Chapter 2

I moved out of my parents' house at the age of 18 due to their lack of parenting. Teresa and I got jobs to pay for an apartment. I ended up moving into a three-bedroom house that I now own. I told her to move in, but she met her boyfriend a few weeks before we started our second year of college, and things got pretty serious. She moved into his house instead. Although she still insists on coming over to invade my space. Sisters, gotta love them. 

I walk into my bedroom, getting ready to change, as I hear a knock on the front door. I walk out of my room and to the front door. I open the door, and Theo looks up from his phone. I mentally kick myself for forgetting he was coming over. He gives me a small smile. "You forgot I was coming over?" I rub the back of my neck, noticing the iced tea and mocha for the first time. 

"Kinda," He chuckles and holds out the iced tea to me. I take it and step back. He walks in, and I shut the door. 

"To be fair, I did take almost an hour to get here." I nod. I noticed that not only did he change his outfit from jeans and a dress-up shirt to grey sweats and a t-shirt, but he also smelled as if he had taken a shower. I walk into my dining room and pull out my folder. 

"I'm still surprised you remembered where I lived." He scuffs as he sits down while taking out his folder. 

"I dropped you off a couple of days ago." I look at him and he looks at me. "I have a good memory." I nod slowly. 

"I have to go change real quick, but feel free to look at my ideas." He nods, and I walk past him. I walk into my room and close the door. I get undressed real quick and put on my black sweatpants with a black tank top. I put my hair in a messy bun and walk out of my room. 

"...No, mom, I'm not out drinking. I promise." I sat down in front of him as he was on the phone. He rolls his eyes. "I'm at Annalise's house." I take a drink of the coffee as I watch him. He looks at me. "My mom says hi." I smile. 

"Hi, Nancy," I said loud enough for her to hear. He chuckles. 

"Okay, Mom. I have to go. I love you, too." He ends the call, and I smile as I bring my foot up to rest it on the chair while I put my chin on my knee. 

"I miss your mom." He chuckles. 

"Yeah, she misses you too." I look down. "It's kinda funny. I was dating Maggie, but my mom just adored you. I swear she still thinks of you as her daughter." I giggle. 

"Yeah, it's kinda funny." I look at the table and sigh. "Did you look at my ideas for the project?" I look up at him, and he nods. 

"I like your idea of drawing a picture to combine everything, but I was thinking bigger." I give him a small laugh. 

"How much bigger?" He smiles. 

"Big enough to make a mark that everyone talks about us even after we are gone." I smile. 

"And what ideas do you have to make it that way?" He smiles. 

"Well, I talked to the dean, and they are trying to find something to do with the old wall in the front lobby. He gave me permission to do it there. He said if it's good, it will stay there." I smile. 

I like it." He chuckles. 

"I thought you might. The only catch is Rucker can't know until after it's done." I lean on the table. 

"How do you suppose we hide it from him if we are supposed to be working on it in class?" 

"That's where the dean comes in. He agreed to take us out of class with credit for being in the class. There will be a curtain hung above the wall so no one besides us will see it until it's done." I smile widely. 

"I'm extremely excited." He chuckles as he leans back in the chair. 

"I figured you would be. We got permission to be there after hours, too, to get it done." I sigh. 

"This is why I like you. You think outside the box when it comes to your art." He smiles. I open my mouth and close it. "I didn't mean it that way." He nods. 

"I know." He stands up. "Why don't you show me your art studio?" I give him a confused look. 

"How do you know I have one?" He gives me a knowing look. 

"You are an artist with a huge house. Not to mention, you have told me about it in the past." I scuff as I get out of my seat. I look at him. 

"You don't get to touch anything." He holds up his hands. 

"I would never." I roll my eyes. I turn and walk down the hall. I turn on the light in the room. I look around for a moment before turning to him. He walks in and looks around. I wrap my arms around myself as I watch him carefully as he admires the art. It felt weird bringing someone else in here. The only one who has been in here besides me was him. To bring someone else, and it being Theo of all people, was weird. I felt as if I couldn't breathe. "You are very talented," Theo said after a few minutes of silence. I look at him to see if his eyes are on me. 

"Thanks," He looks at me for a moment with a confused look. 

"Are you nervous about me being in here?" I take a deep breath and nod. 

"Yes," He takes a step towards me. 

"Do you want me to leave?" I opened my mouth to reply, but I stopped and looked down. 

"For me, art is my safe haven. Everything in here is personal. I don't usually let anyone in here. You are the only one I've let in here." I spoke honestly as I look back at him. He gives me a small smile. 

"Well, I feel special." I gulp and look away from him. 

"I only showed you because with you being an artist, I figured you would understand more than most." 

"You were right about that," I look back at him and give him a small smile. He looks around for another moment before walking past me. "I should get going," He said as he passed me. I turned and followed him to the dining room, where he grabbed his stuff. He turns to me with his award-winning smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Annalise." I nod. I watch him walk out the door before going to my room. I fall on my bed and look up at the ceiling. 

"So much for avoiding him," I mumble to myself. 

 Getting up in the morning was a bit rough due to the lack of sleep. I got to school early, but I was extremely tired. Not to mention that Maggie was still mad at me for something I had no control over. "Earth to Anna!" I hear. I pick up my head and look at Teresa and Jasper. Teresa looked at me, concerned. 

"Huh?" She looks at me with concern. 

"Are you okay? You look out of it today." I give her a small smile as I grab my drink in front of me. I take a drink only to regret it. I push it away with a gross look. 

"I'm fine. What makes you think that?" She crosses her arms. 

"Because you just took a drink of my coffee and you hate coffee." I look at her cup and glance at mine, which was on my other side. I sighed and let my head hit the table. 

"I didn't sleep last night." 

"Oh? Does this have to do with a certain  guy with Hershey brown hair and green eyes?" Jasper asked as he sipped on his Starbucks coffee. I glared at him. 

"What would make you think it has to do with Theo? By the way, his eyes are a midnight blue." He smirks and he leans forward. 

"For starters, you corrected me." I swallowed hard and looked back down at the table. He sits back in the booth. "Not to mention, he did say he was going to your house for your project." 

"No, it has nothing to do with him. I am fine. I just have problems sleeping." I said, sitting up. Teresa looks at me nervously. 

"Is there maybe a chance that it is his fault?" I open my mouth to reply as someone sits next to me. 

"Who are we talking about? And what is his fault?" Theo asked. I look at him with a gulp and look back at Teresa. She looks at him and back at me. 

"We were talking about the party that you are throwing for your birthday," Jasper said. Theo looks at him confused. 

"So you were talking about me?" Jasper nods. "Then what is my fault?" 

"Anna isn't going to your birthday party because of the whole thing with you and Maggie," Teresa said. Theo glances at me, and I look at him nervously. 

"Well, I would love it if you came, but it's fine if you don't. I understand with you being friends with Maggie and all." I nod. 

"I might go," I mumble. He smiles. 

"Just think about it," I nod again. Teresa glances being me and her smile drops. 

"Time to go," She said, practically pushing Jasper out of his seat. She pulls Theo out of his and they go out the other exit. I was about to turn around to know why she said that, as Maggie and Laura sat down. Maggie was across from me with a smile. Laura sat next to me. 

"You look more cheerful than yesterday," I mumble. She nods as she plays with her Dunkin cup. 

"She went on a date yesterday," Laura said. I looked at Laura to see if she was joking, but when I saw she wasn't, I looked back at Maggie. 

"A date? With whom?" 

"She won't tell us," Laura said. Maggie gives us an apologetic look. 

"I want to, but I can't. I don't want to jinx it. Besides, he needs time to tell his friends before we try anything." 

"Well, can you give us details?" I asked. She smiles. 

"Well, we went to the movies last night, but we didn't actually watch it. We ended up just making out most of the time. Then we went back to his house to hang out. He ended up cooking because we got hungry." I smile. 

"Then what happened?" Laura asked. Maggie smiles. 

"I slept at his place." Laura and I squeal in happiness. She giggles. "No, it wasn't like that. We just cuddled and slept." I smile brightly. 

"You mean to tell me that this mystery guy was a gentleman the whole night?" She smirks. I gasp. "Oh, do tell," She giggles again. 

"Well, we did make out at his house." 

"How did it feel to kiss him?" Laura asked. 

"Kissing him was perfect. It was like sparks and fire burning. I swear I never liked love songs, but I feel like I'm living one." Laura groans. 

"You are so lucky. I can't find a single guy who is interested in me. But you two seem to have good luck." Laura says. I look at her. 

"When was the last time I had a boyfriend?" She nods. 

"I stand corrected. We are meant to be single forever." I roll my eyes at her as I look away from her.