- On the island, Cole is consumed with the idea that no one cares about him or understands him. Even Garvey—the only person who hasn't given up on him—is an idiot and can't possibly understand.
- In his mind, even his parents don't care about him. They just dump him on each other now that they're divorced, spending most of their time drinking and arguing. (Some hobbies, right?) In fact, Cole is convinced they'd be happier if he was dead.
- He remembers how once in the detention center, Garvey visited with a bag of groceries. He asked Cole about whether his dad hit him, and then he laid out all these baking supplies and told Cole to taste a little bit of everything.
- Cole did it and said that everything tasted nasty, but then Garvey handed him a slice of cake. When Cole said it was good (mmm…cake), Garvey explained that it was made with all of the ingredients on the table—the things that tasted bad alone are so good when combined.
- As Cole sits on the island and watches his shelter burn, he thinks about his life back home and how he'd been beaten by his drunken father, ignored by his mother, and treated like garbage by the people around him. Good times (not).
- Even though he doesn't want to go to jail, the fact that his parents went along with the Circle Justice idea and their son being away for a year hurts him. That's when he starts to cry and laugh at the same time. Clearly he has some issues.
- Then Cole runs toward the shore and pulls off all his clothes. His plan is to jump into the water and swim from island to island until he reaches the mainland. Then he'll escape once and for all.