One Word, Six Letters

Told entirely in second person and alternating chapter by chapter between two freshman narrators, the novel follows Dayton Reilly and Farshid Nafari through their first year at Meadowbrook High School in Kansas City.

In September, Dayton, a white fourteen-year-old, shouts a homophobic slur during a school assembly featuring a visiting poet. He does it on a dare from a classmate named Reggie for twenty dollars. Dr. Matthews, the principal, offers him three days of in-school suspension instead of the district-mandated seven days out of school. Dayton accepts, insisting he is not a bully and viewing the incident as a thoughtless joke he can move past.

Farshid Nafari, an Iranian-American classmate and member of the Bahá'í faith whose family emigrated from Iran when he was three, hears the slur reverberating through the hallways. He cannot tell whether classmates are repeating the word to retell Dayton's story or directing it at him. He establishes a rule: Do not react; do not let anyone see it bothers you. He does not think he is gay, but the question nags at him, and he resents having to confront it at fourteen.

Dayton is grounded without his phone. His older brother, Marshall, tells him he needs to take real accountability. When Dayton messages his best friend, Cooper Norton, from Marshall's phone, Cooper's only reply is "We figured." Dayton reassures himself things will blow over. Meanwhile, Farshid's mother asks if he is being bullied. He lies, knowing the slur would raise questions about his sexuality he is not ready to answer.

During his suspension, Dayton befriends Brody Connors, another freshman serving time for a crude joke. Brody treats Dayton's outburst as "epic" and punctuates his speech with "no homo," a verbal tic Dayton does not question. On his last day, Dayton writes an apology letter to the poet he disrupted. When he returns to regular classes, Cooper and Tyler, his other close childhood friend, both cut him off. Cooper explains that a teacher implied guilt by association with Dayton. Dayton channels his hurt into his bond with Brody, who becomes his new best friend.

By November, Farshid has thrown himself into an intense fitness regimen at a local boxing gym, training twice daily under Coach Nico, a young former mixed martial arts fighter. He tracks his macronutrient intake obsessively and refuses most carbohydrates. His friend Nour, a Palestinian-Jordanian classmate, invites him to attend Rainbow Coalition (RC), the school's LGBTQ+ alliance club, as an ally. There, Farshid meets Cooper, also attending as an ally. Farshid notices, with increasing frequency, how good Cooper smells.

In conditioning class, Farshid and Dayton are paired as exercise partners. Their forced proximity produces flashes of connection, but each is extinguished by Farshid's refusal to let his guard down. Brody mutters the slur about Farshid under his breath after class one day; Dayton objects, but Brody dismisses him. Frustrated by Farshid's persistent coldness, Dayton confronts him, blurting out that he did not know Farshid is gay and that he is sorry. Farshid shouts that he is not gay and storms out as the entire class watches.

Farshid's food restriction and body obsession deepen. He clashes with his mother at a Bahá'í celebration over the food she piles on his plate, shouting at her in front of their community. Meanwhile, Brody's behavior escalates: He insults Tyler's weight at a bookstore, and Dayton objects but accepts Brody's argument that his old friends abandoned him. After an RC service event, someone writes the slur on the meeting room's whiteboard, devastating Farshid.

In January, Dayton falls under suspicion for the whiteboard vandalism, though his alibi is confirmed. He develops a crush on Mariana Herrera, a girl in his German class, but Brody sabotages the connection with a crude comment that disgusts her. At the Sweetheart Dance, Mariana rejects Dayton by quoting Brody's vulgarity. Farshid attends the dance with Hope Wang, a classmate who asked him, but only as friends. When he imagines romance, he thinks not about Hope but about Cooper.

On her birthday, Farshid's mother confronts him about how little he eats and how much he exercises. Farshid erupts, making a cruel remark about her own eating. She leaves his room in tears. Alone, he recognizes that beneath his anger is a deep, consuming fear of who he really is.

In March, Farshid goes to Dayton's house to finish a history project. The session devolves into their most heated argument. Dayton needles Farshid about rejecting Hope; Farshid fires back that Dayton has never attended Rainbow Coalition, never made amends, and never told Brody to stop. Farshid nearly reveals his secret, shouting that Dayton does not know what it is like to wonder if people know you are, before choking on the words and fleeing. Dayton replays the unfinished sentence and grasps, for the first time, the specific harm his slur caused.

Farshid runs home, terrified Dayton will tell everyone. When his mother demands to know why he is so angry, he breaks down: "Because if I do you won't love me!" His mother holds him and assures him that she and his father crossed an ocean for the love of their children. Farshid comes out to her, then to his father and his sister, Jina, when they arrive home, and to his older brother, Nadeem, the next day.

On Monday, Farshid surprises Dayton by apologizing, and they finish their project in the library. Farshid also comes out to Cooper by asking him on a date. Cooper gently declines but says he is honored by the trust. As they talk, Farshid spots Brody nearby and fears he overheard. Despite this, Farshid reflects that his family still loves him, Cooper is still his friend, and the world has not ended.

Days later, Dayton catches Brody and Reggie defacing Farshid's locker with the slur in thick marker. Brody confirms he overheard Farshid asking out Cooper; Reggie adds a racist remark. Dayton orders them to stop, then goes to the office and reports both of them. Brody and Reggie each receive seven-day suspensions.

Dr. Matthews tells Farshid about the defaced locker and that Dayton reported it. After school, Farshid overtrains at the gym until Coach Nico intervenes, sharing his own history of unhealthy weight-cutting and introducing the concept of body dysmorphia, a distorted perception of one's own body. Coach Nico tells Farshid he will not coach him until Farshid sees a professional. Farshid comes out to Coach Nico, who responds warmly, and accepts half a Snickers bar, a small but significant departure from his rigid eating rules.

Dayton visits Brody's house, hoping to salvage their friendship. Brody refuses, saying friends do not rat each other out. Dayton tells him friends are supposed to make each other better and leaves, certain he would make the same choice again. Cooper approaches Dayton separately, apologizing for cutting him off in September and offering a fist bump. Dayton acknowledges the apology but does not return the gesture, unsure if he is ready. Marshall tells Dayton he is proud of him.

The novel ends at an RC meeting in late March. Farshid, now in therapy and eating a snickerdoodle, watches Cooper bring Dayton through the door for the first time. Some members welcome Dayton; others eye him warily. Farshid reflects on the harm Dayton caused but also on the fact that Dayton reported the vandalism and showed up. Dayton approaches and says hey. Farshid's throat clamps shut. He recognizes that he now holds the power: One word from him can shape Dayton's future in this space. The novel closes without revealing his answer.