True Colors: A Novel

Thirty-nine-year-old Vivi Ann spends time with Aurora at the local diner. It has been 12 years since Dallas’s arrest and four years since Aurora’s divorce; both acknowledge that they still have bad days. Vivi Ann gets called into Noah’s school, as he has gotten into a fight for the third time this school year. The principal reveals Noah has escaped suspension because his English teacher, Mrs. Ivers, thinks he deserves one last chance.

Mrs. Ivers tells Vivi Ann that Noah is lonely and unhappy; he is constantly made fun of and is also failing language arts. She suggests Vivi Ann seek counseling for Noah. In the meantime, he is to use the summer to fill up a journal with honest writing. Mrs. Ivers will meet with him every week to check his work and assign new topics, and if he completes the assignment, she will pass him on to high school.

Vivi Ann sends Noah home as she completes her afternoon lessons at Water’s Edge, which has grown immensely successful over the years. She checks in on Renegade and heads home to find Noah playing video games. Noah is surly and refuses to divulge much about the fight, except to reveal that he was called a racial slur.