Bait // Thiam

Chapter 4

"Yea, sure. Here or somewhere private?" I asked him, worried about what he wanted to talk about.

"Somewhere private. I don't care where, but I just need to talk to you." He rushed his hands through his hair, looking around like he was looking for someone.

I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but I don't think he wanted to talk about it here. He was anxious, because I could smell it on him. It was strong, but it wasn't strong enough to hide the sense I know a little to well, anger. And from someone who has experienced both at the same time, knows it's not a good combination.

"Come over here." I told him, walking over behind a school building and waited for Theo to catch up. I didn't realise, but I sped walked over here and left Theo behind. Once he was next to me, I waited for him to start speaking, but he didn't.

"What's wrong? Something happen?" I made the first move.

"Sort of." He finally spoke, his voice shaky. "I need you to promise not to tell anyone what happened today. Like any of it." He told me, looking into my eyes. "I know you probably won't, but o can't let people know I'm like that. That I get upset over that sort of stuff, because it's ruined my life before."

I looked into his eyes, almost getting lost in them. There was something about them that was so mesmerising, but if I looked for any longer and not say anything, I would just look like a complete freak. So, I finally looked away, not wanting to. Having to.

"Don't worry, it's just between us. I promise." I told him, making sure he knew I wouldn't tell anyone else. I listened as he took a deep breath out, his freshly, minty breath hitting my face and slightly stinging my eyes.

"Thank you, so much." He pulled me into a hug, like we were best friends or something. It was awkward at first, but then I hugged him back. "You don't know how much stress you've just taken off my shoulders."

I wanted to ask him, how it ruined his life before, but that was to personal. We haven't even known each other for a full day yet, so if we continue to casually talk, maybe one day he'll tell me or I'll ask him. But that's only if we still talk, we might not ever talk again, just say the occasional hell and have a quick chat.

"If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know." He smiled, turning around and starting to walk off. He looked both ways before crossing the road, making sure no cars or buses were coming.

"Wait, Theo!" I yelled, running after him, not bothering to check for cars. Luckily, none were coming either way. "Do you have a car?" I asked him, slightly out of breath.

"Yea, right over there." He pointed to a blue truck, making me smile. "Do you want to borrow it or something, because I need it at night. You can have it during the day though." He offered me his car, smiling.

"Thank you, but not exactly what I was asking. If you're not busy this weekend, my friends', boyfriend is having a party and I don't have a ride there. I was wondering if maybe you could be my ride and if you want, you can come to the party with me. I can introduce you to my friends, but I'm sure because you were with, Hayden today, you've probably met most of them." I asked him, offering him to come to the party.

He looked at the ground for a couple of seconds, playing with his fingers as he thought about his answer. He looked at me, as if he was going to say no, but then started to smile and nodded. I smiled as well, relived I found a ride and now I could rub it in, Mason's face.

"Sweet, pick me up at 8. Thank you so much, dude!" I yelled, running off and then looking back and running back to, Theo. "Right, you don't know where I live and you also don't have my number." I laughed, pulling out my phone and handing it to him.

He put his contact in and the we said our goodbyes. He walked over to his car and drove off, leaving me alone at school. I looked down at my phone and saw the emojis he chose got his name. It was the heart eye emoji, with the shit emoji right next to it. I laughed and shook my head, pressing the edit button. I was about to change his name, when I got a text from, Hayden.

From: Future wife 💖💍
Meet at Starbucks, around the corner from the school. And make sure you have all your books :)

I smiled and started making my way to Starbucks. On the way there, I edited Theo's name. Changing it to; 'Theo 😍' because I loved his eyes and they weren't shit, just like he wasn't. At first I thought he was shit and I hated him, but now I feel like I've known him my whole life.

To: Theo 😍
Hey, just letting you know, it's Liam. So, you can add my number into your contacts or not 😂 It's up to you.

And then I turned off my phone, waking into Starbucks and seeing him again. Theo was there, in one corner alone, and Hayden was at other corner. I wanted to go and sit with Theo, but Hayden has everything set up and Theo looked busy, talking on the phone to someone. So, I walked over to Hayden and sat opposite from him. She didn't look at me at the beginning, but then she lifted her head and shot me a smile.

"Let's get started then." She smiled, opening up her maths book and showing me all the equations I was having trouble with, showing me how to do them, and what not to do. "So now, you give it ago and we'll see if you understand. If not, we'll do it step by step together."

I smiled, looking at the equation, not having a clue what to do. Whilst Hayden was explaining what to do, I was paying attention to something else. To someone else. Theo, was all I could think about, at the moment.