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Not a princess – princesses are just pretty

Eleanor’s mother was beautiful She was tall and stately, with broad shoulders and an elegant waist All of her bones seemed more purposeful than other people’s Like they weren’t just there to hold her up, they were there tonose and a sharp chin, and her cheekbones were high and thick You’d look at Eleanor’sship somewhere or maybe painted on the side of a plane …

Eleanor looked a lot like her

But not enough

Eleanor looked like her h a fish tank Rounder and softer Slurred Where her mother was statuesque, Eleanor was heavy

Where her ed

After five kids, her arette ad At sixteen, Eleanor was already built like she ran aand too little height to hide it Her brsts started just below her chin, her hps were … a parody Even her itiht red curls

Eleanor put her hand to her head self-consciously

‘I have so the soup, ‘but I didn’t want to do it in front of the little kids Here, come on’

Eleanor followed her into the kids’ bedroom

Her mom opened the closet and took out a stack of towels and a laundry basket full of socks

‘I couldn’t bring all your things e moved,’ she said ‘Obviously we don’t have as much room here as we had in the old house …’

She reached into the closet and pulled out a black plastic garbage bag ‘But I packed asand said, ‘I’m sorry about the rest’

Eleanor had assuo, ten seconds after he’d kicked her out She took the bag in her arms

‘It’s okay,’ she said ‘Thanks’

Her mom reached out and touched Eleanor’s shoulder, just for a second ‘The little kids will be home in twenty minutes or so,’ she said, ‘and we’ll eat dinner around 4:30 I like to have everything settled before Richie co as soon as her mom left the roo she recognized were the paper dolls They were loose in the bag and wrinkled; a feere marked with crayons It had been years since Eleanor had played with them, but she was still happy to see them there She pressed them flat and laid them in a pile

Under the dolls were books, a dozen or so that her rabbed at random; she wouldn’t have knohich were Eleanor’s favorites Eleanor was glad to see Garp and Watership Down It sucked that Oliver’s Story had made the cut, but Love Story hadn’t And Little Men was there, but not Little Wo

She’d had a file cabinet in her old roorabbedinto a neat stack, all the report cards and school pictures and letters from pen pals

She wondered where the rest of the stuff from the old house had ended up Not just her stuff, but everybody’s Like the furniture and the toys, and all of herplates … The little red ‘Uff da!’ horse that always used to hang above the sink

Maybe it was packed away so the cave-troll house was just te that Richie was just te was a box Her heart jumped a little when she saw it

Her uncle in Minnesota used to send her family a Fruit of the Month Club membership every Christht over the boxes that the fruit caood boxes – solid, with nice lids This one was a grapefruit box, soft fro inside had been touched There was her stationery, her colored pencils and her Prismacolor markers (another Christmas present from her uncle) There was a stack of promotional cards from the mall that still smelled like expensive perfumes And there was her Walkman Untouched Un-batteried, too, but nevertheless, there And where there was a Walkman, there was the possibility of music

Eleanor let her head fall over the box It shed

There wasn’t anything to do with her recovered belongings once she’d sorted through them – there wasn’t even room in the dresser for Eleanor’s clothes So she set aside the box and the books, and carefully put everything else back in the garbage bag Then she pushed the bag back as far as she could on the highest shelf in the closet, behind the towels and a huly old cat napping there ‘Shoo,’ Eleanor said, shoving him The cat leaped to the floor and out the bedroo them all memorize a poem, whatever poeoing to forget everything else I teach you,’ Mr Stess Maybe you’ll reht a monster Maybe you’ll remember that "To be or not to be" is Haet about it’

He was sloalking up and down each aisle Mr Stessman loved this kind of stuff –

theater in the round He stopped next to Park’s desk and leaned in casually with his hand on the back of Park’s chair Park stopped drawing and sat up straight He couldn’t draay

‘So, you’re going toa moment to smile down at Park like Gene Wilder in the chocolate factory

‘Brains love poetry It’s sticky stuff You’re going toto see each other at the Village Inn, and you’ll say, "Mr Stessman, I still reed in a yelloood …’"’

He ets to pick "The Road Not Taken," by the way, I’rand, but you’ve graduated

We’re all adults here Choose an adult poeet the irl’s desk, but she didn’t turn away from the

‘Of course, it’s up to you You may choose

"A Dream Deferred" – Eleanor?’ She turned blankly Mr Stessnant and it’s truth

But how often will you get to roll that one out?

‘No Choose a poem that speaks to you

Choose a poem that will help you speak to someone else’

Park planned to choose a poem that rhymed, so it would be easier to memorize He liked Mr Stessman, he really did – but he wished he’d dial it back a few notches Whenever he worked the rooot embarrassed for him

‘We meet tomorrow in the library,’ Mr Stess rosebuds’

The bell rang On cue

CHAPTER 6

Eleanor

‘Watch it, raghead’

Tina pushed roughly past Eleanor and climbed onto the bus