War (Cashton)

six.

Law was hard and Calum did not feel at all prepared for just how difficult it would really be. Calum was sat in class listening to the lecturer drone on about theories and applied law, but none of it made any sense in his brain. 

Running a frustrated hand through his hair, Calum let out a low groan at all the jumble being written on the chalk board at the front of the room. The lecturer, Professor Brookes an older man who always wore the same brown knit vest and blue tie, was talking faster than Calum's mind could keep up with. The person beside him, Ashton as Calum now knew him, was scribbling away furiously in his notebook. As if Ashton could feel Calum staring at him, he whipped his head up to see two brown eyes intently watching his notebook full of scribbles.

A small smile flickered across Ashton's lips before he went back to facing his notebook. Knowing he wouldn't be taking any real notes and, again, would be having to learn everything from the growing pile of textbooks in his bedroom, Calum leant back in his seat in hopes of at least retaining some of what was being spoken about at the front of the room. 

Despite having spoken to Ashton briefly at the diner on Sunday and him having continue to sit next to Calum during every class they had together since, the two boys still had not had a conversation or uttered more than a simple hello to one another. It had been four days and Calum's urge to talk to the boy was only building, but the inability he felt to actually talk to people who he don't know continued to hold Calum back from that. 

When the lecture finally ended, Calum was quick to put his things into his bag and stand up to wait for the long line of people make their own way from the row. The line of people was slow as everyone tried to squeeze out of the same double door. 

"You don't take many notes, do you?" A voice behind Calum asked. Calum spun around a little quicker than he should have, bumping his satchel against the person beside him and the table creating a loud thud. A light flush came over Calum cheeks as he saw who had spoken.

"Oh, no I just take most of the information from the textbooks. I'm not too good at taking in lecture content I guess," Calum said, now looking directly at Ashton for the second time this morning. "Brookes speaks much too fast for me."

People began properly making their way out of the lecture theatre, so Ashton and Calum followed along. "Brookes does go pretty fast, I can barely keep up." Ashton said as he continued to follow Calum out the door, now walking beside him. 

"I don't know how you do it," Calum shook his head and turned to Ashton as they walked out into the courtyard. "I can hardly understand a word he says." 

"Yeah, well, I don't have it in me to sit in the library all day and read all the old textbooks, and I certainly can't afford to buy them all. So, a man's gotta make the most of it," Ashton shrugged.

Calum hesitated for a moment, unsure if it was his place to step in at all. Anybody could tell that Ashton wasn't necessarily wealthy, and almost everyone knew where he lived. People from that side of the city rarely came into the university. At least not to attend classes. 

"If you ever want, you could come study with me. My father insisted on buying them all," Calum said, hoping he wasn't crossing any lines. "No pressure, of course."

"You don't have to do that, I don't want to be a bother. Really," Ashton smiled, almost grimaced actually, in response to Calum's offer. 

"You wouldn't be, I promise. Besides, I'm sure Brookes would adore you if you had some textbook names in that test next week," Calum wanted to ensure him it was no issue. He just wanted to be nice, to make a new friend. Ashton was still hesitating, Calum could see it in his eyes. "I have class until two, meet me out front of the library?"