Pandora's jock

Previously

…Serina shrugged, already distracted by the spread of celebratory cookies. “Maybe he got lost?” Anna chuckled, shaking her head. She knew Mark was competitive, but he was usually fast. She scanned the tree line, a vague sense of unease settling over her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was… off. The air still seemed to hum with a faint, peculiar energy, but it was fading, like a distant echo. She dismissed it as pre-race nerves and the lingering adrenaline. She had won, fair and square. And Mark, wherever he was, had lost. The thought brought a quiet satisfaction, untainted by any supernatural aid. The race was over, and the natural order, for now, had been restored.