Theo and the Girl Who Cried Rice

Theodore Hallows hated summer. He also hated vacations. How much more did he hate summer vacation. He’d been able to bale on the last few, but his mother was insistent that he join this year’s family trip to Hawaii before he left home to travel the world.

              From the airport, Theo helped his sister, Daffodil, carry her many, many suitcases. He didn’t question it when one seemed particularly heavy. To be fair, all her suitcases were heavy, most likely packed to the brim with things he doubted she’d actually need in the one week they would be gone.

              At the hotel, Theo’s mom and stepdad had booked a fancy suite, but not too fancy, for Theo’s mother was determined to keep things as cozy as possible. Theo was in his room unpacking his things, when he noticed one of Daffodil’s suitcases had been brought to his room, the heavy one.

              “Daf!” He called to the room adjacent to his.

              “What!?” she screamed back.

              “Your suitcase!” he yelled.

              Daffodil appeared in the doorway moments later, a section of her blonde locks twisted up in a hot pink curling iron. She looked down at the grey hard-cased suitcase then up at Theo. “That’s not mine,” she said to Theo as if he were dumb for insinuating otherwise. She then disappeared with no further discussion.

              Theo wondered if it perhaps belonged to his parents. He gripped the handle, about to roll it out, when he heard a noise from inside the suitcase.

              A thump. Then another. Then “Oops, I didn’t think this through.”

              Any other member of the Hallows household would have panicked at a voice coming from a suitcase. Daffodil would have screamed and ran for their mom, Winnie. Winnie would have screamed and ran for Theo’s stepdad, Axel. And Axel would have screamed and ran for his manager.

              Theo did nothing of the sort, but stared at the suitcase blankly as if this were no unordinary thing. He merely gave the hard case a tap with his knuckles.

              There was a moment of silence as the voice from inside the suitcase seemed to decide if they should just pretend to be a suitcase or give themselves away.

              Theo knocked again.

              “Nobody’s home!” the voice insisted.

“I know you’re in there,” Theo said plainly.

              The suitcase sighed. “You got me.”

              “What is it you want?” Theo asked without missing a beat. “You want to sign with my dad’s record company or star in an episode of my mom’s reality tv series? Or do you want to be in one of my sister’s music videos, is that it?”

              “Uhhhhh,” the suitcase answered. “I don’t even know who you are, let alone your family.”

              For once Theo was actually puzzled. “Theo,” he said, “I’m the Theodore Hallows. You know, as in Axel and Winifred Hallows.”

              “Mmmm, nope,” the voice confessed. “Never heard of em. I’m just here for rice.”

              Now Theo was really puzzled. His brain was set up like a series of equations that fit together perfectly, and this stranger stuffed into a suitcase was not adding up to any of his calculations.

              Theo was dumbfounded. “Rice?”

              “Yeah,” the voice said as if it were obvious. “Now can you get me out of this suitcase. I forgot to make sure I could unzip it from the inside.”

              Theo wasn’t sure what else he could do but unzip the suitcase. He didn’t even consider that the person inside could be dangerous. His mind was stuck on repeat trying to figure out why of all things this person wanted rice.

              He pulled at the zipper, not sure what kind of person he was expecting to pop out. He definitely wasn’t expecting a lanky pigtailed girl to stare at him through where her knees were folded over her head. She instantly untwisted her limbs but stayed seated in the suitcase with her legs folded over the side as if it were a comfy little chair. “That feels a lot better,” she announced.

              Theo gave her a once over, noting her plethora of freckles splattered up and down her arms and legs. She wore faded overalls with ripped up and stained pieces of paper sticking out of the pockets. Her eyes were a dull grey yet somehow were anything but lifeless. She gave him a toothy grin as if they had been best friends their whole lives, to which Theo just scowled in return.

              “Who are you?” Theo asked.

              Still grinning she replied, “I’m Antoinette.” To Theo, this explained nothing at all.

              “What are you doing here?” he persisted.

              “I’m here for rice.”

              Theo all but hit his forehead with his palm. “I got that, but why are you in a suitcase in my hotel?”

              But before she could reply, Theo’s mom called from the other side of the suite. “Theo, Daffodil!” her voice growing closer.

              “Now you’re gonna get it,” Theo said smugly. “You’ll be kicked out of here in no time.”

              “No wait!” the girl, Antoinette, hurried. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

              Theo crossed his arms. “You should have thought of that before you hijacked our vacation.”

              Though he had to admit, of all the things that could happen on their family bonding trip, this had to be the most interesting. Theo studied her expression as she pleaded with him. If she was kicked out for possibly being a crazed fan, he’d never figure out what the deal with this rice was.

              He sighed. “Fine, I won’t tell on you. Not at least until you get your rice.”

              Antoinette beamed, her smile stretching from ear to ear on her freckly face. And with that Theo stuffed her back into the suitcase, zipping it up just in time for his mom to arrive.

              Winnie Hallows opened the door, a smile on her face. She was a little too jazzed for this vacation in Theo’s opinion. “We’re leaving in 15 minutes for the luau.”

              Theo looked up at her from where he was sitting on top of the suitcase. “You know it’s not an actual luau,” he deadpanned. “It’s just a tourist trap for culturally starved Americans.”

              “Well good,” Winnie piped up, “cause I’m feeling hungry.”

              Theo left later than the rest of his family, sneaking Antoinette out with him. Once at dinner, Antoinette showed up to the huge table full of tourists on her own, making it seem as if she didn’t know Theo.

              After a no doubt culturally inaccurate dance, (not that Theo would really know), big bowls of food were passed down the table. One food in particular caught Theo’s eye as Daffodil handed it to him. Theo offered up the bowl to Antoinette. “Here,” he said placing it in front of her. “Rice. Just like you wanted.”

              Antoinette grinned. She took the rice, scooped a heap of it onto her plate then passed it on.

              “Now you can leave us alone,” Theo said with pride.

              But that grin never left that freckled face. “Not just any rice, silly,” Antoinette said.

              Theo all but sighed. “What is it with you and this rice anyway?”

              That toothy smile was still plastered on her face. Theo wasn’t sure what it was about her that bothered him, that intrigued him. And the more he couldn’t figure out what the deal was with the girl who stuffed herself in a suitcase to Hawaii for rice, the more it drove him nuts.

              “Theo,” a grounded voice drew him out of his stupor. Theo’s mom had her eyes on him and Antoinette from across the table. “Who’s your friend over there?” There was an unmistakable gleam in her expression.

              “Noone,” Theo claimed just as the freckled girl chimed in, “Antoinette! My name’s Antoinette.”

              Winnie’s eyes never lost that gleam, almost mischievous. Theo decided it was best to ignore whatever it was his mom must be insinuating. “We’re going boating tomorrow if you’d like to come. Theo hates- well- everything, so he could use the company.”

              “Mom,” Theo muttered.

              Antoinette nodded enthusiastically. “I would love that!”

              After the sun had melted over the horizon Theo snuck Antoinette back into the suite. Sleeping on the couch was not an option for her, as any of the other Hallows family members could find her. There was no other option than for Antoinette to sleep in Theo’s room. And as there was no other bed, either they were sharing, or someone would have to sleep on the floor.

              Theo kicked the empty shell of a suitcase Antoinette had crawled out of. “Here,” he said, “this is your bed now.”

              Surprisingly there was no argument. Antoinette just took a spare pillow and blanket then curled up in the suitcase.

              The room was silent as the lights went out, but as usual, Theo’s brain couldn’t turn off.

              He couldn’t stop thinking about this strange visitor sleeping on the floor of his room. How she made no sense and how she readily accepted to sleep in a suitcase.

              “Antoinette,” Theo whispered into the dark.

              “Yeah?”

              “When you said you had nowhere to go, what did you mean by that?”

              A pause in the dark. “I don’t have anyone or anywhere or anything.”

              “But a suitcase.”

              She snorted. “I happen upon items here and there,” she explained. “Whatever I need to get to the next destination.”

              “And this time the destination is Hawaii?”

              “For rice, yeah.”

              Before he could question her further, they both drifted off to sleep.

              The next morning consisted of sneaking Antoinette out of the suite so she could meet the Hallows family outside.

              While on the boat Winnie asked Antoinette, “Are you here with your family?”

              “No,” Antoinette said at the same time Theo said, “Yes.”

              They both looked at each other in a panic then quickly changed their answers to what the other one said.

              Winnie looked at them puzzled, if not a little suspicious.

              “It’s both,” Theo said. “Antoinette is waiting for her family to get here in a week.”

              Theo’s mom looked delighted. “Well, that’s perfect! You can spend the week with us!” Theo found this ironic considering how literally this was true.

              The next few days were spent like this. Theo sneaking Antoinette in and out of the suite to join planned family events Winnie had scheduled. Theo and Antoinette dodged questions left and right as to not blow their cover. And it was going pretty smoothly; That is until day 5 of the vacation.

              A knock on Theo’s door sent Antoinette scrambling into the closet. Theo’s mom opened it, revealing a sullen expression. Theo had motioned for her to come in and sit on the bed beside him.

              “What’s going on, mom?” he asked sympathetically.

              “I just wanted this last vacation with you to be the best one ever. I wanted to do things as a family. But it feels like you’ve just been doing things with Antoinette and not us.”

              Theo couldn’t help that Antoinette was better company than his family, which really said a lot considering how odd she was. Theo felt his father was stiff and his sister was overdramatic and his mom, well she just wanted the best for the family, but she could be a little overbearing sometimes.

              Theo nodded in understanding.

              “Which don’t get me wrong,” Winnie continued, “I think its great you finally have an interest in girls-”

              Theo about choked. “Interest in what now?”

              Winnie smiled at Theo’s reaction, but her expression quickly changed when a muffled snicker could be heard from the closet. Winnie’s eyes darted to the closet then to the suitcase with the pillow and blanket on the floor.

              “Antoinette,” Theo’s mom called.

              Silence. Then a small voice from the closet, “Antoinette isn’t home right now. Please leave a message at the beep… beep.”

              Antoinette opened the closet door in defeat.

              Theo studied his mom as she took in the scene before her. Theo may have been an adult capable of making his own decisions, but he had never even shown romantic interest in a person around his family, let alone sneak one into his room. It was clear Winnie didn’t know how to take it.

              Theo’s mom turned to him with hurt in her eyes.

              “Mom, I can explain.”

              She shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “I can’t believe what my eyes are seeing.”

              “I’m sorry, Mrs. Hallows,” Antoinette said with her head hung low. She started gathering the few items she had acquired into her suitcase, including the pillow and blanket. “I’ll just make my way out.”

              “That would be for the best,” Winnie agreed.

              “Mom,” Theo tried to reason again. Theo wasn’t sure what his mom was assuming about him and Antoinette, but if he could just tell her Antoinette had nowhere to stay, then maybe she would understand.

              Antoinette was already making her way out the door.

              “Don’t ‘mom’ me. You know how important his trip was for me. I just wanted one week where we could be a family. Is that too much to ask?”

              Theo tried to open his mouth to say something, but he was shut down. Antoinette was already out of his room now, most likely making her way out the suite.

“I can’t do this now,” his mom said still shaken up. “Let me sleep on it and we can discuss it in the morning.”

              Once his mom was out of the room, Theo wasted no time in slipping on his shoes and racing out the door to find Antoinette. He rushed down the hall and through the elevators to the lobby where she was nowhere to be seen. He looked outside, still nothing.

              Theo paced nervously back in forth in front of the hotel trying to think where she could have gone. She had no car, no phone, no money. She couldn’t have gotten far. Theo looked up and noticed a lanky pigtailed figure across the road, her thumb held up in efforts to hitchhike. A car had just stopped in front of her. Theo went to scream her name, but it was too late. She was already gone.

              Theo’s eyes searched his surroundings frantically for a solution when he spotted a couple getting into a cab. “I need to take this taxi,” he said frantically.

              The couple looked at him in disgust, about to turn him away, when the young woman’s face changed. “You’re Theodore Hallows!”

              Theo nodded and thanked them as he hopped in and told the cab to follow the car Antoinette was in. Theo anxiously followed the car in front of him with his eyes. In about 15 minutes they came to a stop. Theo made sure to tip the cab driver extra.

              Theo followed Antoinette into the building they had pulled into the parking lot of, which he now realized was a McDonalds.

              Theo took a seat at a booth directly behind the counter where Antoinette was ordering her food. When she had grabbed her tray and turned around, she met Theo’s eyes with the biggest grin. Antoinette tried rushing to him, almost spilling her food. She clumsily made her way to him, slammed the tray onto the table and threw her arms around him.

              Theo resisted the urge to push her off him and instead put an arm around her in an awkward embrace.

              “Why did you come here?” she asked, still just inches from his face. “I thought you couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”

              “You didn’t get your rice yet,” he said dryly.

              Antoinette looked back at the table where spam, eggs, and rice were messily thrown about a plastic tray. “I have it now.”

              “But you haven’t eaten it yet,” he countered. As if taking this as a cue, Antoinette scrambled off of Theo and took her seat on the other side of the table.

“So, tell me,” Theo started as Antoinette shoveled spam and rice into her mouth, “what was so important about rice from McDonalds that you had to ship yourself all the way to Hawaii in a suitcase?”

“Hawaii McDonalds is the only place that serves this.”

Theo huffed. “Yeah, I figured, but that can’t be it. Is there someone you knew that this meal was important to and that’s why you needed to come here?”

Antoinette shook her head, mouth still full of food.

“Then why?” Theo asked, still puzzled by the freckled girl. It felt as if the more Theo learned about her the less he understood.

              She shrugged, “Why not?”

              “You had no reason to come here?’

              “I saw it on a YouTube video. I thought it sounded interesting. I wanted to try it once.”   

              Theo was completely baffled. She had come all this way because of a YouTube video. Then he remembered she said she had nothing. “Is this something typical for you to do?”

              She nodded. “I’ve gone all over the states to try different things and foods and meet different people. I might not have a lot that I own. But I have a ton of experiences. And those are priceless to me.”

              Theo felt a lump form in his throat. “So, what’s next on the list of experiences?”

              There was a pause as if Antoinette were thinking, but really, she was just chewing her food. “Well, I should probably go back to the states. It’s not easy finding a plane ride.”

 “Yeah, good point,” Theo muttered.

              “If you wouldn’t mind,” she started, “could you take me back in the suitcase?”

              Theo snorted. “I can do better than that, Antoinette. I can get you on the plane back without having to be in a suitcase.”

              Her eyes lit up. “Really!?”

              Theo smiled. His mom would have thought it was a miracle. “It also just so happens that after the summer is over, I’ll be doing some travelling of my own. I wouldn’t mind a companion if you’re interested.”

              Antoinette’s eyes sparkled. “Well in that case, my suitcase is ready.”