Strings Attached

Chapter Four

Theodore was simply not what I had expected. As I mentioned before, he was full of contradictions, but that actually made him special. It made him different. He was able to outstand from the crowd, and somehow, I admired him for it. He was always noticed. Everybody had something to say about him, and I wished, for once, that I would be noticed, just like he was. No one ever paid any attention to me, and, though I knew I should not care about what others thought about me, deep inside I did care about how others perceived me.

Theodore did not seem to mind it when others talked about him, though. He seemed to only care about being himself and never letting others destroy who he really was. He seemed to be the kind of person who would never allow anybody to crush his soul.

Theodore was brave, and I kind of understood his decision to dye his hair green.

Theodore dyed his hair green to show others that he did not care about their opinions.

I was beginning to appreciate his green-colored hair more. It showed me that there were people in this world who could rebel against society in subtle, yet powerful ways.

Staring at Theodore now was like staring at a celebrity. I admired him for his bravery, and I wished I could be more like him. Unfortunately, I was a little coward, and I would never be able to show society that its opinion was not important to me. I pretended not to care, but I did care a lot.

Heck, it was not easy at all to ignore people while expecting them to think highly of you. I did not feel like making any friends, but I did not want to be hated, either. I would have rather have people feeling indifference towards me than feeling hatred for me, but something told me that Theodore was different.

Something told me that he would rather be hated and known than being ignored and unknown. Theodore probably wanted to leave his mark in this world, and I admired him for that. I also envied him because I knew that he was braver than me. I did not know much about him, but what I knew made me realize that he was what I wanted to be but would never be.

"Hey, is everything all right?" he asked.

I pushed all my thoughts away and faked a smile. "Yeah. I'm just sleepy, I guess."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's my fault for interrupting your beauty sleep," he joked.

I smiled. This time, it was genuine. "It's okay. I was having a nightmare, anyway."

"Really? What was it about?" he asked, curious.

"Oh, nothing. I was just being chased down by Hades because of some stupid thing I did. Nothing to worry about." I waved my hand dismissively.

Theodore's eyes lit up. "Hades? As in the lord of death?"

"Yeah," I said, surprised that Theodore knew whom I was talking about.

"Heck! He is so badass! I love him!" he exclaimed.

"So you like Greek mythology?" I asked.

"Heck yeah!" he exclaimed happily. "I've read too many books about it that I've lost count!"

"Have you read any Percy Jackson books?" I asked hopefully.

"Oh, gosh! I've read all of them like three times already!" he exclaimed.

I smirked. Not even Louise had read Percy Jackson books. I loved the books so much it hurt. Greek mythology was not really my thing until I discovered those books. Rick Riordan, the book's author, really knew how to write. The books had a lot of action, and they were quite funny, too. They were the perfect balance between action and humor, and that made me love them even more.