Page 90 - It Ends with Us

room, I saw hi s stuf f in one of the corners. His bac kpac k, plus the bac kpac k I’d

given hi m. The re was a little pile of othe r stuf f I’d given hi m, like some of my
dad’ s clothe s. And the n the re were two towels on the floor. On e I guess he lai d
on an d one he covered up with.
I put my han d over my mouth becau se I was so ho r rified. He’d been the re
living like that for weeks!
Atlas put hi s han d on my bac k an d tried to wal k me bac k out the do or. “You

sho uldn ’t be over he re, Li ly,” he said. “You could get in trouble.”
That ’s whe n I grab bed hi s han d an d sai d, “You sho uldn ’t be he re, eithe r.” I
star ted to pull hi m out the front do or with me, but he yan ked hi s han d bac k.
That ’s whe n I said, “You can sleep on my floor tonight . I’ll keep my bedroom
do or locked. You can ’t sleep he re, Atlas . It’s too cold an d you’ll get pneumonia
an d di e.”
He looked like he di dn ’t know what to do . I’m sure the tho ught of being

cau ght in my bedroom was just as scar y as getting pneumonia an d dy ing. He
looked back at hi s spot in the living room an d the n he just nodd ed hi s he ad
once an d sai d, “Ok ay.”
So you tell me, Ellen. Was I wrong letting hi m sleep in my room las t night ?
It do esn’t feel wrong. It felt like the right thi ng to do . Bu t I sure would get in a
lot of trouble if we had been cau ght . He slept on the floor, so it’s not like it was

an ythi ng more than me just giving hi m somewhe re war m to sleep.
I di d lear n a little more ab out hi m las t night . After I snuck hi m in the bac k
do or an d to my room, I locked my do or an d made a pal let for hi m on the floor
next to my bed. I set the al ar m for 6 a. m. an d told hi m he ’d hav e to get up an d
leav e before my parents woke up, since sometimes my mom wak es me up in the
mornings.
I craw led in my bed an d scooted over to the edg e of it so I could look do wn at

hi m whi le we tal ked for a little whi le. I as ked hi m ho w long he tho ught he
might stay the re an d he sai d he di dn ’t know. That ’s whe n I as ked hi m ho w he
ende d up the re. My lam p was still on, an d we were whi spering, but he got real
quiet whe n I sai d that . He just stared up at me with hi s han ds behind hi s he ad
for a moment. The n he sai d, “I do n’t know my real dad. He never had
an ythi ng to do with me. It’s al way s just been me an d my mom, but she got

remar ried ab out five year s ag o to a guy who never real ly liked me much. We
fought a lot. Whe n I turned eight een a few months ag o, we got in a big fight
an d he kicked me out of the ho use.”