"Girl, come help me out!" Chloe called sharply from behind the car, struggling with the weight of shopping bags. The late afternoon sun bounced off her sunglasses as she shifted two high-end designer bags into one hand, her stilettos clicking irritably against the driveway tiles.
Nadia stood frozen at the front door, her eyes glued to the entrance like it was a ticking bomb. Her hands were cold, her breath shallow. Every step Chloe took closer to the house made her pulse climb higher into her throat.
"Are you going to help me," Chloe barked again, "or are you just going to keep staring at your own house like it's haunted?"
Nadia jolted out of her daze. "O-Okay! I'm coming," she said, forcing a smile as she jogged over to relieve Chloe of one of the bags. Her voice sounded distant—even to her own ears.
Chloe side-eyed her. "What's gotten into you? It's just your house. Not like you're hiding a corpse in there."
Nadia laughed a little too loudly.
