“Theo, you’re home late,” mom said, glancing at me as I walked into the kitchen. “Where were y-”

“I WASN’T OFF GETTING A SECRET BOYFRIEND. JESUS CHRIST WOMAN, GET OFF MY BACK,”I cried.

“As long as no one is pregnant and you’re not high or drunk, I really couldn’t care less,” she said with a sigh.

“Where’s Thalia?” I asked.

“Dimitri dropped her off about an hour ago,” mom said. “Did you know you have glitter on you?”

I looked down at my hands and clothes. “I got attacked by a unicorn,” I said defensively.

“What do they say in Tangled? Mother knows best?” she asked with a smug smirk.

“Shut up,” I grumbled and stalked out of the room.

I went up to Thalia’s bedroom and let myself in. She looked over at me from her bed and sat up, Moves Like Jagger playing out of her speakers.

“I GOT THEM MOOOOOOVES LIKE JAGGER!” I screamed, dancing my way into her room.

“Dear god,” she said, covering her eyes. “That is not dancing. That is epilepsy at its finest.”

I dropped down on the edge of her bed and pulled her hands away from her face. I looked into her eyes, and bit my lip.

What if Thalia hated me? What if she pretended I didn’t exist? What if she was so ashamed of me, that she made me promise to keep it a secret and went to great lengths to make sure no one ever found out?

“What? You’re looking at me weird,” she said curiously.

I shook those thoughts out of my head. “Sorry. Your make-up is smudged and it’s bothering me,” I lied.

She grabbed a tissue and rubbed at her eyes. “Okay, okay. What do you want, Theo?”

I flopped down, resting my head in her lap and gazing up at her. “Are you tutoring tomorrow after school?” I asked, more to know if Dimitri was free.

Thalia shrugged, throwing the tissue out. “I have no idea. I haven’t talked to Dimitri, Kim, or Jordan. Dimitri’s been kind of busy lately, so maybe not,” she said with a shrug.

She peered down at me. “Do you have glitter on you?” she asked suspiciously.

“Don’t let your mind wander too much. I was with Alek,” I said in irritation.

“Theo, if you’re experimenting with Dimitri, you can tell me,” she said, poking my shoulder.

“I’m not experimenting with Dimitri!” I sat up and jumped off of her bed, glaring at her. My heart was slamming. “He’s a glittery freak!”

And my secret boyfriend. But shhh, Thalia doesn’t need to know that.

I left her bedroom, ignoring her as she called my name. I went into the bathroom and showered to get the glitter off of me, trying not to think about tomorrow. How was I supposed to act around Dimitri?

***

“Let’s get unprofessional. Don’t you know it’s gonna feel much better with ohh just a little of ahh,” Oliver sang as we sat in study hall.

“Feeling the tension, feeling the stress, I’ve got a notion I want to confess,” I mumbled, watching as Dimitri came strutting in, late as always.

Alek, sitting next to Thalia across from me, shot me a pleading look. I gave her a slight nod to let her know I wouldn’t tell anyone about her and Dimitri.

Dimitri came right over to our table. He was wearing tight yellow jeans, a shirt with pink floral patterns, his purple scarf, and rainbow suspenders.

“Thalia dear, so sorry. I’ll be unable to tutor today,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “I have some business to attend to after school.”

“What about tutoring tomorrow?” Thalia asked.

Dimitri shrugged. “You could tutor tonight. I’m sure Kimberly darling would stay. Although it would dry and boring with my magnificent self, I’m sure. As for tomorrow, we’ll see.” His eyes slid to my face. “Hello little Theodore!”

“Go away,” I said flatly, deciding to act how I usually did. I didn’t want to raise suspicion.

Judging by Dimitri’s amused look and his usual smirk, he had been expecting me to keep acting normal. He drummed his fingers against the table.

“Little Theodore, you’re shirt is inside out,” he said, nodding at it.

I looked down at my shirt and blushed. “Thalia! Oliver! Why didn’t you guys tell me?” I glared at them.

“I can’t tell. Your clothes are always solid colors!” Oliver whined, gesturing at my dark gray shirt.

“Oh, I noticed. I was just seeing how long it took you to notice,” Thalia said, reaching over and flicking the tag of my shirt.

I pushed her hand away. “Evil,” I grumbled, standing up and leaving the cafeteria to go fix my shirt in the bathroom.

I went into the boys’ room and looked around. No one was in here, and this bathroom was usually pretty deserted. Being too lazy to go into a stall, I began to tug my shirt off.

The bathroom door opened and I hastily fixed my shirt, looking up. I blushed as Dimitri smirked at me, shutting the door and locking it. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and nodding at me to continue.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked, more embarrassed than angry.

“Well, I certainly wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to see my boyfriend topless, little Theodore,” he said, chuckling.

He pushed himself off of the wall and came over to me. He gently brushed his fingers against my cheek.

“So many people get embarrassed of their bodies. I never understood why. The body is a beautiful thing, whether it’s large, small, scarred, or smooth,” he said, his delicate fingers moving from my cheek down to my stomach, playing with the fabric of my inside-out shirt.

“Alek told me you’re an artist,” I said, trying to distract him. I rarely took my shirt off around anyone, even my own family. I had a…well, there was a reason I rarely took my shirt off.

“I have a talent for drawing, yes,” he said, his tone indicating that he was proud, confident, and aware of his talent, not so much obnoxiously cocky about it. “To be honest, I’ve wanted to draw you and Thalia.”

“That’s kind of creepy,” I pointed out.

“So is your ability to nearly distract me, little Theodore. Now, fix your shirt,” he said, letting his hand fall back to his side.

I stepped back into a stall. Dimitri sighed, the amusement in his eyes hidden from sight as I shut the door.

I tugged my shirt off and fixed it, pulling it on the right way. I left the stall and went over to Dimitri.

“You’re hiding something little Theodore,” he said.

“Call you please just call me Theo now that we’re dating?” I asked in annoyance.

“I’ll allow you to change the subject this time. And no, I can’t do that.” He wrapped his arms around my waist, drawing me close, his lips nearly touching mine. “You’re my little Theodore. Besides, I hate nicknames.” He closed the little space between our lips, kissing me.

I broke away from his lips. “I hate you,” I reminded him with a pout.

“We wouldn’t be together if you didn’t,” he said, stepping away from me and smirking. “Anyways, you’re coming over after school. I’m sure Galen will be delighted to see you again.”

“What about Alek?” I asked in alarm.

Dimitri waved his hand dismissively. “She has practice and then she’s going to a friend’s house. Aleksandra won’t be home until 7, at the earliest.”

“What do I tell Thalia?” I asked.

“That’s your problem. Meet me in the locker room after school, little Theodore.” He kissed me once more before leaving the bathroom.

I stared after him and shook my head. Despite the strong feelings I had for him, the guy still pissed me off and made me want to strangle him.

“My sister and best friend are bitches, my secret boyfriend is a pansexual, obnoxious, glittery freak, I kissed said secret boyfriend’s sister, and said boyfriend’s little brother is a terrifying seven year old. Maybe if I bang my head against the wall hard enough, I’ll die,” I said with a sigh, testing the sturdiness of the wall with my hand.

After contemplating death for a minute, I reluctantly left the bathroom. I went into the cafeteria and sat down in my usual seat.

“Little Theodore. You’ve returned,” Dimitri said, watching me as I sat down.

“I’m surprised you didn’t follow him into the bathroom, you freak,” Alek grumbled.

“Why, I would never. I simply had to go my locker,” he said, holding up a notebook.

Ah. So that’s what he had told them.

I glanced down at Dimitri’s hand and saw that his nails were painted a frosty blue, similar to his eyes. Of course, the color sparkled.

“Do you borrow nail polish from Kim?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“I buy my own,” he said, observing his nails. “I love this color on me. It matches my eyes. It’s truly fabulous, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Weirdo,” Oliver said under his breath.

“Fucking freak,” Alek said, not quite under her breath. And by not quite under her breath, I meant that she took the words and chucked them at his face with so much force that I was surprised they didn’t shatter his skull.

But Dimitri being typical Dimitri was unfazed by his sister’s coldness and hate. It was weird to watch them interact, now that I knew the truth. I never would have guessed they were siblings.

The bell rang and we graciously went off to class. The day seemed to crawl by until we were in English with Mrs. Slate.

“Alright, today, you will be answering questions on Hamlet with your partner. We have a test tomorrow, so I hope you’re studying,” Mrs. Slate said, handing out papers. She shot a look at Dimitri.

“What, Mrs. Slate? You think I’m not studying?” he asked, smirking at her.

“I don’t think you could pass in your wildest dreams,” she grumbled.

“A dream itself is but a shadow,” Dimitri quoted, his smirk getting wider. “Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Act 2 Scene 2.”

Mrs. Slate grit her teeth and stormed away from him. Dimitri chuckled and eyed the review sheet.

“So simple,” he said with a sigh, scribbling his name on top of the paper in girlish handwriting.

“You’re way smarter than you let on, aren’t you?” I asked.

“They say don’t judge a book by its cover. Especially a book like this,” he said, tapping the cover of Hamlet with one of his long fingers. “Dreadfully frightening cover.”

I looked at him, covered in his wild colored clothing and his glitter. He was definitely the kind of cover you would instantly judge. But maybe there was a lot more underneath than he ever let on. Intelligence, artistic talent, actual feelings…Who knew what else Dimitri kept hidden under his layers of color and glitter.

“You’re staring at me, little Theodore,” he said without looking up from his worksheet.

“You have on rainbow suspenders. It’s hard not to,” I grumbled, turning to my own worksheet.

Dimitri just smirked again. The two of us worked in silence until the period was over. I went over to Thalia and Oliver and followed the two of them down to study hall.

“Theo, Theo, Theo,” Oliver said, shaking my shoulder.

“Oli, Oli, Oli,” I said, turning and shaking his shoulder.

“Guess what Theo baby?”

“What Oli baby?”

“You’re going to do my review sheet for me!”

I rolled my eyes, thrusting my review sheet into his hands. “Just copy my answers. I’m not your bitch.”

“That’s not what you said when I broke out the handcuffs last night,” he said with a frown, taking the worksheet from me and scribbling down my answers.

“Well that’s disturbing,” Thalia said.

“So is that,” Oliver said, nodding at Dimitri as he and Kim entered the room together.

“Leave him alone,” Thalia said, whacking Oliver in the arm.

“Theo, Thalia is hitting me!” Oliver whined, scooting his chair away from Thalia and towards me.

“Thalia, please don’t hit my secret lover,” I said, slinging an arm around Oliver’s shoulders. “Actually, no. Hit him. Then I can play nurse in bed.”

“Oh. Someone’s a dirty boy,” Oliver said with scandalous wink.

“Thalia!” Kim came bounding over, dragging Dimitri with her. “Do you want to tutor today? Dimitri can’t make it, but Jordan and I can.”

“Sure!” Thalia said with a smile.

“My dad said he can drop you off when we’re done tutoring,” Kim said.

“Great,” Thalia said. “I’m up for tutoring.”

“You two are going to shed tears of sorrow without me,” Dimitri said, wrapping an arm around Kim’s waist. “But do not fret, Kimberly darling. I might be able to tutor tomorrow.”

Kim pushed his arm off, rolling her eyes. “Yea Dimitri’s. My heart is bleeding as we speak.”

“As I feared,” he said, looking concerned.

Kim laughed and playfully hit his shoulder. “I hate you.”

“Hate generates passionate love,” Dimitri said matter-of-factly, his eyes flicking to me so fast that I was positive Thalia and Oliver had missed it.

“It also generates annoyance. Now come,” Kim said, tugging him over to their usual seats.

Oliver turned to me. “Pool after school? HEY! I rhymed! I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it!”

I face-palmed. “Thank god I’m too busy after school to hang out with you.”

“Theo!” he cried in horror. “You’re ditching me?!”

“I’ve got things to do,” I said with a wink.

“Things or people?” he asked suspiciously.

I thought for a minute. “Things,” I confirmed. “Right now, it’s things.”

I pulled out a book and read until the bell rang. I got up and said bye to Thalia and Oliver before cautiously making my way into the locker room.

“Little Theodore,” Dimitri said, coming over to me.

“Hey,” I said casually, trying to ignore my rapidly beating heart. “So what are we doing at your house, exactly?”

Dimitri shrugged. “I was thinking a movie.”

Remembering what Kim said, I pretended to be thoughtful. “We should watch Tarzan.”

Dimitri let out a noise that I was pretty sure wasn’t healthy to ever make, and clapped his hands enthusiastically. His frosty eyes lit up.

“I love Tarzan!” he announced, his accent thick and his voice deep, shocking me. Seeing my expression, he cleared his throat. “Well, I do,” he said, the accent fading back to the musical quality of his voice.

“Uh…did your voice just get deeper?” I asked, confused.

“Would you like it better if I spoke in an accent almost as thick as my parents’?” he asked, raising a thin eyebrow.

“No,” I said, remembering their incredibly thick accents.

“Then you’re just going to have to accept the fact that you won’t hear my voice deep like that very often,” he said, smirking. “It only gets that deep when I forget to speak without an accent.”

Huh, I had never realized he had to make a conscious effort to speak without the Russian accent. I always just thought he had a very, very light accent.

There were so many things about Dimitri I didn’t know. Even little things like that. I would have to use today to try to figure out more about him.

After about ten minutes, we left the locker room and went down to the parking lot. We got in his car together and he took off towards his house, the only noise between us being his music.

“You have an interesting taste in music. Gym Glass Heroes, Chris Webby, and now Wet Fingers,” I said.

“Show me how you can be touched, you know I can’t get enough, I can see the sin in your eyes,” he sang cheerfully.

“Now I’ve got a plan to follow, gotta try to get you somehow,” I mumbled along with a sigh.

Dimitri grinned, turning the music up a little louder. “Minutes turn to seconds as I find a way to let you know I can’t be satisfied if you’re not mine,” he sang, his fingers brushing against my cheek again.

He pulled into his driveway, turning the music off as we got out of the car. I was actually pretty sad, considering the fact that Dimitri had a surprisingly great singing voice.

We went into the house and took our shoes off. I followed Dimitri into the kitchen and watched in surprise as Galen ran out, flinging himself onto Dimitri, knocking Dimitri back into the refrigerator.

“Galen! What did I tell you about knocking him into the refrigerator?” Mr. Ivanov said angrily, coming over and gently pulling Dimitri away from the refrigerator. “Galen, do you want to hurt Dimmy?”

“No,” Galen said, looking panicked. “Dimmy are you okay? I’m sorry!”

“I’m quite alright,” Dimitri assured, ruffling Galen’s hair.

“Don’t let him push you into it like that. He’s going to hurt you,” Mr. Ivanov said to Dimitri, looking stern. “If he does it again, yell at him.” But then his eyes slid over to me, and he looked surprised. “Aren’t you Alek’s friend?”

“Why, father dearest, little Theodore is my boyfriend. Ah, but it’s a secret at the moment, so it’d be much appreciated if you didn’t tell Aleksandra,” Dimitri said with wink.

Mr. Ivanov eyed me carefully before turning to Dimitri. His eyes lingered on Dimitri’s slightly crooked nose.

He nodded and placed a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder, squeezing it. “I won’t tell Alek. Just…Leave your bedroom door open,” he said, glancing at Dimitri’s nose again before releasing his shoulder and disappearing into the living room.

“You’re dating Theo?” Galen asked.

Dimitri nodded. “Why, yes I am!”

Galen gripped Dimitri’s hand. “I know I pushed you into the refrigerator again, but I hope that doesn’t make you like him more than me.”