BooksBarbecue
Back VICTOR Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Cover
  2. PART I
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. PART II
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. PART III
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. PART IV
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. PART V
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. PART VI
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. ALSO BY THEODORA TAYLOR
  44. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Because he’s Korean!” Aniyah answered for him out loud as I put a piece of wax paper over Lara’s bead project and started ironing.

“No, that ain’t Lara’s dad,” another kid named Ryan spoke and signed, his voice ringing with the authority of the future mansplainer. “Lara’s dad works with my dad at Price Rite. He shorter than my dad. And he don’t got tattoos.”

I was laughing at their sincere debate until they got to the word “tattoos.”

I stilled over the iron, the bony fingers of the past crawling up my spine.

And I jumped when Ms. Marge laid a hand on my shoulder.

“Oh, sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said, with an apologetic chuckle. “There’s a very interesting-looking man here to see you. He doesn’t speak, I guess. But he gave me a note with the name Victor.”

My heart stopped beating.

And of course, the kids chose that moment to burst into, “Ooohhhh! Miss Dawn’s got a boyfriend! Miss Dawn’s got a boyfriend!”

PART II

The opposite of love

7

VICTOR

Dawn had girlfriends now. They showed up daily at their lunch table and often flirted with Byron, who they’d decided couldn’t really like boys, based on the way he flirted back. They always seemed to be buzzing around her locker when Victor visited her there between classes, sneaking curious looks at him and giggling behind their hands. Dawn assured Victor that she didn’t have “all these” friends before he showed up.

“I think you get them when you win a boyfriend,” she claimed, her tone dead serious. “Like some kind of bonus prize for finally doing something socially acceptable.”

But the friends he found gathered around her when he went to pick her up from her last class that Tuesday afternoon in January weren’t like the others. A few of them wore glasses. And though none of them were curvy like Dawn, they talked in the same overly enthusiastic way, with big hand gestures and lines delivered while laughing.

Victor hung back and watched them debate about the quality level of some anime he’d never heard of.

Eventually, one of the friends he’d never seen before asked her when she was coming back to the art club.

That was also when Dawn noticed Victor waiting at the end of the hallway for her.

“I have to go,” she told the other girls instead of answering. “See you tomorrow!”

She didn’t walk to him. She ran, not bothering to hide how happy she was to see him.

“Moshi! Moshi!” she said, even though that greeting was only meant to be used on the phone. “Why didn’t you come over and get me? I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”