S. realizes he is still alive, but has no idea how he ended up in Winter City. He says there are many people, but compares them to “a thousand leaves of tracing paper, each with one person lightly penciled on it.” The Winter City is a place of solitude, isolation, and alienation.

Jen says that she wants to leave school as soon as she finished her last exam; she doesn’t care about graduation or saying

Jen has no desire to participate in the standard ceremonies at her college graduation.

goodbye. She just wants to be with Eric, bound for Straka discoveries in Brazil. This note shows how close the two have become and also how confident Jen has become. Before, she felt helpless and obligated to attend important events and adhere to social guidelines that confined her into being “a good little girl.” Now she follows her heart.

Eric tells Jen how happy he is she is in his life, and to his surprise Jen tells the truth about the time she ran away. Eric is hurt by the fact that Jen lied. The two argue. Jen believes it doesn’t matter, it’s her traumatic story so she should be able to tell it how it makes her comfortable. Eric thinks that this kind of dishonesty is generally bad for a relationship. This exchange explores several of the book’s themes: how time can change a story, how people don’t always tell the whole truth, and the dichotomy between fact and fiction.