Excerpt from One Word, Six Letters by Adib Khorram, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Honestly, you're not even sure anymore.

You've never said that word before. It's not like it's part of your vocabulary. But still, it was just a word.

Both adults wait for you, but what else is there to say?

You won't do it again. Obviously.

"That's it?" your dad asks. "You're sorry?"

A fourth sigh. Dr. Matthews is really laying it on thick, isn't he?

"As you may remember, you and your wife, and Dayton, too, signed forms acknowledging our district's zero-tolerance policy toward bullying. Under the circumstances—"

"Bullying?" your dad asks. "Dayton's not a bully."

You're almost surprised your dad defends you. But he's right: You're not a bully. You're not.

You made a mistake. If anything, Reggie was the bully. He tricked you into doing it. And he never even gave you your twenty dollars.

"His choice of language suggests otherwise," Dr. Matthews says, voice flat, and if it wasn't you in this scratchy chair, if it were some TV character and he was talking to a TV principal, you'd laugh at this part, because it came out kind of funny. Instead you cough to cover it up.

This whole thing is extremely unfunny.

"Okay, but he didn't say … whatever … at any of the students, right? So he might've been being stupid, but he wasn't bullying anyone."

You hate when your dad calls you stupid. Not everyone can be a network engineer with a photographic memory like him. He calls your brother stupid, too, sometimes. And he never says it mean, just as a statement of fact. Like he's discussing the weather. Like it's a given that no one around is as smart as him.

Still, Dr. Matthews presses his lips into a flat line and considers. Takes a breath, and, yup.

There's sigh number five.

"Regardless, there have to be consequences," he says. "Three days in-school suspension."

"Three days?" your dad nearly shouts.

"Or we can go with the seven days out-of-school that district policy mandates." For the first time, his voice sharpens, and you understand just how angry he really is. At you. For what you did.

"I'll do it," you say, surprised you can make your voice work. "The three days, I mean."

You finally meet Dr. Matthews's eyes. They don't look sad anymore; they look stern. He gives you a nod.

"All right. And if you ever do something like this again, I promise the consequences will be dire. Got it?"

You swallow.

"Got it."

Excerpted from One Word, Six Letters by Adib Khorram. Copyright © 2026 by Adib Khorram. Excerpted by permission of Henry Holt and Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.