The Coach's Formula, Part Two: What David Did
by Shade
The next day…
Now you can imagine how you’d react to hearing that there was some kind of supplement out there that might help you become a little more like the football team – especially that particular football team. Which was about as big and muscular a football team as you could hope to find. You’d naturally want to find out more about it.
And that’s what David did.
David’s parents insisted that he come with the family on Friday night to support his brother and watch the team play. He’d never been to a football game before. And, lying to his parents at the start of the game, said he wanted to go to the bathroom. His parents let him go figuring he wasn’t into it. And David knew that once the game started his parents would be totally engrossed watching Ryan and the team at least until half time.
The stadium was next to the school. The players had just taken the field, so David slipped into the locker room unobserved and headed for the back where the Coach’s office was: past the gym showers, near the entrance to the gym itself. He’d really picked a good time because the office was completely unlocked, amazingly unguarded, and no one was around. Well, honestly, there wasn’t much in there that one would ordinarily want to take.
After ten minutes of looking, and a couple close calls as some of the staff and an assistant coach came into the locker room a couple of times, David found boxes marked Niodex in a closet in the Coach’s office. The top box was open and remaining inside were six neatly stacked, silvery cans. Cans just like the one Ryan had been drinking from yesterday. There were three unopened boxes stacked there too. Another box was empty. From the looks of it, David assumed that twenty-four cans would fit in a full box. He picked up a can and feeling reckless, popped it open and took a swig.
He nearly puked.
It did taste rather awful. He was about to throw it away, but thought the better of it. Taking the same advice his brother took, he chugged it down. Almost gagging, but managing to get it all down.
He was instantly disappointed that he didn’t feel the least bit different. He didn’t explode out of his shirt by putting on two hundred pounds or growing two feet taller. Nothing happened at all. But the logical side of his brain kicked in at that moment, and he reminded himself that if instant muscle growth were to occur, it would have raised some important eyebrows. Still, it must do something. Intrigued by the idea, David went into the deserted weight room nearby. He stared at himself in the mirror. He knew he was a weakling, but he knew that it must enhance the players in some way or the Coach wouldn’t give it to the guys until just before the game. So he picked up a dumbbell – a twenty pounder – and started doing reps with it. Surprisingly, pleasantly so, David found that he could curl the weight with some effort. Twenty times in fact. This was a dramatic improvement, because he knew before he drank the can he wouldn’t have been able to pick it up, let alone curl it. So this formula was obviously a serious performance enhancer. No wonder the team was able to put up such an aggressive game. It wasn’t merely their builds, but their stamina.
One thing was certain; this was not the time or place in which to be experimenting. He needed to get out of there.
It would be half-time soon. The players would come back into the locker room.
David threw his empty can into the trash basket where he saw that there were other similar cans, no doubt the player’s weekly rations. If he was going to get anywhere with this though, he knew he was going to need more cans for himself. He grabbed one of the unopened boxes and took off with it. His father drove a quad cab pick up truck. He put the box in the back, under a tarp that his dad kept. He could retrieve it and stash it in his room later that night after they got home.
With luck Coach McCready would be so busy he wouldn’t notice the extra can in the trash or the missing box. At least not until it was too late to matter.
When he slipped back into his seat in the stadium later, his parents and Ted didn’t say anything to him. His dad noted with approval though that David really seemed to enjoy the second half of the game. Even cheering on the team and Ryan a couple times with something that might pass for enthusiasm. Nobody really seemed to pay any attention to how much bigger Ryan was looking, nobody except David.
David couldn’t wait to get home that night.