Dolph caught sight of Ms. Ellis at her desk and took a deep breath. If his plan was going to work, he'd need some advice from her. Sure, Max had given him a few tips, but none of them were really helpful. He needed a few artsy ones to get him going.

Shaking off his worry, her hurried into the classroom and sat in his usual seat. "Hi, Ms. Ellis," he said casually.

She didn't even glance up from her laptop. "Hello, Dolph. How are you?"

"Good, good. Can I... Ask you something?"

The art teacher looked over at him, black rimmed glasses at the edge of her nose. She looked intimidating, to say the least. "Go on."

"Um..." his voice cracked and his accent came out. "Any tips for someone uzing spray paint for ze first time?"

Ms. Ellis raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I have a few..." Her bronze eyes returned to her laptop screen. "One, wear clothing you don't mind ruining. Two, keep in mind that it's runny. Three, don't test it on your canvas after opening it. And four..." Their eyes met and he felt her eyes burning into his skull. "Don't. Get. Caught."

Dolph gulped and nodded, quickly occupying himself with his sketchbook. Little did he know, Neil Jr. had heard the last bit of that conversation. Worried, he took a seat beside his friend. "What was that all about?" he whispered.

The half-german jumped and glanced up at him. "Nozhing!" he said quickly.

His crush gave him a skeptical look. "You're accent only comes out when you're nervous, scared, lying, or all three. What's up?"

"Damn him for knowing me so well," he thought. He desperately tried to come up with an excuse. "It's, uh... A surprise. For you. And I don't wanna spoil it."

The brunet's eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion. "R... Really?"

The artist nodded, cheeks dusted pink. He noticed Junior's do the same and now knew why. "If only I could tell him..." he thought sadly.

The bell rang, signalling the start of class. Dolph tried to focus, but his mind decided to daydream about the teen beside him. All he could think about was his plan and his crush. With a frustrated groan, he let his head hit the table.

"Houston? Houston, can you read me?" Space Kid murmured, somehow sounding both playful and concerned. "He's so goddamn sweet..." The ravenet thought, irritated. He sat up and rested his chin in his hand. "I read you," he replied quietly. "I'm just tired..."

The other boy obviously didn't believe him, but didn't push further. Dolph felt a hand on his shoulder. He sighed and, without thinking, rested his own on top of it. They both froze and blushed, but made no effort to move away.

Their little moment was then ruined by the school bell.