You Didn't Even Know

         Isn't life strange? You think you know someone, but suddenly, you turn around and they've changed into someone unrecognizable. They aren't the same person you knew five minutes ago. They've become someone to fear, because they aren't what you know them as. Where once they laughed, now they sit in stony silence, unanswering and unswerving in their determined course to ignore you. And you stare after them as they stride down the hall in counted, measured steps. They don't turn back, and their eyes refuse to meet yours. You brood as you walk down the hallways, lost in thought as to what strange phenomenon could have caused such a change in those eyes. Now, they are hollow. Now, they don't hold the warmth of friendship and familiarity. They are bitter and filled with an empty material, one that is a vapor, there but not.
         Later, as you sit in class, your thoughts keep returning to that lingering, nagging tug that lets you know something isn't sitting quite right in your subconscious. You feel your eyebrows knit together in frustration that this person isn't acting as they should. They were always this one way, this is how you knew them. Someone isn't supposed to change in a matter of days. So how could they do an about-face so quickly? Changes of this magnitude are subtle and gradual, not quick and painful. You try to give them the benefit of the doubt, and tell yourself that they're just having a bad day....or week....or month....or even six. So when you try to talk to them about it, you really don't expect to have them blow up in your face. After all, you haven't done anything wrong....have you? Well, how can you know? Now do they not only ignore you, but they hate you too.
         Now, in the hallways, you must content yourself with a furtive glance in their direction. And when you're at home, its even worse. This person attacks you mentally. You worry over what to do, even when you don't know WHAT to do. How can you get your friend back?
         Finally you resolve yourself to the fact that no matter what, their friendship means more than a few unsaid words. You want your reflection in them now, not your fear. So you grab life's handle, and grip it harder. Refusing to give into something once called the inevitable, you set off to replace that shadow in their eyes.