was to think about how ridiculously nervous and excited she was, because
this was technically a dinner and she was having it with Romi.
“When did you move out? Was it as bad as this? I know you probably
live somewhere nice now, but I doubt that’s where you started out.”
“Actually, I did live somewhere pretty shady. I rented this room in a
house. There were five other people who lived there. All college students.
The things that happened there were pretty wild. My parents didn’t like it,
but they also weren’t willing to pay for it either. They didn’t want me to
move out so they refused. They didn’t have money saved up for me to go to
college or anything. I actually got a scholarship for the first year and then I
had good grades, so I could apply for ones after that. That’s how I went.”
“Wow. So what do they think about what you’re doing now?”
“They don’t like it, really. They just don’t like change. When I got, uh,
successful, I wanted to buy them a new house or a new vehicle or
something, but they refused. They’re really conservative. Like really, really,
really old fashioned.”
“Oh.” Romi stabbed a pepper and sighed. “Jeez, this is amazing. I suck at
cooking vegetables.” Kiera tensed and Romi noticed. She set her fork aside.
“I understand,” she said softly. “I get it now. The fake boyfriend. Why you
haven’t come out to them. I was so scared, back in high school. I told my
brother first, and we told my parents together. They made me understand
that they loved me and would always love me, no matter what. I’m really
lucky, though, and I’ve never taken that for granted. I know that a lot of
people don’t have that same background and that people won’t always
understand. Losing your family or even thinking about that scenario is
really painful.”
Kiera didn’t know what to say. She’d never really talked about her family
openly with anyone. She’d refused to talk about it with her previous
partners. They never really understood why she liked to keep a low profile.
Some of them had been no strings attached, and the few relationships she’d