It had been six months since the last time I had even kissed a girl, and I was fed up. "I know I'm not repulsive," I complained to my best friend Luis. "I mean - girls call me cute and stuff all the time! So why can't I get any chicks?"

"I think that's the problem, man," he replied. "You're too cute. Almost pretty even." He was right - standing skinny as a rake and just 5'5, most of the guys I knew were much bigger than me, along with a waist and ass that had led to me being called an "hourglass" in high school gym. I looked very different from Luis: I had ivory skin while he had deep caramel skin, and he was about 6'0 tall, with a work-out regime to match. Luis had always defended me against that kind of teasing... that's kind of how we became friends, even though he was so much more manly than me. He could even grow facial hair, which I couldn't - he kept it trimmed in a neat goatee. "But I don't think it's a lost cause - why don't you try working out? Might make you a bit more... manly. Plus, it's a great place to meet girls."

"Really?" I asked. I hadn't been to a gym since I'd graduated high school - I tended to exercise more in the form of jogging.

"Yeah, man. Honestly, try it."