Prologue

1995

The class is utterly boring again. He has a hard time paying attention, so Leo's eyes are wandering off from the face of Mrs Robertson, his math teacher, towards the window. He is thinking about his project at home and tries to figure out why his drone got off balance a few minutes after take-off.

"Leo, Leo." He hears someone calling him. His exasperated math teacher is standing in front of his desk. "I would appreciate an answer, young man." She says sternly.

"Yes, Mrs Robertson. Would you mind repeating the question please?" he asks politely. His classmates start to stare and giggle. Leo ignores them.

"If only you paid attention, Leo. You have such potential." sighs Mrs Robertson. "Could you please tell us what a parallel is?"

"Most certainly. Parallel lines are lines in a plane which do not meet, intersect or touch each other. They cannot share a single point." he replies. "At least not in a Euclidean space." he adds quickly.

Mrs Robertson looks at him with surprise. "I would like to talk to your parents, Leo." she says after a moment of stunned silence.

Leo shrugs then nods, but he is worried. Dad has a tendency to get worked up after these meetings and that usually means more yelling. All Leo wants is to go home, hide in his room and figure out the balance problem of his flying Lego drone.

Chapter 1

1997

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Leopold." his father is angry now. Leo knows the signs; he is spinning out of control and there is no stopping. He keeps staring at his shoes trying to filter out the screaming. He is nervously fidgeting with a coupling that was in his hands when his father stormed into the room fuming.

"How could you be so stupid again? I have to sit through the smug headmistress' speech about how my son let half the class copy his homework. That he is a bad influence on others. What's wrong with you?"

Leo knows that it's useless, but still he tries to defend himself. "Dad, I'm sorry, I was only trying to help Dave… He is my best friend."

"Your best friend? You are too gullible… and cannot think for yourself." He yells.

Leo drops the coupling, which falls to the ground with a loud clang. The sudden slap on his face is sharp and it burns his ears. He staggers back and tears start stinging his eyes. Not so much with pain, but with humiliation.

"What are you? A girl? How on earth did I end up with a worthless little wimp like you? This is your mother's work and I don't want anything to do with it." yells his father. Leo's mind shuts down. All he wishes is to be anywhere but here. All he wants is the screaming to stop.

"That's enough, Alistair" he hears his mother's soft voice interjecting. "Leave him alone."

His father's anger is instantly redirected at her. "Just stay out of this. Haven't you done enough harm? Just look at him! A crying freak."

"Stop!" she says now more forcefully.

Leo sees his father raising a fist, but then instead he storms down the stairs, his mother following.

Leo slides onto the floor with his back against the wall. He hugs Chimp, the big, stuffed monkey that has been his companions since he got it for his second birthday tight and buries his face into its fluffy fur to muffle his sobs. He hears the echoes of his parents raised voices then he hears the front door slammed shut. Then silence.

The approaching footsteps belong to his mum. "He left?" Leo asks quietly as his mum sits next to him on the floor and wraps an arm around his shoulders. She nods.

"I'm so sorry, mum. I know it's my fault. I don't know how not to disappoint him." he mutters.

"Look at me, Leo. None of this is your fault. You are the most important to me in this world and I love you. We'll get through it together, I promise." she smiles at him and Leo sees the sadness in her eyes, but smiles back at her as a silent promise. His mother gently caresses his face and the burning feeling where his father has hit him slowly fades away.

Following day, in the Framework

The last bell of the day rings and Leo hurries through the school gates, anxious to slip away unnoticed from the group of bullies that tormented him on his way home for the last two weeks. He stops at the crosswalk as he hears the sirens of an ambulance. As the ambulance turns around the corner, it vanishes right before Leo's eyes. Instead, a cab is stopped now, just in front of him, the driver impatiently waiting for him to cross. Leopold shakes his head trying to make sense of what just happened.

Suddenly, he freezes when he sees his father approaching. What is he doing here? He should be at work, the boy thinks.

"Father… What.. erm" he stutters nervously.

"Come with me, Leopold." he says and leads him to his car. "Get in."

"Where are we going, Father?" he asks nervously.

"Look, son. I want to give you another chance. I have been thinking and I don't want to be responsible for wasting that potential of yours. We live in a hard world, and it is my job to make you into a man, into a survivor. I did not spend as much time with you as I should have, that's why you are becoming weak like your mother. This will change now. I discussed with your mother and she agrees it's best if you live with me for a while." he says. "It will be a fresh start for both of us. We'll have a new place to live, a new school that will bring the best out of you. You need to be taught hard work and respect."

Leopold tries to understand what his father is saying. "Is mum coming with us?" he asks finally.

"Your mother and I have decided to separate, Leopold. It's what's best for everyone."

"Can I go and see her?" Leopold asks choking back the tears that are stinging his eye.

"Not now, at least not while we are getting used to our new lives. I already took your things to the new house" his father says and parks the car in front of a small brick house.

They enter and everything feels wrong. There are no pictures on the wall, no potted plants, there is no smell of supper cooking on the stove. It does not look like a home at all. Leopold follows his father to his new room. All the furniture is dark. His posters, some of his books and most of his toys are missing. Most painfully, Chimp is not there. He bites back the question, as he knows all too well his father's opinion as regards 10-year old boys sleeping with stuffed animals.

"Pack your things for school tomorrow, Leopold. I'll order us some food." he leaves the room.

Leopold collapses on the bed and buries his face in a pillow. Nothing about this feels right. He feels like throwing up, his breaths are shallow, his brain is not working and he is scared. He has a vague feeling of being trapped, but he doesn't exactly know where. He wants his mum more than anything in the world, but instead of crying, he just hugs his pillow tighter.