Little Brother, Chapter 8

In Chapter Eight, we can easily see that Marcus likes Vanessa... that beyond the technology, he still cares about relationships and because of this takes time out to try and be "normal".... for a little while.

Vanessa didn't like me talking about this stuff, but she was too smart about it for me to stay away from the subject for long. We'd get together all the time, and talk about the weather and school and stuff, and then, somehow, I'd be back on this subject. Vanessa was cool when it happened — she didn't Hulk out on me again — but I could see it upset her.

We were sitting in the grass in Dolores Park after school, watching the dogs chase frisbees.

I'd known Van since forever, and when I thought of her, I usually saw the little kid I'd known with hundreds of jangly bracelets made out of sliced-up soda cans, who played the piano and couldn't dance to save her life. Sitting out there in Dolores Park, I suddenly saw her as she was.