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‘I don’t know’

‘I wish I could walk you home’

‘You can walk oodbye? I don’t want her to think I’m rude’

‘Yeah’

Eleanor stepped out onto his porch

‘Hey,’ he said It came out hard and frustrated ‘I told you to smile because you’re pretty when you smile’

She walked to the bottom of the steps, then looked back at hiht I was pretty when I don’t’

‘That’s not what Iaway

When Park went inside, his mother came out to smile at him

‘Your Eleanor seems nice,’ she said

He nodded and went to his roo onto his bed No, she doesn’t

Eleanor

He was probably going to break up with her tomorrow Whatever At least she wouldn’t have to meet his dad God, what must his dad be like? He looked just like To on their TV cabinet Park in grade school, by the way? Extremely cute

Like, Webster cute The whole family was cute

Even his white brother

His mom looked exactly like a doll In The Wizard of Oz – the book, not the oes to this place called the Dainty China Country, and all the people are tiny and perfect When Eleanor was little and her ht the Dainty China people were Chinese But they were actually ceramic, or they’d turn cerained Park’s dad, To his Dainty China person into his flak jacket and sneaking her out of Korea

Park’s iant

Eleanor couldn’t be that much taller than her, er If you were an alien who came to Earth to study its life forms, you wouldn’t even think the two of theirls like that –

like Park’s hborhood – she wondered where they put their organs Like, how could you have a stomach and intestines and kidneys, and still wear such tiny jeans? Eleanor knew that she was fat, but she didn’t feel that fat She could feel her bones and , too Park’s e like a roo to break up with her to to break up with her because she was a huge ular people without freaking out

It was just toohis normal, perfect house

Eleanor hadn’t known there were houses like that in this crappy neighborhood – houses all-to-wall carpeting and little baskets of potpourri everywhere She didn’t know there were fa in this effed-up neighborhood was that everybody else was effed up, too The other kids oing to hate on her for having a broken family and a broke-down house That was kind of the rule around here

Park’s family didn’t fit They were the Cleav-ers And he’d told her that his grandparents lived in the house next door, which had flower boxes, for Christ’s sake His family was practically the Waltons

Eleanor’s family had beenstraight to hell

She would never belong in Park’s living rooed anywhere, except for when she was lying on her bed, pretending to be soot to their seat the next , Park didn’t stand up to let her in He just scooted over It didn’t seem like he wanted to look at her; he handed her so really loud Maybe he was always this loud When Park was holding her hand, Eleanor couldn’t even hear herself think

Everyone in the back of the bus was singing the Nebraska fight song There was soon or so the red You wouldn’t think Mr Stessman would be prone to all this Husker crap, but it see a U2 shirt today with a picture of a little boy on the chest Eleanor had been up all night thinking about hoas probably done with her, and now she just wanted to put herself out of her e of his sleeve

‘Yeah?’ Park said softly

‘Are you over me?’ she asked It didn’t come out like a joke Because it wasn’t

He shook his head, but looked out the

‘Are you ether in his lap, like he was thinking about praying ‘Sort of’

‘I’m sorry,’ she said

‘You don’t even knohy I’m mad’

‘I’m still sorry’

He looked at her then and smiled a little

‘Do you want to know?’ he asked

‘No’

‘Why not?’

‘Because it’s probably for so I can’t help’

‘Like what?’ he asked

‘Like for being weird,’ she said ‘Or … for hyperventilating in your living room’

‘I feel like that was partly my fault’

‘I’m sorry,’ she said

‘Eleanor, stop, listen, I’m mad because I feel like you decided to leave my house as soon as you walked in, maybe even before that’

‘I felt like I shouldn’t be there,’ she said She didn’t say it loud enough to be heard over the creeps in the back (Seriously Their singing was even worse than their shouting) ‘I didn’t feel like you wanted me there,’ she said, a little louder

The way Park looked at her then, biting his bottoht

She’d wanted to be all wrong

She’d wanted him to tell her that he did want her at his house, that he wanted her to co, but she couldn’t hear hi Steve was standing at the back of the aisle, waving his gorilla ar Red

She looked around Everyone was saying it

Go Big Red

Go Big Red

Eleanor’s fingertips went cold She looked around again, and realized that they were all looking at her

Go Big Red

Realized that theyRed

She looked at Park He knew it, too He was staring straight ahead His fists were clenched tight at his sides He looked like someone she’d never met

‘It’s okay,’ she said