A List of Cages

This chapter is narrated by Julian and takes place immediately after school lets out. Julian cuts through the park on his way home from school instead of walking through neighborhoods because it makes him feel that he is taking this route on purpose "instead of avoiding Jared and the bus like a coward" (26) Julian's mind drifts back to Jared, when they were in grammar school together. He remembers how Jared pinched other children, knocked down children's blocks, and scribbled all over their art work. Julian recalls how he went home and told his mother that Jared was mean, but his mother told him there are no mean children in the world, just unhappy ones. The next time Jared kicked down Julian's block tower, Julian put his hand on Jared's shoulder and told Jared it was okay, saying, "'I know you're just unhappy,'" but Jared punched Julian in the eye anyway (27).Julian remembers developing a sympathy for Jared, as Julian’s mother said he would. He watches Jared, lonely with no friends, "hiding under the wooden beams […] like a real-life kindergarten troll" (27).

Julian arrives back at Russell's house and opens the trunk his parents gave to him. He takes out a green spiral notebook that he grabbed before his parents' belongings were boxed and stored away like all their other things.