To Our Pinky Promises

Chapter 18

^ ft. the meme my little sister made of herself (because she's short too).
- literal translation of the caption: do we look alike guys?

I stood there, stunned. I slowly came back to my senses and finally turned to Alex, "I'm sorry for.. all that." I apologized on Lily's behalf for her behavior.

Alex shrugged, looking unbothered, "She seems like an angry soul."

"She's just short. Short people tend to be angry." I said without thinking, waving it off dismissively.

Alex burst out laughing, surprising me slightly as I looked at his laughter grow louder and stronger. He started bending over, clutching his stomach as his stomach scrunched up, howling in laughter so much that I just couldn't help the giggle that escaped my lips.

His laughter was just so contagious that I eventually started laughing along with him too. It was the first time that we laughed together since a long time.

"That was kinda mean." Alex finally said after he took his time sobering up.

It was my turn to shrug, "It's true. She made a meme of it for herself. I'm not creative enough to make something like that up."

Alex chuckled some more, looking at me as if he was trying to decide if he wanted to believe me or not. I kept his gaze and raised an eyebrow, silently telling him to believe whatever he wants.

"Alright, alright." He nodded, leaning on the side of the building as he watched me. "How did you even stumble upon her? Here, of all places. You searching for me?" He asked.

I could feel my face heat up, knowing that he guessed right. Nonetheless, your girl has her pride to protect so she shook her head.

"Nope, just wanted to come to a quiet place so that I can stay away from people's eyes and avoid hearing the rumors that have been flying around." I kicked the wall with my shoe weakly, purposely hanging my head so that I wouldn't accidentally meet his eyes.

"Isn't it the same for you?" I asked, peeking at him from under my lashes.

"I just can't seem to find any fucks to give." He shrugged carelessly.

"Doesn't it bother you that they think you're with me?" I frowned, tilting my head.

Alex gave me a funny look, "Why would I?"

I fell quiet at that. I did not expect that response from him.

"Em, you were the one who would always act out when people thought we were dating, even when we were close back then too." Alex pointed out.

That was true.

I started tilting my head side to side while thinking about what he said before I halted at the realization of something. I stopped moving and turned my head to look at him. Did he just..?

I believe it was the first time in 4 years that he would willingly bring the past up without having me initiate the discussion.

I was so surprised by how suddenly and how calmly he brought up our past friendship that, for once, my words failed me.

He hadn't seemed to realize what he was doing, though, since he didn't immediately shut himself up or raise his guards like he usually would when talking about this with me. I've only stopped pestering him for closure on why our friendship ended a year after it did before I finally found it in me to let go and move on. 

Every time I would try and reconcile with him, trying to get him to remember the good times that we had as best friends, he would just tense up and shut me out. One day, I decided to just ask him the question that had been burning inside me for a long time and get rid of the obsession of trying to be close friends again with him. He had told me that he believed we just grew up to be too different and we just weren't sharing the same frequency anymore.