He twisted his arm around so I could see that it was on the other side, too.
“I used to fall a lot, too, Lily.” Then he pulled his shirtsleeve down and didn’t
say anything else.
For a second I wanted to tell him it wasn’t like that—that my dad never
hurts me and that he was just trying to get me off of him. But then I realized
I’d be using the same excuses my mom uses.
I felt a little embarrassed that he knows what goes on at my house. I spent
the whole rest of the bus ride looking out the window because I didn’t know
what to say to him.
When we got home, my mom’s car was there. In the driveway, of course. Not
the garage.
That meant Atlas couldn’t come over and watch your show with me. I was
gonna tell him I would bring him blankets later, but when he got off the bus he
didn’t even tell me bye. He just started walking down the street like he was
mad.
It’s dark now and I’m waiting on my parents to go to sleep. But in a little
while I’m gonna take him some blankets.
—Lily
Dear Ellen,
I’m in way over my head.
Do you ever do things you know are wrong, but are somehow also right? I
don’t know how to put it in simpler terms than that.
I mean, I’m only fifteen and I certainly shouldn’t have boys spending the
night in my bedroom. But if a person knows someone needs a place to stay, isn’t
it that person’s responsibility as a human to help them?
Last night after my parents went to sleep, I snuck out the back door to take
Atlas those blankets. I took a flashlight with me because it was dark. It was
still snowing really hard, so by the time I made it to that house, I was freezing.
I beat on the back door and as soon as he opened it, I pushed past him to get
out of the cold.
Only . . . I didn’t get out of the cold. Somehow, it felt even colder inside that
old house. I still had my flashlight on and I shined it around the living room
and kitchen. There wasn’t anything in there, Ellen!
No couch, no chair, no mattress. I handed the blankets off to him and kept
looking around me. There was a big hole in the roof over the kitchen and wind
and snow were just pouring in. When I shined my light around the living