Just off the phone with Solomon, Lisa is surprised by her own success. Her surprise leads to initial disbelief that “maybe this kid would be easier to help than she’d expected” (49). She calls Clark at his dad’s house to share the news. Initially, Clark expresses some jealousy, but Lisa reassures him by visiting him. At school the next day, Lisa researches “agoraphobia,” which she assumes is Solomon’s diagnosis. She suspects that Solomon will defend his choice to stay indoors as the best decision for himself, but she resolves that “there’s a thin line between accepting one’s fears and giving in to them altogether” (51). Lisa acknowledges that it will be difficult at times to be his counselor disguised as a friend but believes that curing Solomon will make any wrongs right in the end. Lisa decides to be patient with her experiment and resolves herself to think of the goal when the process becomes complicated.

Then, Lisa is outside of Solomon’s house with baked cookies. This is the moment she has been planning for, but there is still much unknown. When Solomon opens the door for her, she is struck by how normal he seems, and even how handsome he is.