Chapter 4

I hopped down the base of the pillar when the crowd had begun to thin out. I don't think I can assume he went home, can I? Okay Cora, calm down. I can't just keep searching blindly..I have to have some kind of a plan. But then again, he never said where he was going when he left the cafeteria. Should I go back to search the cafeteria..?

"Cora." A deep voice called behind me. 

I looked back and there he was. Relief flooded through me, though it was soon replaced with my pent up frustration.

"Where have you been?" I asked through gritted teeth. 

Theo looked back, towards the driveway. He wasn't wearing the grey hoodie anymore, and the blue tee shirt looked tighter without it.  "I went to the car after I left the cafeteria. I guessed I slept off."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. 

Of course he was sleeping! While I was worrying and looking for him..he was sleeping! I don't know why I bothered looking for him anyway. I can't believe I was actually worried. 

I managed to control my expression though. "Really? Well school's over so I guess we'll see tomorrow." 

I didn't wait for a reply, instead turning on my heels. I felt a hand grab mine, pulling me back. Theo stood just about a foot away from me, which was closer than I expected, a slight frown appearing on his face contrasting to his usually blank expression.   

Having him so close with his full attention on me was distracting and intimidating at the same time. 

"What?" I asked, glad my voice didn't quiver. 

"I think it's best if we should exchange phone numbers," Theo said, letting go of my hand, leaving a certain coldness in its wake. 

I blinked at him. "Huh?"

Theo shrugged. "I'm just saying that if we'd exchanged numbers before, you wouldn't get worried and look all over for me. And don't try to deny it, I was watching you."

"You saw me looking for you and you just watched me?!"

"Do you want to exchange phone numbers or not?" Theo deadpanned. 

"Tch. I've never known anyone to be so rude while asking a girl for her number." 

I pulled out my phone, unlocked it and gave it to him. Instead of typing his number, he studied the phone, turning it this way and that. 

"This is an older model, isn't it?"

I flush at that. "Do you want to exchange phone numbers or not?"

Theo typed in his number on my phone and handed it back. He was in the process of pulling his phone out of his pocket when I turned around and picked up my pace. 

"You haven't given me your number," Theo called out. 

I looked back at him. "I'll text you if I need you."

I can't believe I said that! 'I'll text you if I need you?' Ugh, that's so embarrassing, it's probably gonna haunt me till I'm thirty. It's probably because he annoys me so much, it even affects my speech. 

I arrived at the door of my house, and started to fish around for my key when I realized the door was open. I pushed the door in and shut it behind me. 

No one seems to be home. Maybe mom forgot to lock the door again. I drop my bag on the couch and walk over to the fridge, taking out a bottle of water. 

Coming down on the stairs behind me was my little sister, all dressed up wearing a crop top and a skirt that puts the 'mini' in miniskirt. 

She hadn't noticed me yet so I called out: "Where are we off to?"

She got so startled, she almost fell off the stairs. I couldn't help but snicker. 

Catelyn (Catty for short), marched down the stairs and glared at me. "What was that for?!" 

I placed the bottle of water on the counter. "You know, you left the door open. You should be more careful. We don't want anything to happen to that pretty face of yours," I state, patting her head. 

Catty slaps my hand off. 

"So, you're going to a party?"

"Yeah. So what if I am?" 

My little sister, Catty, has been sneaking off to parties ever since she was in 7th grade. Though ever since she got into high school, it's changed from every other month to every other day. 

"It's really none of your business either way," Catty continued, "Besides, you can't snitch on me to mom and dad."

Catty's right. Even if I did tell our parents, they'd never believe me. She always puts on the 'cute and innocent' act around them. It would be my word against hers and I'd lose. Badly. 

I put a hand over my chest. "You break my heart, little sister. I'd never rat you out."

I was going to ask if she'd be back by dinner but I realized I already know the answer to that. 

Catty grabbed her coat and turned to leave at the door but paused. "Is it true? That there's a really hot guy that transferred to school today and he's only talked to you so far."

I shrugged. "Who's to say? It's really not anyone's business either way."

Catty sneered. "Tch. I knew it was useless to ask you."

She left, slamming the door behind her. 

We've never really gotten along, me and Catty, but I hope she doesn't get herself hurt one of these days. 

Since I'm home alone, I grab a couple of snacks from the pantry and my bag from the couch and head upstairs. 

One good thing about Corey going off to college was that I didn't have to share a room with Catty anymore. 

I open the door with my forearm and walk into the room. I was greeted with white walls and bookshelves on every corner. I look towards the desk and I could just see Corey sitting there, his nose in a book, or  his apologetic face when I'm trying to talk to him about something but he's distracted…

I shake off my memories and dump my bag on the floor and the snacks on my bed. I don't have any pending assignments so I might as well relax. I grab my laptop from the desk and binge a random show off of N*****x.

I didn't even notice how late it's gotten until my phone buzzed from a text from mom and I checked the time. 

20:33 Mom: You and Catty shouldn't wait for me and your dad for dinner, we're both going to be working late tonight. 

Yeah, I already guessed that but still, I was surprised she bothered to text me at all. As I was typing out my response another message came in. 

20:36 Mom: Can you believe I texted your brother first out of reflex? Hahaha. 

I supposed that makes more sense, but I felt a pang of disappointment nonetheless.

20:38 Me: Okay, we won't. Stay safe. 

I dropped my phone on the bed and decided to take a shower. I stripped down and entered the bathroom, the warm water exactly what I needed. I must've stayed in there for a while, cuz when I turned off the shower my skin was wrinkled. 

I came out of the bathroom and wore my pajamas, contemplating if I should order pizza for dinner..but I decided against it. Maybe I'll just have some cereal. 

As I folded the clothes I wore to school and put them in the laundry basket, something fell out of my pants pocket. It was the card with Hailey's number on it. 

I picked it up and saved the number on my phone. I scrolled down and saw Theo's number too. A sudden wave of curiosity crossed my mind. Exiting the contacts app, I launched I*******m. I hit the search button and typed 'Theodore Thorsen'.

I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting to find his account at all, cuz it's not uncommon for people not to use their actual name for their social media username, but I actually did. 

His handle was 'therealTheodore_Thorsen' and apparently he's a big media personality, with the verified account and everything. I wasn't really surprised about that, Tony did say he was rich. 

My eyes grew wide, though, when I saw the figure above his followers; it was well over 8 million. Now I understood why everyone was so excited in the morning. 

I scrolled through his posts, most of them being pictures of different locations around the world, movie posters and his dog, a brown terrier of the name Maple. Though he posted the occasional picture of himself, here and there. 

I stumbled across one particular video of him working out…shirtless. He was doing pull ups when the guy holding the camera recorded him unawares, but Theo soon finds out and smirks slightly, throwing a wink the camera's way. 

I could feel my face growing hotter each second I was watching the video. I went to the comment section instead but that was even worse. They were pretty much all thirst comments, each one more explicit than the last. 

It sorta ranged from 'it should be illegal to look this good' to 'I would pay 

 to lick your sweat off your abs' to 'Theodore could slap me in the face and I would say "thank you daddy"' to ' I want to wrap my legs around-' no, I put my phone on the counter top, pretty sure my face is hot enough to boil water. 

Yeah, that's enough internet for today. 

I head back upstairs, dinner all but forgotten and lay down in my bed. I'm not sure what to think of Theo (other than the fact that his very presence annoys me), but I'm stuck with him for a month whether I like it or not.