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Louisa says, "I mean, I’m talking to you, do you know that? In my head, I mean. I’m telling you all sorts of things in my head, because you seem like you’re a good listener. But I don’t want to take up your thinking space. If that makes sense.”
In Part One, Charlie’s roommate in rehab, Louisa, constantly tries to communicate her story, but she does so in ways that do not help her heal because her efforts are one-sided. While Charlie is still mute, Louisa explains that she is conceptualizing her story, communicating it silently, and writing it in books that she stashes under her bed, but no one reads these stories. Communication is an act of communion. It is a connection that occurs across space and time between people with the intent to understand one another. Louisa tries to short-circuit that process and route it through herself alone. Her effort is unsuccessful in saving herself, but when Charlie reads her story, its healing power becomes clear because the circuit closes
“’Boom!’ She spreads her fingers. ‘You keep people inside you, that’s what happens. Memories and regrets swallow you up, they get fat on the very marrow of your soul and then—'”
At the very end of Part One, after ensuring that Charlie understands Ariel’s boundaries, Ariel invites her to dinner and starts trying to mentor her. Charlie still struggles communicating with others, especially about her past and herself. She feels slightly more comfortable talking about Ariel’s art pieces, which she finds sad, like light trying to escape from darkness. Still, Ariel has seen the girl’s scars and has lived long enough and endured sufficient pain to guess at Charlie’s struggles. She sympathizes, but she also knows the high cost of keeping the pain in, so she warns Charlie what will happen if she can’t find the strength to talk about it.
