Theodore Forge woke up enthusiastic on the first day of his freshman year. After a boring summer working at Newton's Olympic Outfitters with his friend Mike Newton, he was more than happy to do something else than listening to his athletic friend trying to flirt with girls. In fact, at the sporting goods store, Mike made sure to help the customers while Theo placed things and made people pay. It was alright with him, he was not really interested in sports anyway as he was more of an artist. He was always carrying a notebook where he drew everything he found beautiful or everything he wanted to remember.
Theo quickly took a shower and got dressed before walking downstairs where his father Waylon was sitting, watching the news and eating his breakfast. When he saw his son, he smiled, patting the seat besides him.
"How did you sleep, kiddo?" Waylon was the only parental figure Theo ever had, as his mother left them when he was three years old. His father had explained how when the woman was bored, she just left so Theo was not sad and didn't miss her in any way. If he wasn't worth her attention, than she didn't deserve his. But Waylon was the best father the young man could ask for, he was always making sure Theo was alright or leaving him alone when he needed it.
"Great dad, thanks," He slept well, but he was slightly nervous for the new school year. Theo felt like something was going to happen, but he couldn't pinpoint if his feeling was good or bad.
"I made you some breakfast if you want. I have to leave for the day, Cora need help with her truck, but I want to know everything when I come back," With a last smile from his son, Waylon left, putting his coat on. Theodore's father was working as a mechanic in a garage near Forks High School, but it wasn't unusual that he directly went to the customers' house to help with their vehicle's problem.
When he noticed the time, Theo ate quickly and walked out, locking the door behind him as he heard a car honk. Mike's parents were his ride to school as they lived close to each other, but again, who didn't in this small town.
When Mike's parents dropped them off at school, Mike and Theo joined their friends, Angela Weber, Jessica Stanley, Eric Yorkie, Lauren Mallory and Tyler Crowley. Angela was definitely Theo's best friend. They were so similar ; reserved, but sweet and always there to help others. Eric was a joyful person and worked with Angela on the school's newspaper, and he had a crush on Angela. Jessica was a nice girl, even though she was quick to judge people she didn't know and a slightly envious person. She also had a huge crush on Mike, who didn't really show interest in her. Lauren was a superficial girl and a gossip girl like Jessica, but she was really loyal and protective of her friends. Mike and Tyler were similar, they shared their passion for sports.
As soon as they reached their friends' group, Theo sighed. He could already hear Jessica and Lauren whispering about something. Angela was quietly listening to them, smiling at Theo when he stopped besides her.
"Hey Ange, what are they whispering about? School hasn't even started," Theo asked quietly.
"They are gossiping about the new family who just moved here. They are from Alaska. The Cullens, I think?" Angela answered, shrugging. She was about to talk again when two unfamiliar cars entered the parking lot. They dropped the six new kids that were attending school and left. All eyes were on them. They seemed to go in pair. There was a tall blonde girl who was holding hands with a buff guy. She was gorgeous and the guy looked like he could crush Theo with one of his arms. The next pair was a small pixie like girl, who was skipping beside a stiff guy. She seemed to be overly excited while the blond looked like he wanted to leave this place and never return. The last pair was the one who got Theo's attention.
A bronze-haired boy was guiding a small dark-haired girl towards the school. It was her Theo was more interested in. She was magnificent. She was looking like a goddess, walking with so much grace everybody was staring at her. Bringing her closer, the bronze-haired boy, her boyfriend?, whispered something in her ear, making her chuckle and look up. She scanned the parking lot and stopped when she locked eyes with Theo. All of a sudden, it was just them. He didn't know he stared at her for how long, but when she smiled brightly at him, he felt like he was gazing at an angel, his angel. Her odd, golden eyes were shining and were looking at him with so much happiness he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. Theo's cheeks burned and his eyes widened.
He didn't even know her name, yet she already felt so familiar to him. But when he heard Mike and Tyler bet about which one of them will get a date with her first, Theo got out of his daydreaming state. The young blond man glared at them before Angela took his hand, noticing he was upset about their talk, and walked into the school to their locker, following unknowingly the new girl.
"She is beautiful, don't you agree?" Angela teased her best friend, pinching his arm when she noticed he was still in his mind.
"More than that," He murmured, looking down at his feet.
"I agree," Angela blushed, looking away as well. Theo rose his head at that. It wasn't the first time he noticed how his best friend looked and admired some girls and he couldn't help but smile. Angela was always making sure that her attraction towards girls was still a secret, but for someone who grew up with her and wasn't so oblivious, it was easy for Theo to tell. He just had to wait for her to admit it to him.
♡
It wasn't until lunch that Theodore saw the new girl and her family again. He sat between Tyler and Angela and opened his notebook. Taking once in a while a bite of his sandwich, he started drawing the eyes he couldn't stop thinking about. He heard Jessica's mumbling in front of him and sighed in exasperation. She was his friend and he knew she didn't mean anything bad by it, but her constant gossiping was annoying, hers and Lauren's. Though he started listening when he heard she was talking about the Cullens.
"I heard that they are adopted by the new doctor. The buff looking guy is Emmett and he is with Rosalie, the blonde girl. They are Sophomore and all the other ones are Freshmen. The blonde guy is Jasper and he is with the small girl, Alice. The bronze-haired boy is Edward and I heard he is single," Jessica giggled and turned her head to look at the Cullen's table, where they were all sitting. Even though they were adopted, they had some similarities, like their golden eyes and the same weird physical perfection. They seemed older than the school year they were on, but Theo forgot about it when he glanced at them and noticed the goddess wasn't there.
"And the last one?" He asked involuntarily under his breath, but it seemed like Lauren heard him.
"Her name is Rosemary, she is in my PE class. She is an attention-seeking girl, she was showing off when we played volleyball," The Mallory girl rolled her eyes and scoffed. Theo shook his head. If she was good in sports, why would she hide it? That didn't mean she was an attention-seeking person.
He looked back at his drawing and finished the first eye. Theo heard the cafeteria's door opening and how the people seemed to quiet down. He looked up only to find himself hypnotized by the sight of Rosemary walking towards her family. She was bringing her hair into a ponytail and smiled when she saw her family waving at her. She joined them and swatted Emmett's hand away when he tried to ruffle her hair. Sitting next to the dark-haired girl, Edward wrapped his arm around the back of Rosemary's chair and leaned close to her ear.
"Are you sure they aren't together? They are always whispering to each other," Lauren sneered, looking at Jessica, who was sulking and glaring at Rosemary. Theo glanced back down at his drawing. Why did the thought of her with another boy made his heart ached? He glanced discreetly at Rosemary, who was nodding at something Edward said. Theo decided to go to the library and gathered his things, finishing his lunch. He decided to steal one more glance at the new girl, only to find her staring back at him, locking their eyes together by the same occasion. His cheeks reddened again and Theo bolted out of the cafeteria.
♡
When Edward told Rosemary she was being stared at, she saw a cute blonde guy. She immediately and instinctively knew he was her mate and she couldn't be more glad. He seemed wonderful and she couldn't wait to talk to him. During lunch time, when she heard the blonde girl sitting close to her mate asking if her and Edward were together, she let out a small laugh while Emmett let out a booming one. Edward was her favorite brother and they were the closest. Edward found her dying in his rebel years, in 1930, when he fed from humans instead of animals.
The mind reader felt a deep sibling bond with her and decided to turn her. He thought he might not be able to stop from drinking from her as she was bleeding so much, but he did. Edward felt bad he turned her into a soulless monster, but he couldn't let her die. When she woke up, they instantly became brother and sister. They weren't mates, but the bond that united them was almost as strong as a mate bond, but as siblings.
Rosemary got out of her thoughts when Edward tapped her shoulder. She glanced at him but he only motioned to the cafeteria's doors, where Theo was leaving. They locked eyes, making the same bubbly feeling erupted within the two. Rosemary sent him a soft smile, but he left the cafeteria in a hurry, looking flustered. Her lips turned into a frown. Maybe she was scaring him?
"You're not scaring him, Rose. He thinks about you since this morning, even calling you an angel," Edward rubbed her shoulder soothingly. He left out the part where Theo thought about her as his angel, not wanting to totally expose him. Theo seemed like a nice guy and Edward was glad his little sister had a mate like him. His thoughts were really sweet as well, it was refreshing.
"He is human. Rosemary should stay away from him," Rosalie glared at Edward. It was dangerous to get involved with humans and they knew it. Why would Edward encourage her?
"He is her mate," Edward glared back. He would not let Rosalie ruin his little's sister happiness. "She will not stay away from him just because you tell her. You have your mate, everyone has their mate besides us. And she deserves hers," Rosalie stayed silent at that, but still sent a cold look at the bronze-haired vampire. She understood his point, but it was still dangerous for them.
Rosemary stared at the table. She didn't like when her siblings fought, especially because of her. She didn't want to stay away from her mate, but she didn't want to put her family in danger.
The bell rung and the Cullens got up. Edward grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the rest of them.
"Don't listen to her, Rose. Get to know your mate, okay? Don't worry about Rosalie. I got your back," He pressed a kiss to her hairline before leaving for his next class. Rosemary stayed frozen in her spot for a second. What was the best thing to do?
She entered her art classroom and went beside the teacher, who looked at her up and down with wide eyes.
"Um, hi. I'm Rosemary Cullen," She shifted uncomfortably. The way he was looking at her made her nervous as it brought back bad memories. But she knew he was only staring because she was a vampire and it dazzled him. A cough interrupted his staring and Rosemary glanced back, taking only now notice of the newcomer. Theodore was standing there, shooting daggers with his eyes at the teacher and clutching onto his bag.
He wanted to punch him in the face for looking at her this way, but he calmed himself down. He was not a violent person, what was going on with him today?
"I have a question for you, sir," Theo let out after a quick thinking. He didn't, but he wanted Rosemary to go away from the older man quickly. The teacher signed her slip and motioned her to a seat in the back.
She almost ran there, staring at the ground to avoid eye contact with anyone even if she could feel the eyes burning through her form. Rosemary sat down and put her stuff out of her bag, now excited for the class as her mate was there. She wondered if he was seated far from her, maybe she could talk with him. Again, a cough got her out of her thoughts. Her mate was right beside her, shifting nervously in his seat.
"Hi," He breathed out. "You are Rosemary, right?" She nodded shyly, entranced by him. Now that he was so close to her, she didn't know what to do. Should she listen to Rosalie? Or Edward? She was distracted by her mate's smell. It was so comforting it made her forget her worries. She just wanted to bring her chair closer to his and listen to his voice for hours. "I'm Theodore Forge, but you can call me Theo, or whatever..." Theo trailed out, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, and looked away. What was he doing? She wouldn't even glance his way, let alone talk to him.
"Nice to meet you, Theo," A small soft voice was heard and made Theo's heart beat faster. He shivered at his name coming out of her mouth and glanced at Rosemary, his eyes falling down to her lips. He looked away quickly. I need some help, he thought, almost laughing at himself. She was just a girl. He had never reacted that way for a girl before. Or in any way. She was the first girl who had caught his attention, and he was acting like an hormonal teenager, which he was, but still. He never thought he would have been that intense towards a girl, no matter how gorgeous she was.
"Nice to meet you too," The young blond man spoke in the same quiet voice, glancing back at Rosemary and losing himself in her beautiful golden eyes. They stared at each other for quite some time, even after the class had started.
"We are making portraits, I want you to draw someone or the person next to you if you don't have any other ideas," The teacher told the task before going back to his phone, where he seemed to watch a football game. Theo gulped nervously.
"Can I draw you?" The blond boy murmured, shy to ask. He was glad to have the chance to draw her features completely. Gladder he had her as a model.
"Sure, can I?" Rosemary wanted to roll her eyes at herself. He was her mate, why was she so nervous of speaking to him? They were made for each other. She had waited for years to finally meet her mate, she was scared that maybe he wouldn't like her. She shook the thought away when Theo nodded with a small smile and an adorable blush covering his cheekbone.
They started to work, staring at each other every so often. They didn't really know if it was for the portrait or just because they loved to look at each other.
"So, why did you and your family move here?" Theo asked after a few minutes of silence.
"My father is a doctor and he had an opportunity to get a job here. He had a job in Alaska, but he has family history in Forks, so he was intrigued into coming here," Rosemary smiled sweetly at him and Theo swore his heart stopped beating. It made Rosemary smiled more, glancing down at her artwork as she was flattered her mate reacted that way.
"You lived in Alaska? It must be a good change compared to Forks," Rosemary shrugged.
"I love cold weather, so either one, I don't really care. But I believe Forks has something that Denali didn't, and I'm glad I came here for it," The young woman smiled once again at her mate, who was slightly confused at her reply, but he forgot when he saw her smile. It was truly the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
There was something odd about the Cullens. He was weirdly attracted to them ; their perfect complexion was not easy to ignore. But the attraction was so much stronger with Rosemary. But strangely, it didn't creep him out like her siblings. He wanted to be closer to her than anyone he had even met. And he was perfectly fine with that, even if he couldn't explain it.
♡
Thank you for reading the first chapter of Theo's story! I hope you liked it.
What are your first thoughts?
Have a great day <3