‘In here!’ she called from the kitchen. She was painting her nails a pearly pink.
‘Mom,’ he said. ‘Hey. Um, Eleanor’s coming over in few minutes. My, um, my Eleanor. Now.
Is that okay?’
‘Right now?’ She shook the bottle. Click, click, click.
‘Yeah, don’t make a big deal, okay? Just …
be cool.’
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’m cool.’
He nodded, then looked around the kitchen and the living room to make sure there was nothing weird sitting out. He checked his room, too.
His mom had made his bed.
He opened the door before Eleanor knocked.
‘Hi,’ she said. She looked nervous. Well, she looked angry, but he was pretty sure that was because she was nervous.
‘Hey,’ he said. This morning, all he’d been able to think about was how to get more servings of Eleanor into his day, but now that she was here … he wished he had thought this through.
‘Come on in,’ he said. ‘And smile,’ he whispered at the second-to-last second, ‘okay?’
‘What?’
‘ Smile.’
‘Why?’
‘Never mind.’
His mom was standing in the doorway to the kitchen.
‘Mom, this is Eleanor,’ he said.
His mom smiled broadly.
Eleanor smiled, too, but it was all messed up.
She looked like she was squinting into a bright light or getting ready to tell someone bad news.
He thought he saw his mom’s pupils widen, but he was probably imagining it.
Eleanor went to shake his mom’s hand, but she waved them in the air, like ‘sorry my nails are wet,’ a gesture that Eleanor didn’t seem to recognize.
‘It’s nice to meet you, Eleanor.’ El-la-no.
‘It’s nice to meet you,’ Eleanor said, still squinty and weird.
‘You live close enough to walk?’ his mom asked.
Eleanor nodded.
‘That’s nice,’ his mom said.
Eleanor nodded.
‘You kids want some pop? Some snacks?’
‘No,’ Park said, cutting her off. ‘I mean …’
Eleanor shook her head.
‘We’re just going to watch some TV,’ he said, ‘okay?’
‘Sure,’ his mom said. ‘You know where to find me.’
She went back in the kitchen, and Park walked over to the couch. He wished he lived in a split-level or a house with a finished basement.
Whenever he went over to Cal’s house in west Omaha, Cal’s mom sent them downstairs and left them alone.
Park sat on the couch. Eleanor sat at the other end. She was staring at the floor and chewing on the skin around her fingernails.
He turned on MTV and took a deep breath.
After a few minutes, he scooted toward the middle of the couch. ‘Hey,’ he said. Eleanor stared at the coffee table. There was big bunch of red glass grapes on the table. His mom loved grapes. ‘ Hey,’ he said again.
He scooted closer.
‘Why did you tell me to smile?’ she whispered.
‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Because I was nervous.’
‘Why are you nervous? This is your house.’
‘I know, but I’ve never brought anyone like you home before.’
She looked at the television. There was a Wang Chung video on.
Eleanor stood up suddenly. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘No,’ he said. He stood up, too. ‘What?
Why?’
‘Just. I’ll see you tomorrow,’ she said.
‘No,’ he said. He took her arm by the elbow.
‘You just got here. What is it?’
She looked up at him painfully, ‘Anyone like me?’
‘That’s not what I meant,’ he said. ‘I meant anyone I care about.’
She took a breath and shook her head. There were tears on her cheeks. ‘It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t be here, I’m going to embarrass you.
I’m going home.’
‘No,’ he pulled her closer. ‘Calm down, okay?’
‘What if your mom sees me crying?’
‘That … wouldn’t be great, but I don’t want you to leave.’ He was afraid that if she left now, she’d never come back. ‘Come on, sit next to me.’
Park sat down and pulled Eleanor down next to him, so he was sitting between her and the kitchen.
‘I hate meeting new people,’ she whispered.
‘Why?’
‘Because they never like me.’
‘I liked you.’
‘No, you didn’t, I had to wear you down.’
‘I like you now.’ He put his arm around her.
‘Don’t. What if your mom comes in?’
‘She won’t care.’
‘I care,’ Eleanor said, pushing him away. ‘It’s too much. You’re making me nervous.’
‘Okay,’ he said, giving her space. ‘Just don’t leave.’
She nodded and looked at the TV.
After a while, maybe twenty minutes, she stood up again.
‘Stay a little longer,’ he said. ‘Don’t you want to meet my dad?’
‘I super don’t want to meet your dad.’
‘Will you come back tomorrow?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I wish I could walk you home.’
‘You can walk me to the door.’ He did.
‘Will you tell your mom I said goodbye? I don’t want her to think I’m rude.’
‘Yeah.’
Eleanor stepped out onto his porch.
‘Hey,’ he said. It came out hard and frustrated. ‘I told you to smile because you’re pretty when you smile.’
She walked to the bottom of the steps, then looked back at him. ‘It’d be better if you thought I was pretty when I don’t.’
‘That’s not what I meant,’ he said, but she was walking away.
When Park went inside, his mother came out to smile at him.
‘Your Eleanor seems nice,’ she said.
He nodded and went to his room. No, he thought, falling onto his bed. No, she doesn’t.
Eleanor
He was probably going to break up with her tomorrow. Whatever. At least she wouldn’t have to meet his dad. God, what must his dad be like? He looked just like Tom Selleck; Eleanor had seen a family portrait sitting on their TV cabinet. Park in grade school, by the way? Extremely cute.
Like, Webster cute. The whole family was cute.
Even his white brother.