Strings Attached

Chapter One

"Strange?" I asked him.

"No," he whispered. "Theodore. Please don't call me Theodore."

"Why not? I asked with mocking innocence. "It's your name."

He turned to see the ground and sighed. "Just... Just don't, please."

I could see a little bit of pain in his eyes, and it made me wonder if he was hiding some dark secret. I instantly pushed the thought aside. Even if he had been hiding something, I had no reason to care.

I shrugged. "I actually think it's kind of cool. Your name, I mean."

"I know, but... I don't like talking about it, if you don't mind."

I turned around, feeling ashamed. I should have not even asked him why he did not like it in the first place.

Theodore and I may have been very different, but we had one thing in common: we both had a past we did not want to talk about, and I had to respect his privacy if I wanted him to respect mine.

"Okay," I said. I got up from my bed and sighed. "Please be organized. I hate messy rooms. I want this room as clean as I left it for you. Understood?"

Theodore nodded. "I will leave it even cleaner if I can." He turned to see me, and his eyes instantly grew worried. "Hey, you okay?"

"Never been better." I bit my bottom lip, pushing every bad memory away from my mind. "I have some stuff to do. See you later," I said as I left the room, feeling numb and sad all over again.

Something about Theodore reminded me of him. My heart raced, and tears were threatening to come out of my eyes.

Why did you have to leave? Why did you have to break our bond? Why did you have to choose her instead of choosing us?

I pushed all of my thoughts away and rushed to the bathroom, where I could cry without anyone's seeing me.

***

"You are sleeping on the floor," Brianna warned me as soon as I entered her room.

"Why, thank you, little sister for being so supportive and sharing."

Brianna smiled. "Here's a blanket."

I sighed, feeling defeated. "Aren't you going to at least give me a pillow?" I asked.

"Use the blanket as a pillow."

Brianna was clearly enjoying this.

"I'll get cold!"

"I don't care. Sleep in fetal position or something."

"You suck," I said, glaring at her.

She shrugged. "Maybe, but it's my room, so you'll have to follow my rules."

Brianna and I had kind of a love-hate relationship, which is weird, considering she was my little sister and I should try my best to "nurture and protect her always." Those words coming from my mom, not me.

I mean, I have always loved Brianna to death, but those are things that you simply do not say to your siblings. Siblings are supposed to be your frenemies. Sometimes they are your partners in crime, and sometimes they are the most annoying thing on Earth, but that is simply how it works.

Brianna and I were no exception. We loved each other a lot, but we also loved making each other as miserable as we could.

It is an unwritten law that siblings are supposed to do that for each other: make the other suffer but never let anyone else do it.