth shook his head and started taking weights off the bar. He finished, then moved over to the pull-up bar. He gripped it, locking his arms out, then drawing his body up so he was parallel to the ground and began counting to thirty.

Andrew started doing muscle-ups on the bar beside him. The two worked out in silence for a good while, Seth doing his front levers and Andrew doing his muscle-ups. Seth wordlessly moved on to some empty floor space and started doing bridges for his lower back muscles. Andrew popped into one beside him, balancing the position on his head.

"You and Emma are good together. You've had that crush on her a long time," said Andrew. "What you don't know, what I kept from you because I'm a good friend and you were in a relationship... She's had a crush on you damn near as long."

They both sat down from their bridges. Seth looked over at Andrew. “Yeah, she told me, but how do you know that?"

"I swear. Her and I got to talking at a party. You came up. Then Madeline came up. She made a face so I pressed. Turns out she was hoping you'd ask her out at that bonfire last year."

Seth looked down. "Well, damn." He shrugged. "Maybe it would have turned out just as bad."

"I don't think so, man. Emma's had several boyfriends, but no one has ever heard of her cheating. She's loyal, or at least honest enough to let someone go when she's had enough of them. Enjoy your time with her." Andrew glanced over. "And don't be mad at me with what happens next."

"Seth Blackwell," came a voice from the entrance to the weight room. "Fancy seeing our next biggest contender here!"

Seth looked over. David and Anthony stood in the entrance, dark, curly hair perfectly combed into waves, both dressed like wannabe fight promoters. He looked at Andrew and groaned. He still couldn't tell if this was going to be a good senior year or not.