Page 29 - It Ends with Us

went straight to my room. By the time I got to the windo w to see if he was going

to come outside , the bag was al ready gone.
That ’s whe n I knew he ’d been watchi ng me. I’m kind of ner vous now that
he knows I know he ’s stay ing the re. I do n’t know what I’ll say to him if he tries
to tal k to me tomor row.
—Li ly

Dear Ellen,
I saw your inter view with the preside ntial can di dat e Bar ac k Ob am a today.
Does that mak e you ner vous? Inter viewing people who could potential ly run
the countr y? I do n’t know a lot ab out politics, but I do n’t thi nk I could be
funny unde r that kind of pressure.
Man . So much has hap pened to both of us. You just inter viewed someone
who might be our next preside nt and I’m feedi ng a ho meless boy.

Thi s morning whe n I got to the bus stop, Atlas was al ready the re. It was
just the two of us at first, an d I’m not gonna lie, it was aw kward. I could see
the bus coming around the corner an d I was wishi ng it would dr ive a little
fas ter. Right whe n it pulled up, he took a step closer to me an d, witho ut looking
up, he sai d, “Than k you.”

The do ors opened on the bus and he let me wal k on first. I di dn ’t say
You’re wel come becau se I was kind of sho cked by my reac tion. His voice gav e
me chi lls, Ellen.
Has a boy’s voice ever do ne that to you?
Oh, wai t. Sor r y. Has a girl’s voice ever do ne that to you?
He di dn ’t sit by me or an ythi ng on the way the re, but on the way bac k from
scho ol, he was the las t one getting on. The re weren’t an y empty seat s, but I

could tell by the way he scan ned all the people on the bus that he was n’t looking
for an empty seat . He was looking for me.
Whe n hi s eyes met mine, I looked do wn at my lap real quick. I hat e that I’m
not ver y confide nt around guys. May be that ’s somethi ng I’ll grow into whe n I
final ly turn sixteen.
He sat do wn next to me an d dropped hi s bac kpac k between hi s legs. That ’s

whe n I noticed what Kat ie was tal king ab out. He di d kind of smell, but I
di dn ’t judg e hi m for that .
He di dn ’t say anythi ng at first, but he was fidg eting with a ho le in hi s
jean s. It was n’t the kind of ho le that was the re to mak e jean s look stylish. I
could tell it was the re becau se it was a genuine ho le, du e to hi s pan ts being old.