"I actually meant to ask what you were thanking me for."

"Mostly it seemed like the thing to say, but I did mean what I said about Alana." 

"Ron's doing a great job of keeping my success rate high."

...it is suddenly very, very obvious how fake Christine's smiles are. 

"I imagine." 

"If they don't complete the program, I don't count them! And Ron's runaways almost never do. --You appear to be the exception."

He shrugs. "I have things I can only do if I stay and no particular reason to leave." 

"Like take care of Lev."

"Yes." 

"...Is your plan actually just to follow him around indefinitely doing whatever makes him happy while he becomes straight and gets married to someone who is not you and has children with someone who is not you?"

"At the moment my plan is to get a GED, go to trade school, and see what I can do with the fact that I now know how to weld and cast metal." 

"...you look really different when you're smiling for real." 

The smile disappears. 

"...All my smiles are real."

They aren't, and now he's never going to be able to unsee it. 

"...okay." 

"I think maybe you should send in the next person."

"Alright.

...I'll tell Ron what you said. Sorry." 

He goes. 

Ron is at the usual place that night.

"Hi! I should probably go to your house tonight, this conversation might take a while." 

He gets into the front seat. 

"That's always something I like to hear," Ron says. "What can I help you with?"

A few girls and Andre are already in the back. 

"I have a message from your sister. And now that I'm thinking about it I should tell Asher how Lev and Sasha are doing." 

"You got Chris to talk about me?"

"I'm pretty sure it only worked because she thinks I'm a lost cause, but yes." 

"After all this time it turns out the secret to getting Chris to talk to me is to find someone who doesn't want to be straight and is for some reason choosing to stay at ex-gay camp anyway."

"It's not torture for me, not like it is for Raine, and if I leave I can't keep an eye on Lev and my chances of getting to see my sister again drop dramatically. And I'm learning welding. Do you want to wait until we get to your house or do you want to hear it here?" 

"Let's wait until we get to my house."

He drives somewhat fast.