alone.

“ugh-” after three whole minutes of trying to open her can of coca-cola, rhea had finally had ENOUGH. not being able to bend her thumb made it impossible to grip the can and pop the tab with her dominant hand, and her left? was tragically useless. all she wanted was a DRINK, goddammit, and now that desperation was beginning to set in, rhea had absolutely no shame in turning to the nearest person and asking, finally- “could you please give me a hand with this? i hate to ask, but- i can’t do it.”

calder basically shouldered the nearby student out of the way, to get in front of rhea- and clumsily practically yank at the drink from her. “yes, i will, i will.” he said, perhaps a bit too eagerly. he paused, quickly keeping his eyes down on the drink, and squeezing it in his hand, a bit too hard. the can EXPLODED, suddenly, fizz and liquid splashing over both of them. shit. this is not the way calder wanted things to go. “sorry.” he quickly said, mortified. “sorry, oh- i- here, let me purchase you another carbonated drink-”

it was then that the other finally revealed what he was doing. darius couldn’t say he was surprised. the other didn’t seem all that great with words. “that’s rough, bro,” darius began, turning away from the other. he was hoping him looking away helped hide the other one ( despite the fact he had just bulldozed through him ). “what’d you do?”

calder opened his mouth, as if he truly would answer the male- before closing it again, instead. he didn’t know how to explain, or even tell anybody what he had done. “i... was not very nice.” calder said, finally, softly. he felt a pang, deep within him. shame, and guilt, for the way he had treated rhea, and was still treating her. calder sighed, glancing over at the male with suddenly new eyes, as if the male had asked for calder’s life story, and invited calder to be therapised by him. “it all started with a death. or- it was actually we-thought-she-was-dead, but she wasn’t really. actually. it didn’t even start there. it started before there. in a shower. with some balls. and her brother was there, too.”

open starter; 

“bup, bup, bup,” cas tutted, shooing away the hands that were reaching for the two dozen donuts he’d brought in. “those are for my students only, after they’ve finished their presentations today. i’ll have no eager fingers swiping one early.”

calder frowned deeply. “that is not fair.” he spoke, petulantly. “i do presentations all the time, and i never get food. and i am hungry.” he added, as if that was the trump card here. he reached forward once again.

“just… this sort of stuff…. it worries me, you know?” michele shuddered as she remembered the earthquake. as she remembered all that had happened. the girl took his hand with a fond smile that fell flat after a moment, “after the incident… the dead girl walking sort of stuff, natural disasters just frighten me.”

calder hummed, in understanding. as she took his hand, calder tried not to wince or snatch it away, as he knew that would seem rude. he did tense up slightly however. “i will ensure you stay safe.” he said, genuinely, eyes meeting michele’s.

“what the bloody hell is going on around here? its like the earthquake all over again.” michele was more shaken than usual. she was accounted for this time but what if people went missing again? what if they got hurt again?

“are you alright?” calder asked, genuinely, reaching a hand out, because michele looked distraught. he didn’t really know what to do or say, but he wished he did. he knew it was a dumb question to ask, given the circumstances, but it’s all he could say.