Chapter 105
Darian wasn’t so stingy with his touch—he clapped an arm around Stacy’s shoulders and guided him across the lot to the sliding doors of the bookstore. “You’ll see.”
Inside, Stacy trailed behind Darian as they moved through the aisles. The store was emptying out, half the lights already dimmed to encourage customers to leave, and Stacy was just about to suggest maybe they come back later when Darian found what he wanted. He squatted down as he ran a thumb along the spines of the books in front of him. “What are you looking for?” Stacy crossed his arms and leaned against Darian’s back, his chin propped on his friend’s shoulder.
“Here we go.” Darian pulled out a book and held it out for Stacy to see.
He laughed at the title. TheGED for Dummies. “I thought you said I wasn’t stupid.”
“You’re not,” Darian agreed. He flipped through the book, then put it back in favor of another one. TheGED Workbook.“But a little help wouldn’t hurt.”
He chose four books with sample tests inside. Stacy didn’t think he needed thatmuch help, but Darian bought them all. Back in the truck, he handed Stacy the bag of books. “Here’s what I’m thinking. There’s only two more weeks of classes—”
“That’s it?” Stacy had assumed another month at least. “Are you sure?”
Darian nodded. “I looked it up last night. Two weeks of regular classes, then they start offering the tests. There will be day-long sessions to help you study while you wait to take the tests, but the trade courses are over with.”
“I’m going to miss your class,” Stacy admitted. At Darian’s laugh, he asked, “What? I will. You’re probably the best teacher I’ve ever had. That means a lot, coming from someone like me who doesn’t even likeschool.”
“You’ll still see me at work,” Darian pointed out. “Not to mention we’re practically living together. It’s not like in two weeks, we never see each other again.”
Stacy sighed. “I know.” Two weeks—fourteen days, ten of them spent in class. It seemed impossibly close and yet so far away at the same time. Two weeks…and Stacy hoped to see a whole lot more of Darian then.
* * * *
“Oh my God,” Stacy muttered. He sat at Darian’s kitchen table and flipped through the GED workbook, staring at the questions that jumped out at him from the pages. There were six different tests, in subjects he would have nevertaken in high school, and a total of two hundred forty questions to be answered. “I thought there was like one major test.”
Darian closed the workbook so that he was on the first page again—Stacy saw the words Literature Arts: Writing Iin bold above a list of other tests and wanted to cry. “I have to take all of these to get my diploma?” At Darian’s nod, he sighed. “I should’ve stayed in school.”
Darian glanced up from the egg timer he was setting to time Stacy. “At least you realize that. You ready to start?”
The clock in the living room struck eight. Trying one of the tests tonight had been Stacy’s idea—he couldn’t back down now. Putting his pencil to the paper, he nodded. As the timer started to tick down the seconds, Stacy whispered, “Thanks.” Then he flipped the page and read the first question.
1. The most effective revision of the following sentence would include which groups of words?
Beneath his breath, Stacy muttered, “Fuck me now.”
From where he stood by the sink, Darian replied, “I thought we’d decided to wait.” Stacy snickered and Darian cocked an eyebrow. “What?”
“I’m corrupting you.”
Darian gave him an indulgent smile. “You’re wasting time.”
Stacy smothered his laughter and turned back to the test. After the first few questions, he found himself settling into a rhythm—read the question, then the answers, then the question again, pick the best answer. Barring that, he guessed. He remembered hearing somewhere once that C was the most common answer on tests like these, so he found himself filling in that little bubble on the test sheet often. Math would be harder, though the test did say he could use a calculator, and he didn’t even want to think about the essay required. An essay! What the hell would he write about?
He filled in the last answer a good five minutes before the timer went off. “Done,” he said, closing the test booklet.
“With time to spare.” Darian brought over two mugs of steaming hot chocolate and handed one to Stacy. As he blew on the mug to cool it off, Darian asked, “How was it?”
“It’s over.” Stacy shrugged, sipping at the hot chocolate. The warm liquid coursed down his throat and curled comfortably into his stomach. “I’m still here, so it couldn’t have been toobad, you know? This is good.”
Darian jerked a thumb over his shoulder to get Stacy to stand. “Up. My turn.”
With a laugh, Stacy got up from the table and let Darian take his seat. Their hips bumped as they passed, then Stacy was leaning against the counter watching Darian flip through the test booklet. “I think the answers are in the back,” Stacy pointed out.