Cascading Waters

Chapter XXIII

Axel only stared at me. It was awkward but I managed to not show any sign of it. His cold stares are nothing compared to my practice of how many years.

We stared at each other for a few solid seconds and I noticed how his expression is cold and... empty. I was unbothered because why the heck should I not be?

Seeing how he's not responding, I raised a brow and smirked before looking at Tyler. I chuckled inwardly as I saw his shocked expression. Mas affected pa 'ata siya sa presensya ng ex ko kaysa sa'kin.

"Lemon, babe," I answered, emphasizing the last word to tease him. Napaangat agad ang tingin niya sa akin. Tinignan niya ako ng masama ngunit naging tila ligaw na pusa ulit nang si Axel naman ang tinapunan niya ng tingin.

I chuckled before throwing Axel a look. He remained silent and his eyes bore at mine with coldness I have never seen before. It looked like he doesn't have anything to say despite y greeting a while ago so I smiled at him to say our good bye ngunit napalingon kami ng may tumili kung saan.

I almost lost my balance when a gorgeous lady went up to me and hugged me really tight. Hindi kaagad ako naka galaw but she was almost shaking and sobbing while hugging me. Nailang ako dahil walang sino mang naka yakap sa akin ng ilang taon aside from Tyler and my parents.

Napansin ko ang pag galaw ni Tyler na tila tatangalin na sana ang yakap ng kung sino sa akin ngunit bumitiw ito. Tsaka lang ako nakabawi at ngumiti nang makita kung sino ito... si Lexa. She was teary-eyed while looking at me.

"Waveyyy, I missed you so much!"

I felt like crying after seeing her wipe her eyes using the back of her hand. She groaned while doing so bago nag reklamo sa pagiging emosyonal niya, "ugh! Ano ba 'yan!"

Natawa kami pareho ngunit kita sa gilid ng mga mata ko na walang kahit anong bahid ng ngiti sa mga mata ng kapatid nito na nakatitig lang sa amin... o sa akin.

"I missed you too, Lexa!" I said before giving her body and face a glance. She looked prettier than the last time I saw her. She's matured and so did her body. I noticed her brown hair still having curly tips but it looked longer. Nagmukha siyang barbie dahil sa suot niyang pink crop top and white high-waisted shorts. I complimented, "You look so gorgeous!"

"Oh, come on," she rolled her eyes, "you, on the other hand, look on fire with the ash gray hair. Hindi kita agad nakilala! You look so gorgeous, I can't even!" she continued, emphasizing the first word she said while pointing at me.

I smiled at her compliments. I changed my hair color a year ago so the hair roots are kind of black now. My then straight hair got a bit wavy in the lower area for some reason but it still looks healthy and truth be told, the big waves made it look better. It was also as long as Lexa's, already reaching my lower back.

My fashion changed a bit too. I used to have that boyish fashion style most of the time ngunit ngayon ay mas girly at mas chic na. Fashion became one of my escapes.

Sasagot na sana ako, trying to close the conversation, dahil mukhang pa haba na ang usapan namin. Mama and papa might get worried. Naunahan nga lang ako.

"Lexa," Axel called. We both looked at him but he only looked at Lexa. "It's getting late, we still need to prepare so let's go."

"Oh, r-right!" Lexa cleared her throat before facing me. "See you later?"

Kumunot ang noo ko.

"Later?"

"Ah, hindi pa ba nasabi nina Tita? We invited them over for dinner later. Mama and papa missed you din kasi and we wanted to have a little gathering," kumunot ang noo niya,
"don't tell me you're not coming kasi magtatampo ako!"