“I’ll catch you later.” I waved off Taylor.
“But what about class? You already missed Tuesday’s,” she warned.
“Take good notes for me, and I’ll talk to the professor.”
Like someone in a trance, I strode down the hall, hooked a left, and took the steps halfway down the hall and waited, again as she stepped into her class. A repeat of the other day. I contemplated going in to her class, but maybe I’d realized this was a little too much. Maybe crashing every class she had was a little over the top. Or maybe I didn’t give a shit what it looked like. I passed through the doorway and scanned the room until I found her in the back with several empty seats around her. Even better.
She had her head down in her textbook as I approached but looked up when I slid into the seat next to her. She scowled at me slamming her textbook shut, gathering her things about to scramble out of her seat. I grasped her thigh firmly, jerking her back in her chair.
“Have you made it your mission to stalk me now?”
“Maybe I did.”
She slapped her hand over mine covering her thigh and tried to pry it off. She’d always had spunk and right now her fight was making my dick hard just like yesterday. “Get your hand off of me!” she rushed out in my face, digging her nails into my skin. Some guy in front of us turned and glanced back at us and Theodora stilled. I could feel the heat on her skin. When his eyes landed on me, he nodded in recognition since he was one of the red-shirt freshman players on our team.
“Is there a problem?” The professor stopped writing whatever equation he’d scribbled on the board at the head of the auditorium. He was watching Theodora with raised eyes.
“No,” she answered with a leveled voice. Satisfied, he lifted his dry erase marker about to write some more. Then, I heard, “Wait, Dr. Lamewell. Yes, there is a problem,” Theodora responded with shoulders raised in confidence, and I peered at her curiously. She shifted her thigh away from my hand and aimed a thumb at me. “He’s not enrolled in this class.”
He tilted his head, while several students had their eyes leveled on me. Ah, my little Theodora thought she was so clever, as indicated by the tilt of her lips. Did she not know who I was? “Is there a reason you are disrupting my class? Do I need to report this to the dean?” Dr. Lame Ass questioned.
“No. I added this class to my schedule earlier today.” I stared down at Theodora and smiled. “I just need your signature, but I was going to wait until after class to ask.”
“Fine. Fine,” he answered as though annoyed we were wasting his precious time. He went back to writing his chicken scratch on the board.
“You’re lying.”
I leaned in and brushed her ear. “And you’re fucking turning me on.” A small breath escaped her as she turned her head away. Her cheeks flushed and damn if I hadn’t seen anything more beautiful. Somehow, the notion pissed me off too—how she still had this pull over me where I thought about the happy times we’d shared. My thoughts unwillingly went back to our first kiss.
I’d returned home from football practice one afternoon. It was now dusk outside being late October, and the sunsets were earlier. The house was shrouded in semi-darkness and quiet. As usual my father was gone on business. He was rarely around and who knew where my brother was. Probably holed up in his room, plotting to take over the world. Rhonda, Theodora’s mom, was undoubtedly in my mother’s room since she was her caretaker. Mom had been paralyzed from the waist down ever since that fateful car accident eight years ago.
I passed through the kitchen about to make my way to her master bedroom at the end of the hall, but a movement caught my eye through a window out back. I turned and studied the waif figure, seeing strands of blond hair floating through the air as a gust of wind blew. Seeing her shoulders slumped made my chest tighten, and I opened the door leading out to the patio.
Theodora was standing by the edge of the pool with her head down. I saw the jerky rise and fall of her back and heard small sniffles. Something about her tears made me want to hold her and bring a smile to her face.
I stood beside her and bent down to her level so I could see her face that was splotchy and tear-stained. “What’s wrong?”
She swiped at her cheeks and looked away, avoiding my face. “Nothing.” I knew she was embarrassed I caught her crying. Theodora always tried to portray a toughness and had never cried in front of me, except for that one night when she got the scar on her arm.
Regardless, something must’ve happened at school. It was her first year in high school, and Lake Crest High wasn’t the easiest place for a newcomer who didn’t come from money. She didn’t wear the finest clothes or accessories and didn’t live in her own mansion. She lived in our grand home since her mom needed to be available around the clock to care for my mother. People knew it, and whispers were heard around school how she earned her keep by sleeping with me. Whoever said that shit, I shut it down real quick. I would never let anyone hurt her. When I found out who made her cry, they’d wished they’d never thought about crossing Theodora Daniels. Because they were fucking with me, too.
“I’m fine.” She sniffled again.
“What happened, Theodora? Talk to me.” I laid an index finger under her chin, lifting her face to mine. “You know I’ll ask around and find out, so you might as well tell me.”
I saw the stubborn set of her jaw, but she finally relented. She knew I would figure it out, eventually. “Someone broke into my gym locker when I was showering and tore up my new dress I’d worn to school today. Ripped it to shreds and carved Roman’s slut on the locker door. If people want to call me names fine, but that dress was a birthday present from my mom. She saved up her money to buy it for me.”
“Fuck.”
“And the bracelet you gave me was stolen,” she added shakily.
Fury shot through me like never before. I was there this past weekend when our family had a birthday party for her to celebrate her fifteenth birthday. She was so excited about the dress her mother had given her. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I’d bought it because her mom had come to me pleading that she didn’t have the money to buy it. And the white gold chain bracelet I’d given her was sentimental. When we were younger, Theodora made me a bracelet out of craft beads in elementary school. Now, it didn’t fit my wrist but I kept it in a safe place in my room. It was one of my favorite gifts I’d ever received.
“I’m sorry, Roman. I loved that bracelet, too. I know it was expensive. Somehow I’ll pay you back.” Her lips quivered like she was ashamed, and her eyes glassed up.
“No.” I pulled her against me. She was broken and was breaking me too. “No, Corazón, you have nothing to apologize for. I’ll find out who did this.” I had a fairly good idea of who it could’ve been. And, when I was through with whoever did, they’d wish I’d just turned them in to the principal.
“Why did you call me that?”
I stroked her hair as she gazed up at me, waiting to respond. “What?”
“Corazón. You’ve never called me that before.” She smiled tentatively
“I didn’t realize I did.”
“Don’t lie,” she teased. I knew Theodora always followed me around when we were younger and had an innocent crush on me. It was cute then. Now it wasn’t so cute since she didn’t look like a little girl anymore. She was beautiful, stunning even, and her spirit always intrigued me considering her humble background. She also knew when I was lying and would call me out without hesitation. She knew me. Really knew me.