"Is this an island filled with very tiny people?" Mathias asks, quirking a smile again as he caps his bottle once more and returns it to his backpack. "Or am I just really that tall?"

His smile makes it clear he's teasing; he knows he's tall, he's known all his life, especially when he towered over most of the kids his age in middle school. "I've always have very short girlfriends," he adds thoughtfully. "One complained that talking to me gave her a sore neck."