New Rules

New Mindset

It's been two weeks since the night when Dimitri brought up running away, he hasn't spoken of the topic ever since. However, our garden walks now contained us talking about me a little bit more. Being a twenty year old with a guy asking more about her may seem nice, but this could lead me down a bad direction. Yet I still go along with it. I don't ask why he's asking me a bunch if questions and I don't hesitate when it comes to answering them. I know I should, but I just don't.

He's even been hanging out with me while I'm working. A couple of days ago, I was doing the dishes while he was sitting on the counter, drawing landscapes on his drawing pad. Right now, we're in the living room with me dusting the decorations on the bookshelf and him reading The Picture Of Dorian Gray on the dark purple reading chair. While I'm in the middle of dusting a tall transparent vase that used to have roses in it, Dimitri broke the silence, "You know, I've been feeling much better lately. Do you wanna go back to that running away idea?"

I stopped dusting the vase and looked over to him while simultaneously narrowing my eyes. "It's still too risky," I told him as serious as I could.

"We have to at least try-" he attempted to reason but I cut him off.

"There is no trying to escape! If we get caught, it's not like how society used to be and we would just get taken back to where we were, we get a death sentence. No warnings, no trials, death!" I argued.

He stood up and threw his book on the couch and began to slowly walk towards me. "I don't care. I couldn't give a damn about what might happen if we get caught. Both of our lives here are too miserable to think about the possible negative outcomes," he said with a stern tone in his voice.

He was about three feet from me now and I put the vase back on the shelf. I crossed my arms and leaned back on the bookshelf. "I still have my family and my friend here-"

"Who in your family and what's the name of your friend?"

"My older sister, Lynette, my mom, Valerie, and my friend is Dakota Ames."

"You never did tell me your last name."

"Besozzi, it's Italian."

He stared at me for about a minute before he spoke up, "I'll look those names up in the online Owned database and see if I can figure out where they're occupied at. If I do figure out where they are though and have a plan on how to get them and us out of here, will you come along?"

"... Fine-" I answered but then got caught off by Dimitri pulling me in for a hug. I didn't realize that he was that close but it didn't matter. His hug was warm and... comforting. My hands were still at my side but I then raised them to hug him back.

We stood there hugging each other silently for a few minutes but he broke the silence, "We're going to get out of here. One way or another, it's gonna happen."

I broke the hug to face him and asked, "Where are we gonna go?"

The two of us were still holding each others arms but he slid down to my hands while saying, "We can go to Canada first and then go from there. I have my own personal savings account that I could use to pull money out so we wouldn't have to worry about that."

"Do you know where all of my money's at? I was never told at training camp or by your parents."

"It was all taken out when you were auctioned. I remember my parents receiving it in a manilla envelope when they... well you know, but I have no idea where it's at. It could have already been deposited in one of their accounts, Bernadette, which I have no access to."

I looked down at our intertwined hands and responded, "You're right, I just don't want to use your money-"

One of his hands removed from my and landed on the bottom of my chin and lifted my face up to look into his eyes, "Hey, don't worry about that. I owe you my life, remember?"

I rolled my eyes and told him, "I told you that you don't owe me anything. It was CPR, not forcing a lion off of you. Plus I broke your ribs so they counteracted each other."

He laughed and then said, "Still, everyone on that beach seemed dumbfounded when I became conscience again so if it weren't for you, I might be dead right now."

"Obviously there's a lot of idiots in our country," he laughed at my remark.

I didn't realize that his thumb was stroking my right cheek and that our other hands were still holding each others until neither of us said anything and were just staring at each other.

Of course though, Nicole had to break any silence that remained in the household by yelling all the way from her room, "Dolores, come and clean my closet and then take me to Hannah's!"

I shut my eyes and sighed while dropping my head. "I swear, I can strangle that girl," I told him.

"You and me both. Hopefully neither of us will have to deal with her much longer," he said while resting his forehead on top of my head. "You go on, I'll begin looking for your friend and your family," he added. We both looked up at each other and I nodded my head and turned away to walk to Nicole's room, letting Dimitri's hands slip off my cheek and my hand.