Strings Attached

Chapter Nine

"Go ahead," I told him.

"Thank you," he said, placing his phone on his ear. "What's up?"

"Theodore!" exclaimed a girl from the other side of the line. Her voice was really loud, and I was surprised to hear that she called him 'Theodore,' because he had made it clear to us since the first day that he did not like to be called that way.

"Sonya," he said. "Hi."

The girl, Sonya, said, "Are you busy?"

"Actually, I kind of am," he said, smiling at me.

My heart started racing. I had no idea of why his smile had that effect on me, but it did. There was no denying it.

"Where are you?" she asked, ignoring his reply. "The game is so intense!"

"I'm at the cafeteria," he said.

"Why don't you come?" she asked pleadingly. Just hearing her begging voice made me sick. I could tell she wanted to sound cute, but she only ended up sounding stupid.

"I can't," he said. "I'm with a friend."

"Come on! Just come!" she exclaimed.

Theodore turned to see me, and for a second I thought he was actually going to leave me by myself and go with Sonya. I did not know who Sonya was—she was probably one of the dancers—but just hearing how she ignored Theodore when he told her he was busy made me dislike her.

Fortunately, Theodore smiled at me and said, "Sorry. I can't. See you later." He hung up, and I could not help smiling.

"You just rejected her," I said. "That girl is going to hate you."

"You heard everything?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, grinning. "She talks really loudly."

"She does," he said. "But she is nice.

"I guess," I told him. "Why didn't you go?"

Theodore smirked. "Are you serious? I wouldn't leave you alone!"

That was the right answer. Theodore had just proved to me that he was definitely not a jerk. With that answer, he had just proved to me how selfless he truly was, and how he was not like the rest of the guys. Most boys would have gone with the girl. Most boys would have left me alone, but not Theodore. He stayed.

"Besides, those games are boring as heck," he said.

"They are," I told him. "I seriously don't understand why they like them."

"Me neither. I guess sports just aren't my thing." Theodore sighed. "Well, the pizza was excellent, as always."

I rolled my eyes. "You and your pizza."

Theodore smiled. "Hey, after school, I'd like to show you something," he said.

"Really? What is it?" I asked him.

"Just this new project I'm working on," he said. "It's kind of silly, but... I just want to know what you think about it."

I smiled. "That'd be great," I told him.

Theodore smiled, and my heart started beating uncontrollably fast. Why did he have such an effect on me?

In that moment, a girl with red hair and bright green eyes entered the cafeteria. She was wearing a blue blouse with a black skirt, and she was very pretty. She immediately turned her eyes to Theodore and smirked.

"Sonya?" Theodore said, looking surprised.

"Theodore!" she exclaimed, rushing towards our direction.