Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell Read Free Book Online

ponytail
    just like that.
    ‘Are you okay?’ her mom
    asked.
    ‘Yeah …’ Eleanor said, ‘yeah,
    I’m just tired. I’m going to do my
    homework and go to bed.’ Her
    mom seemed to know that
    something was off, but she didn’t
    push. She used to make Eleanor
    tell her everything. ‘What’s going
    on up there?’ she’d say, knocking
    on the top of Eleanor’s head. ‘Are
    you making yourself crazy?’ Her
    mom hadn’t said anything like that
    since Eleanor had moved home.
    She seemed to realize that she’d
    lost her right to knock.
    Eleanor climbed up onto her
    bunk and pushed the cat to the
    end. She didn’t have anything to
    read. Nothing new, anyway. Was
    he done bringing her comics?
    Why had he even started? She ran
    her fingers over the embarrassing
    song titles – ‘This Charming Man’
    and ‘How Soon Is Now?’ – on her
    math book. She wanted to scribble
    them out, but he’d probably notice
    and lord it over her.
    Eleanor really was tired, that
    wasn’t a lie. She’d been staying
    up, reading, almost every night.
    She fell asleep that night right
    after dinner.
    She woke up to shouting. Richie
    shouting. Eleanor couldn’t tell
    what he was saying.
    Underneath the shouting, her
    mother was crying. She sounded
    like she’d been crying for a long
    time – she must be completely out
    of her head if she was letting them
    hear her cry like that.
    Eleanor
    could
    tell
    that
    everyone else in the room was
    already awake. She hung off the
    bunk until she could see the little
    kids take shape in the dark. All
    four of them were sitting together
    in a clump of blankets on the
    floor. Maisie was holding the
    baby,
    rocking
    him
    almost
    frantically. Eleanor slid off the bed
    soundlessly and huddled with
    them. Mouse immediately climbed
    into her lap. He was shaking and
    wet, and he wrapped his arms and
    legs around Eleanor like a
    monkey. Their mother shrieked,
    two rooms away, and they all five
    jumped together.
    If this had happened two
    summers ago, Eleanor would have
    run and banged on the door
    herself. She would have yelled at
    Richie to stop. She would have
    called 911 at the very, very, very
    least. But now that seemed like
    something a child would do, or a
    fool. Now, all she could think
    about was what they were going to
    do if the baby actually started to
    cry. Thank God he didn’t. Even he
    seemed to realize that trying to
    make this stop would only ever
    make it worse.
    When her alarm went off the next
    morning,
    Eleanor
    couldn’t
    remember having fallen to sleep.
    She couldn’t remember when the
    crying had stopped.
    A horrible thought came to
    her, and she got up, stumbling
    over the kids and the blankets.
    She opened the bedroom door and
    smelled bacon.
    Which meant that her mother
    was alive.
    And that her stepdad was
    probably still eating breakfast.
    Eleanor took a deep breath.
    She smelled like pee. God . The
    cleanest clothes she had were the
    ones she wore yesterday, which
    Tina would surely point out,
    because it was a goddamn gym
    day on top of everything else.
    She grabbed her clothes and
    stepped purposely out into the
    living room, determined not to
    make eye contact with Richie if he
    was there. He was. ( That demon.
    That bastard .) Her mother was
    standing at the stove, standing
    more still than usual. You couldn’t
    not notice the bruise on the side of
    her face. Or the hickey under her
    chin. ( That fuck, that fuck, that
    fuck .)
    ‘Mom,’ Eleanor whispered
    urgently, ‘I have to clean off.’ Her
    mother’s eyes slowly focused on
    her.
    ‘What?’
    Eleanor
    gestured
    at
    her
    clothes, which probably just
    looked wrinkled. ‘I slept on the
    floor with Mouse.’
    Her mother glanced nervously
    into the living room; Richie would
    punish Mouse if he knew. ‘Okay,
    okay,’ she said, pushing Eleanor
    into the bathroom. ‘Give me your
    clothes, I’ll watch the door. And
    don’t let him smell it. I don’t need
    this this morning.’
    As if Eleanor was the