Page 16 of Eleanor & Grey
“No, that’s not it. I’m just saying... we don’t have much in common, I don’t think.”
“Well, we can find out and go from there.”
I narrowed my eyes. “OK, well, once you discover something we have in common, I’ll hang out with you.”
He narrowed his eyes, almost as if he didn’t believe me. “Pinky promise?” he asked, holding out his pinky finger.
“Are you kidding?”
“No. I mean it. I need your word. If I find something we have in common, you’ll hang out with me. Pinky promise.”
“Fineee,” I groaned as I wrapped my pinky with his. I triedto ignore the feeling his touch brought me. “I promise. I gotta get to Molly now.”
He smiled, pleased. “OK, I’ll talk to you later.” I smiled back before I could stop myself, and he noticed it. “More of that, Eleanor.”
“Whatever. Bye, Greyson.” I turned away from him, and I felt my cheeks heating up as I hurried up the steps, still smiling from ear to ear. As I reached the porch, I paused and turned back toward him. “People call me Ellie. You can, too, if you want.”
“OK, Ellie.” The way the name fell from his lips made me blush even more. “And you can call me Grey.”
“Just Grey?”
“Yeah, just Grey.” He turned away and tossed a hand up in the air. “Bye, Ellie.”
The corners of my mouth turned up as I watched him walk away, and I spoke to myself softly, unsure what exactly was happening in my life lately. “Bye, Grey.”
“Is that your boyfriend?” a small voice asked.
I looked up to see a sassy Molly standing in her doorway with her hands on her hips. Her curly red hair hung to her shoulders, and she was tapping her foot repeatedly.
“What? No. He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Then why did your face turn red?”
“My face isn’t red.”
“Uh-huh. You look like an apple.”
“Some apples are green,” I argued, walking over to her.
“But you’re the red apple, because of yourboyfriend,” she mocked. Suddenly she started dancing around on the front porch and singing loudly. “Ellie has a boyfriend! Ellie has a boyfriend!”
“Molly, knock it off!” I whisper-shouted, looking over myshoulder and seeing Greyson staring at us. My God, I was horrified.
“Why don’t you go kiss him? Go kiss your boyfriend!” She kept pushing the boyfriend agenda, making me groan as I rubbed my hands against my face.
“He’s not my boyfriend!” I argued once more.
“If he’s not your boyfriend, who is he?” she asked, her hands still on her hips in that sassy pose.
“He’s Grey.” I sighed, tossing my hands up before walking over to her and lifting her nosy self into my arms. “He’s just Grey.”
“He doesn’t look gray,” Molly remarked. “He looks tan.”
I chuckled. “No, he’s not gray, but he’s Grey. Like... his name is Grey.”
“People’s names can be colors?”
“Well, yeah, I guess.”
