"Good luck in college bro. Enjoy the parties and the hot girls, make the most of it." Luke's older brother, Jack, handed him a small box wrapped in newspaper.
"Thanks Jack." Luke smiled, looking curiously at the gift from his brother.
"Open it!" Jack exclaimed excitedly. Luke chuckled and unwrapped the newspaper extra slowly, just to annoy his brother.
"Jesus, Luke. We don't have all day!" Jack urged him, which Luke found very amusing.
"Okay!" Luke laughed. He ripped the paper and held up the gift to get a better look at it. It was a hip flask.
Luke eyed the silver flask. It was very simple although it had a quote written in the bottom corner of it. Luke ran his fingers on the cursive words that were engraved in the flask, feeling each individual letter.
"Drink and forget." The quote said.
"Thanks Jack." Luke looked up at his brother. Jack, who was very happy with his chosen gift, smiled, and pulled Luke in for a hug.
"I'll miss you." Jack mumbled.
"Me too." Luke said as they pulled away from each other. It was silent for a few minutes.
"Let's go put some alcohol in this flask, yeah? Jack broke the silence. Luke nodded and they went to their parents alcohol cabinet. Jack grabbed a few bottles and they headed to Luke's bedroom.
Jack grabbed the flask off Luke, took off the cap and filled it with vodka. He put the lid back on both the bottle of vodka and the flask before handing it to Luke.
Then Jack went over to Luke's suitcase and hid the three bottles of different alcohol in there.
"There you go." Jack smiled, patting Luke on the back. "You're all ready for college."
"Thanks." Luke said, scratching the back of his neck. Jack and Luke just stood in the middle of Luke's bedroom, Luke didn't know what Jack was doing.
"Well," Jack raised his eyebrows.
"What?" Luke asked, rather confused as he held the full hip flask in his hands.
"Take a sip." Jack exclaimed. Luke nodded and slowly untwisted the cap of the flask. He brought the flask to his mouth and took a sip. Jack smiled.
"I'll leave you to it." Jack said before leaving Luke alone in his room. Luke smiled, the vodka was still swirling in his mouth.
As soon as Luke heard the door close, he rushed to his bin at his desk and spat out the liquid. Luke grabbed the glass of water on his bed side table and tried to get rid of the horrible taste of the vodka that he absolutely despised.
Luke stared at his flask. He appreciated the gift, but he hated alcohol. He wished he could drink it, but every time he tried to, the taste of it would get the better of him and he wouldn't be able to swallow it.
He knew this flask could be the answer to being 'cool' and perhaps 'punk-rock' at his college and didn't want to risk it by not using the stupid flask.
So Luke quietly left the house, trying not to be seen by his brother, and went to the local store.
Luke went straight to the soda aisle and grabbed five bottles of his favourite soft drink; Fanta. Barely balancing the bottles, Luke stumbled towards the cashier. Once Luke had payed, he rushed home with the heavy plastic bag of soda.
Luke locked himself in the bathroom and took out a bottle of Fanta and his flask. He emptied the flask and rinsed it about seven times before filling it up with the soft drink. He then put the flask in his pocket and hurried to his room to put the bottles in his suitcase.
Now Luke was officially ready for college.
