Strings Attached

Chapter Four

Theodore smiled. "Sleep well, then."

I was pretty sure he did not believe me at all, but at least he tried his best to convince me that he did. Theodore was quite nice, but I did not want to let him know that I thought that. He would probably start thinking that I was dying for him, which could not be farther from the truth.

I smiled. "Thank you, you too," I said.

Theodore simply nodded, and I took that as my cue to leave. I walked upstairs and made my way to Brianna's room, wondering if everything I used to think about Theodore was true at all.

Theodore did not seem to be one of those slobs who prefer to live with others to minimize their expenses. He actually seemed responsible and hardworking.

Maybe I had been too fast to judge him, and I was feeling pretty badly for having done it.

***

I woke up two hours later to the sound of knocks on my door. I instantly got up and automatically yelled something like, "I swear I did not eat your last donut, Hades. Please don't kill me!"

Pretty stupid, I know, but reading Percy Jackson books and eating too much caused me to have nightmares.

This time, I dreamed about Hades, the god of the Underworld, threatening to kill me for eating his last donut. I had no idea of how donuts and Hades related, but it had still been pretty scary.

I immediately cleaned up my mouth, which had been full of saliva—yes, saliva comes out of my mouth while I sleep—and walked towards Brianna's bedroom's door.

I hoped my breath was not as terrible as my dream had been as I opened the door.

Theodore stood in front of me with a surprised look on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think you were actually asleep," he said.

"It's fine," I muttered sleepily.

"I just wanted to give you this," he said. He handed me a pink wire and smiled. "You can start your own collection."

I did not want to start my own collection. Wires and art were simply not my thing.

"That's really sweet of you," I said. "But I don't... Wires aren't my..."

Theodore's eyes lit up, and that made it very difficult for me to finish my sentence.

I sighed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said. "I hope you like pink. It was the only girly color I found."

"What makes you think I'm girly?" I asked, frowning.

"Well," he said. "You're a girl, so..."

I rolled my eyes. "The color is cute. Thank you."

Theodore smiled. "I'm glad you liked it." He lowered his face. "I'm not very good with words, but I just wanted to thank you for letting me use your room. It really means a lot to me. Not everyone is willing to sacrifice his comfort in order to help others, and you were willing to do it, so I really don't have enough words to express how thankful I am."

"It's nothing. Really," I said. "We've got to help out as much as possible, right?"

I did mean it. Maybe I had been hesitant at first, but now I did not feel annoyed anymore. Theodore needed our help, and it cost me nothing to help him. Perhaps no one had helped us out when my dad left, but I was starting to think that Theodore would have helped us if he had known. He seemed like the kind of guy who loved to help others without asking for anything in exchange.