My new apartment was small, it was smaller than I remembered when we first saw it, but it didn't matter to me, I was so happy to finally have “my own place". The apartment had warm sunlight that spilled in through the wide window in the living room and fell in golden stripes across the hardwood floor.
“This is it,” I whispered, standing in the middle of the room with a cardboard box in my arms.
My bestie Mala stepped in behind me, her sneakers squeaking against the polished floor. “It’s… cute,” she said, stretching the word out like she was trying to convince herself.
“It’s perfect,” I said, setting the box down next to a tower of others, my voice filled with excitement. The truth was, my stomach was tight with something between excitement and fear. Moving out felt like stepping onto a
