Something had changed.

Kozmotis wasn't sure what, but he could feel it like a heavy weight on his shoulders. It thickened the air like dust and made every tick of the clock in his office sound louder. He felt a both a push and a pull in the same direction, drawn closer only to be knocked away.

"Curious…" He muttered to himself, looking from his papers and up to the clock on his wall..

He lifted a graying hand and, with a simple flick, summoned the sand in the pockets of his lab coat. In a moment, the shiny black grains shot out and knocked the clock down, catching it and carrying it back to him before disappearing back into his pockets.

He stared at it, the ticking echoing louder and louder. He placed it on the desk.

And then he brought his fist down, hard, and crushed the center.

It no longer ticked. But the pressing feeling remained.

The following day, Aster's focus was practically nonexistent in Moon's class. His eyes were fixated on him the entire lesson, but he could only wonder what the hell happened between him and Dr. Pitchiner.

How well do you know him? How well do you know the caverns?

Moon apparently noticed Aster's nervous demeanor and approached him as the class began to work on vocabulary terms for the rest of the period.

"Aster?" Moon said quietly, leaning down to look Aster in the eye.

Just as the younger boy turned to face him, Moon caught a flash of gray hair near Aster's ear, peeking out from his beanie. A second later, Aster absentmindedly tugged the beanie back over the tops of his ears. "Yes, sir?"

Moon hesitated, the image of the strange gray hair flashing through his mind. If he lacked any tact, he would have asked Aster to remove the beanie. After all, he was a teacher and they had the right to enforce a no-hats policy if they wished.

Instead, Moon tried to push the sight from his mind as he asked, "Are you all right?"

Aster's brows immediately furrowed as his mouth quirked into a frown. He stared at his teacher for a moment before replying. "Uh, yes. I mean… No. I mean… Can I-can I, um, talk to you? After class?"

Mr. Moon nodded, "Of course. I don't have a class next period, so it'll be private if that's what you wish."

Aster forced a half-hearted smile. "Thanks, Moon."

After that, Aster couldn't make any progress on the terms before him. He sat nervously, thinking and re-thinking what he should say. Should he just ask about Dr. Pitchiner? Only the caverns? Just outright admit that he screwed up and practically stole from his old colleague? Would Mr. Moon understand? Agonizing over every word was about to drive him insane, but luckily the bell rang and brought a temporary stop to it.

Aster slowly began putting his things away as his heart raced and his classmates packed up quickly.

"Have a lovely afternoon everyone. Don't forget to make flashcards for your terms tomorrow." Mr. Moon reminded them all.

As the last of the students filed out, Aster stood from his desk, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

He turned to face Moon, who stood over his desk and sorted through papers for his final class of the day.

"Aster, you can bring a chair over here if you wish. I can write you a note for your next class if you—"

"I don't think that'll be necessary— the chair or the note." Aster said. Then added, "Thank you, though."

"Not a problem." Moon said, glancing up to smile at him. He stacked a couple of papers and set them aside before sitting at his desk. "Okay. Now, what seems to be the trouble?"

Aster opened his mouth and a small sound escaped before he clenched his jaw shut.

Oh God, where do I start?

Mr. Moon made a face. "Aster?"

He took a deep breath, tried to think of what to say, and then he told himself screw it, he just needed to say something.

"So I was doing research for Dr. Henders- the scientist I assist." Aster blurted.

Moon smiled again. "Oh, yes, I remember."

"Yup, and uh, I overheard some guys talking about some… stuff… in Burgess." He continued.

"What kind of stuff?"

Aster heard himself laugh nervously and he quickly tried to cover it up by clearing his throat before going on. "Oh, well, they mentioned some stuff off of this old hiking trail. Don't know which one, but it sounded pretty interesting."

The instant Aster mentioned a hiking trail, he saw Moon's warm expression falter slightly. Moon looked down at his desk, fiddled with some pens, and then looked back up at Aster.

Oh, God. He knows.

When Moon stayed silent, Aster said, "They called it the Constellar Caverns. Have you, um, heard of it?"

Moon stared at him for a moment before inhaling. The bell rang and Aster briefly considered bolting to his next class, but then Moon spoke. "Yes. I know of them. It was one of my last projects for the Natural Science Center before I left."

Aster felt his knees begin to shake. "Have you… ever been?"

Moon's eyes flickered to the side of Aster's head for a moment. His hair was still hidden by the beanie, but Moon was now thinking of the worst possible scenario. The panic flared up in his chest and he found himself taking on a dire tone. "No. It does not exist. Don't bother looking for it either. It's a waste of time."

Aster's face fell. "Are you sure? If you did research shouldn't there—"

"No, my research led me to nothing." Moon looked away. "If anything, the project destroyed me."

No, no, no, he's giving me a dead-end. No, I can't— We can't—

Before he could help it, Aster asked, "Was that how you met Dr. Pitchiner?"

Moon's eyes were suddenly back on him. "Aster—"

"Look, I work in the same building with him everyday! If he's— ugh, I just- how dangerous is he? Because if he's really dangerous, I—" Aster found himself scrambling for any information he could get before Moon cut him off.

"Aster. I will write you a note. But, I suggest we stop talking about this. Now." Moon replied curtly as he began searching his desk for his sticky notes.

"Mr. Moon, I don't think you— you understand!" Aster tried desperately to get the older man to listen to him. He felt like he was losing his grip with reality, as if a fog suddenly started to settle over everything in front of him.

"Stay away from him. That's all you can do about Kozmotis, all right? I mean it." Moon replied, finally finding a stack hidden in his drawer.

Aster's hands shook and he couldn't help but gasp for air. Was this what a panic attack felt like? It felt awful. He couldn't stop thinking about how everything was his fault and he couldn't even fix it because Moon refused to help.

We're going to be stuck like this. I've ruined us all. I can't do this. I can't—

He felt himself collapse over the table, leaning on his arms, still gasping for air.

Moon shot up from his desk at the sight of Aster's sudden state. "Aster? Aster, are you okay?"

"I can't— I can't do this. I'm sorry, I can't—"

Aster felt his legs go numb and his body sway before tumbling down the side of the desk. The last thing he heard was Moon shouting his name just before he hit the floor.

Aster slowly opened his eyes, his head thrumming like it did after the caverns.

His vision felt warped, like his was looking through a strange telescope, before it focused and he was able to see in front of himself.

He saw grass. And blue sky. And…

His house?

As soon as Aster realized what he was looking at, he sucked in a sharp breath and sat up. The thrumming feeling dissipated immediately as he gawked at the sight before him.

"What…"

His voice trailed off as he got to his feet and looked around. Yes, this was definitely his yard, with the green mail box, the empty gravel driveway, and the rose bushes his mother planted the year before underneath the living room window.

Not Mr. Moon's classroom.

"Oh my God." Aster muttered. Then, he jerked around to look at the empty driveway. "Oh my GOD!"

He clasped his hands to his head. He'd just ditched class with no way to get back. But how? Aster's hands fell limp to his sides as he tried to process what just happened. He felt like he was about to lose it- like he was going to pass out. And then he fell over. Now he was in his yard.

Aster's eyes widened. "Teleportation." He paused before breaking out in a grin. "I just… teleported?" He laughed, feeling light as air for the first time in what felt like forever.

He whooped as he jumped in the air, his backpack bumping against his back. "I can teleport!"

As he soaked up the rush at his newfound ability, he had the crushing realization that Moon saw him disappear.

He patted his pockets, looking for his cellphone to tell the others. When he couldn't find it there, he shrugged his backpack off and rummaged through every pocket. Nothing. So he ran back to the grassy spot he'd woken up in to search there. Still, he came up empty.

Moon had his phone at school. It must've fallen out at some point during his meltdown. And he just knew someone would text him to ask about how his talk with the teacher went.

"Oh, hell... Oh, no."

A/N: :)