Oh, and the rat-a-tat-tat of my heart pounding in my chest. Maybe I could do this. A quick glance told me it was only 100 pounds balancing on both ends of that bar. Nevertheless, my fear mounted. If I couldn't lift this, it was over for me, and my life as a weakling would be permanently cemented in every jock's brain in the room, and then the story would spread through the entire school like wildfire. I took a deep breath and gathered my courage. Here goes. I lifted with all I had. And nothing happened. Sweat dripped into my eyes, clouding my vision. Or were those tears? Growing more fearful, I tried again, and yet again. It was no use. I couldn't do it. My arms trembled, the veins in my neck felt like they were going to pop as I gave it one last Herculean try. Shaking like a piece of overcooked spaghetti, I let my arms drop, fingers grazing the ground as the muscles in my arms twitched with protest. I felt exhausted, both physically and mentally....