Chapter 74: Olivia’s Brother

Part 5 of Wonder is told in the voice of Olivia’s boyfriend, Justin. He admits that he is shocked when he first meets August. Even though Olivia has prepared him by describing August’s appearance and his problems, Justin assumed all the surgeries would have done more good. But August actually looks pretty scary.

Justin tries to conceal his feelings, but he is not sure he succeeds:

Surprise is one of those emotions that can be hard to fake. . . . whether you’re trying to look surprised when you’re not or trying to not look surprised when you are.

Justin and Olivia have been dating for two months. He liked her immediately, but he was scared to ask her out because she seemed standoffish. She is not a flirty girl, and she looks people directly in the eye when she talks to them. Justin took this as a challenge and looked at her right back. They got along well, so he asked her out. He was surprised but thrilled when she said yes.

Now, when Olivia takes Justin to her room, she seems nervous to hear his reaction to August. Justin lies and says he does not find August shocking, but she sees right through him. She tells him that when she was little, most kids refused to come back to her house after they saw August the first time. She says it was not meanness, just fear. People do not know how to handle August. She asks Justin if he can handle it, and Justin says he can. This makes Olivia smile, but he is not sure she believes him.

Chapter 75: Valentine’s Day

On Valentine’s Day, Justin and Olivia exchange gifts, and they go out to dinner with Olivia’s family. This is the first time he has met her parents, and he is so nervous that all his tics come out. Usually he is not bad, but stress like this makes the tics very noticeable.

But Olivia’s parents are extremely kind. They pretend not to notice the tics, just as they pretend not to notice the waiter’s reaction to August’s face. They ask all about Justin’s fiddle and his band. He marvels that by the end of dinner, they probably know more about him than his own parents do.

After dinner, everyone goes to Olivia’s house for ice cream, and they see that the dog, Daisy, has thrown up. Olivia’s dad cuddles the dog and tells a story about buying the dog from a bum on the street. He makes it a funny story, and everyone laughs.

It amazes Justin how often the members of Olivia’s family say they love each other. His family never says such things. His parents are divorced, and they seem interested in him mainly to keep track of milestones. Every time he gets old enough to do a new thing for himself, they act happy and make it his responsibility. Meanwhile, they have less and less to do with him. 

Olivia’s family is different. By the time Justin leaves, he hardly has tics at all.