Auggie & Me Read Free

and nudged Jack with my elbow. We loved egging Charlotte Cody on. She was always such a Goody Two-shoes!
    â€œThis is so messed up,” said Jack, rubbing his hand over his face.
    â€œWhat is?” I asked.
    â€œDo you know who this new kid is?” he asked. I shook my head.
    â€œYou know who he is, right?” Jack said to Charlotte, looking up at her.
    Charlotte walked down the stairs toward us. “I think so,” she said. She made a face, like she had just tasted something bad.
    Jack shook his head and then smacked it three times with his palm.
    â€œI’m such an idiot for saying yes to this!” he said, his teeth clenched.
    â€œWait, who is it?” I said. I pushed Jack’s shoulder so he’d look at me.
    â€œIt’s that kid called August,” he said to me. “You know, the kid with the face?”
    I had no idea who he was talking about.
    â€œAre you kidding me?” said Jack. “You never seen that kid before? He lives in this neighborhood! He hangs out in the playground sometimes. You have to have seen him. Everyone has!”
    â€œHe doesn’t live in this neighborhood,” answered Charlotte.
    â€œYes he does!” Jack answered impatiently.
    â€œNo,
Julian
doesn’t live in this neighborhood,” she answered, just as impatiently.
    â€œWhat does that have to do with anything?” I said.
    â€œWhatever!” Jack interrupted. “It doesn’t matter. Trust me, dude, you’ve never seen anything like this before.”
    â€œPlease don’t be mean, Jack,” Charlotte said. “It’s not nice.”
    â€œI’m not being mean!” said Jack. “I’m just being truthful.”
    â€œWhat, exactly, does he look like?” I asked.
    Jack didn’t answer. He just stood there, shaking his head. I looked at Charlotte, who frowned.
    â€œYou’ll see,” she said. “Let’s just go already, okay?” She turned around and went up the stairs and disappeared down the hall to Mr. Tushman’s office.
    â€œLet’s just go already, okay?” I said to Jack, imitating Charlotte perfectly. I thought this would totally make him laugh, but it didn’t.
    â€œJack, dude, come on!” I said.
    I pretended to give him a hard slap in the face. This actually did make him laugh a bit, and he threw a slow-motion punch back at me. This led to a quick game of “spleen,” which is where we try to jab each other in the rib cage.
    â€œGuys, let’s go!” Charlotte commanded from the top of the stairs. She had come back to get us.
    â€œGuys, let’s go!” I whispered to Jack, and this time he did kind of laugh.
    But as soon as we rounded the corner of the hallway and got to Mr. Tushman’s office, we all got pretty serious.
    When we went inside, Mrs. Garcia told us to wait in Nurse Molly’s office, which was a small room to the side of Mr. Tushman’s office. We didn’t say anything to each other while we waited. I resisted the temptation to make a balloon out of the latex gloves that were in a box by the exam table, though I know it would have made everyone laugh.

Mr. Tushman
    Mr. Tushman came into the office. He was tall, kind of thin, with messy gray hair.
    â€œHey, guys,” he said, smiling. “I’m Mr. Tushman. You must be Charlotte.” He shook Charlotte’s hand. “And you are . . .?” He looked at me.
    â€œJulian,” I said.
    â€œJulian,” he repeated, smiling. He shook my hand.
    â€œAnd you’re Jack Will,” he said to Jack, and shook his hand, too.
    He sat down on the chair next to Nurse Molly’s desk. “First of all, I just want to thank you guys so much for coming here today. I know it’s a hot day and you probably have other stuff you want to do. How’s the summer been treating you? Okay?”
    We all kind of nodded, looking at each other.
    â€œHow’s the summer been for