Page 19 (2/2)

Park couldn’t believe it when she said yes

His dad put the leaf into the dining rooht next to Park She was nervous, he could tell She barely touched her sloppy joe, and after a while her ses

After dinner, they all watched Back to the Future on HBO, and hisagainst the couch, and when he surreptitiously took her hand, she didn’t pull away He rubbed the inside of her palm because he knew she liked it Itto fall asleep

When the movie was over, Park’s dad insisted that Park walk Eleanor ho me, Mr Sheridan,’ she said ‘And thank you for dinner, Mrs Sheridan It was delicious, I had a great ti sarcastic

When they got to the door, she called back,

‘Good night!’

Park closed the door behind the out of Eleanor He wanted to hug her, to help wring it out

‘You can’t walk ht?’

‘I know But I can walk you partway’

‘I don’t know …’

‘Come on,’ he said, ‘it’s dark No one will see us’

‘Okay,’ she said, but she put her hands in her pockets They both walked slowly

‘Your fareat,’ she said after a minute ‘Really’

He took her ar’ He pulled her into the next driveway, between a pine tree and an RV

‘Park, this is trespassing’

‘It’s not My grandparents live here’

‘What do you want to show , really, I just want to be alone with you for a minute’

He pulled her to the back of the drivehere they were alarage

‘Seriously?’ she said ‘That was so la 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 uard

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 withto lose ht 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 hi 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 ret this,’ she said

That h, so he had to wait a second before he kissed her

It wasn’t terrible Eleanor’s lips were soft and warood that she was so nervous – because it forced hi

He pulled away before he wanted to He hadn’t done this enough to kno to breathe

When he pulled away, her eyes were ht 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

‘Cohed He lifted her chin

The second tiether frorandparents’

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 ho TV It wasn’t that late; Eleanor tried to act like there was nothing strange about her co home in the dark

‘Where have you been?’ Richie said

‘At a friend’s house’

‘What friend?’

‘I told you, honey,’ hera pan ‘Eleanor has a girlfriend in the neighborhood Lisa’

‘Tina,’ Eleanor said

‘Girlfriend, huh?’ Richie said ‘Giving up on ht that was pretty funny

Eleanor went into the bedrooht She climbed into bed in her street clothes, opened the curtains and wiped the condensation off theShe couldn’t see the alley or anything ain Eleanor closed her eyes and laid her forehead against the glass

CHAPTER 29

Eleanor

When she saw Park standing at the bus stop on Mondaylike 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 hi, Park wanted to run to her and sweep her up in his ar 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