The Bulk-Up Manifesto

Marcus stood in front of his mirror, flexing. Nothing happened. His arms remained stubbornly noodle-like, despite two weeks of his mom's health kick.

"Time for your **vitamin** regimen, honey!" Mom's voice echoed up the stairs. Marcus groaned. The regimen was three giant pills that made him feel like he was choking down something from a sci-fi movie.

Downstairs, the kitchen counter was covered in dark green sludge. "It's organic **spinach**, kale, and protein powder," Mom announced proudly. "Perfect for your **baseball** tryouts next week."

Marcus gulped it down, trying not to gag. The flavor could only be described as "sad lawn clippings."

His phone buzzed. Group chat blowing up:

Brody: tryouts gonna be LIT 🔥

Aisha: Marcus tryna make varsity lol good luck

Trey: bet he chokes again like last year 🤡

Marcus's face burned. They didn't get it. This was his year. He'd been watching old games on his dad's **cable** package, studying pro players' mechanics. His room was a shrine to baseball knowledge - posters, stats, messy cables from his setup where he streamed analysis videos until 2 AM.

But nothing mattered if he showed up looking like a middle schooler.

"More smoothie?" Mom offered, ominously.

"No. I'm good."

"You're growing, honey. Your body needs fuel."

"MY body needs to not look like a noodle at tryouts, okay?" The words exploded out of him. Mom's face fell.

Later, buried in baseball drills, his phone lit up. Aisha: hey. U good?

Marcus paused. Aisha, who'd been watching him from the bleachers since seventh grade. Aisha, who actually laughed at his jokes.

Yeah. Just stressing.

Her response: You're already good enough. Also that smoothie looked hella nasty, I saw it on your story 🤢

He laughed. Then noticed: she'd been at his game last week. She'd noticed.

Tryouts came. Marcus didn't bulk up overnight. He didn't hit home runs. But he made varsity as a utility player, and when he looked into the stands, Aisha was there.

That night, Mom made spinach smoothies again. Marcus drank it without complaining. Maybe health wasn't so bad after all.