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The moment she called out the last number, she bounded forward, but not nearly as far as the boy did initially. In fact, her pace to start was not nearly all that fast. It was faster than a "warm up" pace, but not the same thing as full out sprinting.

And sadly, at this pace, she was only slightly behind the boy at worst. As her feet galloped on the ground, she leaned into one side so she would not literally be running into the boy when she finally sped up a bit more. Coincidentally, as she ran at this pace, she caught sight of her dad for a brief moment and didn't hesitate in calling out "HEY DAD!"

She had a pretty big grin on her lips when she literally side-swiped her father. The man couldn't help but stand there a bit dumbfounded that his daughter had yet again found some sort of way to cause a bit of a ruckus. While his eyes were on her, she began to pick up pace. The girl began to gain on Ladon, each long stride working to her advantage for the moment.

For any sort of casual observer, it would have been a sight, seeing a dark-haired and a blonde blur streaking past through the pathway. In fact, a couple people were nearly mowed down by these two reckless teenagers. Ellie did her best to maneuver around the innocent bystanders, occasionally offering a simple "Sorry!" as she continued to speed by. She wasn't exactly nimble on her feet, and after one particular elderly lady, she somewhat stumbled in step, losing a bit of her distance. However, she quickly recovered, and with nothing more in mind than the simple "Do your best," she upped her efforts.

It wasn't long before she was side-by-side with the kid. She kept her golden eyes facing forward, not wanting to run over any little old lady. However, she couldn't help but comment, her voice panting out vaguely since she was still running "Yer not bad, kiddo. Maybe you'll be gettin' my money afterall!"

Unknown to both of the teenagers, Mr. Spectre had decided to follow the two, apologizing profusely to all the near-victims of this momentary lapse in sanity on his daughter's part. However, the man was smiling in a fashion that almost mirrored his daughter's grin when he wasn't apologizing.

The finish line was ahead. Or at least, the target destination, since there was no real "finish line" in front of the two teens. Ellie didn't really have a super imagination for things like this. There would be no imaginary finish line ribbon she'd run into.

It was the last leg of the race. Even the blonde knew that you put your all into the home stretch. With such a vague thought flickering in and out of her thoughts, she soon enough pushed herself to running as fast as she could. Her feet began to drum against the ground, her long strides hitting the ground faster than any of her previous efforts.

For Ellie, it was no longer a race against Ladon in reality. She wasn't really paying attention to where he was at anymore. It was about doing her best. So the girl didn't notice as she managed to pull ahead of Ladon at the last minute and reach the final destination split seconds before the boy. The moment she was where she should be, she leaned over, hands firmly against her thighs as she panted out slightly.

"Wow, what a rush!" she managed to puff out between pants.

She huffed in some air into her lungs and exhaled harshly before eventually standing herself up straight again. Ellie was still huffing and puffing, but at least the sudden stress on her lungs seemed to have passed, her chest no longer burning from oxygen deprivation. Her eyes drifted for a moment, looking over the sea of cars in the parking lot before shifting to face the boy. Wow, he looked wiped!

"Oh? I won?" She glanced up to the sky for a moment, as if trying to recall the moment, but she honestly couldn't remember paying attention at that point. There would thankfully be no victory dance. One, Ellie did not dance. That's what jocks did, and she was no jock. And two, she felt absolutely no reason to do something so stupid, especially when the victory hadn't been something very memorable.

Instead, she allow her grin to find its proper place on her face again and leaned in towards the boy. "Good effort, kid!" She pushed her hand forward, offering a fist for a quick bump against his (if he knew what a fist bump was). Ellie was not taking advantage of her bragging rights. At least, not yet.

Her eyes momentarily lifted from Ladon's face and managed to catch a glance of her father approaching, apologizing to the last few casualties along their reckless pathway. Her dad would announce himself soon enough, but for now, she was tending to Ladon, making certain he wasn't going to be a sore sport about the whole thing.

Fail. The boy had done it.

At the mention of the rematch, she lifted up her arms and tucked her hands behind her head so she looked as she had the moment Ladon had first seen her today. She looked as if she was thinking quickly, wanting to get everything set up before her dad was immediately next to her.

"Rematch, but my terms. No set date, I'll hit ya up when I'm bored. Otherwise, it's no fun fer me!" She paused long enough to let a grin flash in his direction.

"And there won't be any money involved. Jus' simple braggin' rights."

This race had simply been meant to relieve her boredom. Spur of the moment things were much more fun than planning things out and preparing like normal. It wasn't exactly like the tomboy had something to prove with racing some random short kid.

Before Ladon had any chance to disagree with Ellie's terms, the blonde man with the small (douche) goatee walked up next to his daughter. He was just a couple inches taller than her. "I see that you couldn't handle coming here without doing something reckless, Ellie."

It might have sounded like a scold, but the man just had an amused smile on his face. Thank goodness she came to the flea market with her Dad only. Her mom would be up in her face about the whole ordeal.

The girl nodded her head. "Yeah, guess y'can say that, Dad! Ladon Shepard, this is my dad. Dad, this is Ladon Shepard. He goes to school with me." At least she had manners enough to introduce the two.

There was a hint of surprise in the man's eyes, but all the same, he reached out a hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Ladon!"

Mr. Spectre's handshake was nothing like his daughter's. His was professional and well practiced, remaining firm, but nothing that would cripple a person's fingers for life. When you were in the used car sales business, you had to make certain you didn't handicap your clients with your handshake. It was the common place "shake, one, two, release the hand" sort of shake.

The mention of his daughter's speed did not seem to come across as a surprise to anyone. The man practically beamed at the statement and turned to his daughter, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, as if claiming her as his trophy. "I keep telling her to try out for a sports team, but she's got her mind set already! If there was a sport she'd excel at, it would probably be Soccer though."

Despite being a "trophy daughter," the girl interjected with a big grin. "If I took up a sport, then I'd have less time t'work on my car after school. Not worth it!"

Mr. Spectre sighed before ruffling the girl's hair. "She's such a little scamp!" There was a pause so he could beam again before he turned to the short boy, eyes needing to drift down lower than he usually had to in order to see Ladon's green eyes. "So, should I take it that you're on the track team?"

Remember how Ellie had not been taking advantage of her bragging rights? Finding it to be an appropriate time now, she grinned and offered a simple "I whooped his a** good!" Ellie was modest, really.

The girl's father probably should have said something about being polite. Probably. However, Mr. Spectre did not even attempt to reprimand his daughter. That was his wife's job. He wasn't about to become the "bad guy." He shot his daughter a look, but it wasn't anything more than acknowledging the fact he heard what she had said. After the look, he returned his attention to the boy, his eyes once again having to drop down to his. "What's your specialty? Are you a long distance runner or a sprinter? I know Ellie's good at a sprint when she picks up her speed."

Was this an appropriate time to interject again? Probably not, but the blonde girl decided to once again. "Dad's probably glad I won, since if I lost, then I woulda lost five dollars."

Three. Two. One...

"Wait, you had money wagered on that spectacle?!" If there was one thing that Mr. Spectre loved more than his family, it was money. And the possibility of losing money loomed around in his head, causing his expression to look as if he was about to have a heart attack.

"Take a chill pill. I won, I didn't lose any money, the end." The girl was grinning in a manner that almost looked as if she knew she was going to ruffle her father's feathers with the mention of the wager.

There was a frown that had managed to sneak onto Mr. Spectre's lips. Even though his daughter had just told him to "take a chill pill," it was not something very easy for him to just accept.

Ellie, being relatively wise with how to deal with her own parents, pulled away from her father for a moment and approached the shorter boy, patting a hand on his shoulder before attempting to sneak in a mild elbow nudge to signal for him to follow her lead. The message might have gotten lost in translation, but she was trying at least.

"Yeah, Shepard's right, Dad! Mostly 'bout th'braggin' rights. If it's any consolation though, I won five dollars. He paid me right before y'got 'ere!"

This was a lie. However, the girl stated it so plainly, it could be assumed it was a fact. It was not a fact, but her father didn't need to know that.

Her father seemed to think her words over, and began to perk up slightly at the notion that his daughter had somehow managed to profit out of this whole situation. He glanced back to the boy and offered in apology a "Sorry that my kid conned you outta some money, Ladon." However, there was just something about the way Mr. Spectre was smiling that read he was proud of his daughter for earning some extra money.