Justin’s chapters look differently than the rest of the book because most sentences and names aren’t capitalized. At the beginning of this chapter, he recounts meeting Auggie for the first time, how he tries to act normal despite being shocked at Auggie’s syndrome, and how Auggie and Jack Will ask him whether his fiddle is a gun—a joke he’s heard many times before. He and Via have been dating for about two months, and he’s liked her ever since she first sat down at his lunch table. She didn’t bring up Auggie until later, perhaps because she was afraid of telling him. She tries explaining Auggie, but “[…] the one word she didn’t use was ‘deformed,’ though, because that word would have registered with me” (188). Via asks him what he thinks of Auggie and whether he’s scared. Justin says he isn’t, which seems to relieve Via. She admits that she used to have friends who never came back after seeing Auggie.

Justin gives Via a heart necklace for Valentine’s Day, and she gives him a messenger bag that she’s made from old C.D.s. Though he thinks she’ll do well as an artist, Via wants to be a scientist.