Page 30 - It Ends with Us

The y ac tual ly looked a little too smal l for hi m, becau se hi s an kles were sho wing.

Bu t he was skinny enough that they fit hi m just fine ever ywhe re else.
“Did you tell an yone?” he as ked me.
I looked at hi m whe n he spoke, and he was looking right bac k at me like he
was wor ried. It was the first time I had ac tual ly gotten a good look at hi m. His
hai r was dar k brown, but I tho ught may be if he was he d it, it wouldn ’t be as
dar k as it looked right the n. His eyes were bright , unlike the rest of hi m. Real

blue eyes, like the kind you see on a Siberian hu sky. I sho uldn ’t compare hi s
eyes to a do g, but that ’s the first thing I tho ught whe n I saw the m.
I sho ok my he ad an d looked bac k out the windo w. I tho ught he might get up
an d find an othe r seat at that point, since I sai d I di dn ’t tell an yone, but he
di dn ’t. The bus made a few stops, an d the fac t that he was still sitting by me
gav e me a little courag e, so I made my voice a whi sper. “Why do n’t you live at
ho me with your parents?”

He stared at me for a few seconds , like he was tr ying to de cide if he wan ted
to trust me or not. The n he sai d, “Be cau se the y do n’t wan t me to.”
That ’s whe n he got up. I tho ught I’d made hi m mad, but the n I real ized he
got up becau se we were at our stop. I grab bed my stuf f an d followed hi m of f the
bus. He di dn ’t tr y to hi de whe re he was he adi ng today like he usual ly do es.
No rmal ly, he wal ks do wn the street an d goes around the block so I do n’t see hi m

cut through my bac kyard. Bu t today he star ted to wal k toward my yard with
me.
Whe n we got to whe re I would normal ly turn to go inside an d he would keep
wal king, we both stopped. He kicked at the di r t with hi s foot an d looked behi nd
me at my ho use.
“What time do your parents get ho me?”
“Around five,” I sai d. It was 3:45.

He nodd ed an d looked like he was ab out to say somethi ng else, but he
di dn ’t. He just nodde d ag ai n an d star ted wal king toward that ho use with no
food or electricity or wat er.
No w, Ellen, I know what I di d next was stupid, so you do n’t hav e to tell me.
I cal led out hi s nam e, an d whe n he stopped an d turned around I sai d, “If you
hu r r y, you can tak e a sho wer before the y get ho me.”

My he ar t was beat ing so fas t, becau se I knew ho w much trouble I could get
into if my parents cam e ho me an d found a ho meless guy in our sho wer. I’d
probab ly ver y well di e. Bu t I just couldn ’t wat ch hi m wal k bac k to hi s ho use
witho ut of fering hi m somethi ng.