Strings Attached

Chapter Four

I did not understand how someone like him could be popular. Do not get me wrong, Theodore was hot, and he was nice, but he just did not particularly strike me as the popular type. He was the only boy in the popular group who had his hair dyed green. Actually, he was the only boy in the whole school with that hair color.

"Oh, come on," Theodore said. "I'm not popular."

I sighed. "You will be among colleges, though."

He raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"You are the new salutatorian," I told him. I shrugged, pretending I did not care, but I cared a lot.

"And who was the old one?" he asked.

"It was I," I said, sighing. "It's fine, though. School's almost over. It's not like it matters anymore."

"You're right," he said. "It doesn't matter. Any college would kill to have you."

"Right back at you," I said.

The thing was that I hated myself for never being able to be the first one at anything. I would always come second or third, and I hated it. Not even my dad considered me his first choice, and that hurt more than anything. I would never be anybody's first choice, and I hated myself for never being good enough for anybody, not even for my school.

"You know, colleges don't even care about what place you hold. They care about how dedicated you are." Theodore smiled. "And you, my friend, are very dedicated."

I smiled. "Thanks."

Theodore was not as bad as I initially thought her would be.

***

"Okay, you caught me," said Mom as we entered the kitchen. "I have not cooked anything for you guys to eat."

Theodore and I stared at her with such hunger that she probably thought we were about to eat her right then and there. Maybe we would have eaten her, were it not for the fact that she apologized and offered to take us to a restaurant as compensation.

Theodore and I immediately agreed because we were quite hungry, and Brianna told Mom that she was dying to eat out, even though she was barely recovering from her stomach problems.

"There's a new place not so far from here," Brianna said, her eyes lighting up in anticipation. She and I were crazy about food. We knew it was not the healthiest obsessions, but as the saying goes, everything that killed us made us feel alive.

"Yes! Oh, yes! The Italian Zone just opened! I'm dying to taste those delicious plates that everyone is talking about! Let's go there, Mom, please!" I exclaimed.

Theodore simply lowered his face. "I can pay for our food, if you wish." He smiled kindly.

"Nonsense!" Mom smirked. "No guest of ours if paying for his food!"

"It's fine, really. I would hate to be a burden." Theodore sighed. "Besides, I have been saving some money, and I have enough to take you to that Italian place."

I felt bad for him. He was trying to be nice, but he would run out of money in that place. It was not that expensive, but Theodore probably did not have that much cash to spend. I hated to think about how much time it had taken him to earn that money.

"Mom's right," I said. "You're our guest."

"No, I insist," he said. "You're allowing me to stay at your house, and that's the least I could do."

Mom sighed. "Tell you what, we will divide it. Half and half, how does that sound?"

I cleared my throat. "I can pay a third if you want," I offered.