for the art of war (lashton)

1. the first day

It was six o'clock in the morning and Luke was the most enthusiastic he'd been in a long time. The sun had barely risen and cast a dim, golden ray of light through his windows. His apartment was dead, as were the streets outside, at this ungodly hour of the day, but Luke was practically sprinting through the halls. The sound of the furnace buzzed in the background while Luke eagerly prepared some Lucky Charms to kick off his day. He still found it astonishing that he had gotten accepted to a college in America. Luke knew that going to school in America would be a bit difficult being so far from home, but he had high hopes. He was in a new country with new people and a fresh start. 

Luke's apartment was almost microscopic but he loved it. He had a beautiful view of the space needle and even though the television needed a few kicks before it would turn on, it was cheap and Luke liked it. It definitely wasn't everyone's cup of tea but Luke had arranged it just how he'd wanted it. Since he'd only landed in America a month ago, he still had empty walls. At the foot of his bed was a red suitcase spilling out clothes that he hadn't hung in his closet yet. He certainly hadn't completely finished unpacking.

On Luke's nightstand was a small, wooden, framed photograph of him and his family back home. He texted his mom everyday and sometimes his brother would call him but, overall, Luke wasn't suffering too bad from homesickness. 

It was the first day of classes and Luke wanted to make an impression. He probably didn't have to do much, considering that he was already from another country, but he actually made an effort to look decent. He wore a red flannel over his favorite Blink-182 shirt and simple black skinny jeans to go with it. To top it all off, Luke put in his lip piercing. He was quite proud of his piercing. People always viewed him as a "softy" and he liked how the piercing added a bit of a rough edge to him. 

Luke pulled on his messenger bag and cast a quick glance in the mirror to make sure he looked presentable before leaving his room. He locked his apartment up and stuffed the keys in his pocket before calmly walking down the hall. Excitement boiled through his veins and he tried his best to look casual. 

The drive to the university was a short fifteen minutes and traffic was shockingly not too bad. It was a quiet drive because the radio on his beaten down Toyota didn't work, but Luke was too excited to really care. When Luke first came to America he'd spent days trying to get used to the fact that everything was backwards. Luke now liked to tell himself that his driving skills were superior to even the locals. After all, he hadn't killed anyone yet. Luke spent a good five minutes circling the main parking lot trying to find the closest empty spot to the main building.

He was beginning to get stressed out with all these cars going in different directions and disrespectfully cutting each other off. Luke was stuck in a long line of vehicles with no one behind him and the vehicle in front of him had stopped, waiting for someone to back out of their spot. Luke waited almost two minutes before he finally told himself, fuck it, and swerved around the stopped car in front of him. Unfortunately, Luke's impatience got the best of him and he ended up crashing his headlights into the rear of the vehicle in front. There was a loud crashing sound followed by a long honk and that was officially when Luke knew he was fucked. 

Luke cussed loudly and pulled the key out of ignition. As the engine died down, he hit his head against the top of the steering wheel a few times, hoping the other driver wouldn't be too angry. Luke leaned his head back and let out a loud groan as he covered his face with his hands. The voice in his head angrily cussed himself out multiple times before Luke finally gathered the courage to open his car door. Luke took a breath of the cool Seattle air and finally collected himself enough to go over to the other driver, who was waiting in their silver Prius with the engine off. Surveying the rear of the car, it looked like the damage wasn't too bad but their left rear light was completely demolished. Luke's vehicle, on the other hand, was in much better shape which only made Luke feel worse about the situation.

The other driver threw his door open so hard that Luke thought he was going to break the hinges and stepped out of the car with an exasperated expression. The tall boy had curly bronze hair and wore a grey Marvel tank. The guy began pacing over to Luke and Luke felt his heart racing in fear.

"Ok, I just want to say I'm really sorry," Luke spat out. "I'll pay for all the repairs, I swear. I just want to get to class."

"Well, don't we all?" the other boy hissed. The other boy had a thick Australian accent that stunned Luke at first. Even Luke's accent wasn't that heavy, and what were the chances of him finding someone else from Australia here?

"Hold on." Luke quickly ran back to his car and grabbed a tiny notepad from his bag. He tore off a little sheet of paper and wrote his name and number on it before hurrying back to the boy. "Here, my name's Luke. I really don't want to be late for class so if you give me a call later we can sort it out then." 

Luke made eye contact with the other boy and felt light in his head. The other boy looked furious at Luke as he took the note from him. Luke was trying his best to handle the situation but he'd never been involved in an accident before. Luke had the burning desire to just leave but he didn't want to be rude and waited for the boy to turn back to his car before Luke did the same. 

---

By the time Luke came running into the building, the halls were completely empty and the clock in the main lobby read 9:10. Luke was ten minutes late to his first class at a university. He'd already fucked up his reputation here in America and he wanted to just sit in the bathroom and smash his head against the wall instead of showing up to class late. What would the professor say? Luke's day started only a couple hours ago and he already wanted to take a break from life.

Luke quickly went to the bathroom to fix his hair and clothes before he went to his class. He took a deep breath outside the door of his class before he gently put his hand on the door and twisted the knob. To Luke's surprise, the professor was sat at his computer while the rest of the class socialized quietly. Most of the students didn't even notice Luke walk in, and that was how Luke's first day of university began.