[There's a long pause on his end. He's only told this story before to one other person, and that was his best friend. He'll only tell small parts to you.]

When I first got here, I joined a resistance group made of kids trying to protect the other kids here. Most joined to help, I joined for the protection it offered and to impress another kid there. This kid was....well. The first friend I made here. Maybe anywhere.

But I still wanted to do things on my own, since causing trouble was what I did. And so, she told me "We're about getting into trouble, but we're about getting into trouble together."

I didn't get it then. I guess I do now.