Alex knows that Laurie and Sol both have strong personalities, feeling “filled […] with terror and dread” (64) at the thought of them meeting. Yet Laurie is insistent that she get to meet Sol after hearing so many stories about him, and Alex finally gives in. Alex and Laurie convince Alex’s mother to let him leave the house for this one special outing.

At their first interaction, Alex watches in horror as Sol and Laurie begin to easily converse, sparring wittily back and forth. Sol teases them about their closeness and how intensely Alex looks at Laurie, saying that he should “start calling [Alex Laurie’s] husband” (71). Though Alex is confused, Laurie and Sol continue talking happily. Before departing, Sol tricks Laurie into fluffing his pillows until Alex comes back from the nurse’s desk and stops the charade. 

The next time that Alex is scheduled to meet with Sol, he’s late after jazz band practice, where he had been struggling with the music. At the hospital, Nurse Case explains that Sol is at hydrotherapy and Alex can wait for a little while, so he goes into Sol’s room and continues practicing his music, finally “starting to get the