Really? [Koby sounds dubious.] I would've been your friend. I was also weird, though. I liked reading and looking at maps and fishing and daydreaming. The other girls thought I was so strange... [Then, laughing:] A mermaid? Really?

Yeah. Yeah, it was terrible. It was awful. [Saying it makes Koby shiver a little, hands curling into fists where they rest on his legs.]