Wonder R. J. Palacio

Out with the Old 
Miranda and Ella blasted off. They attached themselves to a new crowd destined 
for high school glory. After a week of painful lunches where all they would do 
was talk about people that didn't interest me, I decided to make a clean break 
for it. They asked no questions. I told no lies. We just went our separate ways.

---

I didn't even mind after a while. I stopped going to lunch for about a week, 
though, to make the transition easier, to avoid the fake Oh, shoot, there's no 
room for you at the table, Olivia! It was easier just to go to the library and read.
I finished 
War and Peace
in October. It was amazing. People think it's such a 
hard read, but it's really just a soap opera with lots of characters, people falling 
in love, fighting for love, dying for love. I want to be in love like that someday. I 
want my husband to love me the way Prince Andrei loved Natasha.
I ended up hanging out with a girl named Eleanor who I'd known from my days 
at PS 22, though we'd gone to different middle schools. Eleanor had always 
been a really smart girl
—a little bit of a crybaby back then, but nice. I'd never
realized how funny she was (not laugh-out-loud Daddyfunny, but full of great 
quips), and she never knew how lighthearted I could be. Eleanor, I guess, had 
always been under the impression that I was very serious. And, as it turns out, 
she'd never liked Miranda and Ella. She thought they were stuck-up.
I gained entry through Eleanor to the smart-kids' table at lunch. It was a larger 
group than I'd been accustomed to hanging out with, and a more diverse crowd. 
It included Eleanor's boyfriend, Kevin, who would definitely become class 
president someday; a few techie guys; girls like Eleanor who were members of 
the yearbook committee and the debate club; and a quiet guy named Justin who 
had small round glasses and played the violin, and who I had an instant crush 
on.
When I'd see Miranda and Ella, who were now hanging out with the super-
popular set, we'd say "Hey, what's up," and move on. Occasionally Miranda 
would ask me how August was doing, and then say "Tell him I say hello." This I 
never did, not to spite Miranda, but because August was in his own world these 
days. There were times, at home, that we never crossed paths.