“That’s Branton, Michigan, by the way. Don’t try to find it on a map—you’d need a microscope. It’s one of a dozen dinky towns north of Lansing, one of the few that doesn’t sound like it was named after a French explorer. Branton, Michigan. Population: Not a Lot and Yet Still Too Many I Don’t Particularly Care For.”

This passage introduces Branton, the setting of Posted. Branton is a small town that could be mistaken for any other small town, meaning that the town itself doesn’t matter to the story. Furthermore, Posted could take place anywhere and garner the same result as Branton. This description also introduces Eric’s narrative voice and establishes him as someone younger readers can relate to.

“Point is, none of us is alone. We might feel alone sometimes, but more often than not we are just lonely. There’s a difference. We aren’t alone because it’s basic human nature to band together. Herd mentality. We are programmed to find our people.”

Eric reflects on the idea that everyone (children and adults) finds their “tribe,” people who they deem similar to themselves. Rather than being avoidant or exclusive, this behavior makes people feel comfortable, and people like to feel comfortable. Tending toward “similar” people is not meant as a slight toward “different” people. Eric also touches on the difference between being alone and loneliness. Being alone is a choice—choosing not to surround yourself with other people. Loneliness is a natural feeling that comes at moments when people think they are alone in the world.

“I have this theory. I call it the theory of socio-magnetic homogeny. A bunch of big words, but it basically says that people gravitate toward people who share their interests and whatnot. Band kids will hang out with other band kids. People with pierced tongues will hang out with people with pierced noses. The basketball players will clump together like cat hair on a sofa. Kids whose lawyer fathers drive heated-leather-seated sports cars hang with other kids whose lawyer fathers drive heated-leather-seated sports cars. There are exceptions, of course, but all other things being equal, you merge with the crowd that reminds you the most of you.

It’s not that original, I guess. And it’s mostly just common sense, but I took it one step further. My theory has to do with the people who don’t find people just like them. These people—they find each other. And then they realize that not finding people like them is the thing they have in common. That’s what happened to me, I think. I found the people who weren’t quite like other people, and we used that difference as glue.”

Eric builds on his earlier discussion of “herd mentality” to include people who feel like they don’t belong anywhere. Eric believes he, Deedee, Wolf, and Bench gravitated toward each other because they had no one else, not because they had anything in common.