Page 89 - It Ends with Us

He twisted hi s ar m around so I could see that it was on the othe r side , too.

“I used to fal l a lot, too, Li ly.” The n he pulled hi s shi r tsleeve do wn an d di dn ’t
say an ythi ng else.
For a second I wan ted to tell hi m it was n’t like that —t hat my dad never
hu r ts me an d that he was just tr ying to get me of f of hi m. Bu t the n I real ized
I’d be using the sam e excuses my mom uses.
I felt a little embar ras sed that he knows what goes on at my ho use. I spent

the who le rest of the bus ride looking out the windo w becau se I di dn ’t know
what to say to hi m.
Whe n we got ho me, my mom’s car was the re. In the dr iveway, of course. No t
the gar ag e.
That mean t Atlas couldn ’t come over an d wat ch your sho w with me. I was
gonna tell hi m I would bring hi m blan kets lat er, but whe n he got of f the bus he
di dn ’t even tell me bye. He just star ted wal king do wn the street like he was

mad.
It’s dar k now an d I’m wai ting on my parents to go to sleep. Bu t in a little
whi le I’m gonna tak e hi m some blan kets.
—Li ly

Dear Ellen,
I’m in way over my he ad.
Do you ever do thi ngs you know are wrong, but are someho w al so right ? I
do n’t know ho w to put it in simpler terms than that .
I mean , I’m only fi fteen an d I cer tai nly sho uldn ’t hav e boys spendi ng the
night in my bedroom. Bu t if a person knows someone needs a plac e to stay, isn’t
it that person’s responsibility as a hu man to he lp the m?

Las t night af ter my parents went to sleep, I snuck out the bac k do or to tak e
Atlas tho se blan kets. I took a flas hl ight with me becau se it was dar k. It was
still snowing real ly har d, so by the time I made it to that ho use, I was freezing.
I beat on the bac k do or an d as soon as he opened it, I pushe d pas t hi m to get
out of the cold.
On ly . . . I di dn ’t get out of the cold. Someho w, it felt even colde r inside that

old house. I still had my flas hl ight on an d I shi ned it around the living room
an d kitche n. The re was n’t an ythi ng in the re, Ellen!
No couch, no chai r, no mat tress. I han de d the blan kets of f to hi m an d kept
looking around me. The re was a big ho le in the roof over the kitche n an d wind
an d snow were just pouring in. Whe n I shi ned my light around the living