Later, Lester was accompanied by his mother on the way to school. The boy shyly witnessed just behind  his bedroom door, the unexpected visit of Stella and the twins, as well as the behavior of all of them. Victor, who had more freckles than his brother, quickly ate the cookies as if he had been on an empty stomach for hours. Meanwhile, Benxamin politely thanked Mira and daintily ate the long-awaited feast.

But during his first class, Lester was even more surprised. When the teacher introduced his new classmates, or rather, his new neighbors.

“Good morning students. Starting today, Benxamin and Victor Dautt will be joining us. Please be nice to them,” she said as she wrote her students' names on the board. “Okay, introduce yourself guys. From what your aunt told me, you two were born on an island. What was life like there?”

“Yes, teacher. Thank you very much. We were born on an island called Hephaistos. Our mother was a general manager and owner of a hotel, but she recently passed away. As for the weather of the island, it is sunny most of the year. Its economy is based on… ” and while Benxamin spoke, the teacher was amazed at the ease with which the boy expressed himself.

“I see. I'm really sorry and… what do you two like to do? I don't know... Do you have any hobbies, dears?

“I like to read, teacher. I inherited it from our mother,” Benxamin replied with a smile.

“And you,... hmmm... You must be Victor, right?”

“Me?... I actually like… It's nothing,” he said reluctantly.

After that, the twins were assigned to their seats, which were, by some twist of fate or script, close to Lester's.

Benxamin greeted him with a bow, behavior increasingly strange to students. He was an 8 year old boy acting like an adult. Victor was another story, he yawned rudely, seemed apathetic and didn't care in the least what anyone else thought.

Suddenly, Lester felt a stomp on his right foot, caused by a boy sitting next to him.

“Wait for me in the library for lunch, Les,” murmured Marcel Witsel; the boy who was outside his apartment hours before. He was two years older than him, with reddish hair and very tall for his age. Your typical school bully and son of a naval officer. Marcel became obsessed with making Lester's life miserable.

They used to be friends, but one day, believing that his classmate would help him steal a girl's wallet, Lester refused to cooperate, making Marcel feel betrayed.

Still, there was one thing his little victim was invincible at: running, running as far as he could. He imitated what his father did when Mira got angry. James preferred to do chores, read the newspaper or leave the apartment for hours when his wife was scolding him about something or when she was upset by the neighbors' parties.

Lester was always forced to buy everything Marcel asked for, but with his parents' money - including his favorite juice. Unfortunately, on that particular day, there was no such drink. When the bully found out about him, he tried to beat him up with his entourage of tormentors. So, Lester used his father's strategy which worked perfectly, he ran through the halls and hid in one of the lockers in the music room not realizing that someone else was there.

Lester, very scared, prayed that the bell would ring for the start of the afternoon class and that Marcel would leave him alone. Suddenly, he heard a melody coming from the grand piano that was in the room. It was one of his mother's favorite songs.

Through the locker grate, Lester realized that it was Victor who was playing the piece. He felt, however innocent his thoughts seemed, that everything would be alright if only for a brief moment. He knew there was something far beyond Marcel and his friends. In the little that he knew Victor, - which was really nothing - he assimilated through the song, that he couldn't continue like this and that he had to find a way to face his bully once and for all.  

Lester didn't want his parents to know. He didn't like to cause trouble, let alone confront people. That made him the perfect prey for people like Marcel, who took advantage of his weaknesses for his own benefit. He closed his eyes as if that would prevent Marcel from finding him, but the song was interrupted by the bullies.

“Hey, you!” Marcel told Victor. “Have you seen Les?”

“Les? And who are they? Do I know?" he asked playing dumb.

“He means Lester, loser,” affirmed another guy.

“Lester, Lester... Nope... I don't know who he is, idiot.”

Victor's irreverence infuriated Marcel and he ordered his friends - three young men who followed him everywhere - not to let him escape as he didn't tolerate his attitude.

“You're dead,” Marcel said.

As they surrounded him with the intention of assaulting him, Lester stepped out of the locker and begged for mercy.

“P-please don't h-hurt him.”

That effusive reaction on his part made him instantly regret having rebelled against Marcel's dictatorial system. It was the first time in Lester's short life that he had faced someone to protect another person. Being aware of the consequences of his actions and that from that moment on his school life would be hell.

His hands trembled and he began to cry uncontrollably. But to his surprise, Victor took his hands so they could escape together.

“Hurry up! Let's go to the classroom, crybaby,” he said.

Marcel got in the way by throwing a garbage can at their feet. What seemed like triumph for this bully turned to fear as he looked Victor square in the eye. It was too hard to explain, but he could literally hurt anyone who got in his way just by the expressions on his face and how intimidating his green eyes were. Marcel took a deep breath, stepped back and let them pass.

Lester didn't say anything but he too had noticed Victor's sinister look. A few minutes later, he tried to thank him. But since he didn't feel comfortable talking to him, he just smiled at the sky.