[center][h2]Caelum Harrington[/h2][/center]
Caelum ignored the lingering looks from the part of the student body occupying the cafeteria, and hurried outside. He avoided stepping on one or two cracks as he went – they were odd, and he couldn’t recall seeing such structural imperfections before, but he had greater things on his mind just then. 

His foremost priority was getting back to his flat, change his clothes, and just…be alone for a while. Oh, and he supposed he’d have to pick up something to eat somewhere. His stomach was still twisting on itself, though he wasn’t sure the cramps were purely from the hunger; the shame, anger, and irritation likely had something to do with it too.

The flat was empty, as expected. Matt wouldn’t be coming over during lunch. Relieved, Caelum retreated into his bedroom, getting a change of clothes. He then flopped down onto the bed tiredly. Lying down, he dragged his phone out of a pocket, and checked for the nearest dry cleaner. Before he could properly map a path to the one he’d found, his phone vibrated. He carelessly tapped to unlock it. It was a message from his sister.

Dread pooling in his stomach, he opened it up. ‘Father’s upset,’ was all it said. Caelum exhaled harshly, thinking, [i]when isn’t he?[/i], but typed ‘What happened’ nonetheless. The reply was immediate, and short. ‘You.’ That stung, even though he had an inkling Vesper hadn’t meant it that way. Still, his immediate response was a sharp, bitter sense of rejection. [i]Even Ves…[/i] He clenched his fists, and heaved himself into a sitting position. 

Just in time too, as his phone vibrated once again, now because of a call. It was from his father. “Oh,” he uttered. He realized the meaning of his sister’s message just then – it’d been a warning. Choosing not to contemplate that, and accepted the call.

“Hello, Caelum.” The greeting was cool and calm, but with a hint of danger underlying it. Or maybe that was all in Caelum’s mind, because it’s not as if he were ever the endangered by the man. But his mouth was suddenly so dry, and his heart had started racing.
“Hello, father,” he tried to match the tone, but he was afraid some of his anxiety inadvertently leaked into his tone.

What followed was another uncomfortable lecture, though Caelum didn’t really follow it besides the occasional automatic and prompt reply of “Yes, father,” and “I understand,” and similar. When the call was ended, Caelum stared at the screen blankly. 9:08. That’s how long their talk had lasted, and Caelum barely remembered any of it. He had a general idea of what it’d been about, but none of the specifics.

As he sat there, dazed, the phone slipped from his loose grasp, and fell onto the floor. Slowly, he craned his head to look at it. He didn’t feel like doing anything, not even bending over to pick it up, but forced himself to move. The screen was broken. Of course.
A few more minutes passed as Caelum gathered his awareness, and he stood up slowly. He made himself return to classes, forgoing the dry cleaning and the lunch entirely. The classes were a welcome distraction, though his concentration was barely up to par. At some other time, these lessons would be engaging to him, but today…

At least he only had one more to go through for the day. It was just in line with what had happened so far, that Charlie intercepted him just then.

“I heard what you did to that poor girl today,” she looked up at him, expression scrunched up in angry confusion.

For one, Caelum resented the accusation. He had not [i]done[/i] anything [i]to[/i] her, he’d just lost his temper at her. Charlie's ambiguous wording certainly made him sound much more villainous. For another, her words reminded him eerily of what his father had told him – that he had heard of Caelum’s actions. He’d not thought to ask whom had told him, but he was curious now. To Charlie, though, all he said was, “So?”

“I thought–Last time, with me, I thought it was my fault. But it wasn’t; you’re just like that, aren’t you,” she stated.
Caelum stared at her blankly, and after an awkwardly long moment of silence, he asked, “What about it?”

Apparently, this frustrated Charlie. She scoffed sharply. “You–it’s people like [i]you[/i]!” she cut herself off at the exclamation, recollecting herself. “Never mind,” she affected a thin veneer of neutrality, and turned around to leave. Not before muttering “Selfish scum,” though, just loud enough that she likely intended him to hear it.

Aware of the stare of a couple of students who’d likely seen the exchange, Caelum left for his last class, one that he thankfully didn’t share with Charlie. 

It was over soon. Caelum was reminded that he’d not eaten much by the protest of his empty stomach, and once again stopped at a vending machine. It was the simplest option. He input the code and money for a croissant, and watched as it was slowly pushed, hinging just there…then it stopped, stuck. 

“Oh, c’mon,” he complained, and pushed the machine. It knocked against the wall, and dislodged his item. As he bent down to retrieve it, however, he noticed a crack one the wall, at the corner of the vending machine. [i]Shit.[/i] As he watched there paralyzed, thinking he’d damaged school property, the [i]thing[/i] elongated. He blinked several times, but it continued spreading, all over the wall, to the floor, through the whole corridor, and even further. “What the [i]fuck[/i],” he swore quietly, astonished.

Mind boggling, croissant forgotten, he stood up and followed the phenomenon. He must be going crazy. [i]Can lack of sleep do this?![/i] He wondered, following the trail of broken surface. He was led to the pier looking out at the sea. There were several students there. The most notable one, however, seemed to be filming the cracks. 

Caelum approached the young man, and asked quietly, “Are you filming the–[i]this[/i]?” Rather than say anything outright about the unnatural sight, he simply scuffed the toe of his shoe along the floor, pointing at the congregation of fissures. If he wasn’t the only one who could see these…Well, it would be a relief, honestly, because so far, no one else had been paying them any attention at all.