Strings Attached

Chapter Three

I felt bad for him. He was trying to get along with me, and I was being really mean and intolerant. Theodore did not deserve to be treated the way he was being treated, and I felt really terrible for trying to push him away every time he made an effort to talk to me.

I sighed. Maybe I needed to give him a chance. "I'm sorry," I told him. "It's just that... this has been difficult for me, too. I had to give away my room; my mom is dealing with a lot of stress... Things just aren't going so well."

"I understand," he said. "I just wish you could give me a chance to help you."

"I'm not the one who needs help. You are," I blurted out. I instantly regretted it. Why was I being such a bitch? "I'm sorry... I didn't--"

His jaw tightened. "It's fine," he said. "At least I know how you perceive me. I am just a lonely kid who needs others to help him."

Theodore lowered his face, and I turned to see the window in embarrassment. He had done nothing wrong to me, and I was behaving like a stupid brat.

"I can walk home," he said. "It's not that far."

With that said, Theodore closed the car's door and walked inside the library. 

***

The next day went by normally, except for the fact that Theodore basically ignored me the whole day. I deserved it, but I still felt bad.

Theodore had kept his promise to walk home, but I had felt bad because it had rained, and he arrived completely wet and tired. He spent the whole afternoon sleeping after that, and I could not help feeling guilty.

In the morning, Theodore insisted on walking, telling Mom that he loved to walk to clear his thoughts away, but I knew that the real reason behind his decision to walk to school was that he could not stand me.

At school, Theodore and I did not see each other in the hallways, but we did see each other in calculus. Theodore answered all of the teacher's questions, just like he had done the previous day, and I simply wrote down notes and tried not to look as distracted as I actually was.

I kept wondering if I should apologize to Theodore for having been a total bitch, and I decided that I did owe him an apology. He was not to blame for my dad's leaving. I was embittered and intolerant because I sought to blame everyone for it, when in reality the only person whom I should have been blaming was my own father. He had decided to leave. No one had forced him to cheat on my mom.

As soon as the class ended, I walked to Theodore's desk and sighed. "I'm sorry," I said. "I don't like for this relationship to be as tense as it is being."

"Oh, are you two dating?" asked Mrs. Coleman, curious.

I shook my head, and Theodore laughed a little. "Oh, no, no! I did not mean it that way!"

Theodore smiled. "I'm staying at her house, Mrs. Coleman," Theodore explained. "There's nothing else going on between us."

"Oh," she said. "Okay, then."

I blushed. "So... as I was saying—"

"Apology accepted," said Theodore, smiling kindly. He got up and grabbed his binder and book. "I'll see you later."

I nodded, wondering if he was not going to sit next to me at lunch. It is not that I wanted him to, anyway, but I thought he had no one else to sit with at the cafeteria.

I decided to let it go and walked out of the classroom, hoping I was not late to lunch. Fortunately, I found Louise in the hallway, and she immediately told me that she was sorry that she had not sat with me yesterday, but she had gone to the soccer game.