And since they’ve always known me the way I am, they’re used to me.

We’ve known each other since we were babies. Christopher is my best friend, followed by Zachary and Alex. Have lots of friends and hang out after school and stuff like that. What I wanted was to go to school, but only if I could be like every other kid going to school. I can’t say I always wanted to go to school because that wouldn’t be exactly true. I think she’s too busy taking care of me and Via. I haven’t seen her draw anything in a long time. She once tried to draw me a Darth Vader, but it ended up looking like some weird mushroom-shaped robot. She draws really great fairies and mermaids. She used to be a children’s book illustrator. The last surgery I had was eight months ago, and I probably won’t have to have any more for another couple of years. That’s why my parents decided it was better if I didn’t go to school. But I’ve had two or three surgeries every year since then (some big, some small), and because I’m little for my age, and I have some other medical mysteries that doctors never really figured out, I used to get sick a lot. The bigger ones happened before I was even four years old, so I don’t remember those. It’s because of all the surgeries I’ve had. People think I haven’t gone to school because of the way I look, but it’s not that. Since I’ve never been to a real school before, I am pretty much totally and completely petrified. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse. I think the only person in the world who realizes how ordinary I am is me. And Mom and Dad don’t see me as ordinary, either. She says she does, but if I were ordinary, she wouldn’t feel like she needs to protect me as much. I don’t even know what the noises were exactly because I didn’t hear them myself, but Via heard and she just started yelling at the kids. Like, for instance, one time in the playground some older kids made some noises. She can get really annoyed when people do something rude. Actually, I take that back: Via’s not so good at it. We’ve all gotten pretty good at that sort of thing: me, Mom and Dad, Via. But I’m kind of used to how I look by now. Here’s what I think: the only reason I’m not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way. I would wish that I could walk down the street without people seeing me and then doing that look-away thing. If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all. I know ordinary kids don’t get stared at wherever they go. But I know ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know I’m not an ordinary ten-year-old kid.

Wonder august book