[ WP ] A young student is drafted off to fight in a bloody foreign war . He quickly finds that war is the most enjoyable thing he has ever experienced .

They say you do n't know if you will like something until you've tried it. 
 
 I like that idea. I mean, I always considered the possibility that I'd be good at killing, but I probably would n't ever have confirmed my suspicions if not for the war. Now I'm here, sitting on a bus, and wondering how I could ever have lived this way. To pass the time in this painfully slow world I've been forced back into, I try to figure out who I should be thanking for opening my eyes. 
 
 I suppose Mr Casey is the main reason. He essentially blackmailed me into joining the army. I had been drinking with my'friends' ( not the kind you would open up to, more like the kind that you'd topple a statue with ), and Tom Bradford had bet me fifty quid that I could n't throw an empty bottle 100ft. 
 
 Now, before you judge you have to remember that I was extremely drunk and my judgement was impaired but yeah, I threw it. And it fell short of course. It fell over the side of the bridge instead of making it to the next one, and hit some poor nerd who was heading back to his dorm. 
 
 When he was finished laughing, Tom gave me the fifty quid anyway, and we all ran. The next morning I snuck into the security room alone, only to find the tape already gone. Mr Casey had been in the area and saw me throw the bottle. Now he had the tape and used it to torment me. 
 
 `` Please sir. If Jenkins does n't recover I could go to prison for this'' I remember pleading. But Mr Casey had only smiled. 
 
 It was only when Jenkins passed away that Mr Casey came around. He called me into his office, with that smug smile that was shared by teachers and sadists around the world. 
 
 `` I'm going to destroy the tape.'' He said. I recall my spirits lifting, but it was just a cruel miscommunication. 
 
 `` I'm going to destroy the tape... and in return, I want you gone you sick fuck.'' 
 
 That line had me speechless. Who could honestly claim that their teacher had called them something like that? My guilt practically tripled at that point. But I did n't reply. I kept my head down like a good soldier. 
 
 `` I've had time to think about your punishment you know. Jenkins was a good student. A bit quiet sure, but a good kid. And you took his life. His parents, siblings and friends will have to live without him. All the good that he could have accomplished is no more. And it's thanks to you.'' 
 
 `` Sir I-'' 
 
 `` Shut up you little shit.'' Mr Casey looked disgusted. And it absolutely added to my shame. `` I've decided that first thing tomorrow morning, you will enlist in the army and go off to war. And I'll be there to see you off. And then, and only then, will I destroy the tape.'' 
 
 I made my affairs quickly. I suppose the guilt stopped me from saying any real goodbyes. My mother kept trying to call me, and was driving down from upstate as fast as she possibly could, but I was able to get away before she arrived. 
 
 And now I'm back. Back with the taste of blood in my mouth and the guilt transformed into something far more ugly. And I had someone to thank. 
 
 Mr Casey was sitting in his study correcting papers. It was easy to get there. For a schoolboy it would have been considered a Herculean task, but a marine could go anywhere with a certain amount of confidence. When I walked in his door he did n't recognise me straight away. I found it hard not to be offended. But when it eventually clicked in that fragile head of his he smiled. 
 
 `` I do hope you learnt much while overseas.'' Mr Casey said. He had no idea. 
 
 And then I smiled that smile. The one that I had always thought belonged only to sadists and teachers. I was about to add a third category to that little phrase, or maybe I was n't. That was the point. 
 
 I really wonder whether he was surprised when I drew my knife and lunged for his neck. I did n't get a good look at his face until there was already a knife sticking out of it, but I like to think he saw it coming, and his last little smug quip had been a last intention at hitting me where it hurts. 
 
 But I do n't get hurt anymore. Now I just wander from place to place living life, and occasionally satisfying my stress relieving addiction. No pain, no guilt, but also no friendships or love. The best kind of life.
