I was a bit surprised that Nina didn't show up like she said she would, but I wasn't gonna be childish about it and whine or anything. Maybe she was busy. People had lives outside of sitting in hospital rooms with injured classmates.
'It's not like we're actually friends yet,' I told myself. 'She doesn't owe me anything.'
That night I spent most of my time scrolling through TikTok on my phone. The videos were the usual stuff - people dancing, stupid pranks, random comedy skits. Nothing that really held my attention, but it kept my brain busy.
I told myself I was fine, but honestly? Part of my heart was hurt. I had been looking forward to seeing her again, to continuing our conversation from yesterday. The room felt way too quiet without her there.
'Don't be stupid,' I thought. 'You barely know this girl. Why are you getting attached already?'
But I couldn't help it. Yesterday had been the first time in months that I had actually enjoyed talking to someone. The first time I had felt like someone actually cared about what I had to say.
'Guess that's what I get for getting my hopes up.'
The next day came and I was lying there watching some crappy daytime TV when someone knocked on my door around 13:00. My heart jumped a little, thinking it might be Nina.
The door opened and it really was her. She walked in with that bright smile of hers, and seeing her made me way happier than it should have. But right behind her was this guy I had never seen before.
'Oh,' I thought, and my stomach dropped. 'Oh shit.'
The guy was tall, probably around our age, with this confident way of walking that screamed popular kid. He had his arm around Nina's waist like it was the most natural thing in the world.
'That's probably her boyfriend,' I realized, and something twisted in my chest.
Nina came over to my bed with that same worried expression she had yesterday.
"Hey, Kofi," she said. "How are you feeling today?"
"Better," I said, trying to keep my voice normal. "Still sore, but better."
"I'm so sorry I couldn't come yesterday," she said, and she actually looked guilty about it. "My boyfriend took me out for our anniversary and it ran way later than I expected."
'Anniversary,' I thought. 'Right. Of course.'
The boyfriend stepped forward and extended his hand. "Hey man, I'm Tyler. Nina's told me a lot about you."
I shook his hand, trying to size him up. He seemed like a pretty chill guy, actually. Not the kind of asshole I was hoping he'd be so I could hate him.
"Nice to meet you," I said.
"What you did for Nina was really brave," he said. "I can't thank you enough for keeping her safe."
'Great,' I thought. 'He's actually a decent person. That makes this so much worse.'
Nina pulled out a container from her bag and set it on my bedside table.
"I brought you lunch again," she said. "And Mr. Imms asked me to give you this."
She handed me my test paper. There was a big red 'A-' written at the top.
"Nice work," she said, smiling. "He said you did really well considering the circumstances."
"Thanks," I said, staring at the grade.
"We should probably get going," Tyler said, checking his phone. "We're supposed to meet your friends at 14:00, remember?"
She nodded. "Right, sorry. I promised I'd hang out with everyone today."
She turned back to me. "I'll try to come by tomorrow if I can, okay?"
"Yeah, okay," I said.
The words came out flatter than I meant them to, and I saw Nina stop and stare at me for a second. There was this look in her eyes like she knew exactly why I sounded disappointed.
But then again, it wasn't like we knew each other that well. She probably just thought I was tired or something.
After they left, I sat there staring at the container of food she'd brought. It smelled just as good as yesterday, but I didn't have much of an appetite anymore.
'Stop being such a baby,' I told myself. 'You knew this was temporary.'
I had known, logically, that Nina was just being nice because she felt guilty. I had known she probably had a boyfriend and friends and a whole life that didn't include me. But knowing something and actually seeing it were two different things.
I opened the container and started eating in silence. The food was delicious, just like before, but it tasted different somehow. Less... I don't know. Less like someone had made it specifically for me.
'You're being ridiculous,' I thought. 'She still made you food. She still came to check on you. Just because she has a boyfriend doesn't mean she doesn't care.'
But it did change things. It meant I couldn't keep pretending that maybe, possibly, there might be something more here than just guilt and obligation.
I wasn't going to cry about it or beat myself up over it. I was just going to move forward. That's what I always did when things didn't work out the way I wanted.
At least there was some good news. The doctor had come by earlier and said I could go home tomorrow if my latest test results looked good. I was definitely ready to get out of this place and back to my own bed.
'Back to my normal life,' I thought. 'Whatever that means now.'
---
Nina's POV
We walked out of the hospital and Tyler was being all quiet, which wasn't like him at all. Usually he couldn't shut up about something - basketball, his friends, whatever stupid thing happened that day.
"So," he said as we got to his car, "what was that anniversary thing you mentioned back there?"
I felt my stomach drop. 'crap. Why did I say that?'
"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to play it off.
"You told that guy we were out for our anniversary yesterday," he said, giving me this look. "But we've only been dating for a month. And we didn't even hang out yesterday."
'Think, Nina. Think of something.'
"Oh, that," I said with a little laugh. "I meant like... our one month anniversary? You know how girls are about that stuff."
Tyler just stared at me for a second. I could tell he wasn't buying it, but he didn't push it either.
"Right," he said finally. "Girls and their anniversaries."
Truth is... I was too busy shopping things for Kofi but I got embarrassed and ended up not bringing them.