Page 109 - It Ends with Us
P. 109

Chapter Eleven








                I curl up in  my bed  and  stare  at it.
                    I’m almost fini shed  with  it. There  aren’ t ver y many  more  ent ries .
                    I pick up the  journa l and  place  it on  the  pillow bes ide  me.
                    “I’m no t going  to rea d you,” I whi sper.

                    Altho ugh,    if   I   rea d   wha t’s   lef t,   I’ll   be   fini shed .   Having    seen   Atlas
                toni ght    and    kno wing    he   ha s   a   girlfriend    and    a   job   and    more   tha n
                likel y  a  ho me  is  eno ugh  closure  I  need   on  tha t  cha pter.  And   if  I  just
                fini sh  the   damn  journa l,  I  can  put  it  back  in  the      sho eb ox  and   nev er
                ha ve  to open  it again.

                    I  fina lly  pick  it  up  and   roll  ont o  my  back.  “Ellen     DeG ene res ,  you
                are  such a bitch. ”


                Dear  Ellen,
                    “Just keep swimming.”
                    Recognize    that    quote,   Ellen?   It’s   what    Dor y   say s   to   Mar lin   in   Find ing
                Nem o.

                    “Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”
                    I’m  not  a  hu ge  fan   of  car toons,  but  I’ll  give  you  props  for  that   one.  I  like
                car toons   that    can    mak e   you   lau gh,    but   al so   mak e   you   feel   somethi ng.   After
                today,   I   thi nk   that ’s   my   fav orite   car toon.   Be cau se   I’ve   been   feeling   like
                drowning  lat ely,  an d  sometimes  people  need  a  reminde r  that   the y  just  need  to

                keep swimming.
                    Atlas  got sick. Li ke real ly sick.
                    He’s  been  craw ling  through  my  windo w  an d  sleeping  on  the   floor  for  a  few
                night s  in  a  row  now,  but  las t  night ,  I  knew  somethi ng  was   wrong  as   soon  as   I
                looked  at  hi m. It was  a  Sunday, so I hadn ’t seen hi m since the  night  before, but
                he  looked aw ful. His eyes were bloods ho t, hi s skin was  pal e, an d  even tho ugh  it
                was    cold,    hi s   hai r   was    sweat y.   I   di dn ’t   even   as k   if   he    was    feeling   okay,   I
                al ready   knew  he   was n’t.  I  put  my  han d  on  hi s  forehe ad  an d  he   was   so  ho t,  I

                al most yelled  for my mothe r.
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