"Deal, he agreed, then made his way over to the table. He pulled a chair out and tred his best to sit down, but was obviously struggling.
Acacia grabbed the box, a bowl, a spoon, a glass, and milk. Because if he didn't like milk, they were about to have a problem. Or she was just bad at assuming things. She walked over to where Riley was having difficulty sitting down. She put the food down on the table before asking, "Do you need some help?"
He smiled sheepishly. "If you'd be so kind, yeah."
Acacia laughed lightly in a playful manner before helping him sit down, "Don't be afraid to ask for help. I'm happy to help out."
"I just have to get over my own ego," he admitted. "Like I said, I'm not used to being hurt like this."
"I understand," Acacia nodded slowly moving the bowl and box closer, "It must be weird going from this national basket ball super star to hardly being able to walk."
His smile faltered slightly as he stared at the bowl on the table. "I probably won't be able to play again."
"I," Acacia paused as her mind grasped,at straws as to what to say, "You don't know that yet do you? It might be a while, but surely you'll be able to play again eventually."
"Doctors say if I do, I risk losing the leg." He rubbed the top of his head and sighed. "Not even pickup games at thhe park."
"I mean," Acacia was in slight disbelief, "Maybe they're just saying that now. To scare you off from playing while you're recovering. A torn Achilles can't be that devastating, can it?"
"The Achilles takes most of the force when someone plants their feet," he explained. "It moves kinda like a piston to cushion the force from the knee. After it's torn, it can't take as much force when a foot plants. You plant your feet so much when you play basketball that there's no real hope of it holding up."
"That makes sense," Acacia sighed looking up at him, "Maybe you can find some other sport to do?"
"Nothing except golf or something in the water," he said. "Everything else is out the door."
"Well, uh," Acacia stopped to think, "Maybe it doesn't have to be a sport?"
"My entire life doesn't have to be decided in 15 minutes, you know," he said, glancing over at her.
"Yeah," Acacia admitted sitting down in a chair nearby, "But it doesn't hurt to think about it?"
He gave her a knowing look. "Yes. It does. That's why I don't want to. My whole life is in shambles at the moment, so I just want to enjoy this bowl of cereal."
"Okay," Acacia dropped the subject. She didn't know what else to talk about, all of her options slowly kept disappearing from under her.
He reached over for the box and opened it, filling the bowl about half-way before setting it aside.
Acacia got up and grabbed a pastry from the kitchen walking back and sitting down.
(Hello?)
"Could you slide the milk over?" he asked after realizing it was out of his arm's reach.
Acacia nodded and moved the milk over towards him, "Sure. Here you go."
"Thank you," he said, then poured out an acceptable amount of milk before screwing the cap back on. "Anyways, any plans for today?"
"None that I know of," Acacia shrugged taking the milk back to pour in her own cup, "Probably go out and pick up some fabrics I ordered last week."
"I'm willing to come with if it isn't too much of a walk." It was an offer of friendship.
Acacia recognized what he was offering and she smiled and responded, "It's not that far. I would love if you would come with, but first. I need to get myself decent. My hair is an absolute nightmare."
He snorted. "I wasn't going to say anything, but you look like you've lived in the Amazon for 3 years."
"Oh be quiet," Acacia rolled her eyes teasingly, "I had just woken up when I ran into you."
"I had only been up for 30 minutes," he pointed out.
