"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Southdale Airport. Local time is 1:38 AM and the temperature is 9 degrees. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign."

There was no need to for Marc to listen, as he didn't release his seat belt since the beginning of the flight. Even though his hypersensitivity never mixed well with crowded places, it has been a long time since he took the plane, and hopefully it would be his last. He was at first uncomfortable with the seat as he squirmed every now and then because of the tickling sensation he felt in his skin, then his hyperacusis activated when the child who was two seats behind him threw a tantrum because there was ice-cream for dessert and his mother had refused to give him any because he had stuffed his face with gummies this morning (Marc thought it was stupid to give candy to a child and if it wasn't for the lessons he was taught, he would have said it immediately. And personally, he prefers chocolate bars, as they are not purely made of sugar and easier to wash off his teeth than candy). When the stewardess had kindly offered him a sachet and called him "Little boy", he bluntly refused and harshly said that his name was not "Little boy" but "Marc", and looked away to watch the clouds while humming silently a lullaby and played with his thread bracelet of a multicolored puzzle designs on his left wrist, ignoring the perplexed look of the woman.

Marc knew better than to talk back like that to adults, but he couldn't help it this time. He was a 12 years old boy and not a little kid anymore. According to his (former) school, he had made a lot of progress. Even Marc couldn't deny he had been progressing, but he didn't think as much about this than the others. As the years passed, he finally talked and made sentences, had progressed in PE and his coordination improved a lot. But the only trouble that remained was sociability among his peers. When the teachers tasked the students with exercises or experiences that required at least two people, Marc pushed himself in a corner and tried to be as small and quiet as a mouse. And like a mouse he squeaked and squirmed when he was carried back to his seat.

Normally Marc was quiet and timid and didn't struggle a lot when he was in someone's arms. But one day this was the last straw.

One day, Ms. Leland went into his class to warn them that there will be an inspector the next wednesday (it was important for students to know what day it was so they could be prepared) and she expected them to behave. But the problem was that Marc was sick and bedridden when the announcement was made, and the one of the con-sides of not having any friends was that nobody thought of warning him about the arrival.

Of course when he entered the classroom he nearly panicked by seeing a man in a suit. When he approached him, it was only to ask a few questions.

But to Marc, it was an attack. And like all people who fell cornered, he fought back.

When he understood who he was, the damage was already done. The inspector complained against him and asked that Marc had an exclusion from this school.

Anyone in Marc's shoes would have panicked and begged to rest, but Marc wasn't anyone. And to be honest, this exclusion was probably an opportunity for him.

For the first time in few years he was going to see his family again.

He silently sighed. He haven't seen them for more than 6 years (he celebrated his birthday three months, one week, and two days ago) and if his parents hadn't been kind enough to send him family pictures, he would have trouble to recall their faces. Even with his eidetic memory, it's been 6 years since he has seen them, and Marc always felt a pang of sadness whenever he was reading the letters they had sent him and the indifferent and emotionless Clark always let a few tears fall, which was normally very difficult for him to do so unless he has a meltdown.

Marc continued to type on his computer while listening some classical music, ignoring the rest of the announcement. His first main idea was building a multifunctional android, but the problem was that the android was too big of a project even for a 12 years old autistic genius. So he decided to reduce the proportions and make the android a round robot with extensive arms.

He was halfway through his idea's development and didn't want to be disturbed.

"Excuse me little boy."

No response.

"Little boy ?"

Still none.

"Little boy !"

Without any ounce of fright, Marc looked up and saw a woman wearing an uniform of stewardess. He threw one look and knew immediately that it was not the same stewardess than earlier as she called him "Little boy". He looked at her, his face neutral, expecting her to continue her sentence. "The pilot said that all electronics must be turned off."

Marc didn't want to turn his computer off, but knowing he doesn't have any choice in this case, he saved his files before the screen went dark. He closed his laptop before nearly putting it in the bag right behind his crossword and riddle books and zipped it, also checking that he didn't left any folding.

He nearly yelped and clutched his bag when he felt the plane landing. He looked outside and he couldn't see anything but the small green lights that illuminated the landing runway. He tried to get up but apparently all the other passengers had the same thought because they rose and all their talking were beginning to form a growing headache, preventing him to listen correctly to the rest of the announcement.

"On behalf of... Airlines and the entire crew, I'd like to thank you for... us on this trip and we are looking... to seeing you on board... in the near future. Have a... night !"

"I didn't heard the words "Americans, joining, forward, again and nice". I hope that I won't have that same trouble here. Especially if all people speak at the same time." He mumbled in his beard.

Like most of autistic children, Marc always had problems to follow two conversations at the same time, so the best he could do was focusing on the first conversation while ignoring the second, and once the problem solved he would come back later and focus on the second one. It might not be the most polite way, but for someone like Marc it was certainly the most efficient way to do it.

"Marc ?"

The aurbun haired boy jumped a bit and rubbed his eyes before looking behind him and saw this time the stewardess he had rudely corrected before. She sent a kind smile at him, and it would seem she had forgotten the event from earlier hadn't it been from the fact that she had called him by his name.

"The plane had landed and everyone is gone. You can go out now."

"Right. Thank you miss." He walked away and stopped before saying with a bit of regret in his voice, "And... sorry. For earlier."

With these words he walked away, not looking at the woman, and he didn't see the compassionate smile on her face.

"I hate airports." thought grumpily Marc, "Especially at that time of the night." There were a lot of factor that made the hazel eyed boy saying that.

The first factor was the crowd. People who touched, bumped and stumbled into each other always made him uncomfortable. He remembered one time during his toddlerhood when he was 3, his mother had brought him to the mall because he needed new clothes after he ripped the old ones when the fabrics were either too scratchy, tickling, or rough for his skin. She wasn't really happy about buying clothes for the young toddler, but she now learned that Marc has a very sensitive skin. But once Karen found clothes that seemed comfortable enough, she lost sight of her young son. She searched frantically for him for hours and was about to make an announce when she had found him in a fetal position, crying softly and rocking back and forth. That was the last time he had been in a crowded place.

Second facto, the light. Marc's eyes have been sensitive to light for as long as he remembers. Whenever it was time to go to his dorm to do his homework, Marc adjusted the light of his lamp and if it was too bright, he would close his eyes, trying to vary the light, before being satisfied and would resume to his work. However the light of the airport was too bright for him to support.

And the third and last facto, who seems more absurd than the other two, was the baggage service that still didn't give him his suitcases. He lightly humphed and crossed his arms, waiting for his suitcases. Yawning, Marc took his phone from his pocket and checked the time. 2:04 AM. He yawned again and rubbed his eyes from the tears. Even if his sleep schedule wasn't an advice to follow, he knew that he should be sleeping right now. He had done his best to be prepared of this unexpected times as he was supposed to be home tomorrow in the afternoon (or rather this afternoon), but the school wanted to send him back as soon as they can, so the depart was yesterday afternoon and not tomorrow as it was expected. Hopefully he would find a taxi and sleep for a bit before he could go back home.

The light redhead snapped back into reality when he saw two brown suitcases of the same size with his name marked on it. "Finally !!" He said as he grabbed them.

Now that he finally got his luggages, he went out of the airport. He waved his arms and a taxi stopped at his level. Marc put his luggages in the trunk and took out a few bills from his wallet before giving them to the driver.

"2039 Smith Avenue please. And please get there as soon as possible."

Well, here is the first chapter/prologue of the story. Hope you enjoyed it !