The bell was just ringing to signify the end of the day when Luke's mobile buzzed with a text message. Frowning, he found somewhere less crowded to stand in so that he wouldn't get in the way of the crowd of students leaving the school and he fished his phone out of his pocket, frowning a little at what the message said.
'Hi sweetie. Goin 2 stay @ mum's 2nite. Give ur dad bit of break. B & J r staying over with friends 2nite. Dad working till 7. Will u b ok 2 sort dinner 4 urself? If not u can come w/me. :) Love mum x'
Luke hurriedly tapped out a reply which roughly translated to: 'I'll be fine, mum. Love you. Take care.' and then he walked down the empty corridor slowly, the faint frown on his face deepening. Now he had - Luke paused to check his watch - three and a half hours with nothing to do.
Luke rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He wasn't particularly hungry or thirsty, and he'd gone to the bathroom after lunch so he didn't need to go home any time soon. Luke tested the weight of his backpack and was relieved to discover that it wasn't very heavy at all.
He thought maybe a walk on the beach might be a good idea.
Retying one of the laces on his sneakers since it was coming loose, Luke straightened up, brushed his blond hair out of his sky blue eyes, and set off out of school, heading in the vague direction of the beach.
Luke loved the ocean. It was hard to feel sad and worth even depression when you were standing before something so terrible in its utter enormity that it completely dwarfed you.
It was like Luke's worries didn't even exist then, like he didn't exist.
It felt like he was being washed away.
