Catch my Breath

Chapter Five~ Water & Fire

Hunter drags me through the woods and we run together, I have no idea where we are going but I've never ran so much in my life.
We finally come to a stop and we're standing in front of a glistening lake. "How....did you find this?" I ask breathing heavily, he sits down in front of a tree and I sit by him.

   "I was walking through the woods one day before I moved here and ran into the lake. Literally, I fell in." I snort out a laugh, he rolls his eyes. "Anyway, I thought it'd be great to come back with someone. But, somehow, I thought it was absolutely preposterous to invite my friends from the school here since it'd be a gateway hang out for parties with illegal drugs and booze," He explains carefully, I nod.
 
"But...then I met you and decided you would he the perfect person to bring here. Don't ask why because I'm not up for answering stupid questions," I look around the place and see it truly is beautiful even the water you can see right through the water to the bottom where some rocks are along with tiny minnow fish.

  "So, why are we here?" I ask him curiously, he smiles pulling out a deck of cards. "I call it Strip Questions." My eyes widen, "Now, I know what you're thinking. No, we will not be stripping down into out undergarments we will pull a card from this deck that has questions that I so thoughtfully thought of," I nod, "And you must strip the questions down to the hard core truth." I nod, it seems easy enough.

  Kind of fun actually, "Ok, let's play," I say, he smiles and we both sit crisscross in front of each other. He lays out the cards so you can see the back where the question isn't and he gestures for me to go first.
I pick up a card and read the question, ' First boyfriend/ girlfriend' I consider this before showing it to him, he laughs.

"You've got the gem of them all," I smile sweetly flipping him off, "Well, I haven't had a boyfriend at all. I've had crushes if that counts?" He shakes his head pressing his lips together holding back a laugh.

  "You're a virgin aren't you?" I roll my eyes, "Yes Hunter, they still exist," He nods poking out his tongue. "I'd suspect you be one, especially since I am too." I gape at him staring at him as he grabs a card. I can't really believe that Hunter is a virgin, especially with his looks and all.
He shows me his card which reads, ' what is your birthday?'
I scoff crossing my arms, of course he gets the easy one.

  "My birthday is October 2nd. What about you?" He asks, I sigh. "December 24th," He seems surprised by this, "Oh wow, a Christmas baby I see," I laugh, "Yeah, I would've officially been a Christmas baby if it weren't for that one minute til midnight," He nods amazed, "That's interesting." I draw myself a card and it says, ' How old are you?' these questions are tedious. Really, they are simple and kind of stupid.

I show him and say, "I'll be eighteen soon," he nods, "What about you?" I ask him, "I'll be twenty soon," My eyes widen, how is he still in school?
Did he flunk a few grades? "I know what you're thinking; I didn't flunk, I took courses when I was younger and the credits didn't add up right so that's why I'm in 12th grade," That's interesting, there is a lot more to Hunter than the eye can see.

  I pick up a card. And answer as honestly as I can, this lasts for several hours, so long that it's dark by the time Hunter takes me back home.
I had an amazing time with Hunter, I never want it to end.

***

The next day at school, Danny didn't show up. Which I thought was odd because George didn't show up either and he's usually my ride so I had to walk.
I tried to wake George several times but to no avail, I don't even know who I'm gonna hang around.

  I'm not very social, as I close my locker I jump when Hunter suddenly appears. "Hiya Paige," I hold my chest breathing hard, "Don't....ever...do...that!" I screech he laughs pushing my shoulder.
"Where's your friend?" I shrug, "I have no idea. So, I guess I'm on on own today," He shakes his head, "Nope. You'll hang out with me today," He slings an arm over my shoulder and leads me down the hall. Everyone starts to stare, some stares aren't very friendly by the way.

  "People are staring..." I whisper to him, he nods. "So they are. Let them stare so they know I'm with the coolest girl ever."

****
It was one of those once upon a time things again; where everything was told unrealistically and everything seemed fabricated. It was one of those fairy tales that I feared to become real, one of those fairy tales where the weak is used in powerful mind games.
I didn't think much of this at the time but there was much more to Hunter than the eye could see.
And that I was certain of.
***

Together we did everything that day, we had all classes together now that he changed his schedule and we sat by each other, made fun, and pretended to care about all his friends.
I found out more about Hunter. He can't stand ranch, he doesn't like when people click their pens, he can't stand the color purple and so on and so on.

  The more I grew to notice the more I knew me and Hunter were like Fire and Water he was a soft substance that could drown you just like that and I was an inferno that could very well ruin your life.
Even though this is metaphorically speaking, at the end of school I had called and texted both Danny and George a hundred times.
I only got one response from both, from my brother it said,
' decided to go to Seattle after all be back Friday. Take care, don't kill yourself or burn down the house
- xxx Bubba'

And from Danny, ' Parents wanted some family bonding crap. See you Friday.
Xxx- Danny' so, pretty much I'm on my own in this social mind field we call highschool. That is, unless, Hunter continues to pet me hang out with them.
His friends aren't that bad, I just avoid Bryan. He has that look like he could kill me any minute, it's very demeaning.

  "So, where are your missing people at?" Hunter approaches me as I stand at my locker, "Well. George is in Seattle after all, and Danny is family bonding they won't be back until Friday. So, it looks like I'm on my own," He shakes his head,
"Nope. You're with me. Now, I have a very important question, would you like to go get ice cream with me?"
I don't give it a second thought and nod.