War (Cashton)

two.

Calum was extremely lucky. He knew that.

While most other young men were preparing themselves for the day they would get a letter drafting them to  Vietnam, Calum knew he would be staying in the United States with his family. When Calum turned 18, he was absolutely certain that he would be getting sent away like so many of the other boys from around the town were. But, after a year Calum was still getting to wake up in his own bed and have his own mother cook him meals. Few were that lucky.

That was the perk of having a senator as a father, he was able to pull all his strings to keep Calum here, away from the danger. Part of Calum felt relieved that he was to never be drafted for war. If Calum was honest, he couldn't think of anything much worse - as like most people. Besides, Calum most definitely was not cut out for guns and blood.

But, just because Calum was lucky and his father could protect him, that didn't mean the same for his friends. It didn't really feel real or hit Calum that people were just being pulled away from their lives until one of his two best friends, Michael, got the letter telling him that he would be going. It was a week after his 19th birthday, the three boys had all gone away for the weekend to celebrate and had Christmas break coming up. They were in high spirits didn't think anything could break them. But there was letter was. Calum had never really seen Michael cry before, at least not as he did in that moment. It was heartbreaking for them all.

Calum begged his father to do something, he truly did. But there was nothing the man could do. His son they would help protect, but his son's best friend was a nobody to them. Just another soldier on paper.

Michael leaving felt weird, it felt wrong. For the entirety of their teen years the young men had done everything together, almost inseparable. Now, that felt like a luxury Calum may never get back. The weeks leading up to Christmas break suddenly felt dim and Calum didn't want to return to college without one of his best buds by his side.

So, when Christmas break ended Calum had to go to class alone and finish the semester without someone to talk rubbish with at the back of the classroom. He hated it, it felt so, so wrong. Even now, as Calum sat at his dining table with his other best friend, Luke, eating sandwiches Calum;s mother put out for them. The two barely uttering a word, things no longer felt right.

"It feels weird without him, huh?" Luke spoke up, tearing apart the sandwich in his hands. "Do you think he's okay?"

"I don't know, Luke," Calum mumbled out. "I saw his dad yesterday, he said Karen isn't taking him being gone too well."

"He's their only son and he got sent off to war, I can't imagine it's easy on either of them," Luke responded with furrowed eyebrows. "Did you hear the Irwin kid is back?"

"The who?" Calum furrowed his eyebrows at Luke, unsure of who he was talking about.

"Ashton, the curly haired homo kid. We went to elementary with him, he got the letter on his eighteenth birthday." Calum tensed up slightly at the word homo, he hated when Luke said things like that. But the blonde boy never cared.

"I still don't know who you're talking about, Luke," Calum tried to rack his brain for a queer kid from their school. Someone like that always stood out. "Was that before I moved here?"

"It must've been, I heard he's going to be at the college and studying law too. You'll probably meet him in your class sometime, but don't get too close you don't wanna catch it," Luke uttered out bitterly. Once again, Calum felt himself cringe at Luke's words before falling silent, not wanting to hear more about Luke's dislike for certain groups of people.