Just Like the Movies

Chapter Twenty-One

My heart beat frantically in my chest as I led Theo up to my apartment, using the one crutch as support to climb the stairs. He followed close behind me, as if acting like my own personal spotter. I took my time in taking out my keys, my mind racing. Why did he want to come in? What reasons would he have for wanting to come in this late at night? My hand shook as I twisted the key, pushing open the door, but I didn't know why I was so nervous.

Nothing was going to happen. Theo and I weren't like that...

Once inside, I tossed my crutch with the other one, sitting down at one of the chairs in my kitchen to take off my shoes. Theo slipped off his shoes, and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him in his socks.

What the hell was wrong with me? Socks? Really? My heart was going to skip over that? I mentally berated myself.

He hung back by the door for a moment, glancing at the handle, and I moved forward to lock it, then made sure to double-check it as he watched.

"Do you want something to drink?" I asked, trying to subtly scan out my apartment as I walked further in, making sure it was put together enough to not embarrass myself.

"I'm fine for now."

I gestured toward my living room, moving ahead of him so I could turn on the light. I didn't miss how he glanced at the crutches, but I pretended I did. After a second, he walked after me, eyes roaming around the room as he took in my minimal furniture and décor. He walked up to my bookshelf, plucking the French translation of my book off of it, and flipping through it.

"Can you speak French?" I asked.

"No."

"Oh."

He put it back and picked up the Spanish translation. "How many languages did this get translated into?"

"Maybe... fifteen now?" I tried counting them up on my fingers as I looked at my bookshelf, but I didn't have every version yet. "There's a Korean one there."

Theo's fingers trailed along the books' spines until he came to the one in question, pulling it off. "The title is different," he commented.

"Yeah, sometimes the title doesn't work well in another language so they suggest changing it."

Theo opened the book and began reading at a random page. I found myself squirming a bit, embarrassed, even though he'd obviously read it before, and the script, too. "Do you make money off translations?"

"Yeah. I sell the rights for them and then make royalties."

He placed the book back, picking up another one of mine from a different series. "Don't you ever worry someone might question why you have so many versions of the same book?"

"I do, actually," I said, a little surprised he considered it, too. "That's why I only have one copy of each out. I have more. But it's not like anyone ever comes to my apartment anyway besides my mom."

"Your friends don't?"

"No. I don't even know where my one friend lives." And I didn't want the reminder, either, remembering how evasive Levi had been.

Theo left the bookshelf, moving over to my couch, sitting down on it. He motioned for me to do the same.

I sat on the complete opposite edge, nearly sitting on the arm.