"But Mum, I don't even know him," Felix complained, while his mother simply continued to take clothes from his closet and packed them into his suitcase.

"He's my best friend's son. You used to play together a lot when you were younger," his mother replied in a matter-of-fact tone and looked at his jacket thoughtfully. "I think we'll have to buy you a ski suit... Your clothes are not suitable for snow."

"Yeah... you wanna know why? Cause we live in freaking AUSTRALIA... Mum I don't wanna go there!"

Meanwhile, slightly annoyed, Felix's mother rolled her eyes, took more socks and boxer shorts from her son's closet and stacked them neatly in the suitcase. "Hopefully there's a shop here that sells ski equipment," she said thoughtfully.

With that, she disappeared from Felix's room and left her son frustrated.

Annoyed, he slammed the suitcase shut, kicked it off his bed and then let himself fall on it.

Normally he would have changed now and at least styled his hair, but he just wanted to lie in his bed and never get back up.

Sighing, he hid his face in his hands and tried not to let his frustration take over. Because he felt how close he was to sobbing.

Disgruntled, he grabbed his phone and briefly considered whether he should call his best friend.

Sam had invited Felix to fly to New York with him and his parents during the holidays and spend Christmas there. Because while it was winter nearly everywhere else, it was midsummer in Australia in December.

To be for once finally able to not celebrate Christmas in bright sunshine, but instead with snow had sounded awesome.

He had been insanely happy about the invitation and euphorically agreed immediately, but he had accepted without his parents permission.

"I won't allow that you will spend the entire vacation without us! And then also that far away... no way!" - had been his father words, with which Felix's hope had significantly shrunk.

But it was not until his mother came to him that he knew that he had been able to bury his plans for Christmas.

"You will spend the holidays in Korea. In a ski camp with my best friend's son!"

"Then we still won't spend the holidays together..." - Felix had snapped back defiantly and with trembling lips, but his mother had only raised her hands defensively. "We'll follow a bit later and spend the holidays there with you, of course. But unlike you, my dear son, your father and I actually have to work until Christmas."

And with that, Felix's fight for self-determined holidays was lost. All he knew was that he and seven other boys would have to spend the holidays in a ski camp. Which on the one hand he didn't knew the boys at all and on the other hand they also spoke a language that Felix was able to speak, but almost never did.

With tears in his eyes, Felix decided not to call Sam. Because even though he was his best friend, Felix didn't want Sam to think he was a crybaby. Instead, he sent him a short message.

Until the end, he had hoped that his mother would let herself be softened and let him fly with Sam and his family.

But when she came to his room today with his plane tickets to Korea, he knew that the fight was finally over.

Somewhere deep inside him there had been a bit of hope until that moment. Now it felt like his mother had torn his heart out and stomped on it.

Furious, Felix wiped aside a tear that ran down his cheek despite his effort and reached for his headphones.

Now only music would help.

He somehow felt a bit like he was overreacting. But he had assumed at the age of 19 that he could finally decide what he wanted to do and how he would spend his holidays - his parents had a different opinion.

"If you pay for your holidays yourself and go to work for it, then you can decide how you spend it. As long as you live here with us, we will decide!" - his father's voice had sounded so harsh that Felix had to gather all his courage to protest.

"You wouldn't have to pay at all. Sam's parents offered-"

Felix hadn't been able to continue. The devastating look his father had cast at him had spoken volumes.

"We are NOT dependent on alms from this newly "rich" family! You won't fly on vacation with them and I don't want you to ever go anywhere with them! Ridiculous!!"

After that, Felix had said nothing for the whole evening. And it had taken quite a while before he dared to ask his mother again if he could fly with Sam.

And even if his mother hadn't answered as harshly as his father, her answer had been more than clear.

He still hadn't been able to erase the hope that glowed in him, but he didn't knew exactly why. And so it had felt like a punch to the stomach when his mother came into his room in the morning.

When she came back to his room twenty minutes later, Felix had just gotten up. He had tied his blonde hair into a loose ponytail and was applying a thick layer of sunscreen on his face. As if he could prevent more freckles from appearing on it.

"Felix, that's silly, you look like a vampire with all the sunscreen," his mother remarked with raised eyebrows and shook her head.

"You could pay for them to be removed! Maybe then I won't need that much sunscreen anymore," Felix replied almost snappy.

Sighing, his mother shook her head and dragged her son out of the room.

"You'll see, it's going to be wonderful holidays and maybe you will make new friends. Christopher is really a very charming young man and I have only heard good things from his friends. Maybe you can finally stop hanging out with this Sam guy. It's not good for you at all."

Felix would have liked to put his fingers in his ears and scream.

Lately, the constant nagging of his parents had become more and more. The way he wore his hair did not suit them. What clothes and jewelry he wore. And the way they talked about his best friend and his family, as if you could only touch these "subhumans" with pliers.

They were hardly at home anyway. Work was always more important. Or the events they "had" to go to. But the only time they had for him was when they had something to nag about him.

Which was also the reason why they only were buy everything Felix needed for the trip now, one day before his departure. Because everything else had been more important than him.

Felix sat silently in the passenger seat and stared out of the window. The sun was shining hot in the Australian sky, but the car's air conditioning didn't make them feel notice that at all.

Actually, it was a beautiful day, but for Felix it felt like the impending end of the world.

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