Chapter 8

When I arrived in front of my house, I found my best friend, who was doing a short warm-up, as a way to wait for me while I changed my clothes and got ready in my room earlier. It was then that I realized her appearance looked a little different than usual. My best friend's appearance looked beautiful, much prettier than usual. My best friend's shoulder-length hair, which she usually wore just like that, was now tied back and left with only a few bangs on her face, making my best friend's appearance look even more beautiful than usual. Or maybe it is for the reason that I am not used to seeing her current appearance, in which I find that she is pretty and adorable.

Yes, it must be, I mumbled as I closed my door and walked over to Beth, who still did not seem to notice that I was done changing into the clothes she prepared for me earlier. I kept quiet at that moment, observing the sports clothes my best friend was wearing at the moment. Not on the grounds that I am still mesmerized by his appearance this morning, but on the grounds that I just realized she is wearing the same tracksuit as me. The difference is she is wearing green instead of red, like the tracksuit she gave me when she walked over to my room to wake me up earlier.

For some reason, when I saw the red sneakers my best friend was wearing today, my mind compared them with watermelon right away, one of my favorite fruits besides avocado and strawberry. With a color combination like the one she is wearing today, I'm sure anyone who looks at Beth's current appearance will think of one of the types of fruit that are still in the same relatives with pumpkins, melons, and cucumbers in a flash.

Ah, I feel like I want to eat watermelon right now. Should I consider buying some watermelons as a gift for my willingness to accompany my best friend to exercise for reasons I don't want to know at all when we get home? Hmm, that does not seem like a bad idea, considering that Beth and I will definitely need it to replace lost body fluids and reduce muscle soreness that could occur after we finish working out later.

"Are you still warming up? Do I have to warm up as well as you are doing now?"

My best friend stopped doing her warm-up exercises as soon as she heard my voice earlier. "Well, it depends on you. If you want to end up with muscle soreness or cramps after your workout, you don't have to do that."

"Shit. The point is, I still have to warm up before exercising, right?"

"It's your choice, after all." She said as she shrugged her shoulders and resumed her delayed warm-up while talking to me earlier. She was deliberately repeating her warm-up, either for the reason that she was doing it so I could follow his movements,s or he was doing it on purpose to make sure her body was ready for our training session today. "By the way, I am glad you are finally wearing the workout clothes I prepared for you today. Luckily, it was the right size, even though I just took my measurements when I bought them for you last week."

What did she tell me just now? The clothes she prepared for me... she just took the size randomly? How unlucky of me. Even though my mind was full of thoughts trying to figure out the thing, I was just about to ask how she knew my dress size. How can I feel happy just because she can tell my clothes size, which I think she knew my size on the grounds that she has been watching me all this time?

What was I thinking, in fact, to think that this reckless friend of mine would do things this far just for me alone? I must be crazy by now, I muttered as I ruffled my now messy hair and took a deep breath.

"I'm glad you also decided to wear the shoes I gave you too. Hmm, there doesn't seem to be a problem with the size. Luckily, I was able to steal your shoes off." She said proudly while her eyes were looking at the shoes she gave me, now stuck to my feet as I stretched one of my legs.

"Wait a minute. So you mean... the white shoes that I thought were lost were not on the grounds that they were lost, but on the grounds that you were the one who secretly took them from me all this time?"

She answered my question earlier by snapping her fingers, which makes me want to take my shoes off and throw them right in her face. I feel irritated by the attitude of my best friend, who casually takes my belongings and replaces them with other things that, thankfully, aren't the types I hate. "Exactly! You're great to know right away that I took your shoes."

"So who else took it if not you?" I quipped as I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms over my chest. "So where are my shoes now?"

She thought for a moment when she heard my question before shrugging her shoulders in resignation. "I have no idea about your shoes. I already gave them to one of the shoe sellers where I bought the shoes you are wearing now. But it did not end badly since I got an extra discount for replacing your old shoes with the new ones."

"Argh! Those are my favorite shoes, Beth! Why did you do that to my favorite shoes!?"

"Oh, really? Well, I am sorry about that, but I didn't know and didn't want to know about that. Now let's go." She answered in such an ignorant way when she heard the voice of my protest, which did not accept her decision, which was again, she did it without discussing it with me first.

"You know what? There is a limit to taking other people's things, Beth! I wonder how I can be friends with someone like you! And why can't I be mad at whatever you do to me?"

"That's fine... such a small thing should be forgotten..."

"Little thing, you said? You crazy!"

Beth stopped warming up on the spot and glared at me, causing me to stop warming up and swallowing my saliva. I suddenly felt scared of what she was going to do to me next. Beth's hands grabbed my collar in a flash, making my entire body, which had just finished warming up, freeze at once. "What did you say? It felt like you were calling me crazy earlier."

"Just your feelings. By the way, are you on your period today?"

She finally removed her hand from my collar and looked at me in amazement. "Oh, that's a surprise. How do you know that I am on my period today?"

"Yeah. Well, you look even more annoying than usual. What if it was not for the reason that you are on your period?"

Beth answered my question earlier by kicking my ass until I fell to the floor. Good. I just made a big mistake by saying what's on my mind right now, I mumbled while rubbing my ass, which hurt from the kick and the hard floor of my house. Fortunately, the floor was strong enough to withstand the weight of my body that had fallen on it earlier.

"I feel satisfied now. By the way, today we will jog around your house complex, then we will continue with lightweight training. After that, we will rest."

I rubbed my ass, which was starting to hurt, and forced myself to stand up before protesting her plan, which she even made without discussing it with me first. "Do I look like I want to do what you said just now? Besides, shouldn't such a plan be discussed before you decide unilaterally?"

"Of course, I know that you don't want it. But I also know that you will reject it if I involve you in my exercise plan. Besides, I don't want to do it alone. I have gained 3 kg this week, so I must exercise and diet to lose weight to my ideal weight."

"In that case, can I go back to sleep in my room? I still want to sleep, I'm really sleepy..."

Beth replied to my words by kicking my ass again at that time until I fell back in the same place when I turned my body and planned to continue sleeping in my room. As if she was dissatisfied with what she had done to me earlier, Beth tugged at the back of my shirt, forcing me to stand up before I caught her hand dragging me away from my door to the street in front of my house. She did it as a first step for the reason that she wanted to torture me with various physical exercises, so I did not want to think about it any further.

In my heart, I feel like I want to cry as long and as much as I can when I think about my holiday, which has officially ended. And then, say goodbye, my holiday, and welcome to my new 'hell'. Next time, I will make sure not to let Beth stay at my house every time I have my days off, like today. I will totally make sure she will never step both of her feet inside my house and even prevent her from doing anything to ruin my future vacation. Or I would end up with my whole body exhausted by her totally, brutal workout plan on my first day of teaching after my vacation ended.

"Let me go, Beth! I can walk on my own."

As I said, Beth let go of her tugging hand, no, gripping the back of my clothes from hers, letting my body touch the road we were currently on and waiting for me to stand up on my own before gently pushing my body to walk ahead of me, which, of course, I firmly refused her offer right away.

"How could I let you walk behind me? What if something happened to you later without my knowledge? I don't want any bad things to happen to my best friend, Beth."

"You forgot that I can take care of myself? And besides, it's much better if I walk behind you to make sure that you do not have any plans to secretly leave me and go to your house to continue sleeping in your bed later."

"Damn it. I thought you would be touched when I said I did not want anything bad to happen to you without my knowledge."

"If you did it to someone else, it might work on whoever you will tell in the future. But don't try to do it with me or I will do something more terrible than just waking you up in the morning, which is what I did with you earlier. Now let's go!"

"Yeah, yeah," I said while rolling my eyes in laziness. "You are so nosy, Beth."

I walked ahead of her at that moment, letting Beth, who was now following my steps, walk behind me. The air was still cold; it made my hairs go down, and I shivered with cold. I bit my lip, trying my best to ignore the chill that felt bone-chilling to me. As for Beth, it might be for the reason that I think what she feels is that the chilly morning air that feels as bone-chilling as I feel right now is nothing to her, I muttered while trying to divert the chill I feel right now by thinking of a list of foods that I want to enjoy after our morning activities are over.