Read Online Eleanor by Johnny Worthen - Free Book Online

wouldn’t do,” she said and took bite. “It’s good.”
    â€œYep, our first date.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œMy dad said he used to take my mom out for ice cream on dates. So we’re on a date.”
    She didn’t understand.
    â€œWe’re going steady now,” he said. “You’re my girl and I’m your boy. We’ll get married one day.”
    â€œYou have to be in love to get married, don’t you?”
    â€œI love you,” he said plainly. “Don’t you love me?”
    Eleanor thought about it.
    â€œHow do I know?” she asked.
    â€œYou like me?”
    â€œYes,” she said.
    â€œWe’re friends aren’t we?”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œYou’d do nice things for me, wouldn’t you?”
    â€œYes, of course. I would if I could.”
    â€œWell, me too. Like today. That showed I love you.”
    â€œI’d be afraid to hit Russell,” she said.
    â€œNo, silly. That’s what I did. You could do something like make me cookies sometimes or read to me when I’m sick. That’s like love.”
    â€œOh, I could do that for you,” she said.
    â€œSo we’re in love,” he said smartly. “And when a girl and a boy love each other, eventually they get married. That’s how things work. Ask your mom.”
    Eleanor ate her ice cream thinking about what he had said.
    â€œI could tell you a secret,” she said. “To show you I love you.”
    â€œYes, that would be good. That’s how it works. I’m sure of it.”
    â€œI’ve never told anybody but Tabitha before,” she said. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone. Do you promise to keep it secret?”
    â€œCross my heart and hope to die,” he said.
    She looked at him hard, using her years of experience to read his intent. She was good at that. She could sense moods like a seasoned predator, but she could not tell the endurance of those moods. She had not been around people long enough to develop that kind of empathy, and wondered if she ever would. She could sense fear, and joy, see lies in the way a person glanced away, and truth in the way their eyes melted, but people were fickle. One day they were your friends bringing you corn and beans, and the next day they had guns.
    She looked hard at David who was down to the stick of his fudgesicle.
    â€œIt’s okay, Eleanor,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me if it’s too secret. That’s also what friends do.”
    She opened her mouth to speak, but caution stopped the sound in her throat.
    â€œIf you want to tell me, you can trust me,” he said. “I won’t tell.”
    There it was. Trust. Tabitha had cautioned her about trusting too easily and too openly. She had secrets. They had secrets. Secrets that would rend the family to pieces and worse.
    â€œI’m afraid you won’t like me if I tell you,” she said finally.
    â€œOh, that kind of secret,” he said.
    She nodded.
    â€œI’ll tell you what,” he said. “I’ll think of a secret first and tell you, and then you can tell me. Then we’ll be even.”
    â€œOkay,” she said.
    David couldn’t think of one that day, so they went back to the park and pretended to be crows on the swings until the sun set, and they had to go home.
    Later that month, the week before school was to begin their third grade, David rushed to Eleanor’s one morning and knocked on the door. Tabitha was having one of her better days. She had more good days than bad back then, and fed him and Eleanor toast with jam and a glass of juice.
    â€œYou guys sure have a nice place,” he said very politely.
    â€œWhere did you learn your manners, David?” Tabitha asked.
    â€œMy father, ma’am. He’s in the army. That’s what I came to tell Eleanor. It’s my secret.”
    Eleanor blanched. Tabitha glanced at her