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Bruno glanced between the chalkboard at the front of the lecture hall, and the clock above it. He could see most of his course mates doing the same, a few of them casting glares at their professor, who wouldn’t let them leave early. Nico was one of them, the Frenchman maintaining a rather impressive glower from his place beside Bruno at the back of the hall. Bruno sighed, leaning his cheek on his hand, his knee bouncing up and down as he stared at the clock. Five more minutes. He thought to himself. Five more minutes, and we’re out. Bruno thought with a grin. He could see a few people still racing to put down answers on their exams, casting panicked glances at the clock as he heard Nico let out a sigh and put his head on his arms, unable to glare at their professor any longer.
“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Bruno whispered, “we only have a few minutes left.”
“I know, I know.” Nico mumbled, raising his head slightly, resting his chin on his arms. There was a collective shuffling of papers as the clock inched closer to noon, and the last frantic scribblings of those trying to finish their exams. Finally, the hands hit twelve, and the sound of a hundred and fifty chairs squeaking back filled the room, in-between relieved sighs and exited yells. Bruno grinned and dragged Nico to his feet by the collar of his coat.
“Finally free!” Bruno yelled over the din of the halls, everyone rushing every which way, some throwing papers into the air, scattering into the crowd.
“We would have been free sooner if our professor wasn’t such an ass.” Nico yelled back, adjusting the strap on his bag, grabbing onto Bruno’s sleeve as so not to lose him in the sea of people.
“Well, we don’t have him next semester, at least!” Bruno exclaimed, glancing at Nico over his shoulder. Nico shrugged.
“True.” He admitted as Bruno pulled them towards the doors, pushing them open into the cool winter air, the both of them taking the steps down two at a time.
“Finally, we’re out!” Bruno moaned, feeling a weight lifted of his shoulders.
“Until January.” Nico reminded him, as they started the short trek back to their houses.
“Still, we have almost a month off!” Bruno said with a grin.
“I don’t know what to do with all that time.” Nico said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as a stiff wind picked up. “Usually dad would find something for me to do, but…” Nico shook his head as Bruno put a hand on his shoulder. Things had been difficult for both their families since the war started, Alain had been one of the first people drafted, along with Bruno’s father and uncle.
“Any word from your dad?” Bruno asked. Nico nodded.
“Yeah, we got a letter from him yesterday. It wasn’t the most coherent thing, but he’d been in surgery for two days.” He answered with a shrug.
“Well that’s good.” Bruno said, managing a short smile. They chatted about this and that until they reached Bruno’s house, Bruno pushing the gate open.
“Up for going out this weekend?” He asked Nico with a grin. Nico stared at him, barely raising an eyebrow.
“What do you think the answer to that question is, Bruno?” Nico asked, crossing his arms. Bruno shrugged.
“You may change your mind, call me if you do!” Bruno said over his shoulder as he walked up to the door. Nico rolled his eyes and shook his head, raising his hand in a goodbye as he walked towards his house, a smile on his face.
“Mum, Bianca, I’m home!” Bruno called as he opened the door. He knew Paula wasn’t home yet, the poor kid still had a week of school left. He could see Bianca on the stairs as he walked in, giving his sister a smile as he shrugged his coat off, the door swinging shut behind him. Bruno didn’t seem to register his sister’s wide eyes, the way the color drained from her face.
“Hey, Bian-“ Bianca raced back up the stairs, nearly tripping on the hem of her skirt, the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut echoing down the staircase as Bruno stated after her, bewildered, his bag and coat dropping to the floor.
“Bianca?” Bruno yelled up the stairs, starting walk up after her. “Bianca! What’s-“
“Bruno?” He heard his mother ask. Bruno turned to look at her, and felt his heart stop. She’d obviously been crying, her eyes red, cheeks still stained with tears.
“Mum, what’s wrong?” Bruno asked, going over to her. She hugged him suddenly, tightly, so much so his ribs hurt a little.
“Did something happen?” He asked, hugging her back, his mind instantly going to the war. What else could it be? Viviane took a long, shuddering breath, and held Bruno at arm’s length, looking him up and down, biting her lip.
“You got a letter, Bruno. From… from the army.” Bruno felt his blood run cold.
“Is… did something happen to Uncle-?” His mother shook his head. His uncle was okay. His relief was temporary before he realized the only other letter the army possibly could have sent him.
A draft letter.
Bruno felt a pain in his chest, and a ringing in his ears, his mother was saying something, but it felt like he was underwater. He felt her push something into his hand, a paper, folded a few times over, his hands shaking as he unfolded the pale yellow letter, barely processing it:
To Bruno Senna De Lalli,
You have been conscripted for military duty on the Korean front. You will report for basic training at Fort Sam Houston on December 20th. Enclosed in this envelope is your ticket. Your deployment date is as of yet unspecified.
Thank you for your service,
Bruno’s eyes burned at the carbon-copy of the president’s signature at the bottom of the paper. His father had gotten this letter, his uncle, now him, all of them had seen that godforsaken signature. Just sign my death warrant, why don’t you? Bruno thought bitterly. That’s essentially what this is, isn’t it? It was for dad. Bruno jumped as he heard the phone ring. His mother rushed out of the room, leaving Bruno alone with his apparent fate. She came in a second later, the phone cord pulled taunt.
“It’s Nicolas.” She said grimly. Bruno took the phone from her numbly, hands still shaking. He tried to talk, but no sound came out of his mouth.
“Bruno?” He heard Nico ask worriedly. Bruno cleared his throat, trying to work around the lump in his throat.
“Yeah?” He managed to say.
“Bruno, I… I got a-“
“Draft notice?” Bruno finished for him, glancing down at the paper. Nico was silent for a minute.
“Don’t tell me you…” Nico trailed off.
“I did, Nico. I did.” Bruno replied in a quiet voice, biting his lip. He heard Nico curse in French on the other end of the line.
“They… they can’t do that! Not after your father!” He heard Nico exclaim.
“Nico…” Bruno sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “There’s nothing I can do.” Nico sighed in frustration.
“…Where do you report for basic?” Nico finally asked, sounding defeated.
“Fort Sam Houston. In Texas.” Bruno answered, glancing back at the letter. He’d never been to Texas. Maybe this was the first and last time he’d ever go.
“Really?” Nico asked. “Me too.” Bruno managed to smile at that.
“Well, at least we have that, they haven’t split us up yet.” Bruno managed to chuckle, feeling tears welling in the corner of his eyes.
“At least we’ll have each other out there.”