Eleanor & Park Read Free

The same
    voice she’d used on Tina.
    ‘That was wonderful,’ Mr
    Stessman said when she was
    done. He was beaming. ‘Just
    wonderful. I hope you’ll stay with
    us, Eleanor, at least until we do
    Medea . That’s a voice that arrives
    on a chariot drawn by dragons.’
    When the girl showed up in
    history, Mr Sanderhoff didn’t
    make a scene. But he did say, ‘Ah.
    Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine,’
    when she handed him her
    paperwork. She sat down a few
    rows ahead of Park and, as far as
    he could tell, spent the whole
    period staring at the sun.
    Park couldn’t think of a way
    to get rid of her on the bus. Or a
    way to get rid of himself. So he
    put his headphones on before the
    girl sat down and turned the
    volume all the way up.
    Thank God she didn’t try to
    talk to him.
    CHAPTER 4
    Eleanor
    She got home that afternoon
    before all the little kids, which
    was good because she wasn’t
    ready to see them again. It had
    been such a freak show when
    she’d walked in last night …
    Eleanor had spent so much
    time thinking about what it would
    be like to finally come home and
    how much she missed everybody
    – she thought they’d throw her a
    ticker-tape parade. She thought it
    would be a big hugfest.
    But when Eleanor walked in
    the house, it was like her siblings
    didn’t recognize her.
    Ben just glanced at her, and
    Maisie – Maisie was sitting on
    Richie’s lap. Which would have
    made Eleanor throw right up if
    she hadn’t just promised her mom
    that she’d be on her best behavior
    for the rest of her life.
    Only Mouse ran to hug
    Eleanor. She picked him up
    gratefully. He was five now, and
    heavy.
    ‘Hey, Mouse,’ she said. They’d
    called him that since he was a
    baby, she couldn’t remember why.
    He reminded her more of a big,
    sloppy puppy – always excited,
    always trying to jump into your
    lap.
    ‘Look, Dad, it’s Eleanor,’
    Mouse said, jumping down. ‘Do
    you know Eleanor?’
    Richie pretended not to hear.
    Maisie watched and sucked her
    thumb. Eleanor hadn’t seen her do
    that in years. She was eight now,
    but with her thumb in her mouth,
    she looked just like a baby.
    The baby wouldn’t remember
    Eleanor at all. He’d be two …
    There he was, sitting on the floor
    with Ben. Ben was eleven. He
    stared at the wall behind the TV.
    Their mom carried the duffel
    bag with Eleanor’s stuff into a
    bedroom off the living room, and
    Eleanor followed her. The room
    was tiny, just big enough for a
    dresser and some bunk beds.
    Mouse ran into the room after
    them. ‘You get the top bunk,’ he
    said, ‘and Ben has to sleep on the
    floor with me. Mom already told
    us, and Ben started to cry.’
    ‘Don’t worry about that,’ their
    mom said softly. ‘We all just have
    to readjust.’
    There wasn’t room in this
    room to readjust. (Which Eleanor
    decided not to mention.) She went
    to bed as soon as she could, so
    she wouldn’t have to go back out
    to the living room.
    When she woke up in the
    middle of the night, all three of
    her brothers were asleep on the
    floor. There was no way to get up
    without stepping on one of them,
    and she didn’t even know where
    the bathroom was …
    She found it. There were only
    five rooms in the house, and the
    bathroom just barely counted. It
    was attached to the kitchen – like
    literally attached, without a door.
    This house was designed by cave
    trolls,
    Eleanor
    thought.
    Somebody, probably her mom,
    had hung a flowered sheet
    between the refrigerator and the
    toilet.
    When she got home from
    school, Eleanor let herself in with
    her new key. The house was
    possibly even more depressing in
    daylight – dingy and bare – but at
    least Eleanor had the place, and
    her mom, to herself.
    It was weird to come home
    and see her mom, just standing in
    the kitchen, like … like normal.
    She was making soup, chopping
    onions. Eleanor felt like crying.
    ‘How was school?’ her mom
    asked.
    ‘Fine,’ Eleanor said.
    ‘Did you have a good