Wonder R. J. Palacio

The Boyfriend
Two minutes later the sister came back with this guy named Justin. Seemed like a cool 
enough dude. Longish hair. Little round glasses. He was carrying a big long shiny silver 
case that ended in a sharp point on one end.
"Justin, this is my little brother, August," said Via. "And that's Jack."
"Hey, guys," said Justin, shaking our hands. He seemed a little nervous. I guess maybe 
it was because he was meeting August for the first time. Sometimes I forget what a 
shock it is the first time you meet him. "Cool room."
"Are you Via's boyfriend?" Auggie asked mischievously, and his sister pulled his cap 
down over his face.
"What's in your case?" I said. "A machine gun?"
"Ha!" answered the boyfriend. "That's funny. No, it's a, uh . . . fiddle."
"Justin's a fiddler," said Via.
"He's in a zydeco band." "What the heck is a zydeco band?" said Auggie, looking at
me.
"It's a type of music," said Justin. "Like Creole music."
"What's Creole?" I said.
"You should tell people that's a machine gun," said Auggie. "Nobody would ever mess 
with you."
"Ha, I guess you're right," Justin said, nodding and tucking his hair behind his ears. 
"Creole's the kind of music they play in Louisiana," he said to me.
"Are you from Louisiana?" I asked.

---

"No, um," he answered, pushing up his glasses. "I'm from Brooklyn."
I don't know why this made me want to laugh.
"Come on, Justin," said Via, pulling him by the hand. "Let's go hang out in my room."
"Okay, see you guys later. Bye," he said.
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
As soon as they left the room, Auggie looked at me, smiling.
"I'm from Brooklyn," I said, and we both started laughing hysterically.
Part Five 
Justin
Sometimes I think my head is so big because it is so full of dreams. 
—John Merrick in Bernard Pomerance's 
The Elephant Man

---