Barrier by Patrick Jones

Author:Patrick Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group

11

CAN SHAMAN WARRIOR SLAY THE DRAGON?

Dylan devoured his sandwich in about four quick bites. Tonisha drank milk and dipped her hands into a box of animal crackers, eating them one at a time. Instead of my normal lunch of smoke and solitude, I sucked down Altoids with my mom’s paranoid voice running through my head, telling me not to choke on them.

“So, do we want to start by telling a little about ourselves?” Mr. Aaron asked, which was odd since I knew Tonisha and Dylan from language arts. The four of us sat in Mrs. Howard-Hernandez’s classroom. She ate lunch at her desk, headphones on, grading papers. “Or jump right in with manga?”

“Manga!” Dylan and Tonisha said at the same time, which made everybody laugh. Once we settled, Tonisha started talking in detail about some of her favorite series. Every now and then, Dylan would agree with something she said, or Mr. Aaron—who didn’t seem to know that much about it—would ask questions. I waited my turn.

“The books are way better than the anime, way better,” Tonisha said about one of my favorite series. So, just as I had practiced with Nina Martin, I stuck a toe in the shallow end.

“I agree, Tonisha.” Agree with someone first, use their name, and smile. Three for three.

“What’s your favorite series?” Mr. Aaron asked me. A couple times before, he had glanced at me, trying to prod me with his eyes to speak, but now he’d finally called me out.

And as I had role-played in our session and then practiced until late last night, I provided a short summary of Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You. “The main character is a girl named Sadako, but her classmates call her something else because she resembles a scary character in a famous horror movie. So … she’s feared and misunderstood because of her looks. But, despite her appearance, she’s a sweet and timid girl who longs to be able to make friends with everyone and be liked by everyone. It has great artwork and stories.”

“Sounds cool,” Dylan said. “Is there an anime series?”

“Only on DVD in Japan, but you can find it on YouTube.”

“Cool. Thanks, Jessica,” Dylan said. Thank you for that smile, I thought.

I followed up with my well-rehearsed line. “Dylan, what is your favorite manga series?”

Dylan answered quickly, “Shaman Warrior.”

We waited for details from Dylan, but none followed, so Tonisha took over. “That isn’t true manga, ’cause it’s not Japanese. It’s manhwa. Like all the best series, it’s Korean.”

Mr. Aaron jumped in. “Why is Korean better, Tonisha?”

“First, because I speak Korean. My mom’s Korean.” She kept going. For someone who hadn’t wanted to read her six-word memoir in front of the class, Tonisha revealed a lot. We eventually got back to books before the bell.

“So, good first meeting, everyone,” Mr. Aaron said, and applauded, per usual for meetings with him.

“When do we meet next?” Dylan asked Mr. Aaron.

“How about once a week, on Thursdays at lunch?” Heads nodded all around, including mine.

Tonisha started to talk about the anime club at her old high school while I gathered up my things.

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