Repeat and Retribution

Chapter 34

If there was one thing that she knew would get her mind off of things, it was to keep herself busy. And what better way to do that than lots and lots of activities.

So now, not only does Crystal work extra hours in her moms' eatery and doing extra more hours in studying, but she also went with Brittany as they were both preparing for the upcoming pageant.

They would go to the spa together, get facials, and have their nails done. She also started jogging as it was the least expensive form of exercise for her. Plus she’d go to some events along with Brittany taking her mind off things.

Crystal never thought that pampering and making herself look good would be so much fun. She felt more relaxed just after a few weeks of this.

It was only three in the morning but she was already up, preparing for this day's activities with her best friend Brittany.

“Crys, time to get going, girl! We going to be late if you take more time,” her friend calls out from downstairs.

She had just finished packing up the last of her things and was just tying up her hair in a ponytail, so it didn’t take her long to grab her things and run downstairs.

“I’m here! Sorry,” she giggles seeing her mom already talking with her best friend.

“Are you sure you don’t need your father to drive you to that place,” her mom asks, worry etched on her face, seeing as it was still so dark outside.

“Don’t worry mom, Brittany knows it already and we’re taking her car,” she assures her, trying to at least ease her moms' concern.

“Don’t worry Mrs. Aimely, We going to be very careful,” Brittany adds since it was her idea in the first place.

“All right, just don’t push yourselves okay,” her mom says giving them a good pat on each cheek.

“Yes mam,” Brittany playfully flicked her fingers. Her friend then hugged her mom before taking her bag outside.

Crystal also does the same thing. “Bye mom,” she kisses her goodbye as they needed to move about.

Waving at her mom, she rungs towards the door, her mother just waves at her as she who was still having her daily morning coffee.

“You sure you got all your stuff in your bag?” Brittany asks the moment Crystal got inside the car.

Nodding she grabs her bag which her friend put in the back seat. Opening it, she takes out several of the stuff she had inside.

“I got my mini flashlight, water, some chocolate bars, and of course a change of clothes,” she raises them to show her friend.

“Okay good. Now, here is a little something in case of emergency,” Brittany quickly took out a few energy drinks and what looks like some kind of power booster bar and shoved it inside Crystal’s bag.

After checking that they had everything, Brittany starts the car. It didn’t take them long to get to their destination as there was no traffic and her friend already knew which roads to take.

Wearing only a sports bra covered with a think shirt along with black tights, the cold breeze of the air seemed to pinch through her skin the moment she got out of the car. Her little backpack gave additional warm and her long socks also managed to keep her feet warm.

“Wow, I didn’t think there’d be a lot of people here,” Crystal was a bit awed seeing the numerous participants that were already there before them.

There was already a drove of people within the area, some were lining up at the starting line, while others were still grouping themselves.

“Of course there’d be a lot of people, this ain’t a snobbish exclusive thing like what people think, these kind of events are open for anyone who wants to try it,” Brittany snorts at her.

It was because she had always thought that such activity was usually only done by either elite and rich who enjoy outdoor activities or sporty people. But seeing the diverse mix of people from almost every walk of life seemed to change all that for her.

“Where should we go now?” she asks as she was getting all excited with their little adventure.

“We gotta check-in with the organizers first, so they can get us listed, you can just wait for me here.” Tying her hair into a bun Brittany was already walking towards a table a few meters away from them.

“Okay.” She just nodded. Still trying to calm down from all the rush she was feeling right now.

Brittany turns around after remembering something. “And do some stretching girl, can’t have you getting cramps along the way,” she calls out while walking backward.

“All right,” she waves at her laughing at how her friend looked.

Doing what she was told she begins doing some basic hip turns, some arm raises and a bunch of leg pulls knowing it was the part that was going to get strained.

She was already bent down, ass up, pulling her right leg when she noticed someone approaching her.

“Cryst?” He said.

Raising her head she was surprised to see the young man standing there, smiling wearing a very nice fitted muscle shirt and some shorts, carrying almost the same things as she had.

“Larse!” she could not help but shout out his name.

That made the young man laugh out loud. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here with Brittany, she wanted me to try this for once. How about you?” She points at her friend who was still busy talking to someone in the organizers' tent.

“I’m here with my family,” Larse says looking around for the said people.

“Oh, wow!” She could not help but hold her hands together feeling that awkwardness cover him.

The man was eyeing him, with a very mischievous smile, seeing as she was wearing a very revealing outfit.

“I’m back!” Brittany cheerfully greeted, jumping around as she got in between them.

She managed to breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing her friend. “Oh, Brit, have you met Larse,” she introduces the man in front.

That somewhat made the young man compose himself, fixing his face as he turned to Brittany.

“Hey!” he greets.

Placing her hand on her sides as she gave the man a good look, Brittany could not help but raise her brow. “Oh, if it ain’t mister MVP! Congratulations on your last game,” she comments with a wave of her hand.

“Thanks,” the young man ended up scratching his head seeing that the woman also knew him.

“Larse!” A voice echoed from somewhere making them turn their heads.

An old man was already waving in their direction, so she came to the conclusion that it was Larse’s father seeing the bit of resemblance between the two.

“Uhm, I’ll see you later then,” Larse just bowed his head to the two of them.

“Sure, we still need to prepare some stuff.” Crystal nods back at him.

The two of them watched as Larse ran to where the man was, all the while looking back at them, smiling and waving.

“Never thought that guy like this kind of stuff, especially with his reputation,” Brittany commented, folding her hands to her chest.

“Hey, he’s not the same as before you know. Didn’t you notice, there are no s*x scandals nor any girls being linked to him these past few years, he’s a completely different person,” she blurts one, knowing full well the changes that had happened during that time.

Brittany ended up raising her brow further. “Really now? Didn’t think that was even possible,” she snorts, trying to hold her laughter.

“Well, it is,” she says back.

She should know, she was friends with him and after being with the young man for quite some time, she knew that he was a nice person.

“Okay, I understand. Anyway, here. Make sure you wear this at all times, and this is your number,” Brittany gave her a whistle necklace and a large square sticker that had a shiny reflective number.

“Okay,” They start putting it on as her friend helped her with the sticker.

“In case you’re unable to keep up with me, don’t force yourself. Just go on your own phase, and make sure to follow the trail or other people with numbers like ours,” Brittany reminds her when they were now lining up within the starting line.

“Okay, you don’t have to worry about me,” she assures her.

Though this was her first-ever trail run, she did manage to get pointers from her friend so she was quite confident being on her own.

“And make sure you be careful with your steps,” she points out.

“Yes, I know,” she giggles sensing the sudden feeling of worry in her friend.

But when the sound of the horn went out they were both on their own. Crystal ran in a relaxed and average phase, making sure to save her energy, knowing the ascent up the hill was just the start of it all.

Brittany on the other hand was, as usual, more competitive, keeping up with the faster and obviously stronger group that was running on ahead.

She just let her friend be as they were going to see each other at the finish line later. She just enjoys her climb up the trek, sometimes she’d run but most of the time she’d just walk whenever she’d come across a high slope to make sure to conserve her strength.

The lush green trees, bushes, and the nice breeze of fresh air somewhat gave her extra vigor, as it had been quite some time since she’s seen such beautiful scenery.

She only was held to a stop upon hearing something weird close by. Crystal was already halfway to the mountain top when she noticed murmuring sounds around her. Looking around there weren’t that many people who seem to notice it, as some of the others in front of her were still trying to keep up with the other racers, while the others behind her had already stopped, taking a rest at some of the nearby trees, leaving her there alone to look for it.

A frown immediately formed on her face the moment she saw where the noise was coming from.