It's late by the time Iona gets home. Earlier that afternoon she stopped before pulling into her driveway and sent her mom a message saying she had something to do but would be home at about seven.
She then took a drive out to the lookout point she went to after her first day at her new school. She stayed there a while, watching the waves roll in, in their reliable sets of seven. She sat there for a long time weighing up the pros and cons in her mind, reliving every key moment that brought her here, trying to make it all make sense.
On the way back home she took a bit of a detour, it's easier to think when she's on her bike with just the road in front of her. The street lights are already on by the time she walks in the front door. She finds a message from her mom telling her that she and her dad had to go to a meeting at Nick's school so they'll only be home later, and she's left her a plate of food in the microwave. She heats up her food and goes to eat in my room.
