Grabbing his backpack and hurriedly putting his pencil case inside it, Lowe shot his desk a last glance before zipping the bag and taking his phone off its charger. Apparently, he wasn't forgetting anything, so he hurried to the kitchen, jumping the stairs by two on two.

His father was sitting by the table. He nodded at the boy from behind a cup of coffee and sleepy eyes. They both shared a dislike for early mornings, so as two non-morning people, they had this little complicity act every day. Totally unlike his mom, who was already over-shining the room with her presence.

She got close to him to give the boy a forehead kiss. Her eyes lingered on him with a silent supplication implied in her face. She got worried after leaving him in the coffee shop and finding him with not even half of the enthusiasm she expected on the boy when he got back.

She knew that something must have happened at his gathering, but her son was unwilling to tell her. It was like he carefully organized his last days before classes to spend less time in his parents' presence.

And Sophia was right. After the abrupt end of his meeting, Lowe pondered between his way of getting back home. First, he opted for waiting a little more before sending his mom a message to pick him up. The convenience of going back home by car lured him in the option, but the prospect of having her asking how the meeting went weighed this option out. He was a poor liar, so the chances of things ending up with his mom holding an interrogation were palpable.

So he thanked the waitress, grabbed his things, and used the GPS on his phone to find his way home. In such a small town, waiting for a bus would end up being around the same time he needed to walk home, so he chose the trek.

Decided to make the best of the situation, he used the long walk home to study the path from the shop to his house. Every time he passed in front of a place that held his attention, he would make a note on his phone, and the boy discovered a few places that seemed to deserve his attention.

Using one of his commission clients as an excuse, Lowe locked himself in his room when he got home. He spent the weekend avoiding extensive interactions with his parents the best way he could, taking advantage of how he needed to find his way to college to pass some time out of the house, enjoying Cookie's company.

It worked, but he wouldn't be able to keep his act for much longer.

Even though he didn't want to talk about it at the moment and Sophia was doing her best to respect his privacy, he could see how she was getting worried. She bit down her questions, and every time she seemed ready to ask William for backup, she would change her mind at the last minute.

So the boy decided he would tell them what happened. But not right now. Now he needed to go out in the next minute if he wasn't feeling like striding his way to college. He wanted to get there early enough to explore the place a little.

Picking the first thing that he found in the kitchen cabinet that was easy enough to open and eat on the way, Lowe hurried to get his 'see you later' ritual with Cookie done. He snapped his fingers, dropped his backpack on the floor, and crouched, waiting for the impact from his running friend.

After a hug full of petting and nuzzles, he got his things and waved to his parents, running through the front door and closing it behind him. Leaning his body weight at the door, he took a deep breath, gathering the courage to go through the day.

The almost one hour and a half that he spent walking his way to college was wholly peaceful. With a better understanding of his surroundings, he decided on a path that took more time to reach his destination but explored new places that he didn't have the time to try before.

Imagining that strolling every day, with part of his route surrounded by nature, would be part of his new routine made him so glad that they had to move there. The boy stopped from time to time to take in all the sensations around him. The different smells. The diversity of scenarios.

He didn't forget about the attack, but that fact was temporarily locked in a place further away in his brain. He could only process the welcoming and inviting feeling the region exhaled. It was the most comfortable with a place he felt ever since they had to start moving so much.

Afraid of getting late on his first day, he tried to focus his attention on the rest of the way. Even though he enjoyed walking, the considerable distance was starting to reach up to him. And the growing fatigue was making him wish for a rest.

But he kept on walking, seeing the nature he loved so much slowly getting more scarce and the concrete increasing its reach in space. 

Big walls delimited the promise of a new beginning for him. The place where Lowe would weekly spend his time received him with open gates, disarming his defenses.

Unknowingly of the turmoil of events reserved for him in that place, he crossed the gates.