Repeat and Retribution

Chapter 35

Just around the bushes, hidden from the prying eyes of people passing by was a slouched body of what seemed to be another racer. Body covered in sweat in her almost bulging race shirt, leaning on a tree that had managed to support her plump body.

It was obvious that she was crying as she tried to catch and hold her breath while wiping her face altogether.

Feeling sympathy for the girl, Crystal decided to approach with her bottle of energy drink in hand.

“Hey there, are you all right?” Greeting with a warm smile she tries to get her attention by waving.

The girl was caught by surprise, quickly grabbing the hem of her shirt she tries to remove the tears that were covering her face.

“Yes, I’m...I’m just catching my breath,” she chuckles but ended up with a snorting from sobbing.

“Here, I think you could use a drink.” Shrugging off the girls' looks, she offers her the bottle, thinking it was the best option as it seems the girl didn’t want anyone to see her woe.

The woman paused for a moment a bit baffled at the offer. “No, I...I…” she tried showing her own bottle but was greeted with an empty one.

Widening her smile Crystal offers her bottle once more. “Don’t worry, I still have extra’s.” Not waiting for a reply this she places the bottle in her hand sensing how dehydrated she must be.

“Tha-Thank you.” There was now light on her plump little face as a line started to form on her lips.

“Why don’t we go over there where it’s safer and has much more shade, rather than here,” Crystal pointed to a tree much closer to the track where the racers were passing.

She wanted to at least make sure that the girl was safe since the place they were at was near a cliff and one misstep may cause an accident.

The girl seemed to have second thoughts for a moment but eventually came around. Managing to stand on her own she nods at Crystal who was patiently waiting beside her.

Taking out her baby wipes that were stuff in ice she offers them to the girl. “You better use this, it will help you get hydrated.”

“Thank you.” The girl didn’t hesitate this time, taking a few pieces before they continued to walk on the trail again.

“We should slow down for a bit.” Crystal states, sensing that the girl hasn’t fully recovered yet.

“You don’t have to do this, you might get left behind.” The girl was still lost for breath as she still tried to quicken her stride.

“It’s all right, I need a bit of rest myself,” She waves off.

“Aren’t you worried that you might end up in the last place?” The girl's forehead creased a bit baffled.

“Not really, I’m here to have fun. I mean, we don’t really need to force ourselves so long as we finish this right.” She chuckles.

Crystal didn’t really care much for that since she only joined in for the fun of trying out something new.

The girl somewhat nodded. “Yes.”

Though the girl somewhat agreed there was a sense of gloominess in the tone of her voice, seeing as she still seemed to want to proceed walking as fast as possible.

“I’m Crystal by the way.” Crystal breaks the ice by giving out her hand.

“Lorraine,” the girls reaches for it.

Her hand was shakily and sweating, a sign that Crystal thought would be from exhaustion and still being unable to recover.

“Okay Lorraine, why don’t we just walk for the next few kilometers so that we’d still be moving, just so we can catch our breaths.” She decides it was the best course of action feeling a bit worried about the girl as she now seemed determined to continue.

“O-Okay, sorry if I dragged you into this,” Lorraine’s voice still seemed a bit shaky as she kept wiping her face clean.

“Oh no, you don’t need to worry, I was actually taking a rest on a nearby tree stump, that’s why I was there.” Crystal assures not wanting to cause any more distress for the girl.

It was clear that the woman seemed to be carrying a heavy-weight on her shoulders at that moment.

“Aren’t you worried about being in the last place, I mean this is a race,” Lorraine asks when they were already nearing the mountain's summit.

Crystal only realized then how young the girl was when the full shine of the sun had managed to touch her white porcelain-like cheeks. Her plumpness did not hide the fact the girl had a very beautiful face, her straight brown hair that reached her shoulder complemented well with her beautiful gray almond-shaped eyes. Lorraine seemed at least two or three years younger than her.

“Oh no, I’m not here to compete, it’s just that I’ve always wanted to try trail running, even just once in my life,” she tells her.

It was true since going on a little mountain hike was a thing she had on her bucket list on her old timeline, it was one of those things she had always wanted to do but was unable to do so, cause she was so pre-occupied with keeping her life afloat.

Lorraine took out a deep breath upon hearing that. “Oh, so this is your first time,” she said in dismay.

“Yes, though I do jog a lot,” Crystal says back trying to lighten the girls' mood.

“This is already my fourth for this year,” Lorraine murmurs, her smile slowly fading away.

Noticing the sadness in the girls' voice Crystal tries to be as lively as possible. “Wow, you must go out a lot.” She claps her hand in a somewhat astonished-like manner.

That managed to keep Lorraine's smile from fading. “Not really. My family drags me into these things, they insist I do outdoor activities, you know since they say it’s going to help out with my physique and all.” Gesturing her hand to her body.

“Oh, they must be real health-conscious.” Crystal just let out another cheerful tone to deviate the conversation from turning sour.

“Very, they also expect me to finish within two hours or so.” Lorraine snickers at the thought.

Quickly thinking of a good comeback, Crystal decided it best to just sympathize with the girl.

“Oh, that’s kind of hard, I don’t think I’d be able to do that myself, my knees aren’t that tough,” she tries to laugh at the idea of it, taking the risk that it would somewhat work out.

“You think so.” Lorraine’s face manages to lighten up a bit.

Crystal managed to breathe a sigh of relief. “Of course, though it’s not that impossible if you’re the sporty competitive type. But, I mean, not everyone is like that, some of us have different interests and capabilities, like me for instance. I just want to enjoy the scenery here and of course, to experience going up a mountain, it’s quite different from jogging on solid concrete pavement, having soft earth and a lot of trees around, gives out a different vibe and the change of scenery is very relaxing for me,” she continues.

“Yeah it is a bit relaxing here,” Lorraine had now managed to look around, inhaling the deep for the first time, finally appreciating the fresh air and view the place had to offer.

“What would you be doing if you didn’t take part here?” she asks after a few moments of silence. They had already traversed the peak and passed the last checkpoint, so they were already heading down the mountain.

“Well, I like to bake, I would probably be in the kitchen trying some new recipe of cakes right now,” Lorraine's voice was now more lively and cheerful.

“Oh, I always wanted to try that. Though I’m more into cooking,” Crystal’s interest was heightened upon hearing that.

Eyes twinkling Lorraine was now able to look at her. “Really, what do you specialize in?”

“Filipino food, of course, my mom has an eatery so I get to practice a lot, helping her out.” Crystal proudly says.

“I actually dream of having my own pastry shop, but I don’t think it would be possible,” Lorraine’s voice returned to its lifelessness as she said those words.

“How come?” Curious she could not help but ask.

“I don’t think my family would approve of such a thing, since they want me to focus on getting good grades at school so that I can help them with our business.” Lorraine sighed at the thought.

“Oh, well. That doesn’t mean you should stop doing what you like. I mean, we don’t know what the future would be, so knowing a lot of things doesn’t hurt, especially things like what you’re interested in.” Crystal tries to explain as she’s starting to see the girl's dilemma.

Lorraine’s forehead creased at the idea. “Really?”

“Of course, you can still be an obedient daughter who gets good grades and also a passionate pastry chef at the same time right. No one going to stop you so long as you’re able to follow what your parents want,” she could not help but advise as she doesn’t really see any problem with it.

“I don’t think that would be easy,” Lorraine gave a half-suppressed laugh.

“Is baking easy?” She quickly asks.

The girl's face somewhat straightened, thinking of how to answer it. “Not really, I mean, people think it’s that simple but there are a lot of things to consider, such as measurements and stuff,” she says.

Finally sensing that they were on the same page, Crystal let out a smile. “Nothing really is. At the end of the day, it all boils down to how much effort we can put into something, may it be in our hobbies or in the things that are expected of us. Think of it as this way, you said you’d be baking by now, doesn’t that already mean that your parents don’t really bother with what you like to do,” she tries to reason with her about it.

“Well, they do scold me for eating too much of what I make,” Lorraine nods.

“But they don’t really stop you from baking right,” she quickly adds before she could even say anything that would ruin it.

“No, not really,” Lorraine states quite puzzled at the thought.

“Then that’s a good thing already,” Crystal says cheerfully.

That made Lorraine giggle. “Wow, your quite the optimist aren’t you.”

“No, not really. We all have our own ups and downs, I just try to sound like it, especially since I am trying to look at the good things that life had given me.”

Crystal wasn’t really that confident, to say the least, especially since she was experiencing her own downside.

But having to talk with someone, managing to give hints of her old thoughts and the things that she kept reminding herself somehow managed to make her feel better.

“Yes, maybe you’re right,” Lorraine finally agreed, her smile was now finally genuine.

Thankfully their conversation made a quick three hundred sixty degrees turn as they continued talking about their likes, dislikes, the things that they still want to do besides the not stop trading of trick within the kitchen.

They were so entranced by each other that they barely noticed that they had managed to finally reach the finish line. It was only until they were disturbed by a distraught Brittany that they found out their little trek was over.

“Cryst! Thank god you’re here, you were starting to worry me, girl.” Her friend had already changed clothes and was carrying a few bottles of cold energy drink for her.

It was already ten in the morning when she checked her watch, so she was not surprised why Brittany was so worried about her.

“My legs wouldn’t let me go any faster,” she chuckles.

“I’m sorry, I think I dragged her along the way,” Lorraine joined in on the conversation.

Brittany gave the girl a smile. “Oh, who’s your friend,” she asks her.

“This is Lorraine, I met her when I was halfway up the mountain, I didn’t want to end up alone on the trail so she accompanied me,” she just says.

“Nice to meet you, Lorraine,” Brittany quickly gave her hand to the girl.

“It’s my pleasure,” Lorraine gladly shake it.

“Congratulations you guys!” Brittany cheerfully applauded them.

It was only disturbed once more when all of a sudden, a very irritated-looking Larse stepped in.

“Lorry, where have you been!” the young man hissed.

That made Lorraine lower her head as she was suddenly back to the down and sad girl from before.

“You know each other?” She couldn’t help but point out at the two.

It was only then that Larse had finally noticed Crystal and Brittany, his frown immediately disappeared the moment he recognized the two other girls.

“Uhm, yeah. She’s my sister,” Larse tried to smile but ended up with an awkward smirk. “What took you so long!” he murmured to Lorraine the moment the girl had manage to look at them.

It seems Lorraine was very surprised at the sudden change of attitude of the young man.

“Sorry, I think it’s my fault, she was accompanying me along the way.” Crystal intervened.

Seeing as how the man’s forehead creased, it was obvious that the girl was in for a scolding for being so late.

Larse face quickly turned pale white in an instant. “Oh, really. Uhm, that’s good then,” he said unable to make any eye contact because he was heard.

“Girl, we better get going, cause I am starving!” Brittany decided to also butt in. Her friend probably did not want to come between the siblings.

“Will go on ahead. Thank you for accompanying me Lorraine I enjoyed it,” she gives the girl a hug.

That returned Lorraine’s pleasant smile. “Same here.”

“I’ll see you at school Larse,” She turns the young man who seemed unable to talk anymore.

“Okay,” he just nods.

Grabbing her by the arm, Brittany quickly pulled her away from the two. Making sure their strides were unnoticed and playful as to not look too obvious that they were trying to get away.

“Wow, ain’t that the coincidence,” Brittany commented when they were finally quite far.

“What?” She could help but say.

“Nothing, I just noticed just how fate is trying to tell me something.” Brittany grins as she continued to pull.

Not really understanding anything from what her friend was saying Crystal just remained quiet, letting herself get dragged along.