Rags to Riches

Chapter 5: Do We Have A Deal?

And also Oliver's little brother.

He saunters up so he's then right in front of me. He still has the same silver eyes and the same blond hair. Again, why do all of the attractive guys have to be such jerks? "I see you've been ditched by your 'best friend'" He uses air quotes with his fingers and I didn't appreciate it, especially coming from him.

I roll my eyes and then glare at him. "What do you want?"

He waves his fingers around. "Ooo, testy aren't we?" He then holds out his hand. "Theodore Bartholomew. You can just call me Theo." When I don't take his hand he drops it to his side. "Ouch. Just trying to be polite."

"Yeah, well, I have to actually go home and study for a class I'm going to fail anyway, so see you later-"

Theo holds up a finger. "Not so fast, little one."

"Did you just call me lit-"

He cuts me off again. "Is this where you go to school? You and Erin both?"

"Yeah..." I trail off then tense what I realized I just said. "Well, you know, Erin is a teacher-"

"That's bullshit," Theo suddenly snaps and his carefree nature is gone. "I know she's a student, I did a little research."

"So you stalked my friend." I say basically.

"No. I did a little research. They are two different things." He says.

"No, they aren't. You stalked a high schooler-"

"Whatever!" Theo glares at me. "My point is, I know she's a high schooler. I was curious to why my brother was hanging out with a girl for more than one night. So I researched her."

I cross my arms. "That's great, but seriously, what do you want?"

Theo looks up at the school building. "Well I want a lot of things. Teagan is it?"

"You stalked me too?" I ask in a bored tone.

"No! There is no stalking! I did not stalk your friend. I did not stalk you. I did not stalk my neighbor's dog-"

"Your neighbor's dog- what?" I ask confused how we jumped from this to that. He was beginning to lose me.

Theo waves me off. "Forget it. Forget the stalking. Got it?"

"Whatever." I say and Theo rolls his eyes and scowls.

"High schoolers."

I start to walk away, but he rushes in front of me. "Wait. Okay, listen. I want my brother in jail. Simple as that. He goes to jail, I get the family company. I become as rich and powerful as hell itself."

I groan. "Congratulations! Would you like a trophy? Maybe a cake? Where is this going? I need to get home before my mom flips out."

Theo nods. "Well, I need your help."

I just stare at him. "You need my help.... With putting Oliver in jail? How can I possibly help?" I ask confused.

"Because you're the best friend." Theo says simply. "How am I supposed to catch Oliver and his teenager when I have no idea where they are actually going? As you might have already guessed, we aren't that close. And even if we were, it's not like he would tell me anything."

"You want me to rat out my friend?" I ask shocked. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"You do realize he doesn't actually like her, right?" Theo says like its a universal fact. "This isn't going to be a Cinderella story. When she turns eighteen, he'll dump her. I may not be close with my brother, but I know him. He's my enemy so I have to know him. He's trying something new. He's bored, Teagan. While Dad was alive, Oliver worked on sucking up to him. When he died, Oliver focused on making the company larger. He has everything he wants. He has seen everything, done everything..." Theo trails off.

I frown. "So you're saying he's only with her because he's bored?"

Theo nods. "Exactly. Which is incredibly stupid, because Oliver can't bail himself out of jail with this crime. This is just a couple week thing, Teagan. Just help me bust him when he takes her to his next charity event or some shit like that. Then it will be over, you'll get your friend back, and Oliver will be locked away in jail. It's a win win, for both of us."

This time I'm stumped. I already knew Oliver wasn't with her because he actually cared about her, but I thought he at least sought her out because he was attracted to her. And maybe that he took her to these places because he liked being around her. But now I'm told he's only with her because he's bored? How low is that? What kind of a friend would I be if I let this continue?

"So if I help you," Theo's eyes lighten up at my words. "Which I'm not saying I will," I add. "what will I necessarily have to do?"

Theo shrugs. "Simple. All you have to do is talk to Erin, have her tell you where she's going and when, call me, and I handle the rest. You aren't doing anything at all, really. Just being a good friend... Then telling me why you're a good friend."

"That doesn't really make sense-" I begin to say but he cuts me off. "Teagan," he says seriously. "Will you help me, or not? Do you want your friend to be a heartbroken mess her senior year then have the man who did it to walk away unscathed?"

I stand there a moment, thinking about the consequences. But if Oliver thinks he's above the law- because obviously he does- I don't mind setting him straight.

"Fine." I say. "I'll help you."

Theo grins brightly and holds out his hand. "Give me your phone."

"Why?" I narrow my eyes.

He gives me a bored look. "How are you supposed to call me when you don't know my number?"

"Oh, right," my cheeks turn pink from embarrassment as I hand him my phone.

He scrunches his nose when he looks down at it. "Um, what is this?"

I sigh. "It's a phone." Theo looks down at it again.

Just because it wasn't an iPhone or some sort of touch screen device, doesn't mean it still isn't a phone.

I take it from him and set everything up before asking him for his number.

Once he tells me his number, Theo nods and saunters away, obviously parking somewhere away from the school.

When he's gone I slip my phone in my bag and just stare off where Theo once was walking. What have I really gotten myself into? Too late to go back now.