He ran for an hour in the morning, an hour after school, and an hour in the evening. He ran everyday, regardless of where he was, or what the weather was like.
Running through the park on that snowy December morning was nothing to him, but still his heart was racing faster than usual.
He swerved round the paths he already knew blindfolded, and dodged through the trees until he reached the clearing with the log-bench in the middle. That's where they used to sit, when there was just the two of them.
Sam and Kira where already there. Kira had risen onto her tiptoes and tilted back her head to hug Sam, leaving her sunny blonde hair to blow whichever way the wind chose. Sam had one arm around her, and the other hanging limply by his side.
Maxie sniffled, and suddenly noticing the tear that had rolled down his cheek, wiped it away roughly.
'Max,' Kira breathed. Her nose was pink, and the snow that had white-washed the world made the blue of her eyes seem like crystal. She smiled and took a step towards him.
Maxie took two steps back. Behind Kira Sam stood, like stone, like he always did. His eyes had no shine in them, and he wore his rugged jacket open like on a cool autumn day.
'What are you doing here?' Sam asked, as if it was a perfectly reasonable question.
Maxie couldn't answer. He had just followed his feet, and hoped that by the time he arrived he might have found something to say. Now everything that he wanted to say was tangled up in a giant knot in his stomach.
The longer he waited, the less went through his mind, until his head started to feel heavy.
'I'll go.' Kira said, and moved towards the clearing. Maxie tried to step out of her way quickly, but she curved her path to meet him shoulder to shoulder. 'Maybe we can hang out later.' She smiled at him again, awkwardly, but sincerely. Maxie turned to watch her skip through the snow until she reached the main path and continued into a stroll.
Once she was gone, Maxie turned back around and flinched when he realised Sam was now standing barely a foot away. He hadn't expected that, not in the slightest. Even with the wind blocked by Sam's tall, broad figure, Maxie shivered and bowed his head.
They where the same age, but Sam was more mature, and Maxie was scrawny and not-so-tall. He felt like a child who'd walked in on an adults conversation. When Sam pulled off his jacket, Maxie didn't fully understand.
Sam tightened his lips, and for the first time Maxie saw a glint of emotion in his hardened eyes. It was like a veil of glass, and it filled him with a new, uncertain kind of fear.
He watched those thick, goose-bumped arms rise above him with the jacket, which was placed over his shoulders. Sam pulled the edges of the coat in tight, and then pulled the collar up. 'Maybe in another life,' he sighed, and ruffled Maxie's hair. 'Keep yourself warm, alright.' Sam shifted his feet hesitantly, then nodded goodbye and made a swift exit.
Once he had disappeared Maxie looked around the clearing, which now, so empty, seemed like nobody had ever been there before. He dragged his feet over to the log and kicked away an area of snow. Then he sat a little to the left of the middle and hugged the jacket tight around himself.
Holding the collar up against his nose and lips he took one long, desperate breath. Its release made a soft mist wisp through the air around him. With a second breath he tucked his head into the jacket, hoping that maybe he could lose himself inside it.
Is this supposed to be part of a larger project? If not, it feels a bit empty. I'm assuming that Kira and Max used to be either childhood friends or boyfriend and girlfriend, but their relationship isn't defined enough here for me to decide which.