Episode 3 eleanor

Eleanor

Eleanor considered her options:

1. She could walk home from school. Pros: Exercise\, color in her cheeks\, time to herself. Cons:

She didn’t know her new address yet, or even

the general direction to start walking.

2. She could call her mom and ask for a ride.

Pros: Lots. Cons: Her mom didn’t have a

phone. Or a car.

3. She could call her dad. Ha.

4. She could call her grandma. Just to say hi.

She was sitting on the concrete steps at the front

of the school, staring out at the row of yellow

buses. Her bus was right there. No. 666.

Even if Eleanor could avoid the bus today,

even if her fairy godmother showed up with a

pumpkin carriage, she’d still have to find a way

to get back to school tomorrow morning.

And it’s not like the devil-kids on the bus

were going to wake up on the other side of their

beds tomorrow. Seriously. It wouldn’t surprise

Eleanor if they unhinged their jaws the next time

she saw them. That girl in the back with the

blond hair and the acid-washed jacket? You

could practically see the horns hidden in her

bangs. And her boyfriend was possibly a member

of the Nephilim.

That girl – all of them – hated Eleanor before

they’d even laid eyes on her. Like they’d been

hired to kill her in a past life.

Eleanor couldn’t tell if the Asian kid who finally let her sit down was one of them, or whether he was just really stupid. (But not stupid-stupid … He was in two of Eleanor’s honors

classes.)

20/593

Her mom had insisted that the new school put

Eleanor in honors classes. She’d freaked when

she saw how bad Eleanor’s grades were from last

year in the ninth grade. ‘This can’t be a surprise

to you, Mrs Douglas,’ the counselor said. Ha,

Eleanor thought, you’d be surprised what could

be a surprise at this point.

Whatever. Eleanor could stare at the clouds

just as easily in honors classes. There were just as

many windows.

If she ever even came back to this school.

If she ever even got home.

Eleanor couldn’t tell her mom about the bus

situation anyway because her mom had already

said that Eleanor didn’t have to ride the bus. Last

night, when she was helping Eleanor unpack …

‘Richie said he’ll take you,’ her mom said.

‘It’s on his way to work.’

‘Is he going to make me ride in the back of

his truck?’

‘He’s trying to make peace, Eleanor. You

promised that you’d try, too.’

21/593

‘It’s easier for me to make peace from a

distance.’

‘I told him you were ready to be part of this

family.’

‘I’m already part of this family. I’m like a

charter member.’

‘Eleanor,’ her mom said. ‘Please.’

‘I’ll just ride the bus,’ Eleanor had said. ‘It’s

not a big deal. I’ll meet people.’

Ha, Eleanor thought now. Giant, dramatic ha.

Her bus was going to leave soon. A few of

the other buses were already pulling away. Somebody ran down the steps next to Eleanor and accidentally kicked her bag. She pulled it out of the

way and started to say sorry – but it was that stupid Asian kid, and he frowned when he saw that

it was her. She frowned right back at him, and he

ran ahead.

Oh, fine, Eleanor thought. The children of hell shan’t go hungry on my watch.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***