Eleanor & Grey(11)

“I’m so sorry, Eleanor,” he said, and I could tell he meant it because his eyes were so sincere.

“Thanks.” He kept staring at me as my stomach flipped over and over again. “Is someone you know sick?”

This time, he grew uncomfortable.

“He was. My grandpa. He passed away a few weeks ago.” His eyes did something I didn’t know Greyson East’s eyes could do: they grew sad.

“I’m so sorry, Greyson,” I said, and I hoped he could tell I meant it by looking at how sincere my eyes were.

“Yeah, thanks. Everyone keeps saying he’s not in pain anymore, but I don’t know. I just feel like he left some pain behind for me to take on.” He brushed his thumb against the base of his jaw, and I was stunned.

Greyson was sad.

Really sad. That was shocking to me because I never noticed his sadness when I looked at him before. To me, he just always seemed like the free-spirited popular kid who everyone loved.

Turned out popular kids could be sad, too.

Greyson shook off the grimaced look and smiled. “So, I’ve been thinking…we should hang out.”

He said it so casually, as if the idea of us hanging out wasn’t insanely absurd.

I laughed sarcastically to cover up my nerves. “Yeah, okay, Greyson.”

“No, I mean it. We should hang out.”

I glanced up and down the block, just to make sure he was speaking to me. “You don’t want to hang out with me.”

“Yes, I do.”

I tugged on the bottom of my purple cardigan. “No, you don’t.”

“I do,” he pressed.

“To get to Shay?”

He cocked an eyebrow and stepped closer to me. “Not everything is about your cousin. Some things are about you.”

“I mean, it just doesn’t make sense. Why would you want to hang out with me?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You were interesting at the party, and I’d like to get to know you better.”

“I was reading a book and wearing headphones at a high school party. That’s not interesting. That’s weird.”

“I like weird.”

I laughed. “No, you don’t. You like not weird.”

“How do you know what I like?”

I glanced around and shrugged. “I’m just assuming.”

“Well, you shouldn’t. If you want, you can hang out with me and really get to know me,” he offered.

“We don’t really come from the same kind of world, Greyson. You’re you, and I’m me. I mean, look at the size of your house, and your popularity, and—”

“Listen, if you don’t want to hang out, just say so. No need for excuses,” he cut in, making me stand up straighter.

“No, that’s not it. I’m just saying…we don’t have much in common, I don’t think.”

“Well, we can find out, and go from there.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Okay, well, once you discover something we have in common, I’ll hang out with you.”

He narrowed his eyes, almost as if he didn’t believe me. “Pinky promise?” he asked, holding out his pinky finger.

“Are you kidding?”

“No. I mean it. I need your word. If I find something we have in common, you’ll hang out with me. Pinky promise.”

“Fineee,” I groaned as I wrapped my pinky with his. I tried to ignore the feeling his touch brought me. “I promise. I gotta get to Molly now.”

He smiled, pleased. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” I smiled back before I could stop myself and he noticed it. “More of that, Eleanor.”

“Whatever. Bye, Greyson.” I turned away from him, and I felt my cheeks heating up as I hurried up the steps, still smiling from ear to ear. As I reached the porch, I paused and turned back toward him. “People call me Ellie. You can, too, if you want.”

“Okay, Ellie.” The way the name fell from his lips made me blush even more. “And you can call me Grey.”

“Just Grey?”

“Yeah, just Grey.” He turned away and tossed a hand up in the air. “Bye, Ellie.”

The corners of my mouth turned up as I watched him walk away and I spoke to myself softly, unsure what exactly was happening in my life lately. “Bye, Grey.”

“Is that your boyfriend?” a small voice asked.

I looked up to see a sassy Molly standing in her doorway with her hands on her hips. Her curly red hair hung to her shoulders, and she was tapping her foot repeatedly.

“What? No. He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Then why did your face turn red?”

“My face isn’t red.”

“Uh-huh. You look like an apple.”

“Some apples are green,” I argued, walking over to her.

“But you’re the red apple, because of your boyfriend,” she mocked. Suddenly she started dancing around on the front porch and singing loudly. “Ellie has a boyfriend! Ellie has a boyfriend!”

“Molly, knock it off!” I whisper-shouted, looking over my shoulder and seeing Greyson staring at us. My God, I was horrified.

“Why don’t you go kiss him? Go kiss your boyfriend!” She kept pushing the boyfriend agenda, making me groan as I rubbed my hands against my face.