I knew something was
up. Alex was acting weird. I had been noticing for quite some time now. As I
strolled towards the grocery store around the corner to buy some eggs for my
mom I tried to reminisce if I had done something wrong. My eyes were on the street
but my mind was completely occupied with my thoughts. Seeing Alex walking down
the lane snapped me out of it. It was great. Instead of worrying about it on my
own I could just ask him directly if he was mad at me about something. I kept
walking towards him gladly. However a bolt from the blue awaited me. I could
not believe it when my neighbour walked straight past me without saying a word.
I was left standing dead in my tracks. He didn't even bother to look at me let
alone talk to me.
Alex and I were
childhood friends and neighbours for as long as I can remember. We attended the
same Primary School when we were little and were currently attending the same
High School. Our friendship was unparalleled. At least that's what I thought
until know. He was giving me the cold shoulder and I couldn’t comprehend why.
The way he ignored me on the street was heartbreaking. I wiped the tear
trickling down my cheek to stop it from falling on my homework notebook.
Leaning back on the chair I tried to regain composure and decided to confront
him about his attitude once and for all. I couldn't let our precious friendship
wither away just like that.
Alex had always been
such a nice, caring person. Always keeping his cool and almost never starting a
fight: I admired him for these attributes. He could be a bit sensitive at times
but it just made his caring nature more conspicuous.
During lunch break
at School I grabbed him by the arm and made him sit with me at our favourite
spot under the giant Willow tree.
'You'd better start
talking Alex,' I said.
'What are you
talking about?' he replied, avoiding my eyes.
I asked him why he
avoided me on the street the other day. There was silence. I waited for him to
respond. Finally he looked at me. He was wearing a pained expression on his
face.
'Whatever it is you
can tell me Alex. You know you can.' I assured him, gently squeezing his hand.
He took a deep
breath and started talking.
'I am trying to keep
you at a distance. Soon we will be going off to separate colleges and if we
remain close as always it will hurt too much to leave. I want to protect you
from that,'
I couldn’t help but
smile and hug him. I kept holding him until I was sure no tears would well up
in my eyes. All this time he was worried about me and our friendship. I told
him distance couldn’t weaken the bond we shared. As for the pain, we would surely
miss each other but we would be home during holidays and could spend that time
together. We needed to make our bond even stronger so that we wouldn’t forget
each other when we are away. Like always my words comforted him and he smiled
back at me. He knew he could never distance himself from me but still he needed
me to reassure him that everything was going to be alright. That’s just how our
silly friendship works and I am so grateful for it.
