I Want A New Drug

Lewis looked at himself in the mirror. He could hear his trainer from the gym. “Dude, that isn’t how a man looks.” Brady may have been a total dick, but he was kind of right. Lewis could see his potbelly and sagging chest. He could see the drain in his face. It’s not what women would want. Women wanted a real man with abs they could see and pecs they could feel pop. Lewis sucked in his gut and raised his shoulders, trying to look swole. Lewis looked in the mirror. He almost looked good. Fake, like a filter, but good. 

But he couldn’t keep it up forever, and, when Lewis let out his breath, his gut flopped out again. Looking at it depressed him. The working out wasn’t working. There was always that desire for food, drink, or something else. Then he’d wake up with a headache or drymouth, and he’d eat or drink what he shouldn’t. And the next time that he’d see Brady, Lewis actually would deserve the ridicule he’d get. But the ridicule cut him down more than it motivated him. He’d sometimes dream of fighting his trainer, but, deep down, Lewis knew that he’d only get his ass kicked if that ever happened. 

Lewis rubbed his eyes, then he started scrolling as he got dressed, looking for what could hide his flab. Twice as he ran through the steady stream of memes, rants, and personal breakdowns, he saw ads for something called GetJakked. From the ad, Lewis couldn’t entirely tell if it was a supplement, a food, or some kind of workout program. It was one of those creepy things that happened when you were thinking about something, and the internet knew that you were thinking about it. Lewis looked at his pantry. He decided to grab a protein bar (cookies and cream), and finish getting ready for the day.  

Lewis might have even forgotten about GetJakked entirely if it wasn’t for the bus ad. He was at a stoplight when a bus pulled up next to him. On the side of the bus was a picture of a shirtless, muscled dude (oiled up and with his veins popping), the product name, and a logo that looked like it might have been a bear or an ape or something. Lewis was a little creeped out by the coincidence, but it was stuck in his head enough that he googled it when he was at work. It wasn’t exactly clear what GetJakked did (other than “getting you jacked”), but there were a couple of influencers who mentioned that they used it, and they looked good. Lewis decided that he’d have to ask Brady about it at the next session.