Under the Gray Willow Tree

Chapter 43

Willow's POV

I watched in shock as Alex stepped up from behind the corner. My mouth fell open at the sight of my childhood friend.

U-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e.

I am not believing what I am seeing that is right in front of my face as of right now. Alex? Is staring straight at me. I don't think I'm seeing things. Scratch that, I am very sure I am not seeing things. My eyes are not playing tricks on me. Not this time around.

She still looks more or less the same as the last time I saw her. Just a little older, obviously. She looked down, as if embarrassed, and her hair fell like a curtain over her face, blocking a clearer view of her face.

"Hi..." I heard her mutter.

"A—A—Alex!" I stammered, silently cursing myself for stuttering. "Wh—Wh—What are you doing here?"

So smart Willow! What an impressively smart question to ask!

She ignored my question, but took a step closer to me. She seemed as if she is not part of this world, and eerily reminded me of a zombie simply obeying orders. She took a stiff step towards me.

"Alex...?" I whispered, slightly freaked out.

She looked up at me. "Oh, hi Willow," she said, as if only noticing me for the first time.

I started opening and closing my mouth like a fish. I simply couldn't get the words at the back of my throat out! It's getting annoying and... I don't know. I'm really starting to get freaked out. I sucked in a deep breath, opened my mouth and tried again. "I don't understand. I was told you were still alive but I didn't believe it..."

She didn't reply.

Is she trying to deliberately ignore me or something? I felt as if she is just seeing through me like I am thin air... Anyway, how do people know that air is thin? They can't even see it. It might be fat.

Not the time to think of these kinds of stupid things Willow Annabelle Rayne.

She continued taking a step at a time, until she was directly in front of me. I was staring her straight in the eye, and her in mine. It was kind of freaky. She looked as if she was searching my face, and I was doing likewise.

Her face held no emotion. She did a great job hiding them. I felt as if I was staring at the face of some stone gargoyle or something. Scary, I know, but it's true. It's as if she didn't have any emotions at all. But I know that that is a lie.

Alex must be one of the most emotional person I have ever met. She would get emotional over almost every single thing, but despite being a very emotional person, she is also very good at hiding them, so that people could not read her face.

But she had a weakness.

Her eyes.

Her eyes is where people can see her emotions if they even bothered to look hard enough. Right now, her eyes held fear, a strong sense of urgency, and anger. Out of the three, the anger seemed to be the strongest. She was rarely angry when I used to hang out with her a lot, and when she was, she did a good job of hiding it, and it was always for a good reason.

I wonder if that was a lie?

If it's not, I wonder what she's angry about right now...

She stretched out her arms and swung them at me. I braced myself for impact but... It never came. Instead, I felt her hugging me. Slightly confused I hugged back, glad to know that my friend is still somewhere deep inside this stranger.