Soundtrack : It is What It is ~ Lifehouse

She had come back home.

A little taller than I expected, an awareness in her eyes that told me she grew up far much more than I would have liked.I had grown accustomed to her small face, hair like cotton wool, and eyes that held the world in wonderment.

She was back home, yet I noticed a hesitation, a caution in her demeanor that I never saw before. I never thought of her as self possessed. I remember the toothy grin, the tantrums, vicious demands. And here I was, looking at not a child, but a woman smiling serenely from across the table.

"This doesn't look like home anymore" she said softly, taking in the streets outside with a hint of distaste.

This irritated me.

"Of course it doesn't. Do you expect it to be the same, unchanged place as it waits for you to come back?" I snapped.

She half smiled, in a calm, intimidating way, "No, of course not."

There was a silence, and coffee was brought to our table. She stirred her coffee listlessly, not particularly bothered by lack of conversation.

I was uncomfortable.

"You moved out, didnt you? I heard" she said, without looking up. I was surprised by the topic she chose to bring up. A small town such as this, gossip was inevitable. I wasn't surprised she heard, but I generally supposed she had the tact to not bring it up. My moving out isn't particularly a rosy issue that I wanted to expound on.

"Yeah, I did" I said, wondering how long this uncomfortable charade of a conversation was going to go on. I felt terrible for thinking this about a person I shared my childhood with, but I cant pretend it hasn't changed. She was someone else, wearing my friend's face, difficult to recognise because of her perpetually cheerful face was replaced with a restrained demeanour that bordered on coldness.

"Do you go back and see the house from time to time? After all, it is your old house" Her dark eyes were on my face, watching my face intently. I don't know what she saw on my face, but she started smiling, smiling the way I remembered. An understanding, a sweetness and a knowing smirk.

"No, I don't go back. I don't want to. I don't want to see what my parents have done with my room once I left. Probably using it as a store room or something" I said, stiffly.

"Don't like the idea someone of changing things in your room from how you remembered them?" she prodded and finally, I understood.

She noticed my expression, and grinned, the same toothy grin, marred slightly by her intelligence as opposed to innocence in her eyes, and said "So..are we really that different?"

~

P.S- I wrote cos I was bored and because I hadn't written anything in a while, please don't look for glimmers of brilliance. Yadda Yadda. :D