WONDER
Chapter 4
My Brother, August
Via
August is at the center of the family, and we all understand that. I'm OK with it. I know that August is special. I know that his face hurt after plastic surgery, and he needed to sleep. So, I always played quietly. I wanted Mom and Dad to watch me play soccer. But usually it wasn't possible, because they were taking August to the hospital or to a new doctor.
"You're the kindest girl in the world," Mom and Dad said to me. I don't know if that is true. But I don't complain. I've seen August in hospital after surgery, and he looks terrible.
So, how could I complain because I didn't get a new toy, or Mom didn't come to the school play? It's been like this all my life. But it's changing now, I think.
I loved middle school because it was different from home. I was Olivia there, not Via. Via is my name at home. And in middle school a lot of people didn't know about August.
I'm always going to have a brother with problems, and I love August. But I want to be Olivia, not August's sister.
Now, I'm in high school, and the best thing about it is that nobody knows me. The only people I knew already were Miranda and Ella. I've always been friends with them. So, they've always known August, too.
Miranda has been like another sister to August. She always played with him a lot, and they loved to sing together.
Miranda, Ella, and I were together all through middle school. We were so excited about going to high school together. But we're in high school now, and things are very different.
This summer, Miranda didn't call me after summer camp.
"Maybe she stayed longer," I thought, but then I looked at Facebook. She was already home, but she didn't call or text me. I texted her, and she texted back, but we didn't meet.
I met Miranda and Ella on the first day of high school. Miranda looked very different. Her hair was short, and bright pink, and her clothes were different. She acted differently, too. She was friendly, but not very friendly. We all sat together at lunch, and she and Ella talked a lot. I
didn't say much. I didn't feel that I was in the group any more.
"We're driving you home today," said Miranda, at the end of school. "Your mom called. She has to be with August."
"Thanks, but I'm OK," I said. I didn't want to sit in a car with the new Miranda, so I went home on the bus. The bus took a long time, and I got home late.
"Hi, Via," said Mom, as soon as I came in. "How was your first day?"
"OK."
"Is Miranda with you?" she asked.
"No," I said, "she can't stay. We have a lot of homework."
"Really? On your first day?" Mom said.
"Yes, really!" I shouted. "How was August's first day?"
"OK," she said, slowly.
"What does that mean? Good or bad?" I asked. I was getting angrier.
"Good, I think. Via, what's wrong?"
"Nothing!" I ran to my room and closed the door.
Mom came into my room after dinner. She looked tired.
"What's the matter, Via?" she asked.
"Not now, OK?" I said.
"I'll come back at bedtime," Mom said.
She didn't come back, but Dad did.
"Mom's with August," he said. "Goodnight." And he kissed me.
August usually loves Halloween. But this year he came home, ran to the bathroom, and threw up. Then he went to bed. At 7 p.m., I went to see him. He was on the bed, looking at the wall.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said.
"Is it school?"
"Yes."
"Teachers? Homework? Friends?"
He told me about Jack and Julian. "They said cruel things about me. I thought Jack was my friend," he said.
August didn't go to school on Friday. On Sunday, I talked to him again.
"I'm not going to school tomorrow," he said. "I hate school. I'm never going back."
"August," I said, "you must go. We all have bad days sometimes. You heard Jack and Julian, but they don't know that. That's great. Don't talk to them, and they won't know why. Or act like a friend, but you know inside that you're not."
"Like you and Miranda?" he said.
"What?" I said.
"Miranda called me," he told me. "You're not friends, she says, but she's still my big sister."
I couldn't speak for a minute. Then, I asked, "Did Miranda say anything about me?"
"Yes," he replied. "She misses you."
August did go to school on Monday.
