Felix was growing more comfortable with Jupiter Point. He liked the school and hardly ever asked for a sick day anymore. He’d made friends with another kid, a large boy who’d been held back for a year. The boy—Tanaka, from Samoa—stepped in to protect Felix from being bullied during recess. After that, they became buddies and Felix helped him with his schoolwork. It turned out he was struggling because of language issues, because no one would talk to him. They were afraid of his intimidating size.
But Felix never had any trouble talking. He’d rattle on about his current obsessions, airplanes and engines and the Alex Rider series. Sometimes Sarah joined in. She was a talker, too. Julie would take them all to the Milky Way after school and they’d work on teaching Tanaka the words “ice cream”
