Page 37 of Eleanor & Grey
“So?” he said, still kicking, still jumping. Then he held his hand out toward me. “Look crazy with me?” he asked with the silliest smirk ever, and I swear, I just thought about kissing him in that very moment.
I took his hand in mine and stood up.
OK, Greyson.
Let’s go crazy.
* * *
The night was perfect in every way, shape, and form. When it came time for the last slow dance, we walked to the dance floor, and Greyson placed his hands on my lower back. We swayed back and forth just like every other couple around us, not really doing anything but feeling like we were doing everything.
“Why did you want me to come to the dance with you?” I asked him.
“Because there’s no one else I’d want to go with. Plus, well, I kind of got the idea from your mom.”
“My mom?”
He nodded. “When we were painting, I asked her what she was looking forward to with you. You know, like your wedding someday, or your college graduation, or things like that. And she mentioned school dances. So I wanted her to have that experience.”
My eyes filled up with tears as I stopped swaying. “You did this for my mom?”
“Yeah, I mean, it seemed really important to her.” He paused and cringed a little. “But I mean, just to be clear, I did it for me too. I really wanted to dance with you, Ellie.”
My mouth parted, and my sigh fell between my lips as I went back to swaying with him. I rested my head on his shoulder and breathed him in. “Grey?”
“Yes?”
“Would it be all right if I kept you forever?”
* * *
When my parents picked us up, we dropped Greyson off first, and when he was out of the car, Mom turned around and gave me the biggest grin. “So how was it?” she asked.
I sighed, and I was certain she could see the stars in my eyes and the cheese in my smile.
Her grin widened as if that moment was the happiest moment she’d ever lived. “Yeah?” she asked.
I sighed, smiling with the kind of delirium that could only be described as happiness.
Yeah.
12Eleanor
One day during the first week of November, I walked home from school, and when I headed inside, I was surprised to see Mom and Dad sitting in the kitchen. “Hey, I thought you had a doctor’s appointment.”
Mom rubbed her tired eyes. “We decided to miss it.”
“Miss it? You can’t just miss treatment like that, can you?”
Dad frowned. “We actually came to the decision to stop treatment, Eleanor. After getting some results back, we realized this was the best choice.”
“Well, what do we try now? What do we do?”
“Honey, I’m tired,” Mom confessed. “I’m so tired, and nothing we’re trying is working. I’m only getting worse, and I don’t want to spend these days feeling like this. I just want to be with you and your father.”
“You’re giving up?”
“No. I’m giving in. We’ve exhausted all of our options.”
