Page 22 of Eleanor & Grey
“You’re going to drive yourself crazy worrying about your mom seven days a week. Trust me, I know. I have lived that life.”
“I’m fine,” I argued.
He raised an eyebrow. “How often do you do internet searches on cancer?”
Hmm...
One, two, skip a few...
“Only a couple of times,” I lied. He smiled.
“Every day, huh? I bet it leaves you feeling worse too. Therefore, once a week, you have to take your mind off cancer. That’s why my grandpa had me go with him to the movies on Tuesdays—to clear my head. It helped a lot.”
“You want me to go to the movies every Tuesday with you?”
“Nah, we’ll do different things. The main point is to get you to stop overthinking sad things at least for a few hours. After that, you can return to your sad internet searches,” he semijoked.
I narrowed my eyes. “Only once a week?”
“Yup, I just need three or four hours of your time. It’s a win-win deal for both of us.”
“How is it a win-win deal for you? I mean, I get why it is for me—I get a break from reality—but you don’t really get anything from it.”
“I get to hang out with you, which means I don’t have to be so lonely.”
I laughed. “You’re always surrounded by people. I doubt you even know what loneliness feels like.”
His brows lowered, and he brushed his thumb against his nose. His stare moved to his almost empty bowl of ice cream. “You ever stand in a crowded space and feel like no one knows a single thing about you?” he asked. “Everyone talks about you in a way that feels so phony. Everything they know about you is random lies they made up in their own heads, but they don’t reallyknowyou. They just know the fictional character they created. That’s what loneliness is—living in a world where no one really sees you.”
Wow.
He just described my entire high school experience.
“Well, maybe you do know what it feels like,” I said.
“So what do you say? Are you in?” he asked, clasping his hands together.
“Yes,” I quickly replied, and I didn’t care how fast the word flew out of my mouth, didn’t care how eager I sounded. “Yeah, I’m in.”
He smiled.
I liked it.
Whatever.
“All right. I’ll come up with a list of things we can do! I think it will be a lot of fun.” He truly appeared excited, which made me excited too.
We finished our ice cream, and then he walked me home. I was glad Greyson had a chatty personality, because there were so many times I ran out of things to say. He was great at keeping the conversation going strong.
“Thanks for coming today, Ellie. I had a really great time,” he told me, shifting around in his Nikes.
“Yeah, I did too.”
“How about we meet up next Wednesday?”
“It’s a date,” I said, then I felt my cheeks heat up. “I mean, not like a date-date, but like, you know... just two people hanging out... I didn’t mean like—”
“It’s a date.” Greyson smirked, smooth as ever. “I’ll talk to you later. Also, stay off the internet, will you?”
