That's... he feels both reassured and not. The fundamental nature of reality is such that he can still predict things based on the past; but on the other hand, he can't help but feel that this meta multiversal logic is one way things could work and it follows from itself that there could be other ways for it to work...

This is confusing and he really doesn't know that he understands.

where am I, really? like, this me, the me writing on this notebook right now, I've been thinking of myself as a story being in a story but that can't be what's happening because stories are just ink on paper, they may be about something that's really happening somewhere but there's a somewhere where they're really happening and that somewhere isn't the ink on the paper

Because actually fancy fourth-wall leanings aside he can't really be in a story in a fundamental sense. Sure, if the vast multiverse is such that someone is writing a story about him, then yeah that's a sense in which he's in a story but there's still a him there having thoughts and perceiving the world and, and. He doesn't know how to think about any of this.

sorry I thought I was done with the existential freakout earlier but I guess I wasn't

You're really here and really in this world having these experiences! And it might also be true that someone somewhere is writing a story about you, or making a movie, or something like that. Maybe someday you'll find a world where you can read that book or watch that movie. But that doesn't have to mean that you "are" the ink on the page; you're still you, and your choices and experiences are still as real as they've always been. You are the somewhere where the story is really happening, and for you the "really happening" part is much more relevant than the "story" part, even though the "story" part is much more relevant to you now than it ever is to most people. And there might not even be a book or a movie exactly; the story level might just be happening inside your own narrativization of your experiences, or in the Spirit's perception of you, or something like that.

It makes sense that you're still having trouble! You can take your time to think things through and get used to the idea. I would offer you a hug but I am a notebook. You can hug me anyway but I'm told the corners detract from the experience.

but the Spirit is still very definitely changing my life into in ways that make it more like a story, and

"Pete?"

He doesn't quite shriek but he jumps and slams the notebook shut as fast as if he'd been drawing porn in public. "Uh, hi, Jess," he says, heart racing and voice unsteady in a way he's very sure is incredibly noticeable.

"...is everything okay?" she asks, looking around at the classroom that is now empty except for herself, her friend Anna, and Peter.

"Bet you he was writing smut," Anna says with a smirk.

Jessica blushes. "It's none of our business if he is."

"He was distracted all class."

"Um, no. I, uh," entirely failed to notice the bell and everyone leaving. "...something kinda personal and important happened and I've been, uh, journaling to process it before I have to deal with it."

"...oh, shit. Sorry."

"And that's why you don't make that kind of dumb joke," says Jessica primly. Then she softens and looks at Peter again. "Any way we can help?"

"It's really not that kind of thing. I'll be fine? It's—overall good? Just a lot. And very hard to talk about and personal and I needed some time to digest it and figure it out and..."

"You were making lots of faces."

"I'm very pretty and want to make sure everyone knows of all the gorgeous ways I can look."

"Aaaand I'm out of sympathy again."

"Are you having lunch with us today?"

"Yeah, just let me finish this thought here and I'll join you guys. Save me a seat?"

"Will do."

When he opens it again, the notebook is waiting patiently for him to finish!

I think actually I need to take a break to think about a bunch of this stuff

I'll probably have more questions for you as I do that but the break part is probably important

also whoever told you you're not huggable because of your corners has absolutely no idea what they're talking about, notebooks and books in general are absolutely very huggable and once I'm not in public actually no one's in this classroom at all right now so I'll just hug you anyway to prove a point. well not just to prove a point, I also want to hug you, but also to prove a point

And he does, in fact, hug the notebook.

When he opens the notebook again after that, it has drawn little hearts all over that paragraph.

anyway gonna go now, it's been a pleasure even if it's also been a very wild ride, I'll come back to you once I have more thoughts in order and/or have more questions to ask

Okay! I'll be waiting!

He puts his stuff away, notebook included, slings his bag over one shoulder, and goes to have lunch with his friends.