Sebastian fights to distract himself, deny himself. Every morning, he wakes up at 6, runs six miles, and eats a banana for breakfast. Lunch is half a ham sandwich.
He stays late at track practice, though his legs falter, burning from overexertion. He drives home after dark, squinting through rain, slamming the gas, then the brakes. Coming in, he nods to his parents and grabs another banana, sprints upstairs and locks himself in his room with his books.
He writes papers. He solves limits. He codes, breaking problems into tiny steps, his computer cranking out answers at superhuman speed.
At midnight, he throws himself into sleep, hopefully too weary to dream.