Sam was a nice presence. He could feel it. It was a warmth that covered his whole body in a way he couldn't really describe. It made him feel exhausted. But it also made it feel less like he was drowning. "Micah, Calvin, and the others are desperate. They were scared. But I have never felt like, before in my entire life, that I was talking to a wall, telling a wall very clearly what I believed and what I want. They let those words wash over them, as if they didn't matter, and then made decisions in the... how do you say... hot moment. Before thinking the decisions through, before formulating a consensus. It felt like the words were... a kind of inconvenience for them. The entire conversation was inconvenient for them, so they rushed to do the quickest solution, even if that solution negated half of the conversation. I do not like feeling like an inconvenience. I do not like feeling..." He wasn't entirely sure how he felt. He couldn't describe his emotions adequately. He was not ashamed them, but he couldn't find the words for them. "Invisible. Silenced. I do not like feeling unheard. It makes me feel insignificant."

Solomon like this, playing little spoon to Sam, who was practically wrapped him, hugging him, was one of the very rare times that Solomon was less formal than usual. His words remained formal, disconnected from the loose way of speaking teenagers generally had, but they came out softer, his emotions overriding his usual formality.

"I feel insignificant."