Cora never seemed to understand why Ace was being nice to her. That made him think that she was used to being treated terribly. Or, at the very least, ignored. She really didn't have a lot of faith in people. She had said they were terrible before. Something must have happened to make her believe that.
She continued to be defensive and confused about why he was being nice to her. When he said it was because they were friends, she said that she wasn't a good friend to have.
Ace didn't buy that. She had her issues but she was nice about Drew and that was something most people didn't manage to do.
He said that she didn't have to feel bad about relying on friends—because she clearly did—and she whispered, as if to herself, that she wasn't allowed to rely on anyone. Which meant that she had before and was let down. By who? Who hurt her so badly that she had to wall herself off from the world?
