Shingaling (2 page)

The only thing everybody
could
talk about when we got back from winter break was “the war,” also referred to as “the boy war.” The whole thing started right before winter break. A few days before recess, Jack Will had gotten suspended for punching Julian Albans in the mouth.
Talk about drama!
Everyone was gossiping about it. But no one knew exactly why Jack did it. Most people thought it had something to do with Auggie Pullman. To explain that a bit, you have to know that Auggie Pullman is this kid at our school who was born with very severe facial issues. And by severe, I mean
severe.
Like,
really
severe. None of his features are where they're supposed to be. And it's kind of shocking when you see him at first because it's like he's wearing a mask or something. So when he started at Beecher Prep,
everybody
noticed him. He was impossible not to notice.

A few people—like Jack and Summer and
me
—were nice to him from the beginning. Like, when I would pass him in the hall, I'd always say, “Hey, Auggie, how're you doing?” and stuff like that. Now, sure, part of that was because Mr. Tushman had asked me to be a welcome buddy to Auggie before school had started, but I would have been nice to him even if he hadn't asked me to do that.

Most people, though—like Julian and his group—were not at
all
nice to Auggie, especially in the beginning. I don't think people were even trying to be mean necessarily. I think they were just a little weirded out by his face, is all. They said stupid things behind his back. Called him
Freak.
Played this game called The Plague, which I did
not
participate in, by the way! (If I've never touched Auggie Pullman, it's only because I've never had a reason to—that's all!) Nobody ever wanted to hang out with him or get partnered up with him on a class project. At least in the beginning of the year. But after a couple of months, people did start getting used to him. Not that they were really nice or anything, but at least they stopped being mean. Everyone, that is,
except
for Julian, who continued to make such a big deal about him! It's like he couldn't get over the fact that Auggie looks the way he looks! As if the poor guy could help it, right?

Anyway, so what everyone thinks happened is that Julian said something horrible about Auggie to Jack. And Jack—being a good friend—punched Julian.
Boom.

And then Jack got suspended.
Boom.

And now he's back from suspension!
Boom!

And that's the
drama
!

But that's not all there is to it!

Because then what happened is this: over winter break, Julian had this huge party and, basically, turned everyone in the fifth grade against Jack. He spread this rumor that the school psychologist had told his mom that Jack was emotionally unstable. And that the pressure of being friends with Auggie had made him snap and turn into an angry maniac. Crazy stuff! Of course, none of it was true, and most people knew that, but it didn't stop Julian from spreading that lie.

And now the boys are all in this war. And that's how it started. And it's so
stupid
!

I know one thing people say about me is that I'm a goody two-shoes. I have no idea why they say that. Because I'm really
not
that much of a goody two-shoes. But I'm also not someone who's going to be mean to
someone
just because
someone
else says I should be mean to them. I hate when people do stuff like that.

So, when all the boys started giving Jack the cold shoulder, and Jack didn't know why, I thought the least I could do was tell him what was going on. I mean, I've known Jack since we were in kindergarten. He's a good kid!

The thing is, I didn't want anyone to
see
me talking to him. Some of the girls, like Savanna's group, had started taking sides with the Julian boys, and I really wanted to stay neutral because I didn't want any of them to get mad at
me.
I was still hoping that maybe, one of these days, I'd work my way into that group myself. The last thing I wanted was to do anything to mess up my chances with them.

So, one day right before last period, I slipped Jack a note to meet me in room 301 after school. Which he did. And then I told him everything that was going on. You should have seen Jack's face! It was bright red! Seriously! The poor kid! We pretty much agreed that this whole thing was
so
messed up! I really felt sorry for him.

Then, after we were done talking, I sneaked out of the room without anyone seeing me.

At lunch the next day, I was going to tell Ellie that I'd talked to Jack. Ellie and I both had had a tiny
secret
crush on Jack Will going back to the fourth grade, when he played the Artful Dodger in
Oliver!
and we thought he looked adorable in a top hat.

I went over to her when she was emptying her lunch tray. We don't sit at the same lunch table anymore, ever since she switched to Savanna's lunch table around Halloween. But I still trusted Ellie. We've been BFFs since first grade! That counts for a lot!

“Hey,” I said, nudging into her with my shoulder.

“Hey!” she said, nudging me back.

“Why weren't you in chorus yesterday?”

“Oh, didn't I tell you?” she said. “I switched electives when I came back from winter break. I'm in band now.”

“
Band?
Seriously?” I said.

“I'm playing the clarinet!” she answered.

“Wow,” I said, nodding. “Sweet.”

This bit of news was really surprising to me, for a lot of reasons.

“Anyhow, what's up with you, Charly?” she said. “I feel like I've hardly seen you since we got back from winter break!” She picked up my wrist to inspect my new bangle.

“I know, right?” I answered, though I didn't point out that that was because she had canceled on me every single time we'd made plans to hang out after school.

“How's Maya's dots tournament going?”

She was referring to Maya's obsession with making the world's largest dot game to play at lunchtime. We kind of made fun of it behind her back.

“Good,” I answered, smiling. “I keep meaning to ask you about this whole boy-war thing. It's so lame, isn't it?”

She rolled her eyes. “It's totally out of control!”

“Right?” I said. “I feel kind of sorry for Jack. Don't you think Julian should just call it quits already?”

Ellie started twisting a strand of hair around her finger. She took a fresh juice box off the counter and popped the straw into the hole. “I don't know, Charly,” she answered. “Jack's the one who punched
him
in the mouth. Julian has every right to be mad.” She took a long sip. “I'm actually starting to think that Jack has serious anger-management issues.”

Hold up. What? I've known Ellie since forever, and the Ellie I know would never use a phrase like “anger-management issues.” Not that Ellie isn't smart, but she's not
that
smart.
Anger-management issues?
That sounded more like something Ximena Chin would say in that sarcastic way of hers. Ever since Ellie had started hanging out with Ximena and Savanna, she's been acting weirder and weirder!

Wait a minute!
I just remembered something: Ximena plays clarinet!
That
explains why Ellie switched electives! Now it's all making sense!

“Either way,” said Ellie, “I don't think we should get involved. It's a boy thing.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I answered, deciding it was better if I didn't tell Ellie I had spoken with Jack.

“So are you ready for the dance tryouts today?” she asked cheerfully.

“Yeah,” I answered, pretending to get excited. “I think Mrs. Atanabi is—”

“Ready, Ellie?” said Ximena Chin, who had just appeared out of nowhere. She nodded a quick hello my way without really looking at me, and then turned around and headed to the lunchroom exit.

Ellie dropped her unfinished juice box into the trash can, clumsily heaved her backpack onto her right shoulder, and trotted after Ximena. “See you later, Charly!” she mumbled halfway across the lunchroom.

“Later,” I answered, watching her catch up to Ximena. Together, they joined Savanna and Gretchen, a sixth grader, who were waiting for them by the exit.

The four of them were all about the same height, and they all had super-long hair, with wavy curls at the ends. Their hair colors were different, though. Savanna's was golden blond. Ximena's was black. Gretchen's was red. And Ellie's was brown. I actually wondered sometimes if Ellie hadn't gotten into that popular group because of her hair, which was just the right color and length to fit in.

My hair is white-blond, and so straight and flat, there's no way it would ever end in a curl without massive doses of hair spray. And it's short. Like me.

In Ms. Rubin's science class, we learned about Venn diagrams. You draw Venn diagrams to see the relationships between different groups of things. Like, if you want to see the common
characteristics
between mammals, reptiles, and fish, for instance, you draw a Venn diagram and list all the attributes of each one inside a circle. Where the circles intersect is what they have in common. In the case of mammals, reptiles, and fish, it would be that they all have backbones.

Anyway, I love Venn diagrams. They're so useful for explaining so many things. I sometimes draw them to explain friendships.

Ellie and me in first grade.

As you can see, Ellie and I had a lot in common. We've been friends since the first day of first grade, when Ms. Diamond put us both at the same table. I remember that day very clearly. I kept trying to talk to Ellie, but she was shy and didn't want to talk. Then, at snack time, I started ice-skating with my fingers on the top of the desk we shared. If you don't know what that is, it's when you make an upside-down peace sign and let your fingers glide over the glossy desk, like they were figure skaters. Anyway, Ellie watched me do that for a little while, and then she started ice-skating with her fingers, too. Pretty soon, we were both making figure eights all over the desk. After that, we were inseparable.

Ellie and me now.