How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Alan was checking the man's pulse, so Nick was the one who looked over at her and said, "It's dealt with. We don't need you."
Mum stood in the darkened hallway, watching him with pale eyes, and said at last, "I didn't come for you." (1.53-54)
Ouch. It's tough to imagine a mother uttering these words to her son, and yet… there they are. Clearly Alan's the one Mum cares about, and she has no qualms about letting Nick know just how unimportant he is to her. We're thinking Nick must have felt like the odd man out a lot of the time.
Quote #2
Nick always gravitated to […] the troublemakers in every school. The other kids avoided Nick, as if they could smell the violence on him. […] These boys thought every danger sign was a show of strength. They weren't afraid of him, and he needed a group. A boy alone got too much attention. (2.42)
Sometimes the loneliest place to be is in the middle of a crowd, and it seems like that's what Nick's got going on here. At school most kids avoid Nick, and the friends he does make? Well they're more like "friends" than friends, and Nick only hangs with them to avoid the extra attention he might draw as a loner—from concerned teachers, gossiping peers, and (perhaps) demons.
Quote #3
Mae and Jamie were not much alike, as siblings went. […] but they both had the same big brown eyes, the same heart-shaped face. They shared a few markers of kinship with each other, the small signs of shared blood that Nick would have wanted to share with Alan, and not with her [Olivia]. (2.50)
Okay, first off referring to your mom as "her" is a sure sign that the relationship needs a little work. Second, it's clear how much Nick wants to fit with Alan, which incidentally, would also give him a link to Daniel Ryves, who Alan apparently resembles quite a bit. If he had a visible connection with those two family members—instead of with the one who clearly despises him—he might not feel quite so separate.