Page 60 of Ruined
“They homeschooled me.”
“What kind of stuff did they teach you?”
I let out a bitter chuckle. “Not much. They wanted me to learn Russian. Made sure I could speak it fluently. Then there were other lessons. The ones that involved guns, knives, and interrogation tactics.”
Dominic’s eyes darkened. “They trained you like a soldier.”
“Yeah. By the time I was fifteen, I could break into a car, hotwire it, and be halfway across the city in under two minutes. The real lesson was how to disappear.”
“Disappear?”
“How to leave a room without anyone realizing you were ever there. Slip out through fire escapes, blend into crowds, use shadows like cover. They’d test me by dumping me in random places and timing how fast I could lose them.”
Dominic stared at me. “And you think passing a GED is harder than that?”
I snorted. “It’s different.”
He shook his head. “You were just a kid.”
I shrugged. “Nothing I can do about it.”
“Yes, you can. You’re doing it right now.” He gestured at the textbook. “You’re giving yourself a chance to be more than what they made you.”
“I guess.”
“Youaremore than what they tried to make you.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. Dominic could tear you down with a few well-placed words, but when he chose to build you up, it hit somewhere deep, like a bruise you didn’t realize was there.
Dominic turned his attention back to his tea. The silence that stretched between us was heavy but not uncomfortable. It was just… full.
“I’m not expecting anything out of it. I just want to see what I’m capable of. I want to try to get into college. At least once, before I sign myself up for this forever.”
He grabbed two mugs. “Makes sense.”
“I want to know what it’s like to be normal. Go to classes, hang out at bars, sleep without looking over my shoulder.” My thumb rubbed the edge of the book. “But maybe it’s wishful thinking. Maybe hurting people is all I’m good for.”
Dominic frowned. “Go to college. Maybe it won’t work out, but you won’t know unless you give it a shot.”
“Did you?”
He poured hot water into the mugs. “Sort of. Took some community college courses. Business management. Not exactly Harvard, but it did the job.”
“What was it like?”
“I made some friends, went to parties, learned a few things. Nobody at school cared that I was gay.”
“Must’ve been nice.”
Dominic smiled. “Yeah. A lot of people there were just looking for a good time. Didn’t matter what you were into.”
My mind ran with images of Dominic at a party, being the life of it. Laughing, smiling, hooking up with whoever caught his eye. I bet he was popular. He probably had guys lining up for a chance. The image of him with someone else pissed me off.
“You hook up with a lot of guys?” I blurted.
Dominic glanced at me, his lips twitching. “Jealous?”
I scowled. “I’m curious.”