War Ready

Since I was born, all I've known was my sickly mother and the small house filled with religious items. My mother has always been a horribly god fearing woman and although she is, I have been more lenient about my beliefs. She enrolled me into a catholic school during fifth grade, before that I was in a public school. That's where I meet my two closest best friends, my only friends.

Joanne and David, they're twins and the best of them too. Joanne's progressive and David is more traditional, so all in all, they balance each other out. It was tough having to go to a different school away from them but we made up for it with out-of-school kickbacks.

...

Joanne stood up quickly out of her sofa, stretching upwards and tossing her frizzy brown hair around. I could see her body through the loose and baggy clothing. She was definitely not thin and it was very interesting looking at her. Her eyes were always half open and she had a very cold look to her. David on the other hand was a lot more rugged, he wore tight yet rough clothing and always had an outward posture.

"What's your final?" She asked, walking towards the kitchen. My eyes followed her as she opened the fridge and pulled out a high-fat yogurt.

"Some essay, the only one left out of the semester, luckily,' I sighed. "I completed the other classes a week ago, surprisingly they were really easy."

"Oh," She walked back and sat on her legs back onto the sofa.

David coughed and slouched over, placing his elbows onto his thighs. "Just this one left huh, honestly I'm very much scared about the last semester of our high school career."

"What do you mean, Dave." Joanne slurped her yogurt.

He looked over to me and then shook his head. "Dad is a veteran, Grandpa was too. You all know I'm going into the military."

I surprisingly did not know that. My brows furrowed. Their family has always followed their predecessor's footsteps, all but Joanne. I had just hoped that she had rubbed off enough to keep him from doing something so hurtful. I searched their faces. Nothing.

"I didn't... why?" I asked.

"I have a destiny, arent you going to be a missionary?"

A hard laugh escaped my mouth. It was true, I was going to be a missionary but I had changed my mother's mind. She was an amazing historian back in her day until she became more involved with the church, also because she became very sick. So I had convinced her, I was going to prove God and Jesus exist for good. "No, not anymore, my fate has changed, and for the better."

"I was thinking about going into activism." Joanne placed the little cup down on her side. "Maybe Politics, but school is so expensive and I'm not going into the military to pay."

...

Joanne pulled me into the hallway once her brother had walked upstairs. It was tucked away out of sight and her brother clearly wasn't going to be down for a bit. I had been interested in Joanne since I first laid my eyes on her, though she has never reciprocated. Which I did not blame her for, since my issues revolved more around my mother and her implanting godfearing thoughts into my mind.

She brushed her hair behind her shoulder and cleared her throat. Cocking her head at every sound that wasn't us. "You have to keep him from the military!"

"What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know, Cae, He's my twin brother, I cannot have him go and be killed. I tried many times to change his mind... Dad suffers from PTSD! He is placing himself in a lot of danger-"

Joanne had the tendency to ramble, that was one of her faults. She could never keep a secret which confused me. Why was she telling me something in confidence? "Nobody likes the war, but you know how traditional he is. I don't know what I can do to change his mind, But calm down."

"You managed to change Catalina's mind, and sheesh! your mother is a real wall when it comes to changing her mind."

She was right. My mother was always either praying or instilling religious thoughts into your head. Which was an issue since everything has religious contradictions.

I walked out of their large house after that. Thinking about a way to carry out changing my best friend's mind. I did not know where to start, but I agreed with her. There was no reason for David to go to the war. He has always been that way, always after his father's achievements and his eye. Which he has not lived up to since their older brother had passed away. The knowledge that I knew but not the details that came from it.

As I opened the door to my house, which was a lot smaller than that of the Williams Twins, I could already hear my mother's afternoon prayers. Walking in was dark, she liked to light candles whenever she prayed which was every fourth hour of the day. I quietly trekked through the kitchen, into the living room where she had the shrine, and then to my room. My room had the whole setup due to my mother's extremist acts. Tv and a small couch which David gave to me from his room. I placed my backpack onto the desk on the side of my bed. It was the Friday before the last week of school before winter break and I was determined to finish my final as quickly as possible for my advanced theology class.

In the back of my mind though, I thought about ways to keep my best friend home safe; and Joanne happy to confide in me.

I woke up in the heat of the night, my drool hung down my chin. looking around the room, I saw what was most likely what woke me. The blue light from my phone flashed towards my ceiling. It was Joanne and she was asking me to come over. It was late at night, but apparently, she had the idea to keep her brother from going to the war. I hesitated for a bit before replying back, letting her know that I would be over in a bit.

It was hard trying to do anything against my mother's will even more so without her knowledge, but it was harmless and It was for a good cause. I walked over to my closet, pulled the plaid, blue robe from the hanger, and slipped my feet into some worn-out white sneakers. There was a window in my room, just big enough to sneak out of. It faced the side of my house, which was an easy exit considering the road was right in front. We had a car, one just barely hitting the ten-year mark though I did not have the keys. I've had a bike, one that would take me to and from school, it was rare though for it to bike me to my friend's house down the street. This time was different, the dark made me more aware and nervous.

I placed the bike on the side of their nice, two-story house. I messaged Joanne right then;

me: Hey, I'm here, do you want me to knock or what?

her: No, come to my window on the left side of the house. be quiet.

And so I did.

I looked up at her, she poked her head out of the window and smiled. We both waved at each other. Below the window, there was a large plant frame made out of wood. Not used but appeared to be very sturdy. I pointed at it and looked up at her, she nodded and thus my climb commenced.

When I got to the window, Joanne pulled me into her room. The lights were on and I had imagined the room so differently. It wasn't pink or overly feminine which made me laugh at the realization. It was comfy and really welcoming. Her bed was very plush and stuffed with stuffed animals.

"What was the plan?" I asked her. She brushed her brown hair behind her shoulder, which I would now consider her signature move.

"Cae, he's my twin brother, right?' I nodded. ' I love him and I don't want these actions of his to hurt either of us. The war isn't good right now, it's dumb but because he's a sheep, He'll listen to dad. That means he'll listen to you. He knows you're a good guy, he knows you will never enter the war if it means killing all those people.."

"I'm not going to war, I'm not going to follow him."

"But you say you will, he'll believe it, you guys are basically brothers. He won't let you leave if you intend to follow him."

"I think he will, It will give him some sort of comfort."

"No, No he won't. Trust me on this."

"This is a really dumb idea, I doubt you thought this through."

"You hardly like to listen to me."

"I do, but- Okay I'll try." I sighed. I wasn't going to fight it, She was really stubborn. Her eyes sparkled as I accepted her idea. Which wasn't really me accepting it, it was giving into it