After Julio throws a punch at Ben for knocking him over, and after Ben very kindly saves both of the boys from getting into trouble with their principal, the two become friends. They bond over a long, friendly phone call and, we assume, many routine interactions at school that we don’t actually read about.
Let’s see exactly how this unusual friendship blossomed.
As Chapter 4 opens, it’s Julio’s first day at his new school. It is a place that fills him with dread, bitterness, and anxiety. Facing the “tall, brown, ugly building” with a frown, noting how “damp and depressing” it appears, he wonders how he’ll ever navigate “that giant jail.” Julio is already brimming with fear and anger when a fellow student with conspicuously green hair accidentally crashes into him. In response, Julio punches this unfortunate stranger:
“All of [Julio’s] anger and frustration exploded in the center of the green-haired boy’s face.”
Students cluster around them, urging them to fight, and the principal bursts onto the scene. To Julio’s amazement, the green-haired boy, Ben, speaks up to defend Julio and keep him out of trouble:
“‘Mr. Prince! Nobody’s fighting! This dude here was just trying to help me up.’”
It works. The boys are free to go. And, Ben impresses Julio again with his insight, showing Julio that he understands how he’s feeling:
“‘I could see you had some issues that had nothing to do with me. Am I right?’”
In that moment, the boys bond. Julio’s anger and anxiety ease up, and he says to himself, “Amazing dude, that Ben.”
Later, in Chapter 6, Ben looks up Julio’s telephone number and calls him up after school, and the boys get to know each other as they share a long, friendly conversation.
In between that phone call and Chapter 10, we assume that the boys spend time together at school and enjoy each other's company, because it's in Chapter 10 that the friendship has definitely solidified: “Ben was a friend who could always make [Julio] laugh.”
As readers, we feel relieved and happy for Julio. He had been so anxious and angry about having to transfer to a new school. He was homesick for Corpus Christi- he missed its warm weather and beautiful magnolia trees- and now here’s Ben, offering his friendship immediately to Julio, easing his transition to life in Cincinnati.
As savvy readers, we smile and say “ah ha!”, finding satisfaction in how a character named “Ben” has entered the story to befriend the male protagonist. We expected that, because we know that this novel is roughly parallel to the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet, and in that play, the male protagonist’s best friend (and cousin) is named Benvolio. And, we're happy to see that in Ben's first scene, he's averting a fistfight, exactly as Benvolio does in Romeo and Juliet.
Finally, as word lovers, we find it perfect that Julio’s kind, open-hearted, magnanimous new friend is named Ben, because we recognize his name’s similarity to words like “benevolent,” “benefactor,” and “benediction”—words for kind, helpful, warm-spirited people. We’re satisfied that Julio has crossed paths with, and connected so warmly with, Ben.
For more details, please see our chapter summaries, specifically for Chapters 4, 6, and 10.
In chapter 4, Ben and Julio meet under rather strange circumstances, but it ultimately leads to a friendship.
They meet in school when they literally bump into each other. Ben falls through the doorway to school, accidentally knocking Julio down. Julio, immediately on edge, punches Ben, and it seems like a fight is about to break out. But as the two are talking to the principal, Ben covers for Julio, saying that he slipped on a piece of ice. This act of kindness from a stranger disarms Julio, and the principal lets them go.
Walking back to class, the boys become acquainted. Julio inquires as to why Ben covered for him, and Ben simply says that he thought Julio was having a tough time adjusting to a new school and that he holds no grudge against him. Julio starts to warm to his new school and feels like he may have made a friend.
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