Washington State is Tessa’s lifelong home, but after London and her father’s death she begins to consider leaving it for New York City. In her conversation with Hardin, the state becomes more than a place she has always lived: it is the familiar life she is no longer sure she wants to remain in.

Setting and Personal History

Hardin points out that Tessa has spent her whole life in Washington State and has never even left the state. That history makes her plan feel like a sharp break from the limits of her previous experience, though it does not persuade her to stay. When he asks what makes her think she could live in New York City, she answers that she could live anywhere she wanted and rejects the suggestion that she is being belittled.

The Decision to Leave

Tessa says she decided to go after London and after her father passed away. Hardin reads her plan partly as a reaction to his treatment of her, asking whether his behavior made her want to pack up and leave for New York City. She does not accept his framing as the whole explanation: she says she genuinely wants to go and that Washington State has not been good to her so far.

Her answer turns the state’s long familiarity into an argument for departure rather than staying. When Hardin reminds her that she has been there her entire life, she responds that this is exactly the point. As she speaks, she pulls grass from the ground, a habitual gesture Hardin recognizes; the small act accompanies her inward withdrawal as she considers how long she has been bound to the place. Washington State thus marks both the security of the life she knows and the past from which she wants room to move.