Outside The Lines [boyxboy]

Outside The Lines {22}

                “Do you really think this is going to work?” Oliver asked.

                We were sitting in study hall. I kept shooting glances over at Dimitri. He was sitting at his usual table, but his earphones were in and he was absentmindedly doodling on his notebook.

                He was wearing white skinny jeans and a black mesh shirt with a yellow jacket zipped up over it. He had a light blue scarf wrapped around his neck. He was still make up and fohawk free.

                “It has to work. Otherwise, I’m out of ideas,” I said with a sigh.

                “We practiced all last night. You’ll be fine,” Thalia assured, patting me on the back.

                “Theo? Come here.”

                I looked up at Alek. I gulped and stood up, following her out of the cafeteria and into the deserted hallway.

                “I heard my parents talking last night. I don’t think you should try to fix this,” she said flatly.

                “Do you not see how upset he is? Alek, he’s your own brother!” I said, getting angry.

                “But look at him! He’s dressing almost normal, and he’s acting so much calmer. Why is that such a bad thing?” she asked.

                “Because he’s hurt!” I snapped. “And I’m going to do anything I possibly can to cheer him up and get him acting like himself again.”

                “If you do that, he’ll go right back to being an overly flamboyant nuisance who uses people for sex. Is that the Dimitri you want back so badly?” She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at me.

                “The Dimitri I want back is the one I fell in love with,” I hissed. “I made the mistake of being ashamed of him. But unlike you, I’m going to fix it. I’m not ashamed of him anymore. I never should’ve been ashamed of him. He’s a great person. He has his flaws, but who doesn’t? So you keep pretending that he’s not your brother. I’m going to proudly claim him as my boyfriend.”

                I spun around and stomped back into the cafeteria, sitting down. I ignored Thalia and Oliver as they asked me what the hell had just happened.

                I let my gaze wander back over to Dimitri. He was playing with the edge of his scarf, blankly staring down at his notebook.

                Biting my lip, I dropped my gaze down to the table. When the bell rang, we all got up and went off to class.

                When English class rolled around, I took my usual seat. I nearly had a heart attack as Dimitri walked in on time and sat next to me. He hadn’t been on time to any of his classes once this year.

                Even Mrs. Slate looked like she was going into shock as she stared at Dimitri. He ignored our stares, pulling out his stuff and waiting for class to start.

                Mrs. Slate began to write on the board. I shot Dimitri glances out of the corner of my eye, desperately wishing he would just hold my hand under the desk like he usually did.

                “Theo, I don’t appreciate being stared at while I’m trying to learn,” he said without looking at me.

                “Sorry,” I mumbled, forcing myself to look away from him.