Strings Attached

Chapter Four

I would have never guessed that Theodore had read them if he had not told me. I knew he liked to read, but I did not think that we would have the same reading tastes. It turned out we did. We both enjoyed the book series that had completely transformed the way I saw books. It was one of the first stories that transported me to a new world within this one, and stories like that one should be embraced and cherished forever in our hearts.

"Well, you have good taste. I'll give you that," I said.

Theodore chuckled. "Well, they are quite fun to read. I enjoyed them very much."

"Me too," I said. "They took me to a whole new world."

"Books do that to you," he said. "They take you to another world, and when they are successful in making you think that you are inside that beautiful and wonderful new world, finishing them is twice as painful because you realize that your reality is not nearly as magical as the main character's life."

I sighed. Once again, Theodore was right. Finishing a very good book was very painful, especially when you realized that magic did not exist, and that no matter how much you wished it existed, it would still be only a fairytale.

I loved books, but there was a downside to reading so much, and it was that there always came the realization that, though magical and inspiring, nothing in them was real.

I would have probably gone to cry over a corner and think about how I would never be a demigod like Percy, but Theodore was there, and it would have been embarrassing. Although there was a possibility that he would have cried with me, I decided to cover how I truly felt, even if it made me sound mean.

"Damn, that was deep," I said, rolling my eyes.

Theodore sighed. "Why do you always have to ruin the moment?"

"I don't," I said.

"Jeez, Chris. You truly are hard to please." Theodore smiled. "I like that."

"The fun's in the chase, huh?" I said sarcastically.

Theodore winked. "You know it."

I simply rolled my eyes. "So what does it feel to be the salutatorian?" I asked.

I knew it was better to drop the topic, but I simply could not help myself. Theodore had accidentally taken the title away from me, and all I wanted to do was talk about it.

He shrugged. "It feels cool, I guess."

I faked a chuckle. "Well, I would give anything to earn the title back."

"I am actually surprised that you are not the valedictorian. You are quite smart, and you seriously have earned the title," he said casually.

"I am not smart. I am just a hardworking person, and it hurts to know that it never seems to be enough. No college would want a girl like me. Not a single extracurricular, not the number one or number two of her generation. Seriously, why would a college even consider me?"

I meant it. I had no extracurricular activities to help me out in my application, and if I seriously wanted to be accepted at Columbia, then I would have to do way better than that. The thing was... I gave it my best, and I did not have anything else to give. Theodore, on the other hand, did not seem to struggle whatsoever.

"You do not need to be number one, and you know it," he told me.

"I do." I sighed and closed my eyes, wondering if he even cared, and asking myself why it should matter if he did. "You don't get it. For once in my life, I want to be number one."

"It's not about your being number one. It's about someone else's seeing you as his or her number one."

"Yeah. Too bad no one does."

"I'd bet your mom considers you her number one."

"You have no idea of how pathetic that makes me," I said.

"It does not make you pathetic. It means someone cares. I truly wish I had one person—just one!—who would see me as his or her number one."

"Maybe your parents," I said.

"As if. I don't think they have ever cared about me." Theodore turned to see the ground with sadness, and I instantly wondered if he had done something to make his parents leave or if they simply did not love him and asked him to go away.

"Is that why they asked you to leave?" I asked.

"They didn't... Who told you that?" Theodore stared at me with curiosity, and I felt a lump in my throat.

"Um, Mom," I said. "She told me your parents asked you to leave, but she didn't tell me why."

"They did not ask me to leave. They weren't even..." He closed his eyes. "It does not matter. Good night, Chris."

Theodore did not seem comfortable talking about his parents, so I decided not to push the topic. I did not feel comfortable talking about Dad, so I understood how he felt whenever I mentioned his parents.

"Good night," I said, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. I hope Hades doesn't chase you this time," he said, smiling.

I smiled. "I hope so, too."

Then, I closed the bedroom's door and went to sleep again, wondering why Zeus did not simply throw a lightning at me every time I said something stupid so that I could just stop to be so dumb and imprudent all the time.