Lila's Natural Strength II by CyberflexFemme on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Despite her quiet, artistic life, Lila found herself in situations that constantly reminded her just how out of place her body seemed in comparison to others. Though she never sought attention, she had a knack for unintentionally leaving people speechless with her strength, a strength that she herself had never bothered to explore.

One afternoon, Lila was heading home from the grocery store. As usual, her arms were loaded with bags—more than anyone would think possible for someone who looked as delicate as her. But her arms hardly felt the strain. In fact, she didn't even notice the weight as she casually walked down the street.

As she rounded a corner, she spotted an older man struggling with a flat tire on the side of the road. He was attempting to lift the back end of his small car onto a jack, but his shaking arms and strained expression told Lila he was having a rough time.

"Need a hand?" she asked, her voice soft, her blue eyes full of genuine concern.

The man looked up, sweat dripping from his brow. "I wouldn't want to trouble you, miss. This car's heavier than it looks."

Lila set her grocery bags down and waved away his concern with a smile. "It’s no trouble at all."

Before the man could protest, Lila crouched down, hands slipping under the back of the car. Without much thought, she lifted it just enough for the man to slide the jack under. Her arms barely strained as the muscles in her biceps popped into sharp relief. The man stared, jaw slack, as Lila held the car steady, her fingers wrapped around the bumper like it was a bag of groceries.

"You’re… lifting it?" the man stammered, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Yeah, no big deal," Lila replied, adjusting her glasses with one hand while still holding the car up effortlessly with the other. "Got it?"

He nodded quickly and hurried to finish positioning the jack. When she gently lowered the car, he stood up, rubbing his eyes like he couldn’t believe what had just happened. "Miss, I’ve been working on cars for thirty years and… I’ve never seen anyone, let alone someone your size, lift one like that."

Lila grinned, brushing her hands on her jeans. "I guess I’m just stronger than I look." She waved as she picked up her grocery bags and headed back down the street, leaving the man in a daze.

That wasn’t the only time Lila unintentionally shocked people. A few weeks later, she met up with some friends at a local café for a board game night. They were a tight-knit group who loved to gather, laugh, and share stories over games like Catan and Ticket to Ride. As usual, Lila sat quietly, her sketchbook open in front of her, half-listening to the chatter as her pencil glided across the paper.

At some point during the night, they decided to take a break, and one of her friends, Corey, pulled out a little surprise—a pull-up challenge. He had brought along a portable bar that hooked onto the doorframe of the café’s backroom, grinning as he announced that anyone who could do more than ten pull-ups would get a free drink.

Corey was always the athletic type, and his idea of fun often involved physical challenges. Lila found it amusing, though she never participated. Tonight was no different—or so she thought.

Her friend Sarah, already three drinks in, nudged Lila with a playful grin. "You should try it. I bet those muscles aren’t just for show."

Lila shook her head, chuckling. "I don’t think I’d be any good at that. I’ve never tried pull-ups."

"Nonsense!" Sarah urged, pointing at Lila’s arms, which were clearly toned even beneath her hoodie. "Come on, I’ll buy your drink if you fail. Deal?"

With everyone watching, Lila hesitated, but the friendly banter coaxed her into standing up. She wandered over to the bar, a little unsure but intrigued to see what she could do. Corey smirked as he demonstrated a perfect set of pull-ups, clearly expecting Lila to maybe manage one or two.

Lila grabbed the bar with both hands and gave it an experimental tug. It felt light—almost too light. She shrugged, thinking she’d try just for fun. As she pulled herself up, her biceps bulged effortlessly, lifting her body as if it weighed nothing. To her surprise—and to everyone else’s—she didn’t stop at one or two pull-ups. She kept going. Three, four, five… by the time she reached ten, her friends were staring, their jaws dropped. She wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

"Eleven… twelve…" Corey muttered, his eyes wide as Lila passed his count with ease. By the time she hit twenty, she dropped from the bar, landing lightly on her feet, barely out of breath.

Lila brushed a strand of hair from her face, adjusting her round glasses as her friends erupted into cheers and disbelief. "I guess I’m stronger than I thought," she said with a sheepish grin, trying to hide her own surprise.

"Stronger?" Corey repeated, still in shock. "You just made that look like child’s play!"

For the rest of the night, Lila was the subject of endless praise and disbelief. Every time someone brought it up, she would shrug, downplay it, and insist that she really didn’t do anything special. But her friends weren’t buying it. They knew what they had seen, and they weren’t about to let her forget it.

The moments kept coming, though Lila remained as humble as ever. One day, while walking with Sarah through the park, they came across a group of movers struggling to get a large couch into the back of a truck. The movers were sweating profusely, clearly having trouble maneuvering the heavy piece of furniture.

"You think you could give them a hand?" Sarah teased, nudging Lila’s arm.

Lila sighed, smiling as she stepped forward. "Excuse me, do you need some help?"

The movers, two burly men, looked at her skeptically. "Uh… I think we’ve got it, thanks," one of them said, clearly doubting that this slim girl in glasses could offer any real assistance.

Lila didn’t wait for permission. She bent down, grabbed the end of the couch, and with minimal effort, hoisted it off the ground. Her biceps swelled as she lifted the couch higher, the veins in her forearms popping as she carried the weight without a second thought.

The movers gawked, too stunned to react as Lila helped them slide the couch into the truck bed. Once the job was done, she dusted off her hands, giving them a polite nod. "There you go. All set."

The men could only stammer their thanks, still bewildered by what had just happened. As Lila walked away, Sarah burst into laughter, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You’re like a superhero," Sarah said, eyes wide. "You have no idea how strong you are, do you?"

Lila just smiled, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I guess it’s just something I’ve always had. I don’t really think about it."

But even as she said the words, Lila couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to her strength than just genetics. Maybe she should explore it, test her limits. Or maybe, she thought with a grin, it was just part of who she was—a girl who could lift a car, win a pull-up contest, and help strangers move couches, all without breaking a sweat.

For now, though, she was content to let the world be shocked, one casual display of strength at a time.