The Christmas Dare Part 2 by Ivy Parker

Kristen had a hard time understanding her roommate Jenna. Life was so perfect for her. Jenna got amazing grades. Her hair was always perfect. She was so self assured. And yet, she looked down on everyone. Always finding the worst in people.

Kristen felt so beneath her. She'd never came from wealth, actually. Instead, she'd lived in and out of Foster care for the most part. Not that she ever felt misunderstood. People had helped her. And she was thankful for the little things.

First thing they did when she got home was to have Christmas cake with all her long lost brothers and sisters. They trimmed the tree, and then her Foster Mom paired them up with a list of Christmas presents to buy. She had coupons and the like to help them. Even so, Kristen found herself wanting to blow this off. How could Doris have waited to go Christmas shopping.

Oh, how she missed not being in her room full of sisters who talked about everything from makeup to how in the world could Beck from Victorious have split from the star of the show..for Miley Cyrus of all people. They would laugh about celebrities lives, although, they didn't envy them much. Now, she was put to the test to find the last Monster High Doll for an eight year old.

She and Kyle (her younger Asian African American brother) went to at least two Kids R Us stores. It seemed hopeless, but finally, they found the gift at Wal-Mart. She never felt this tired from a long run ever.

"Will you be running any?" Kyle asked while they were celebrating with burger and fries at McDonald's. It was beginning to sleet. Kristen peered out the big window of the fast food place. She shivered slightly, thinking of the cold and how hard the ice would feel on her back if she were out in it, running.

"I dunno." She felt goosebumps prickling up, along her shoulders and arms. "Maybe."

"Remember, how you cried last summer at that marathon, you ran?" He teased as he bit into fry.

"Those were tears of joy." She reminded him as she wolfed down her burger.

"That's just weird." Kyle grinned. "You didn't even get in the top twenty."

"So, it was a personal goal." She sighed. Perhaps, running was her life. She hadn't meant for it to be. Yet, they pestered her about her weight now. They told her she was too thing. Wondering if she were obsessing on running. Was it something she did to keep skinny? Of course, she ate what she wanted. And yes, this past semester, she took a class in nutrition. Honestly, she only wanted to be strong. Not anything else.

"You're a good role model, you know that." Kyle then told her.

Kristen thought she might melt into tears. See, she still felt so weak. Yet, she felt so far away from the life she'd left so long ago. No one thought of that mysterious girl who had been abandoned by her mother just to live that man who picked her up one day on a lonely highway in the middle of nowhere. No, she didn't think of that dark life, anymore, that had made her so old long before her time. Those days were gone. Long gone.

"You ever ran, in snow or ice, before?" She asked.

He shook his head, no. Kristen smiled then. It would be nice to have someone to run with.