The main character is Lorenzo, a 14-year-old highly introverted boy who has had problems socialising and relating to other children since he was little.

One day he hears a group of teenagers at his school organising a skiing holiday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, and feels strangely disappointed at not being invited.

Back home he tells his mother that he has been invited along on a skiing weekend with friends — the group of teenagers — even though this is not true.

On the day of departure his mother drives him to the house of Alessia Roncato, the girl whose family are organising the trip, but he manages to persuade her to drop him off a few blocks early.

Once she has left, he watches for a few moments from a distance as the family packs the car, then heads back towards home on the tram with his skis.

He is then able to sneak back into the basement of the apartment building, where he plans to spend the week in hiding, having prepared food, drinks and his PlayStation.

He continues to receive calls from his mother, but then also one from his half-sister, Olivia, from his father’s first marriage, nine years older than him and who he hasn’t seen in a long time.

He visits her and finds the pills in her handbag, but ends up spending much longer at the hospital than intended when his grandmother wakes up and asks him to tell her a story.