‘It’s not. My grandparents live here.’
‘What do you want to show me?’
‘Nothing, really, I just want to be alone with you for a minute.’
He pulled her to the back of the driveway, where they were almost completely hidden by a line of trees and the RV and the garage.
‘Seriously?’ she said. ‘That was so lame.’
‘I know,’ he said, turning to her. ‘Next time, I’ll just say, “Eleanor, follow me down this dark alley, I want to kiss you.”’
She didn’t roll her eyes. She took a breath, then closed her mouth. He was learning how to catch her off guard.
She pushed her hands deeper in her pockets, so he put his hands on her elbows instead. ‘Next time,’ he said, ‘I’ll just say, “Eleanor, duck behind these bushes with me, I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t kiss you.”’
She didn’t move, so he thought it was probably okay to touch her face. Her skin was as soft as it looked, white and smooth as freckled porcelain.
‘I’ll just say, “Eleanor, follow me down this rabbit hole …”’
He laid his thumb on her lips to see if she’d pull away. She didn’t. He leaned closer. He wanted to close his eyes, but he didn’t trust her not to leave him standing there.
When his lips were almost touching hers, she shook her head. Her nose rubbed against his.
‘I’ve never done this before,’
she said.
‘S’okay,’ he said.
‘It’s not, it’s going to be terrible.’
He shook his head. ‘It’s not.’
She shook her head a little more. Just a little. ‘You’re going to regret this,’ she said.
That made him laugh, so he had to wait a second before he kissed her.
It wasn’t terrible. Eleanor’s lips were soft and warm, and he could feel her pulse in her cheek.
It was good that she was so nervous – because it forced him not to be. It steadied him to feel her trembling.
He pulled away before he wanted to. He hadn’t done this enough to know how to breathe.
When he pulled away, her eyes were
mostly
closed.
His
grandparents had a light on, on their front porch, and Eleanor’s face caught every bit of it. She looked like she should be married to the man in the moon.
Her face dropped after a second, and he let his hand fall to her shoulder.
‘Okay?’ he whispered.
She nodded. He pulled her closer and kissed the top her head.
He tried to find her ear under all that hair.
‘Come here,’ he said, ‘I want to show you something.’
She laughed. He lifted her chin.
The second time was even less terrible.
Eleanor They walked together from his grandparents’ driveway to the alley, then Park waited there in the shadows and watched Eleanor walk home alone.
She told herself not to look back.
Richie was home, and everybody except her mom was watching TV.
It wasn’t that late; Eleanor tried to act like there was nothing strange about her coming home in the dark.
‘Where have you been?’
Richie said.
‘At a friend’s house.’
‘What friend?’
‘I told you, honey,’ her mom said, stepping into the room, drying a pan. ‘Eleanor has a girlfriend in the neighborhood.
Lisa.’
‘Tina,’ Eleanor said.
‘Girlfriend, huh?’ Richie said.
‘Giving up on men already?’ He thought that was pretty funny.
Eleanor went into the bedroom and closed the door. She didn’t turn on the light. She climbed into bed in her street clothes, opened the curtains and wiped the condensation off the window. She couldn’t see the alley or anything moving outside.
The window fogged over again. Eleanor closed her eyes and laid her forehead against the glass.
CHAPTER 29
Eleanor
When she saw Park standing at the bus stop on Monday morning, she started
giggling.
Seriously,
giggling like a cartoon character … when their cheeks get all red, and little hearts start popping out of their ears …
It was ridiculous.
Park When he saw Eleanor walking toward him on Monday morning, Park wanted to run to her and sweep her up in his arms. Like some guy in the soap operas his mom watched. He hung onto his backpack to hold himself back …
It was kind of wonderful.
Eleanor Park was just her height, but he seemed taller.
Park Eleanor’s eyelashes were the same color as her freckles.
Eleanor They talked about The White Album on the way to school, but just as an excuse to stare at each other’s mouths. You’d think they were lip-reading.
Maybe that’s why Park kept laughing, even when they were talking about ‘Helter Skelter’ – which wasn’t the Beatles’ funniest song, even before Charles Manson got a hold of it.
CHAPTER 30
Park
‘Hey,’ Cal said, taking a bite out of his Rib-a-Que sandwich. ‘You should come to the basketball game with us Thursday. And don’t even try to tell me you don’t like basketball, Spud.’
‘I don’t know …’
‘Kim’s going to be there.’
Park groaned. ‘Cal …’
‘Sitting next to me,’ Cal said.
‘Because we’re totally going out.’
‘Wait,
seriously?’