He uses the binoculars to see if Mrs. Rubin is there.

Nicholas dutifully raised his binoculars to see if Mrs. Rubin was there. Sadly, she wasn’t there. Nicholas was feeling horny but was depressed from having thought deeply about his situation. He put the binoculars down and put his head in his hands. He felt himself tear up so he took off his glasses, wiped the tear away and sighed. He saw out the corner of his eye that there was movement outside his window.

He put his glasses on and looked to the Shaw’s backyard but saw nothing. Then he realized the movement was from the bedroom window of the Shaws. The curtains had come down—the first time in years, except when the maid was cleaning. The room was decorated with posters on the wall of boy bands and with several big stuffed animals. Then he saw the door of the closet open wide and there must have been someone just off to the right and out of sight. Then he saw her. It was Dana, the girl who used to live next door. Or at least he thought it must have been. He didn’t really remember her very well and she didn't live there when he was regularly spying. Nicholas’s parents did not get along with the Shaws and so Nicholas only saw Dana a few times before she went to college. Nicholas picked up his binoculars and looked across.

He saw Dana’s face and immediately felt his heart flutter. She was beautiful. She had a white but slightly tanned face lightly dotted with freckles. Her hair was black and put up in a medium length bob cut. Her body was concealed by an oversized sweater with “Ohio State” on it. She smiled, apparently at one of her posters. Nicholas assumed it was a feeling of nostalgia. She had dimples when she smiled. But then the smile was gone and she began throwing clothes from her luggage towards her closet. Nicholas noticed the anger with which she moved about the room. She then sat in a huff on the bed and put her hand to her forehead. It was the telltale sign of frustration.

Nicholas had learned that in a book on human mannerisms, which had been useful because mean children had told him that he was autistic so he thought he had to learn how to interact with people. But then his mother later told him that he was not autistic and simply lacked social skills, which his mother implied were mostly useless anyway. Looking at Dana and her frustration gave Nicholas a strong feeling of empathy. She too was not happy with her situation. In that regard, they were similar, Nicholas thought. But in so many others they were not. Dana was well adjusted and normal and had parents that let her meet people, travel the world, and touch and be touched by others. And for that, Dana felt a world apart. Nicholas put down the binoculars and sighed. He wondered what she was doing home but decided to put his mind to cleaning his room. His mom would be checking it soon and she would be upset if he hadn’t.