Chapter 5

I was woken up by the sound of an incessant, annoying buzzing the next morning, a.k.a my alarm clock. 

Without bothering to stand up, I reached for the desk, my hand searching for the alarm clock and putting it off when I found it. 

I stretched, stifling a yawn with the back of my hand while climbing out of bed. I looked out the window and saw a blanket of white filling the driveway and the streets. 

Seems like it snowed overnight. 

If only it were heavy enough to cancel school..but that's just wishful thinking. 

I head to the bathroom to brush and change out of my sleep wear and after, I walk downstairs to get myself some breakfast before I go to school. 

When I got downstairs though, it was as deserted as it was yesterday. Maybe mom and dad didn't eventually come back last night. 

My mom's a nurse and my dad's a lawyer, so them pulling all nighters isn't really uncommon. 

As much as I liked being alone, the quietness was a stark contrast to what I was used to. 

Wonder if Catty came in though.. 

I decided to head back upstairs and check. I knocked on the door, but there was no response. I open the door, careful not to make any sound..and there she was, passed out on the bed. Didn't even bother to change clothes, huh?

I haven't really been back in this room since Corey moved out and I got his room.  But I have to say, the changes made to it were drastic. Not only did she rearrange everything, the painting was different, with posters of boy bands and actors now hanging from each wall..everywhere was so pink and sparkly, it looked like a unicorn threw up in here. 

I admired the dedication and effort she put into it; redesigning a room in between school and partying sounds like hard work. I mean its only been two months since Corey left. 

I got closer to her bed and the unmistakable whiff of alcohol filled my sinuses. It seems I should add drinking to the list of things that she's been busy with. 

I go back downstairs, forgoing breakfast in favor of packing lunch. But before I left the house, I made sure to put some aspirin and a bottle of water in Catty's room. 

I arrived at school a bit later than I usually do, but I still got there before the bell so I'll take that as a win. 

I live about twenty minutes away from school so normally I ride my bike, but today I couldn't because of the snow so I took the bus instead. 

I took the seat right by the window (it was the only free seat) in the bus and the cold wind was biting, but I kinda liked it. 

I was getting my books from my locker when a shrill scream pierced through the air, leaving me wincing. 

I looked towards where I heard the noise and the source of the commotion was..? 

Theo. Yep. Not surprised. 

The students who weren't screaming were staring and whispering to themselves. 

I found myself rolling my eyes in spite of myself. By now even more screams could be heard from..well everywhere. 

If this keeps happening every time he walks in, I might just need ear muffs. 

Normally in this situation, I'd use my ear phones in hopes of blocking out the noise, but I can't trust myself not to play music loud enough to miss the bell. 

Well. Enduring it is. 

I moved further down the hallway but I just ended up face to face with the person causing the commotion (albeit indirectly).

Neither of us exchanged greetings. It seemed we both thought the other should go first. 

A voice broke our mini-standoff though. "Hey, you must be Cora, right?"

The person speaking appeared from behind Theo, so I summarized that they were together. He had sandy blonde hair, brown eyes and a generally friendly countenance.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Cole Fabre," He said politely. 

Despite his politeness, I couldn't help but give him the 'why are you talking to me'  look.  

He seemed to sense it though, because he continued. "I guess you could call me Theo's personal assistant."

I raised an eyebrow. "You guess?"

Cole smiled at me showing his straight white teeth, although the smile came off rather nervous. "Yeah well..I'm also sort of his manager."

Theo's manager huh? Isn't he too young for that though? 

"Right," I drawled. Still doesn't explain why he's talking to me. 

Cole leant forward while still maintaining a personal distance. "I just wanted to thank you for agreeing to show Theo the ropes over here. I know he can be a bit..well, difficult to deal with at times.."

Tell me about it. You know what? I'm starting to like this Cole dude. 

"It's a bit refreshing I must say, to have someone treat him like a regular human being."

I shrugged. "It's no biggie. I mean everyone's just overreacting anyways."

Cole looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, I do wish the whole screaming thing would die down a bit though."

"You and me both."

Theo's been silent so far, seeming content watching the exchange between me and his P.A./Manager. 

But unfortunately, peace and respite don't happen much when you look like a celestial creature. 

I'd noticed a crowd forming steadily around us for a while now and one of the bolder girls approached Theo. 

"Can I have your autograph Theodore!?" she screamed-talked. 

Theo on the other hand remained impassive, holding the girl under his scrutinizing gaze. "You're only holding a pen. There's nothing to sign on."

She pushed the pen to Theo. "Here. You can sign where ever you want on me."

Theo cocked his head. "Why would I do that? If you ask me, it's a bit stupid to-"

Cole stepped in quickly. "What Theodore is trying to say is he'd be happy to sign your autograph, but only on paper," he interjected with a dazzling smile to boot. 

Ah. I see how this works now. 

The girl seemed placated but was going to say something else when the bell rang. 

"That's the bell. Have a nice day miss," Cole finished, leading Theo away. 

I followed a few paces behind, we were headed the same way anyhow. 

Lunch came and Cole requested to sit at my table. We were using the indoor cafeteria because of the snow. 

"Knock yourself out," I said, plopping down on the bench. 

Cole was..surprisingly intelligent. He actually joined my AP English class and didn't even miss a beat. 

Theo though..

"Thanks," Cole replied, sitting on the opposite side of the bench. 

We sat in fairly comfortable silence for a while, until I finally addressed the elephant in the room. 

I cleared my throat. "So..is Theo coming?"

Cole didn't look up from his salad. "Uh actually no. He has a thing to take care of."

"Right. This is totally not because we had a spat yesterday right here in the cafataria."

Cole perked up at that. "You did?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"I'm as surprised as you are. I-if you're surprised that is. I surely am. He usually tells me everything," Cole said looking put out. 

"I mean. Maybe he didn't think it was important..?"

At that moment the person in question appears in the cafeteria and obviously draws everyone's attention, who despite the cold was only wearing a plain tee. 

 

Theo walks up and sits at my table, on the bench right next to me. 

Great. Now I'm drawing everyone's attention. 

As if that wasn't enough, he reaches across me and snags my last bagel, finishing it off in two bites all the while quirking his eyebrows and looking me in the eye like he's daring me to do something about it. 

He really is annoying me on purpose isn't he? Two can play at that game. I won't give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me. 

Instead a pick up a crumb on the side of his mouth and ate it. 

His eyes widen by a fraction and I think someone gasped behind me, but I didn't shy away from his gaze. He's close enough to me to smell his cologne and to notice the flush on his cheeks, probably because he was outside and didn't even bother wearing a jacket. There was still some snow in his hair even. 

Then I turned to Cole. "If you'll excuse me, I need to use the bathroom."

Without waiting for a response, I stood up, turned on my heels and walked out.