Chapter One: Bedroom Eyes
Theo let out a loud sigh, stretching his arms above his head and rolled the kink out of his neck after the night he had the day before. He feels something soft pressed against his side, fingers placed loosely across his stomach and blonde hair covering his chest.
"Fuck" He cursed, remembering the girl he had brought home last night.
What was her name again?
Becca? Brittany? Bethany? Honestly, it didn't really matter, she just needed to leave.
"Hey sweetheart, I need you get up. I have to get ready for school and my dad can't find you here. I assume you can find your way out, right?" He dismisses her tiredly, barely sparing her a glance as he sheds his boxers to get in the shower.
"Are you serious? I thought.. I thought you liked me. And now you're just asking me to leave? What the hell, Theo." The blonde splutters in disbelief at the lack of care in his voice.
"Look doll, what we had was fun and maybe we could do this again sometime. But you know I'm not the commitment type. I don't want to be your boyfriend or anyone else's. These past couple of weeks were wild, crazy, and the sex was great... Don't get me wrong. I'm just not the guy to bring home to mommy and daddy. You understand, right?" He looks at her for a moment before shutting the bathroom door in her face. All that could be heard was the sound of the shower running.
The girl angrily stormed out of the room with a huff after retrieving her clothes off the floor, a string of profanities on the tip of her tongue.
Twenty minutes later Theo emerges from the bathroom with a towel hung low on his hips. The smell of his latest fling lingered in his nose and covered the bed. The air reeked of her flowery perfume, causing Theo to grimace and scrunch his nose. He'd have to remember to replace those sheets.
He had decided against shaving his stubble. Girls loved it because it added a ruggedness to his already devilish good looks that match his brooding personality.
It was a known fact that Theo loved women. All women. Tall, short, skinny, curvy, blonde, brunette, redhead, you name it. He was a man of equal opportunity.
Of course, there was a reason behind his promiscuous appetite that no one knew about, not even his friends.
Theo is an only child and lives with his father Deucalion, Duke for short. His mother left them when he was a mere eight years old. Sweet-as-sunshine, little Theo would never forget the look on his father's face when his mother walked out, spewing hateful words and promises to never come back. She kept saying how she never loved him and how Theo was a mistake that Duke had thrust upon her. He remembers cradling his dad's face in his small hands, hoping his touch would help him feel less broken. He hated his mother, cursed her name on nights that he was left alone to dwell on how his life became such a pathetic existence. But his father still loves her, bears the pain of her absence till this day, so Theo stays strong for him and tries not to talk badly of her in front of him.
His dad is a sweet, humble man and the greatest person Theo has ever known. If someone as amazing and gentle as his dad could get fucked over by love, there was no luck for him. He may have gotten a lot of traits from his dad, but he also inherited some of his mother's personality. Theo is impulsive, reckless, charming, manipulative, and cold. His father believes that there is good in him, and maybe there is. But it's buried far too deep for anyone to reach. This is who he became when the woman who was suppose to love him unconditionally walked out that door, walked out on him.
He shrugs on his scuffed leather jacket, runs his fingers through his tousled brown hair, and is about to head downstairs when he catches a glimpse of the tattoo peeking out of the top of his shirt. He lifts it up and traces his fingers over the bold, intricate lines of the original piece that lays on the right side of his chest. It's a wolf. He drew the design himself after things started to get bad again. He was seeing things all the time and having really depressing thoughts and urges. In his panic, he ran carelessly out into the woods, regardless of what could be out there. He remembers hearing the crunch of the leaves and twigs beneath his boots. In a drunken haze, he fell to the ground and let out a scream, shouting into the void and asking if life will ever get better from there. He took his head out of his hands when the hairs on his arms stood up in a salute and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He felt like he was being watched. And he was right. In front of him stood a glorious, ebony wolf with glistening fur and the most piercing sea green eyes he had ever seen. And for some reason, he wasn't afraid. At first, he thought the wolf would attack him for being on it's territory, but it simply looked at him with it's soulful eyes, as if sensing Theo's loneliness as it's own. Theo had never experienced such a surreal moment in his life, as if their souls were colliding and melting into one. He drew up the sketch straight from memory as soon as he got home, drawing all night until the shading was perfect and the watercolors he used mirrored the exact green of the wolf's eyes. He ran off the next morning to make it a personal, lasting part of him.
He saw himself in the lone wolf, felt like they were connected in a way that he had never been with another human. Releasing himself from the memory, he trekked down the stairs to get going to school. With a quick wave to his dad, he grabs a granola bar off the kitchen counter and walks out the front door to his Baby. 'Baby' is Theo's motorcycle that he fixed up on his own. He had rummaged through numerous garages and junk yards for spare parts until he finally had everything he needed. After months of blood, sweat, and careful attention, the bike purred like a kitten.
Theo arrived at the school and scanned the courtyard through his dark ray bans. He spotted his group of friends standing by a nearby tree talking amongst themselves.
"Theo, hey what's up man. I see you made it home safely last night." Stiles smirked at the other boy's glare.
"Yeah I did, and that girl that came with me was crazy hot and had a great mouth when it wasn't talking my ear off."
"Ew, way too much information. Could you at least try to be a decent human being today?" Lydia scoffed, flipping her long, red hair over her shoulder.
"Depends, could you not be a major pain in my ass today?" He shot back with a sly grin.
"Unlikely." Stiles snorted, which earned him a punch in the shoulder.
"Ouch, Lydia! When did you get so strong?" Stiles spat with a comical expression on his face.
"Aiden taught me a thing or two." She gloats, all heart-eyed over her hockey-player boyfriend.
"Hey dude, isn't Malia coming today?" Scott asks, looking at Stiles.
"Who is Malia?" Theo questions, not really caring but feeling obligated to ask anyway.
"Oh yeah, she should be showing up any minute now. She's my best friend. She moved away a few years ago, but now her and her dad are moving back. You've never met her because she left before you came." Stiles states, suddenly looking around the front of the school in search of his childhood friend.
"I'm so happy she's going to be here, I've missed Malia so much." Allison gushed, excited to have her friend back.
The two girls had always been close, Allison being her first girl friend in Beacon Hills. Malia loved photography and Allison loved making films. They would get together sometimes and work on projects to submit to the local film festivals. Malia's eye for the camera and beautifully aesthetic photos worked magic with Allison's creative genius in the world of film. They would usually invite Lydia to star in their movies since she had a very fluid look and could bring you to tears with her acting skills.
And then there would be those rare moments when the two girls would snap a shot of Malia when she didn't have her nose behind the camera. Every image of her was always so carefree and spirited. You could feel her soul coming alive in every photo, the wind in her brown hair and a lazy grin gracing her lips. She always had this subtle way of lighting up a room. She was quite the old soul with a thirst for all of life's mysteries and meaning.
The bell rang, signaling first period. The group split off and made plans to meet up at lunch.
Theo grumbled as he spotted Tracy making her way towards him. She has had this weird infatuation with him since he moved to Beacon Hills last year. He had decided to pity her because she was kinda cute in an innocent way and agreed to meet her at a local bar one night. I mean what could it hurt, right? He learned quick that she is an absolute lunatic. She would glare at any girl who came near him and went around telling everyone at school the next day that he was her boyfriend. He attempted to brush her off nicely, but that only made her advances escalate. Now she fawns all over him and shows up wherever he is all the time whether it be a party, the beach, or even the grocery store. They also had four classes together. Theo had a sneaking suspicion that she got a hold of his schedule and changed her classes to match his.
"Theo hey!" Tracy ran to catch up with him.
"Tracy... Hi." Theo chuckled nervously, looking anywhere but her.
"You're on your way to Art Appreciation, right? I thought we could walk together."
"Sure... Why not." He smiled through his teeth and proceeded to but a foot of space between them.
Art Appreciation was Theo's favorite class because he was an accomplished painter and loved to draw. He even dabbles in poetry every once in a while if he is feeling sentimental. The class was also great because most people who took the class were either loners, outcasts, or burnouts. They usually made great company and he always found himself having the most thoughtful conversations with the lot of them. Don't let the pretty face fool you. Theo is not a social person. He has his small friend group and the few acquaintances from this class, but he is an introvert at heart. The only reason the whole school knows his name is due to the fact that he's handsome as fuck with his intense slate, grey eyes, a killer smile, and unruly dark brown hair. He's that brooding asshole with the mysterious past and questionable morals that everyone wants to "figure out".
Many girls have tried and failed to capture his attention, to be of some importance to him. They all want to be known as that one special girl that changes Theo Raeken, like they're doing him a favor. They want to save him and every one of them is wasting their time with their pretty words and naive hopes. No one wants to know him, the person behind all the glamour and seduction. They just want a beautiful lie to pacify their insane need to be loved.
The boys envy him. Theo is that guy that steals your girl with a sole glance and his signature panty-dropping smile. A group of guys once tried to gang up on him after school one day when he was taking a cigarette break. Apparently Theo had hooked up with one of their girlfriends. Theo had a rule though, he only slept with single women. He may be a jerk sometimes, but he wasn't a complete dick. But hey, the girl didn't mention a boyfriend, so was the girl ever really that guy's to begin with if she had wanted him so bad? And man, did those guys get a rude awakening. What no one knows is that Theo's dad was in the military for years, which added to the strain in his parent's relationship. After she left, Theo had a lot of anger bottled up, frustration that he needed to let go of. His dad decided to teach him everything he knew about fighting, conflict, and protecting himself. The ass-whooping he left those four guys with put them all in the hospital for a week. Of course no one found out it was him though. He threatened to find them again if word got out that he had been involved.
Tracy is now clinging to his arm, sighing like a school girl with a convoluted crush. He detangles himself from her surprisingly strong grip.
He enters the classroom and is struck by some girl he's never seen before sitting in his seat. She has her head in a book so he can't get a good look at her. As he gets closer, he sees the title of the book she's reading.
A Clockwork Orange. A classic. And his favorite book.
At least she's got good taste.
She's wearing a pink and white stripped shirt covered by distressed overalls with knee high brown socks and black doc martens. Her hair is styled in messy waves and her skin glows a golden bronze from her slight tan. Theo also notices the vintage camera strapped around her neck.
"Can I help you?" She asks boldly without looking up from her book.
"Well Sweetheart, you can. You see you're sitting in my spot, but I think I can make an exception for today. You look better in it anyways" Theo flirts shamelessly, waiting for her to flash those bambi eyes at him and stutter a response back once she's all flustered at her mistake.
"Great, glad you're so understanding." She mutters, eyes still focused on her book.
Theo was thrown for a loop. What the hell was that? No girl dismissed him the way she just did. Never. She didn't even look at him. Who is this girl?
"So, what's your name? Are you new here?" He attempts to gain her attention again, chalking her lack of response up as shyness.
She slams her book shut and turns her gaze on him. Burnt sienna eyes sear his skin with the intensity in her gaze. Her plump, pink lips downturn in a frown and she raises a perfect eyebrow in annoyance. She's fucking gorgeous.
"Gee, what gave it away? Was it the fact that you've never seen me before until today? Or was it the fact that you're used to your obsolete pick up lines making girls with low IQ's and horrible self esteem issues swoon? No shit, Sherlock, I'm new. And my name is Malia, not that it should mean anything to you. Can I get back to my book now? It's quite a horror show." She retorts with finesse and wittiness that rivals his own.
What a thrilling combination.
Of course, Tracy picks the absolute worst time to interfere.
"Um excuse you, do you know who you're talking to? That's Theo Raeken." She interrupts, gesturing to him like it should be obvious who he is.
"Am I suppose to curtsy or something?" She chuckles lightly, sarcasm evident in her smooth voice.
"Everyone wants to talk to Theo. You should be grateful he's giving you the time of day." Tracy exaggerates in her childlike voice with a pout on her face.
"Well, colour me impressed. I might just write about this once in a lifetime experience in my diary later." She smirks darkly and goes back to her book.
Tracy gasps at Malia's blatantly condescending response and scowls at the ghost of a smile on her face.
Theo takes the seat behind Malia and stares at the back of her head the rest of class as if it will help him get inside that pretty head of hers. So this is the girl that is Stiles' best friend? He could kind of see how that would be true by her effortlessly sardonic sense of humor that isn't a far cry from his friend who is known for using his sarcasm as a defense mechanism.
Hmmm, so she's not a fan of pick up lines. That's fine, Theo decides that he'll just have to step up his game. Her rock hard exterior will become paper thin once he lays on the charm a little more. He just need a different approach. She already isn't too fond of him, though. But hey, Theo loves a challenge. It's refreshing for him to have new meat around. And he thirsts for the chase. A game of cat and mouse that will inevitably end with her warming his bed just like all the others.
The bell rings and everyone begins packing up their stuff for next period.
Malia is up and out the door like the sun before a storm, leaving her spicy vanilla scent behind and a dumbfounded Theo in her wake.