“I hear we’re driving you home today.”
It was Miranda in eighth period. She had just sat down at the desk right behind me. I had forgotten that Mom had called Miranda’s mother the night before to ask if she could drive me home from school.
“You don’t have to,” I answered instinctively, casually. “My mom can pick me up.”
“I thought she had to pick Auggie up or something.”
“It turns out she can pick me up afterward. She just texted me. Not a problem.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Thanks.”
It was all a lie on my part, but I couldn’t see sitting in a car with the new Miranda. After school I ducked into a restroom to avoid bumping into Miranda’s mother outside. Half an hour later I walked out of the school, ran the three blocks to the bus stop, hopped on the M86 to Central Park West, and took the subway home.
“Hey there, sweetie!” Mom said the moment I stepped through the front door. “How was your first day? I was starting to wonder where you guys were.”
“We stopped for pizza.” Incredible how easily a lie can slip through your lips.
“Is Miranda not with you?” She seemed surprised that Miranda wasn’t right behind me.
“She went straight home. We have a lot of homework.” “On your first day?”
“Yes, on our first day!” I yelled, which completely surprised Mom. But before she could say anything, I said: “School was fine. It’s really big, though. The kids seem nice.” I wanted to give her enough information so she wouldn’t feel the need to ask me more. “How was Auggie’s first day of school?”
Mom hesitated, her eyebrows still high up on her forehead from
when I’d snapped at her a second earlier. “Okay,” she said slowly, like she was letting out a breath.
“What do you mean ‘okay’?” I said. “Was it good or bad?” “He said it was good.”
“So why do you think it wasn’t good?”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t good! Geez, Via, what’s up with you?”
“Just forget I asked anything at all,” I answered, and stormed dramatically into Auggie’s room and slammed the door. He was on his PlayStation and didn’t even look up. I hated how zombified his video games made him.
“So how was school?” I said, scooching Daisy over so I could sit on his bed next to him.
“Fine,” he answered, still not looking up from his game.
“Auggie, I’m talking to you!” I pulled the PlayStation out of his hands.
“Hey!” he said angrily. “How was school?”
“I said fine!” he yelled back, grabbing the PlayStation back from me.
“Were people nice to you?” “Yes!”
“No one was mean?”
He put the PlayStation down and looked up at me as if I had just asked the dumbest question in the world. “Why would people be mean?” he said. It was the first time in his life that I heard him be sarcastic like that. I didn’t think he had it in him.
