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else to do, so her eyes
    wandered over to the ugly comic
    … And then she was reading. And
    then they were at school. Which
    was totally weird because they
    weren’t even halfway through
    with it.
    And which totally sucked
    because it meant he would read
    the rest of the comic during
    school, and have something lame
    like ROM out on the way home.
    Except he didn’t.
    When Eleanor got on the bus
    that afternoon, the Asian kid
    opened up Watchmen right where
    they’d left off.
    They were still reading it when
    they got to Eleanor’s stop – there
    was so much going on, they both
    stared at every frame for, like,
    entire minutes – and when she got
    up to leave, he handed it to her.
    Eleanor was so surprised, she
    tried to hand it back, but he’d
    already turned away. She shoved
    the comic between her books like
    it was something secret, then got
    off the bus.
    She read it three more times
    that night, lying on the top bunk,
    petting the scrubby old cat. Then
    she put it in her grapefruit box
    overnight, so that nothing would
    happen to it.
    Park
    What if she didn’t give it back?
    What if he didn’t get to finish
    the
    first
    issue
    of Watchmen
    because he’d lent it to a girl who
    hadn’t asked for it and probably
    didn’t even know who Alan
    Moore was.
    If she didn’t give it back, they
    were even. That would cancel out
    the whole ‘Jesus-fuck-sit-down’
    scenario.
    Jesus … No, it wouldn’t.
    What if she did give it back?
    What was he supposed to say
    then? Thanks?
    Eleanor
    When she got to their seat, he was
    looking out the window. She
    handed him the comic, and he
    took it.
    CHAPTER 10
    Eleanor
    Th e next morning, when Eleanor
    got on the bus, there was a stack
    of comics on her seat.
    She picked them up and sat
    down. He was already reading.
    Eleanor
    put
    the
    comics
    between her books and stared at
    the window. For some reason, she
    didn’t want to read in front of
    him. It would be like letting him
    watch her eat. It would be like …
    admitting something.
    But she thought about the
    comics all day, and as soon she
    got home, she climbed onto her
    bed and got them out. They were
    all the same title – Swamp Thing .
    Eleanor ate dinner sitting
    cross-legged on her bed, extra
    careful not to spill anything on the
    books because every issue was in
    pristine condition; there wasn’t so
    much as a bent corner. (Stupid,
    perfect Asian kid.)
    That night, after her brothers
    and sister fell asleep, Eleanor
    turned the light back on so she
    could read. They were the loudest
    sleepers ever. Ben talked in his
    sleep, and Maisie and the baby
    both snored. Mouse wet the bed –
    which didn’t make noise, but still
    disturbed the general peace. The
    light didn’t seem to bother them
    though.
    Eleanor was only distantly
    conscious of Richie watching TV
    in the next room, and she
    practically fell off the bed when
    he jerked the bedroom door open.
    He looked like he expected to
    catch some middle-of-the-night
    hijinks, but when he saw that it
    was only Eleanor and that she was
    just reading, he grunted and told
    her to turn out the light so the little
    kids could sleep.
    After he shut the door, Eleanor
    got up and turned off the light.
    (She could just about get out of
    bed
    without
    stepping
    on
    somebody now, which was lucky
    for them because she was the first
    one up every morning.)
    She might have gotten away
    with leaving the light on, but it
    wasn’t worth the risk. She didn’t
    want to have to look at Richie
    again.
    He looked exactly like a rat.
    Like the human-being version of a
    rat. Like the villain in a Don Bluth
    movie. Who knew what her mom
    saw in him; Eleanor’s dad was
    messed-up-looking, too.
    Every once in a while – when
    Richie managed to take a bath, put
    on decent clothes and stay sober
    all on the same day – Eleanor
    could sort of see why her mom
    might have thought he was
    handsome. Thank the Lord that
    didn’t happen very often. When it
    did, Eleanor felt like going to