Page 23 of Eleanor & Grey
He turned to walk away, but I called after him.
“Yeah?” he questioned.
“I just wanted you to know I see you—you know, the you that the rest of the world doesn’t see.”
He scrunched up his nose and rubbed the back of his neck. “Good, because I see you too.”
I’d spent so much time hiding in the shadows. I’d avoided people, because it felt safe being invisible. If I was invisible, people couldn’t judge me. If I was invisible, people couldn’t laugh in my face. I always thought that was the right choice—to stay hidden.
That afternoon, my thoughts slowly shifted in a new direction, because Greyson took the time to look my way.
Who knew being seen could feel so good?
6Greyson
Mom and Dad were fighting again. It was late into the night, and I had nowhere to escape to, so I locked myself in my bedroom and put my headphones on, turning up my music real high. It was almost impossible to drown them out, but I tried my best to do it.
As I sat in my bed, staring at my ceiling, I thought about ideas of things Eleanor and I could do when we hung out again. I thought about places she might like to see and things she might like to do.
I tried to figure out foods she could eat with braces, so she wouldn’t be annoyed when I devoured pizza. I thought about if maybe I should bring her flowers to make her day a little better, but then I thought maybe she didn’t like flowers. Not all girls liked flowers, though a majority of them did.
Then I thought about her smile.
She always had a tight grin, and she hardly showed her teeth. Maybe because she had braces and she was insecure. But she had nothing to be insecure about. When Eleanor smiled a real smile, it was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen.
Mom called Dad an asshole, and I heard something shatter.
I turned up my music and focused my thoughts more.
Skating.
I wondered if Eleanor liked roller skating.
I’d really love to take her skating.
Even though I’d probably fall on my butt.
That night I just kept thinking about Eleanor. Lately thoughts about her seemed to be the only thing that kept my mind from spiraling. I knew I told her that I wanted to be her friend to keep her from being lonely, but maybe I needed a friend just as much as she did.
Maybe I needed her even more than she needed me.
* * *
“OK, pick out as many books as you want, then we’ll head off to part two of today’s adventure,” I told Eleanor as we walked down the fantasy aisle of a used bookstore. It had only been a week since the last time I saw her, but I swore it felt a lot longer.
“Oh, Grey, you should never say those words to a bookworm. We’ll need a U-Haul to carry the books out of here,” she semijoked.
“All right, then let’s just stick to two for now, and then we’ll move on to the next stop. There’s no rush, though. Take your time.”
She headed off to find her two books while I tried my best to narrow it down to five.
I went with a fantasy and a horror, and she chose a historical and a comedy.
I was definitely going to borrow her novels from her once she finished reading.
“OK, where to next?” she asked, holding her books to her chest.
“We’re gonna go to a coffee shop and read our books. I figured that’s what people do—drink coffee and read.”
