Page 34 of Eleanor & Grey
More of that.
For a moment in time, Greyson took her mind off her illness and accompanied her back into the world she loved more than anything. She spoke about curves and lines, pastels and chalks, paper drawings versus canvas.
She had him paint, and then she critiqued his work, but with a gentleness Mom always maintained. She didn’t give critiques without offering solutions. Her eyes lit up when she talked about art.
After a while, they headed to Mom’s studio in the garage, and they stayed there for hours. I didn’t join them, because everything they were talking about pretty much just went over my head.
Mom needed it—she needed to feel inspired.
When they finished, they both came back into the housecovered in paint. Mom was wearing an apron, and a paintbrush was balanced behind her ear. She looked a little like herself.
“Thank you, Grey,” I told him as he was getting ready to leave.
“For what?”
“Being you.”
I didn’t know why he’d come into my life all those weeks before. I didn’t know why he chose to stay. I didn’t deserve a friend like him. Honestly, I wasn’t sure anyone deserved Greyson East in their life, but I was so thankful he was in mine.
Mom walked up to me after Greyson left and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “You know what I like about that boy?” she asked.
“What’s that?”
“Everything.”
11Eleanor
By the time Mom’s sixth chemotherapy appointment came around, school was back in session. I’d never thought I’d say it, but being back at school was the kind of normal activity I needed in my life. It distracted me from worrying, and I needed a break from worry.
Shay and Greyson made sure to keep my mind busy too. They’d come over to my house and read books with me, and they’d sit with me during lunch. They’d talk about anything and everything to keep me laughing. Turned out Greyson was the master of telling really bad jokes that didn’t make sense but somehow were still funny.
Even on the days when I wasn’t feeling happy, I’d give them a small chuckle.
If Shay wasn’t checking in on me, Greyson was looking for an update.
I needed that. I needed their check-ins to remind me that I wasn’t alone.
One Saturday afternoon, I sat at my computer researching cancer. My parents told me not to search anything on the internet anymore, but I couldn’t help it. It was like an odd addiction that I couldn’t break. Even though it made me sadder, I kept hitting enter on the search engine.
When the doorbell rang, I sat up a bit as Mom called my name. I hurried into the living room, and I stepped back a bitwhen I saw Greyson standing there in a suit and tie with a corsage in his hands.
“Hey, Ellie,” he said with that Greyson smirk of his.
I raised an eyebrow. “Hi...?” I lowered an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see if you wanted to be my date to homecoming.”
“Uh, homecoming is tonight,” I told him, confused.
“Yeah. I bought the tickets a few weeks ago but didn’t want to tell you, because I was pretty sure you’d find a way to talk yourself out of it. So now it’s too late to say no, and seeing how I’m already in a suit, you have to come.”
Mom snickered a little while I shifted around on the carpeted floor. “I can’t go to homecoming with you.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, I just can’t. I’m actually busy doing some research.”
“On what?” Mom asked with an arched eyebrow.
