Colliding Elements (Original Draft)

2. A Hidden Doorway

A few days had passed by since Hunter had arrived back home. The summer days kept growing hotter and hotter, never dropping a degree below the former day's temperature. It was almost too much for her to handle.

"Hunter, you gotta keep up! I'm not going to wait for you if you do fall behind," Kyle called out to her.

"I'm coming, I just need a breather," she panted. She came to a stop and bent over, holding her side in pain. She stood up a few moments later, brushing a few strands of loose hair out of her face and behind her ear. She looked back at Kyle, almost not recognizing him.

After two weeks of not seeing him, she had forgotten his image. For starters, Kyle was like a tree in height. Secondly, he always kept a nice golden glow during the summer months, his short black hair complimented his skin tone. And now that she could finally regain memories of his image, she registered that Kyle was in fact in front of her and waiting for her to join in on their run again.

"Are we gonna go or not? I'm not waiting all day." He crossed his well-toned arms and rocked on his heels as he waited for his friend.

"Yeah, we can go," Hunter smoothed out her hoodie and began to jog towards Kyle. They continued on their way down the residential road, running in the shady areas of it. The sound of cars from the nearby highway could be heard as they ran, sometimes the sound of a police car could be heard wailing away. It didn't matter to them, they lived with these everyday noises their entire lives. Without the sound of angered drivers and gossip about the latest crime, then it wouldn't be Jackson anymore.

"When do you want to head back to your house?" Kyle asked as they continued on their way down the asphalt road.

"I'm already getting tired, think we can turn around and head back?"

"But isn't that the longer way back? Why can't we just get on the road up here?"

"Because cars go fifty-five on that road, do you really want to risk getting hit?"

"You have a point there," Kyle said as he stopped and wiped his brow free from sweat. He turned around to face the direction they had just come from. He took a deep breath and rolled his strained shoulders. "Hey, Hunt."

"Yeah?" Hunter turned to look at him; her posture was slack, and her hair stuck to her face.

"It's alright if I take my shirt off? You won't hit me or anything?" He asked it with a grin, a chuckle beginning to go past his lips.

"It's fine with me, I really don't care if you're shirtless or not. We go swimming all the time with the group," she said in between short and raspy breaths.

"Okay, thanks." He took off his black sport shirt and tied it around his waist.

"Damn, are you working out again, Kyle?" Hunter laughed as she saw he looked a bit different from the last time they hung out. She knew he had abs beforehand, but they weren't as defined as they were now.

"What? Am I not allowed to lift weights anymore?" He laughed at her reaction. "You might want to close your mouth, don't want to slip in your own drool."

"Shut up!"

~~{*}~~

After their return, Kyle had left to go to work while Hunter went into her empty home. Due to the fatigue she now felt, all Hunter wanted to do was relax. After saying goodbye to Kyle, she turned on the air conditioner and immediately went for the ice cream in the freezer. She struggled to scoop the dairy product out of the tub, her strained muscles not wanting to work anymore. After the fight with the ice cream, she went into the living room and fell into one of the La-Z-Boy recliners facing the television. She turned on the large television and flipped the channel to the vintage network, seeing one of her favorites on.