Page 50 - It Ends with Us

He di dn ’t finish hi s sentence, so I nodde d an d tied the bag bac k up. “Do

you thi nk you can ho ld the m for me until af ter scho ol? I do n’t ha ve an y room
in my bac kpac k.”
He grab bed the bag from me an d the n brought hi s bac kpac k up to hi s lap
an d put the bag inside of it. He wrap ped hi s ar ms around hi s bac kpac k. “How
old are you?” he as ked.
“Fifteen.”

The look in hi s eyes made hi m seem a little bit sad ab out my ag e, but I do n’t
know why.
“You’re in tenth grade ?”
I nodde d, but ho nestly couldn ’t thi nk of an ythi ng to say to hi m. I hav en’t
real ly ha d much interac tion with a lot of guys. Especial ly seniors. Whe n I’m
ner vous, I kind of just clam up.
“I do n’t know ho w long I’ll be stay ing at that plac e,” he sai d, bringing hi s

voice do wn ag ai n. “Bu t if you ever need he lp with garde ning or an ythi ng af ter
scho ol, it’s not like I hav e much going on the re. Be ing as tho ugh I hav e no
electricity.”
I laughe d, an d the n wonde red if I sho uld hav e lau ghe d at hi s self-
de precat ing comment.
We spent the rest of the bus ride tal king ab out you, Ellen. Whe n he made

that comment ab out being bored, I as ked hi m if he ever wat che d your sho w. He
sai d he ’d like to becau se he thi nks you’re funny, but a TV would require
electricity. Anothe r comment I was n’t sure if I sho uld hav e lau ghe d at .
I told hi m he could wat ch your show with me af ter scho ol. I al way s record it
on the DVR an d wat ch it whi le I do my cho res. I figured I could just keep the
front do or de ad bolted, an d if my parents got ho me ear ly, I’d just hav e Atlas
run out the bac k do or.

I didn ’t see hi m ag ai n until the ride ho me today. He di dn ’t sit by me thi s
time becau se Kat ie got on the bus before hi m an d sat next to me. I wan ted to
as k he r to move, but the n she ’d think I had a crush on Atlas . Kat ie would hav e
a field day with that one, so I just let he r stay in my seat .
Atlas was at the front of the bus, so he got of f before I di d. He just kind of
aw kwardl y stood the re at the bus stop an d wai ted for me to get of f. Whe n I di d,

he opened hi s bac kpac k an d han de d me the bag of tools. He di dn ’t say
an ythi ng ab out my invitat ion to wat ch TV from ear lier thi s morning, so I just
ac ted like it was a given.