Two Days In the Same Clothes

Prologue

The moment Calum appeared in Michael's peripheral that one gloomy Sunday, Michael should've known that his friend was up to no good. They're broke college students, who transferred from Australia to the U.S. for school in New York. They had never met before then, but somehow, the universe knew that they would be inseparable from that moment on. That was four years ago, and this month, they're graduating, which is a major success considering Michael's history with school. He honestly has to credit his graduation to Calum Hood, that kid is persistent.

As Michael is preparing for one of his last tests, finally finding an unoccupied table in the library, Calum appears out of thin air. Michael sighs at the sudden intrusion of his studying, looking up to find a pair of chocolate brown eyes already staring intently. "Cal... I'm busy, dude. Can't you be grateful once that I'm not making you do this for me?" Michael sounds exasperated to his ears. "Oh, I'm extremely happy I'm not doing it for you." Calum starts, leaning closer on the table. "Then why are you here?" The blond asks, setting his pencil down. "Because.... I have a surprise for you." His friend hints, a smile starting to form on his tan skin. "That never means anything good, Cal." Michael sighs again, excepting defeat. "That's not very nice, Mikey. It's a good surprise, I promise." Calum tries to persuade his friend, warming him up to the idea. "What is it? This 'good surprise'?" Michael tilts his head, starting to chew on his bottom lip.

"We're gonna go on a graduation trip!" Calum happily explains his surprise, a smile lighting up his features. Michael feels his eyebrows scrunch together involuntarily, the confusion pouring into his brain. "Huh?" Is his intelligent response. "We're gonna go on a road trip after we graduate. I've been saving up since I started, Mike. And when I met you, I knew I was going to go on this trip, subconsciously I started saving double the amount." Calum further explains, and Michael can see how much it means to his friend. "So... I was wondering if you wanted to join me and then I thought 'Well, of course, Michael would want to go. One last good free run before we have to do adult shit.' It's totally ok if you don't want to do it. You can go do adulting shit, but I thought it would be c-." Michael finally cuts off Calum's rambling. "Dude. Where are we going?" Michael asks, letting his friend know he's in on the surprise. Calum's eyebrows raise happily as Michael's words set in.

A happy laugh escapes Calum's mouth, "You're in?" He asks, and Michael can feel his excitement radiating across the table in waves. "Well, yeah. Why not? I like the idea of not doing anything to do with adulting for a little bit longer." Michael smiles, picking his pencil up and messing with the eraser. "I knew you would like it. Ok, we're gonna go across the U.S., I don't know how long it'll take, but there's no set deadline. Just go wherever we want, but have some specific places, like Yellowstone, or the Mammoth Caves, I don't know. But it's pretty much free-range traveling." Calum gives the details of his plans excitedly, smiling the whole time. "That sounds like a lot of fun, Cal. Truly, but can we go over the details later? I really have to pass this exam if I want to be able to adult when we're done traveling." Michael says, pulling a laugh out of the brunette across the table. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you later, mate." Calum laughs again, sliding out of his seat, and soon disappearing into the quiet library.

When Michael enters his apartment, he can already hear voices, meaning Calum invited Ashton and Luke over. Sure enough, when Michael rounds the corner, he finds his friends clustered on the small couch in the living room. "Whatcha guys up to?" Michael questions, making Luke jump. "Shit, Mike. Didn't hear you come in." Calum says, clearly startled as well. "Sorry..." Michael apologizes. He's been called the quiet one of the group, which is, unfortunately for Michael's reputation, very true. He's only been to four college parties, one each year. Calum met Luke at one of the hundreds of parties he's been to, and therefore met Ashton. Luke is a fashion major, and it shows. His style is the best in the friend group, easily. Ashton is leaving college with a teaching major, and it's honestly the perfect place for him, he's such a sweet person. Michael finds comfort in knowing he is friends with Ashton.

"Hey Mikey, wanna play Call of Duty with us?" Luke asks, his blue eyes hopeful. Michael hates letting people down, but he has to tonight. "Umm, not tonight, guys, sorry. This whole week is test after test, and I really need to pass..." He explains, scratching his neck. "Yeah, of course. That's more important than video games anyway." Ashton says, his tone understanding. "Sorry, maybe next week?" Michael asks, getting a collective nod from the guys on the couch.

The week of tests flashes by in an exhausting blur, coffee, and energy drinks being the only source of energy in Michael's life. His hair is dirty, tucked under a beanie, his face is scruffy and he's got circles under his eyes, not exactly the top form he's been wanting. It's clear how bad he looks when Ashton sees him in the study hall. "Jesus, dude. Have you showered? Shaved? Slept?!" His concerned eyes flicker over Michael's appearance, eyebrows furrowing. "No, no, and oh, you guessed it, no." Michael sighs, rubbing his eyes as he tries to figure out what codes match what programming technique. It's all numbers. He sees, smells, and tastes numbers at this point. It's all he knows. "Ew. Nasty." Ashton grimaces, and Michael is pretty familiar with that reaction, living it daily himself. "No need to make me feel better, Ash, thank you." Michael sarcastically groans out. "Hey, I'm just saying what I feel." Ashton tries to defend himself, but failing.

Waking to the sound of Calum's alarm in the room over is not something Michael wants to have happen to him, yet it happens almost daily. And today is no different, Calum's shrill alarm blaring next door at exactly 8:30, the only thing that's different is Michael is already awake. He graduates this afternoon. Holy shit. He's been staring at his ceiling for the last twenty minutes, thinking back to all the memories that he's made in this place. A majority of him is so ready to leave this place, but there's a small piece that isn't quite ready to let go. Michael knows he'll never lose contact with Luke or Ashton, ever. And he knows that he'll absolutely never lose Calum, he's his best friend.

Michael's anxiety is skyrocketing as he slips on his gown, knowing he's the first to be called in his friend group.