Strings Attached

Chapter Nine

"If you want to go, then you should go," I said, shrugging.

Theodore nodded. "A part of me wants to go, but another part of me tells me it isn't a good idea. What part should I listen to?"

"The part that's the strongest," I told him. "There's always a part that is stronger, even when we try to deny it."

Theodore nodded once more, but he seemed not to be thinking it over. It was as though he knew the answer ever since the moment he asked the question.

"I guess I shouldn't go," he said.

I raised one of my eyebrows. "Really? A beautiful girl is dying for you to go out with her, and you simply reject her?"

He shrugged. "She's not my type, Chris."

"Then what exactly is your type?" I asked, curious.

He shrugged again. "Someone like you, Chris," he said simply.

My eyes widened, and I could not believe he had said it so casually, as though it meant nothing. Maybe it was not supposed to mean anything. Maybe I was just overreacting or he was joking. Perhaps he just said it to see my reaction and was about to burst out laughing.

Theodore did not laugh, though. He just kept a straight face.

"Are you serious?" I asked, gulping.

"Yeah," he said even more casually. "But don't worry, I'm not trying anything with you. It wouldn't be right."

I raised one of my eyebrows. "Why not?"

"Your mom would probably kill me," he said. "And the fact that you're the kind of girl that I usually like to date doesn't mean that I have to date you."

It kind of hurt to hear that, but he was right. Maybe I was just freaking out unnecessarily. "That's good, I guess," I said with a shrug.

Theodore stared at me with amusement. "How about you? What's your Romeo like?"

"Well, first of all, he'd be nothing like Romeo. Romeo was a stupid guy who claimed he was in love when he didn't really know Juliet and who committed suicide out of love, even though killing himself wouldn't bring Juliet back, and he had a whole life ahead of him." I sighed, remembering how many times I had argued with my Drama teacher that Romeo and Juliet was simply not one of Shakespeare's brightest plays. "Second of all, I have never really thought about it. I guess I like smart guys who aren't assholes. That's all."

Theodore laughed. "Well, you don't really ask for much," he said. "And you're right. I also hate Romeo and Juliet."

I smiled. I decided it was time to finally ask the question again. "So... Not that I care about you or anything, but... Why green?" I asked.

Theodore turned to see me and chuckled. "Well, you must really be interested in the answer because this is the second time you ask that question."

I shrugged. "I'm persistent."

Theodore shook his head and chuckled. "Well, one day I was arguing with my mom about how she was never in the house, and she was telling me that she wasn't in the house because she hated to see the furniture and everything inside it because it brought her bad memories. She told me she hated being inside the house because it reminded her of a time when my father was around. You see, my dad had left us years ago, and my mom hated to see anything that might remind her of him."

I turned to see the ground. His dad had also left them. He knew how it felt to be abandoned by a person whom you considered your hero.

"So I asked her if that meant she didn't want to see me, either, and she said she especially couldn't stand seeing me." Theodore's eyes became watery, and I understood how hurt he felt just talking about it. "So I wanted to do something about it, and one day I remembered that she had once told me that she loved the color green because it reminded her of a time when she had gone to a picnic with my grandparents. She said the grass was greener than any other grass she had ever seen, and that she ate a lot of green grapes, and her father was wearing a green tie."

His voice was beginning to crack. "The point is... Everything was green that day, or at least many things were, so I thought..." Theodore lowered his face. "I thought dyeing my hair green would make her remember that beautiful day in her life whenever she saw me... So I did not hesitate to dye it green the next day. Of course, it didn't really work, and she said I had even ruined the color, but... I was just hoping it would work."

He was almost crying now, but I could tell he was really trying not it break down. He was trying to be strong, but I would have not been able to avoid crying if my mom had ever told me something as hurtful as that. I could understand why he always held pain in his eyes. His mom had treated him as though he were worthless, and that was simply not fair. Theodore really loved his mom. He would have probably done anything for her, and she did not appreciate it.

"I know I should probably stop dyeing it now that I don't live with Mom anymore," he said, wiping way the tears that were trying to escape his eyes. "But I just... I keep doing it because I like to think about how beautiful that day must have been for her, and I... I feel like she gave me that memory of hers, and I remember that every time I see myself in a mirror. It... It's stupid, I know."

I shook my head and did something I never thought I would do. I hugged Theodore. I hugged him tightly, and I patted his back to try to show him my support. I knew I did care about him. He must have known so, too, but I did not care. I just wanted to show him that not everyone was evil in this world, that not everything was pain and misery.

"It's not stupid," I whispered on his ear. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard."

It was true. I finally understood why he did not care about what others would think of his green hair. I finally understood why he did not even try to hide it. If seeing his hair gave him hope, then maybe keeping it that color was the best decision he had ever made.

I was not ashamed to tell Theodore that his hair was beautiful. I was not ashamed to tell him that he was one of the bravest people I had ever met. I was not even ashamed to whisper in his ear that maybe, just maybe, he was my type, too.