Chapter 54: Came Over
I finally made it to my apartment door, fumbling with the key because my hands were shaking from the strain. The second the lock clicked, I shoved the door open and just let everything go.
The six bags of groceries crashed onto the floor with a series of heavy thuds and the clatter of the new frying pan. The sound was nothing compared to the screaming protest from my ribs.
I leaned against the door, my whole body trembling, and then my legs just gave out. I slid down the wood paneling and ended up in a heap on the floor, surrounded by my new, adult-looking purchases.
"This was a stupid idea," I huffed, my head resting against the door. My lungs burned. I thought I was getting better, that the limp was almost gone and the ache was fading. But carrying all that weight for ten blocks had undone all of it. I felt like I was back to day one.
I just lay there, trying to catch my breath, when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. The vibration against my leg was annoying, and my first thought was to just ignore it. But it kept going. With a groan, I awkwardly fished it out of my pocket.
The screen lit up with Nina’s name.
’Of course,’ I thought. I took a shaky breath and swiped to answer, bringing the phone to my ear.
"Hello?" I managed to get out, and my voice was way more winded than I wanted it to be.
"Kofi? What’s going on?" she asked immediately. "You sound weird. Are you okay?"
I tried to play it cool. "Yeah, I’m fine. Just got home."
"You are not fine," she shot back, her voice sharpening with worry. "You sound like you just ran a marathon. What happened? Did you get into another fight? Did someone start something with you on your way home?"