Work Text
It was silent in the room. Nothing could be heard except for the heavy breathing of the sleeping drunk man on the couch and the TV blaring. Lance was sleeping the the cage second farthest from the wall in between his baby sister and his older brother. Tomorrow was a big day. His five year birthday was tomorrow and his grandma said that her and his grandpa had something great planned for him. His dad would also be out of the house like his is on all of his kid’s birthdays so it was going to be amazing. He started think of all the things that can happen tomorrow. The more he thought, the more excited he got. He couldn’t wait for the morning to come. His father would be gone by the time him and his siblings wake up. That’s the way it always is but it’s for the best because he would only start hitting and yelling at people like he always does. He shifted in his cage when his foot accidentally kicked the side of the cage, causing a loud bang to ring throughout the basement. Lance sucked in a breath when he heard the breathing come to a stop. He heard his father pick something up then put it back down after a few seconds. This was bad. This was very very bad. Lance heard the sounds of the floor creaking as a grown man stands up from the couch. The sound of footsteps got closer and closer. The sound of key clinking together got closer and closer. The footsteps dragging across the floor passed by every cage, oldest to youngest. Finally it stopped at his cage. Lance knew that this wasn’t going to end well for him. “You. I know it was you. You’re the one that woke me up. Don’t act like you’re sleeping’, I know you’re not fucking sleeping! Get the fuck up!” At the end of his sentence, Lance’s father kicked his cage and caused it to scoot a few feet away from its original place. “I’m sorry, sir! I didn’t mean to awake you!” Lance cried out to his father. “Oh, you didn’t mean to? Huh? Is that it?! Is that the only excuse that you have?! You’re fucking pathetic!” His dad yelled at him. All of a sudden his dad pulled out a single key from the stash in his hand and dropped to his knees in front of the cage. He unlocked the door and pulled Lance out of it by the back of his shirt. Lance’s dad stood up, still holding Lance by his shirt while Lance himself is in the air, and started yelling at him again. “What do you think gives you the right to stay up the late and then wake me up?!” He yelled. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! I couldn’t fall asleep and-“ Lance started. “Shut the fuck up!” Lance’s dad yelled, then he threw Lance onto the ground, face first. Tears sprung up in Lance’s eyes but he refused to let them fall out of fear of what his father might do to him if they fell. He didn’t want it to be worse than it already was. “You think that just because your birthday’s tomorrow means you can just do anything?! Well, if so, then you’re damn wrong!” His father yelled and kicked him at the end to prove a point. “No sir! I don’t think that way!” Lance said. “Stop talking you useless piece of shit!” His dad yelled at him. “I’m sorry.” Lance said, sniffling a little bit. “What did I just say?!” His father asked. “You know what. I’m done with you. Your ass is going into the closet!” His dad said to him. “No, please! Please dad don’t make me go in there!” Lance begged. “Shut the fuck up!” His dad yelled. He then threw him into the tiny broom closet in the corner of the basement. “Please, dad! Let me out! Don’t make me stay in here!” Lance said as he banged on the door and started sobbing. “Shut the fuck up! No one cares about you or what you have to say!” His father yelled. Then he stormed off back to the couch. Lance slid down the door with his back against the wood. He put in head into his knees and started to cry until he fell asleep. The next morning he woke up to the door opening and him falling backwards. His first reaction was to cover his face with his arms. While his eyes were still closed he heard the soothing voice of his grandmother above him. “Happy birthday, Lance!” She said. “Are you ready to start your big day?” She asked him. Lance opened his eyes and looked at her. A big smile spread across his face and he hurried to get up. “Yes!” He gleefully said. She took his hand and walked with him up the stairs and into the living room. When they walked in, all of his siblings and his grandpa were in there. “Happy birthday!” They all yelled at the same time. “Thank you so much!” Lance said as tears of happiness started to fill his eyes. For the most part of the day they all sat in the living room talking, eating cake and ice cream, and watching space shows, Lance’s favorite shows to watch. Lance also had gotten gifts from everyone there, which surprised him because he didn’t know when they had a chance to go and he didn’t think that they would because of their father. His oldest brother, Marcus, gave him a big model rocket ship that can be handheld or held on a string. Marcus’s twin sister, Eliza, got him a blanket covered in stars and it had the planets on it. His second oldest brother, Carlos, got him a Lego set of a UFO. His third older brother, Anthony, got him a poster with the first rocket that landed on the moon printer on it. Finally, his baby sister, Maria, colored a picture of the plants for him. He thanked all of them with much gratitude and sat back down. They all continued watching TV until a show featuring The Galaxy Garrison School came on. Lance had always dreamed of going to that school and becoming an amazing space explorer. It’s been his dream as long as he could remember. His grandma and grandpa left the room and went into their bedroom for a minute. When they came back his grandma was holding a pamphlet in her hands and his grandpa was holding a stack of paper. He looked over at his siblings and they were all smiling. His grandparents walked over to him and handed the items to him. He looked at the words in big bold letters at the top. ‘The Galaxy Garrison K-12 Space School’ Lance looked over the title of the pamphlet and tears started to form in his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. “Does this mean I’m going?” He asked, slowly looking up at his grandparents. “Yes it does. You’re going to do going the The Garrison! We signed you up as soon as slots opened up and you were one of the first to get in!” His grandma said. “Thank you guys so much!” Lance said. He jumped up and wrapped his arms around his grandparents. The sudden movement cause a pain to shoot through his side but he didn’t care. He was just too happy to feel the pain. “Of course, son.” His grandpa said. “Anything to help at least one of you get out of this shit hole. “You’re leaving to go there in two days. We’ve already booked a flight and we’re going to set you up in your room and leave. We’ll come visit you from time to time and you’ll never have to see your father again.” His grandma explained. “Thank you again.” Lance said. “This is the best day ever!” It’s been two days since Lance’s birthday. He said goodbye to his siblings and he’s now on the plane with his grandparents. They’re about to land at the airport and Lance is getting a little scared. He started to think of what could happen and was starting to get a little nervous. “Are you okay, son?” His grandpa asked him. “I’m scared. What if something goes wrong?” He asked “Nothing will go wrong. It’ll all be okay and good.” His grandpa comforted. “If you say so pops.” Lance said. He’s going to miss his siblings. He hopes that they’ll be okay and not get hurt. He was the one that always got beaten more than the others and he was fine with that as long as the rest of his siblings were good. He wondered what would happen to them now. They landed at the airport where they met a member of The Garrison who was going to drive them there. “Good afternoon Mr. McClain and Mrs. McClain.” The man said. He was wearing sunglasses so it was impossible to see his eyes and he had on a uniform. “Good afternoon, sir.” Lance’s grandmother said. The man opened the back seat door and they got in. The man closed the dood behind them and got into the passenger seat and started driving. It took them hours to arrive and when they did Lance was in shock. The building was huge, it was bigger than Lance ever thought it could be. “We’re here.” The man said. They got out of the car and followed the man inside. They walked up to a desk and the man started talking to him. Lance didn’t pay attention because he was too busy looking at the tall ceilings and the people outside, who look like they work here, going into a place where, if Lance looks to the side a little bit, fighter planes can be seen. Lance was started to loose his nervousness from the plane and is starting to get more excited. “Follow me.” The man said. Lance snapped out of it and followed the man with his grandparents behind him. “You’re going to be sharing a room with two other people. We hope that you all get along, but if not, then you will be able to ask to change rooms. Fighting is no permitted and will lead to immediate expulsion unless it is allowed by a teacher or it is justifiable.” The man explained. “Yes sir.” Lance said. “Your first day of class will be on Monday. You have three days to prepare for classes. You schedule will be on your bed which you can tell from the name tag at the foot of it. We’re here now.” The man said as he walked to the room. They walked in and Lance was struck by wonder at how big the beds were and how much space was in the room. There were three beds lined side by side on on wall. His was in the middle. There were three bug desks on another wall. His was still in the middle. The walls were separated by colors, each with an even amount of space. The colors were yellow, blue, and green, in that order. There were also three huge dressers, also yellow, blue, and green. Him and his grandparents walked over the his bed and set his stuff down. He took his schedule in his and looked over it. It said that his teacher was Mr. Adam. He sits in seat 12 and his lunch is at 11:00. He was so excited. He hoped that everything would go good. He had all classes with Mr. Adam except for one. It was a class called ‘Flight or Flight’ and the teacher was Mr. Shirogane. Lance didn’t exactly know how to pronounce that name but he’ll learn it with time. Lance was curious about that class. He wondered what it would be like. He put it down, planning to look at it more later, and helped his grandparents with his things. After him and his grandparents put all of his things away and helped him hang things up on his wall space they went down the road to eat. When they came back to his room he saw that the yellow person, Hunk as the name tag says, has already come but just put his things down and left. The green person, Pidge, looks to have already arrived but there was nothing on the wall and the only reason Lance knew that he was there was because of the few articles of folded clothes on the bed. “It’s time for us to leave now.” His grandma said. “Don’t go yet!” Lance begged. “Don’t worry, we’re going to come back to visit you soon.” His grandpa said, trying to comfort him. They hugged bye and then his grandparents were walked out by a worker. Lance sat down on his bed and started to look through the rest of the papers that were on his bed with his schedule. Not long after he heard a lot of talking and a lot of ‘goodbye! We’ll miss you!’ Then a boy walked in. Lance didn’t notice him until he heard the boy speak. “Oh, hi! I didn’t see you here at first! My name is Hunk! What’s yours?” The boy, Hunk, immediately started asking. Lance didn’t mind. Hunk seemed like he was a nice guy. “Hello! I’m Lance!” Lance responded. “It’s nice to meet you Lance!” Hunk said, walking to his bed then jumping on it facing towards Lance. “Are you excited about being here?” He asked. “Yeah I am! I’ve wanted to come here for as long as I can remember!” Lance said. “What about you? Are you excited?” “Of course I am! I love space and I love flying!” Hunk replied. “So, let’s get to know each other better since we’re gonna be living together for awhile!” Hunk said. “You already know my name is Hunk, so, my favorite color is yellow, I love animals, and I like to cook!” “Well, my name is Lance, my favorite color is blue, I like most animals but my favorite animal are cows, and I love to learn about space!” Lance said. “Oh I love cows! They’re so cute and fluffy.” Hunk said. “Yeah, the ones that I have back home are. They’re the sweetest little things ever.” Lance told him. “Where are you from?” Hunk asked. “I need to know so that I can go and find cows!” Lance giggled a little bit at that. “I live in Cuba with my grandparents, dad, and siblings. Where are you from?” Lance asked at the end. “I’m from Polynesia!” Hunk said. “Do you think that you’re gonna miss your family? I know that I’m gonna miss mine.” Hunk asked him. “Yeah, I’m gonna miss my grandparents and my siblings.” Lance said. “What about your father?” Hunk asked. “Are you gonna miss him?” “No, not really. He wasn’t a nice person so I don’t think that I’m gonna miss him.” Lance responded. “I’m so sorry about that.” Hunk said to him, looking genuinely sad. “Can I give you hug?” He asked. “Sure.” Lance said, shrugging his shoulders. They hugged for awhile until the door opened back up. Another boy walked in. He went to the bed to Lance’s left and put the clothes that were on the bed away in the green dresser. He never looked up to see the two boys in Lance’s bed looking at him. Hunk was the first one to say something. “Hey! My name is Hunk and this is Lance! What’s you’re name?” The boy looked over and stared without saying anything for a few minutes. Finally he said something. “I’m Pidge.” “It’s nice to meet you Pidge!” Hunk said. The boy nodded and picked up a book and started to read. Lance and Hunk looked at each other for a minute, seeming to communicate silently. Finally, Lance was the first one to make a move. “Why don’t you come over here with us?” Lance asked him. The boy hesitated for a few moments before getting up and coming over to sit down on the bed with them. They all started talking and getting to know each other better. The more they talked the more they learned. Lance enjoyed it. It seemed like he was going to finally have friends and be truly happy. When it was time for them to go bed a worker came into their room and told them to start getting ready. He told them to follow him to the bathroom. They walked down the halls, passing by different kids that looked to be Lance’s age walking too. There were many different kids passing by that Lance saw as he walked. One that stood out to his was a kid with black hair who had his head down. Lance passed him without a word. When they finished they went back to their room and got in their designated beds. “Do you guys have any idea about what doing this is gonna be like?” Hunk asked them as they all laid, staring at the ceiling. “My brother told me that the first years are easy but when we get to be around fifteen or sixteen it starts to get much harder.” Pidge told them. “At least we have some time before things get hard.” Lance said. For the rest of the night they talked. Even when Pidge fell asleep mid sentence, Lance and Hunk kept talking. That woke Pidge up and he continued to talk again too. Every time they heard a noise outside they stopped talking, and when they didn’t hear it anymore, they started right back up talking about anything and everything. This was the best day of Lance’s life. He didn’t think that anything could be better. He was finally happy and he finally had friends. He hoped that he will make more on Monday. Lance fell asleep as the thoughts of what great things could happen passed through his mind.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was Monday. The first day that Lance started school in The Garrison. He was so excited he could barely contain it. This is the first time he has ever been inside of a school real school. He was nervous too, but that was overpowered by his excitement. Him, Hunk, and Pidge walked to their first class together, English. They all had the same schedule so they would always be together throughout the day. They had talked more this morning while getting ready and found that they all have a trait that the others don’t. Lance is more confident than Pidge and Hunk, Pidge is smarter than Hunk and Lance, and Hunk is more forgiving than Lance and Pidge. “I heard that Mr. Adam is a student here himself.” Hunk said as they entered the hallway leading to the classroom. “No way that’s true. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Pidge said, rolling his eyes. “Yes it is!” Hunk defended. “There’s no way.” Lance said. There was no way that their teacher was a student. All of the staff that he’s seen so far are either old men or old women. “Yeah, it’s true! I also heard that Mr. Shirogane is a student too!” Hunk added. “Yeah right.” Lance said as the entered the classroom. The minute they stepped through the door it was like entering another world. The grey and black metal from the hallway was replaced with what looked like every color that existed. The walls were painted yellow, the carpet was blue with different colored flowers sewn into it, all of the desks were set up in a clusters of three, the bored able to be seen, with colorful name tags on each one. There was a couch in one corner surrounded by short, two layer bookcases completely filled with books. The couch had small beanbags around on the ground surrounding the general area of the rectangular object. Each one was a different color with different patterns of flowers and swirls on each. Lance look around in awe, never before seeing so much color at one time. “Come on! Let’s go find our seats!” Hunk said, trying his best not to run through the room to find his seat. Lance and Pidge followed, with less excitement as Hunk but still enthusiastic non the less. After a few minutes of searching, and trying to read what the name tags said, the trio finally found their seats. To their delight and surprise, they were seated together in one of the clusters up towards the front of the class to the right of the board. After settling in and letting the rest of the class slowly filter into the room, a young man closed the door. He was around average height with glasses pushed up towards the bridge of his nose. He has a light brown, almost amber looking, hair that’s styled in a casual sweep to the side. The man walked up to the front of the class room and smiled while glancing at everyone in the class. He stood there for a moment longer before he started speaking. “Hello everyone! I hope you had a good nights sleep and the moving process went well. My name is Mr. Adam! I’m going to be your teacher until you graduate and move into the next of your education in six years. Today we are not going to start any work. We are going to go over my expectations and the schools expectations. It won’t take but a few minutes and then we are going to play a few ice breaker games before it is time for your next class. Today you will only have this class and one other before you can go explore the building or the playground. However, tomorrow you have have every class and it will go on like that for the rest of the year. You hill have English, Math, Art, and Health with me and then you will have you Flight or Flight class with Mr. Shirogane!” ‘Oh so that’s how you say it’ Lance thought, repeating the name over in his mind to make sure he will not mess it up and embarrass himself in front of his teacher. After about 30 minutes Mr. Adam had finished explaining the rules for both his class and the Galaxy Garrison. He then stood up from his desk and came up to the front of the class to turned to board off. “Alright children!” He started, “It’s time for an icebreaker game! This one is very simple. We’re going to go around the room and say our names, how old we are, when our birthday is, which state or country we came from, and a fun fact about ourselves! After someone speaks, if anyone wishes to ask a question please make it polite. Alright, let us get started! I’m going to call your name for a cup and we will continue until everyone has gone.” He reaches for a cup with little wooden sticks slightly poking up from the top. “Pidge! Tell us about yourself Pidge.” Pidge shifted in his seat for a moment. “Well-um. My name is Pidge, I’m 5 years old, my birthday is April 3rd, my family is from Italy, and I have an older brother.” “That’s interesting, Pidge!” Mr. Adam said with a warm smile. “Next up we have…” Lance listen to each person and each answer to any questions asked. He’s trying his hardest to memorize names and connect them to the faces of the person. Lance didn’t know how many people were left. All he knew was he was one who hasn’t gone yet. “Already there are two more names left.” Mr. Adam said. “Lance! Tell us about yourself Lance.” “Well, my name is Lance, I’m 5 years old, my birthday is on July 28th, my family is from Cuba, and I have 25 cows back home.” Lance said, smiling when he thinks about his cows. “Oh wow, that’s a lot of cows!” Mr. Adam says. “Do they all have names?” “Yes they do!” Lance said, happy to talk about his cows. “I’ve named each one of them!” “Oh that’s lovely!” Mr. Adam said, giving Lance a big smile. “Now it’s time for the last one. Keith!” Mr. Adam looked at someone who seemed to be directly behind Lance. Lance turned around to see who the teacher was talking about. He saw the same boy from the night before in passing. The boy shuffled in his seat, seeming to be uncomfortable with all of the attention on him. “Um. My name is Keith, I’m 6 years old, my birthday is on October 23rd, I’m from here in America, and I like to read.” The boy finished, looking down at his hands on his lap. “That’s interesting, what’s yuh favorite genre?” Mr. Adam asked him. “I like mystery.” The boy whispered. “That’s a good genre!” Mr. Adam said, giving Keith a bright smile. “Tell us about yourself Mr. Adam!” Someone shouted from the back of the class. Lance looked back towards the girl who said it but could not remember her name. Crap. “Well okay.” Mr. Adam said, pausing for a moment to think. “My name is Adam W, I am 15 years old, my birthday is August 12th, I was raised here in America but I was born in Brazil, and I currently have a boyfriend!” Pidge raised his hand. “Yes, Pidge?” Mr. Adam said. “How are you a teacher if you are only 15 years old?” The young boy asked. Mr. Adam smiled. “Well. Me and your teacher, Mr. Shirogane, have already finished all of our work and are ahead in all of our classes. We do not have anything else to do and since we are the best in our classes, we were allowed to be able to teach our skill to the incoming kids.” “That makes sense.” Pidge said Mr. Adam smiled once again, something he seems to do a lot. “Do any of you have any more questions?” The class shook their head in unison. “Alright then!” Mr. Adam said while looking towards the clock above the board. “It seems like it is time for you all to head to Mr. Shirogane’s class. Do you all know where that is?” Everyone shoot their heads no. “Would you like me to walk you all there?” He asked. “Yes, please!” The class said, sounding like it was a planned chant. “Alright then! Let’s go everyone! We’re going to stay close together and stay with each other.” “Yes Mr. Adam.” The class said. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge got up and started following the other kids out of the door. Mr. Adam was leading the way down the halls and past so many door. He was explaining how to get from his room to Mr. Shirogane’s in the quickest way possible. After a few minutes of walking they arrived at a door with the name Shirogane on a little plaque beside the door. Mr. Adam knocked on the door and a tall man with pitch black hair opened the door. He was intimidating and most of his classmates shrunk back with him. Most of them. Keith did not. He just stood there a stared up at the man with defiance in his eyes. Lance frowned at that. This boy seems a little odd in Lance’s eyes. The tall man looked at all of them and gave them a bright smile. That caught Lance off gaurd. The tall man looked like someone who was cold and heartless, willing to beat anyone who came too near him, his arms big and bulky, probably at least 6’3”, and steely eyes that could kill at a glance. It makes Lance think of his father, causing him to shirk back more than before. Although, the bright smile caused him to release some of the tension in his arms. He seems nice, just looks very intimidating. “Hi, kids!” The man said, voice loud and booming, “I’m Mr. Shirogane! I’ll be your Flight or Flight teacher! Please, come inside.” The man, who Lance now knows is Mr. Shirogane, stepped to the side and allowed the students to file in one by one. You can pick where every you want to sit!” He called after them. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge sat beside each other, well as best as they could with the tables in rows facing the board. Lance looks behind him and sees Mr. Adam and Mr. Shirogane were talking and they both seemed to be turning red. Lance wonders what that was about. He turned towards his new friends and started to talk with them until Mr. Shirogane eventually came back into the room. “Well,” the man started, “since you all have already met each other, and most likely did an icebreaker game in Mr. Adam’s class, I won’t make you do another one. This class is shorter than the classes you have with him, so I’ll just tell you a little bit about myself and then go over the rules. If we have any time left over then we can play some kind of game until class is over. How does that sound?” “Good!” The class said. “Alright! Let’s get started then. My name is Mr. Shirogane but you can all just call me Mr. Shiro for short. I’m 15 years old, just like Mr. Adam, and I’m able to teach you by the same way he is. My family is from Japan and we moved here when I was 3 years old. I have lived here ever since then. Does anyone have any questions?” “Did you always know English or did you learn it after moving here?” Lance tried to see how asked the question but the person was behind two other people, a blonde girl and the black haired boy. What was his name again? Kenny? Kian? Wait, no. Lance is going to remember his name if it’s the last thing he does. He thinks hard for a minute, running through all the names he remembers hearing. Marie, John, Pearl, Keith, Hunter, Lil- wait. That’s it. Keith. The blonde haired girl and Keith are blocking the other kid from sight. “That’s a good question.” Mr. Shiro says. “I didn’t know any English until I started school here. Any more questions?” The class was silent for a moment before Mr. Shiro continued. “Now we’re going to get started on what this class is about and my expectations. In this class, we are going to learn about how to be on the defensive and offensive side while fighting. We will also….” Lance wasn’t paying any attention to what else the teacher was saying. He was focused on the black haired boy. Keith. Lance doesn’t know what it is about him, but there’s something about the boy that peaks Lance’s interest. The way he doesn’t talk, how he just sits there with his head down. Lance sees the blonde girl try to start a conversation with him but he continues to keep his head facing down. The girl eventually realizes that he will not talk to her and give up to just listen to what Mr. Shiro was saying. Lance wondered what the boy was thinking, if he was paying attention or thinking about Lance like Lance is thinking of him. He doesn’t know why, but Lance hopes the mysterious boy is thinking of him. The boy looks up at Lance, to his surprise, and makes eye contact with the brown haired boy. Lance quickly looks away before it becomes awkward. “Alright kids! You can all go now.” Mr. Shiro said, dismissing them of the class. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk get up together and start walking towards the door. “This class sounds like it is going to be great!” Pidge says. “I’m so excited to learn about the different techniques and manufacturing methods that are involved in air flight.” “I don’t know…” Hunk said. “It sound terrifying. I’m getting sick just thinking about it.” Before Lance can respond, someone bumps in between him and Hunk, knocking them to the side. “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” Lance shouted. The boy who knocked into him turned around towards him. Keith. Keith wrinkled his nose at him and turned around about to walk away. “Do you have anything to say or are you just going to be rude and walk away?” Lance calls again. This time the boy turned around fully and takes a few steps towards the trio. The boy stares at them for a moment or two before he said anything. “I don’t care.” Keith then spun on his heels and sped down the hallway. The three remaining boys stood there in shock. “Well that was rude.” Hunk said, crossing his arms. “You can say that again.” Pidge mumbled. “Yeah…” Lance said, upset that was how his first interaction with the boy went. Lance wondered why he was rude to him and his friends when they didn’t do anything to him. “Come on. Let’s go back to our room.” Pidge said, walking away. Lance and Hunk followed behind the other boy. Lance was thinking about that interaction. Those three words. Anger started to slightly rise in Lance. Is this the start of a rivalry? Lance didn’t know the answer to that but he knew one thing for sure. This was going to be a long few years…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It has been a month since classes started and Lance couldn’t be any happier. He’s in the top three for his math class and top five for his flight or flight class! However, there is something thar remains consistent through his rising and falling of the scoring rank. Keith. The black haired, stoic, rude boy is constantly neck to neck with Lance. If Lance would be in second, Keith would be close behind in third. If Keith was in second, then Lance would be close behind in third. It was like an endless cycle of never being good enough to surpass one another. It was driving Lance crazy! To make matters worse, the black haired boy never spoke to him. Lance would try and talk to him, congratulate him when he did good, but Keith wouldn’t do anything but sit and stare at him. Lance wished they could be friends but wouldn’t push it onto the other boy. He was perfectly happy with the routine he build with Hunk and Pidge. Pidge would be the first to wake in the mornings, always the early riser, and would wake the other two boys after showering. The trio would go eat together before running to see the senior pilots train. They would dream of becoming the teenagers down there who were flying all types of aircraft’s around the desert land. They would then go to their first class of the day. It was the same routine during the learning hours, listen to their teachers ramble and answer questions when asked. The real fun came after classes. Lance and his little group of explorers would wonder into the areas where they were not allowed to be. They would go down to the hangers. It was incredible to the three of them, seeing the huge machines that are three times their size, imagining flying them around in the future. They would have to sneak past the gaurds, Pidge mapping out the best route to go. Hunk would pretend to be a plane while Lance and Pidge would cling to his arms and pretend to be flying, giving Hunk directions on how to avoid asteroids and meteorites. After running around, the trio would head back to their dorm with Pidge once again leading the way. They were happy with this routine, doing it everyday. This day was no different, Lance didn’t notice anything wrong but something felt off. No matter how much he thought or how much he observed he had a feeling that something weird was going to happen today. After going halfway through the day with nothing unusual happening Lance shrugged the feeling away. When the end of the day came around, Lance completely forgot about what was troubling him. He was just excited to go see the aircrafts. After ‘flying’ around, the trio started to head back towards their section of The Garrison. They had made it just to the edge of the main hall when the feeling Lance felt earlier in the day came back. The other two boys didn’t seem to notice it so Lance ignored the feeling, going back to their routine. However, there was something different about today. Lance was right, something odd would happen. There was something that caused a break in their routine. Well, not particularly something but rather someone. Lance stopped in his tracks, afraid to move as to not alert the person. Pidge and Hunk followed in his footsteps, halting their movements. Their efforts were futile, the person seeing them before they had time to find a hiding place. The person is looking at them, or at least Lance thinks they are. It’s hard to tell him the hood or their jacket pulled tight over their head. “Guys, we need to get out of here! What if that persons a guard!?” Hunk tries to whisper, failing as the panic he was feeling slipped into his tone. Lance stood there, staring, trying to figure out who this person could possibly be. They haven’t approached yet and surely they would have already if they were a guard. “We’ve already been seen! There’s no use in running now. Maybe if we just wave and smile nothing will happen,” Pidge whisper yells in an attempt to calm Hunk down. Pidge looks over to the person across the hall and waves, along with giving a small smile. The person just stares, the only reason Lance knew the person was actually looking at the was the slight change in direction of their head. After a few seconds of the four standing and staring at one another the mystery person puts his hood down. From that, the trio can see the instead, soul sucking glare being thrown at them. Lance sucked in a surprised breath, not expecting to see this person outside of class as no one has yet to. “Oh, hey there Keith! We were worried for a second there! Thought you were one of the gaurds,” Hunk says, nervously laughing while trying to break the tension. “What are you doing here?” Keith asks, glaring with the same amount of spite. Lance didn’t understand why Keith was so angry but he wasn’t going to let the other boy scare or intimidate him. “We could ask you the same thing,” he said, crossing his arms. Keith scowled at him, straightening his posture and crossing his arms. “I don’t have to tell you anything.” “Then we don’t either.” Lance said, crossing his arms as well. He didn’t know what Keith’s problem was; however, even through the confusion rattling his brain, there is still a slight hint of fear in the back of Lance’s mind. The fear of unknown, of what he could do. Sure, they were only elementary kids but people can be different than what you think. Lance learned that lesson at a young age from the actions of his father. Keith stalked forward, looking around with caution, like he was expecting someone to attack them. “You don’t belong here,” he started. “You need to leave before I make sure you leave. Now.” There was not a trace of kindness in his voice, nothing but a demanding tone. Although, Lance believed he heard a hint of panic that was being pushed away. It was easy for Lance to tell, he heard it multiple time in his grandparents voices. What Keith was panicking about, Lance did not have a clue. “Whoa ther, Keith,” Hunk said, putting up his hands in surrender. “We were just about to leave. No need to get all twisted up!” He finished with a nervous laugh. Lance glanced over to where Hunk and Pidge were sitting, having forgot they were still beside him. Pidge had his eyes narrowed, observing rather than saying anything while Hunk had started to rub the back of his neck in a nervous manner. “Whatever.” Keith said, ending his side of the argument with another scowl and storming off back to the other side of the room. Lance watched him with a sense of curiosity, wondering what he was so nervous for. The trio continued their journey after glancing over at the other boy a few more times. “Ugh, what was his problem?” Pidge said after they moved out of Keith’s earshot. “Like, how is he going to get mad at us when we’re doing the same thing he is! And he’s so rude too! The audacity of some people is truly astounding.” “I don’t know what some of those words mean, but I agree!” Hunk said, backpacking off of what Pidge said. “I don’t understand why he’s so rude and unwilling to be friendly to others!” “Exactly!” Pidge said, sighing at the end. “Maybe he just isn’t used to people being nice to him.” Lance said, thinking back to try and remember if anyone in their class had spoken to him and only remembering a few times, those times the people are the same. “Maybe.” Pidge said, shrugging. After walking a bit, the trio made it back into their section of the building. They heard feet thundering towards them and a loud voice shouting to someone. “Sorry Adam! I would but I promised him I would be there on time and I’m already three minutes late!” The man says to ‘Adam’. A few seconds later, Mr. Shirogane came into view. He stopped before he bulldozed over the boys. “Oh, hey there boys!” He said, cheerful as usual but a little out of breath. “Hi Mr. Shiro!” The trio says simultaneously. “Shouldn’t you three be in your quarters?” The man asked. The three stayed silent and looked at each other, giving their teacher the answer. Mr. Shiro chuckled. “I’ll let it slide this time boys, but I better not catch you doing it again. Am I clear?” “Yes sir!” The boys said, giving a mock salute. Mr. Shirogane laughed and shook his head. “Alright, I gotta go now. Got somewhere to be. I’ll see you boys tomorrow.” He said, giving them a smile before running away. Lance watched him leave, watched as he turned to go the same way the trio had just come from. The direction where Keith was presumably still there. Maybe there was some kind of connection. Keith looked like he was waiting on someone and Mr. Shiro said he couldn’t keep someone waiting any longer. Lance shrugged, banishing the thought that was probably not true. When they returned to their room, they did their nightly routine before settling into bed.”You know, I’m glad I came here. This is the most fun I’ve ever had!” Hunk said. “So am I, this is a good experience! I think we’ll learn so much here! And I’m glad that I might you both too.” Pidge said, the smile clear in his voice. “Yeah, this is nice.” Lance said, smiling as he closed his eyes to sleep. As the fell asleep, calm and relaxed, Lance couldn’t help but think about how good things are going at the time. Little does he know, the future will bring things that could break him. Things that he cannot do alone, no matter how much Lance tries. Dangerous things, deadly even. As long as he makes the right choices he should be fine. Let’s hope that’s the case.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Ugh! He’s so damn annoying! Why can’t he just stop trying to be all ‘tough’ and start acting like a decent person!” Lance ranted to his friends, mad about what happened earlier that day. “I know! He was just being flat out rude!” Pidge agrees, crossing his arms and storming down the hall. Lance could not believe it. The sheer audacity some people have is astounding to him. The sheer audacity Keith has. That asshole just had to get in his way. He just had to take over what Lance was doing and ruin everything he planned. Just thinking about it makes Lances blood boil. They were in the middle of a flight simulator in their new class, Real Flight. Their teacher paired them into groups of two that were picked by random. Lance just had to be paired with Keith. God forbid he gets paired with Hunk or Pidge once. The boy is unbearable.
After trying to become friends with Keith for the ten years they have been at The Garrison Lance has finally given up. That boy was too much trouble than he was worth in Lances eyes. Ever since then Lance finally realized what they were. Rivals. Now they’re partnered together. Great.
“Well, McClain, let’s go.” Keith says.
Lance clenches his fists and shoots a glare towards the Raven. “Don’t tell me what to do, Keith!”
“Don’t be difficult.” Keith scoffs, rolling his eyes like Lance is nothing but a petty child.
“Hey, don’t you roll your eyes at me like you’re better than me. Cause you’re not!” Lance said, pointing a finger towards Keith.
“Whatever you say.” Keith responded, turning away before Lance had a chance to say anything else.
With a huff Lance catches up and passes Keith, refusing to let the other boy get there before he does. This exercise should be quick and easy, not being as complex as other ones they have done before.
The exercise was exactly four steps. Get into your designated roles that are given before you step inside. Secondly, avoid all obstacles that are coming towards you: asteroids, other ships, planets, and black holes. The third step is to land safely and find the best way back home. Lastly, make it home safe without any mishaps. Once again, light work for Lance. At least, it would be light work if he wasn’t paired with Keith.
It started off wrong from the beginning. Keith pulled the paper that said he was the pilot and Lance was the navigator. What bullshit. Keith didn’t deserve pilot! Lance knew he could do a better job than that annoying asshole could.
When they first started off, everything was going good. Lance was giving the right directions and, by some miracle, Keith was actually listening to what Lance was saying. Until he wasn’t. Then everything started to go downhill from there.
“Go to the left! No, not the right! The left!” Lance was screaming towards Keith, who decided to attack the ship that was shooting at them from the right.
“I know what I’m doing! Just shut up and look out!” Keith yelled back, the scowl clear to Lance from his voice. “You’re not the one up front fighting!”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know you need to go left!”
“No I don’t! That where they’re firing from!”
“They’re firing from everywhere!” Lance screeched, slamming his fist down against the console surrounding his section.
The noise startled Keith, causing him to go to the left. Luckily for them, that caused them to bypass the shots being fired at them. Unluckily for them, there is another battle ship, bigger than the other, that is waiting for them around the corner.
“Fuck! I told you we needed to go right and not left but here you go, throwing a tantrum and lead us to more problems!” Keith screamed, slamming down on the buttons to create a shield around them.
“It’s not my fault you got scared cause of a little noise!” Lance argued back.
Keith looked over at Lance, and that look, a look of pure unfiltered hatred was on his face. A look that held no amount of calm. This was a look Lance has seen many times, a look that he usually saw mere seconds before his father would slap him across the face and not stop until he thought Lance had enough. That was a look that always made Lances blood freeze.
His mouth went dry, his hands started shaking, his entire body began to tremble. For a moment, he forgot where he was. He forgot that he was safe from his father’s grasp, safe from the beatings and every cruel thing his father would do to him. He forgot he was safe at The Garrison because of the one look given to him.
It wasn’t long Keith looked at him like that, only around three or four seconds, but to Lance, that look lasted hours. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. He could feel his blood getting colder and colder. He looked back at the screen and saw the battle ship had just shot through their shield and shooting them dead, causing the screen to turn black and the lights above them to come on.
A voice rang out through their section. “You both failed. You two did not work as a team and were arguing. Going left was the incorrect direction. Going right would have also been the incorrect direction. The way to get passed was to go under the ship and then go upside down to shoot it without any significant impact.”
The words barely registered in Lance’s mind. The only thoughts that circled on repeat were his father and the fact he failed. He stood up, not really feeling like he was controlling his own body. Keith got up too, pushing past him and bumping their shoulders together in a harsh way.
“Thanks a lot McClain.” Keith said, the look of pure anger in his tone.
Lance couldn’t take it, he has to find a bathroom or a closet or somewhere where there is no one else around. He had to get there now. There were people calling after him but he didn’t care, his too loud heartbeat drowning out most sounds. He made it to a bathroom and threw himself in, locking the door behind him. He lowered himself to the floor, body still shaking. He couldn’t breathe. Every memory was running through his head. His father beating him for grabbing the wrong beer. Cold nights on the floor. Cold night in a cage. Screaming. Crying. Yelling. The nights of being afraid and scared, walking on eggshells to avoid making his father upset. Lance couldn’t breathe. His chest felt like it was closing up, heartbeat getting louder as the time passes. The images of Keith’s face, his fathers face. Tears are forming in his eyes, running down his face. He wipes his forehead, sweat coming with it. Suddenly, the room is too small, making him feel trapped and unable to escape. The image of Keith’s face morphs into his father’s face. Morphs in the anger, into the hate, the rage. The smell of beer and cigarettes comes into Lance’s system.
The world is getting louder, a beating noise making its way into his skull. Lance doesn’t even register that he is making that noise by beating against his leg. He’s still crying, still can’t breathe, still shaking.
He doesn’t know how long it lasts, how long his father’s angry voice and face run past his eyelids no matter how hard he squeezes his eyes shut. The words that run through his head make his mouth become dry. The memories of what his father did to him making him shake harder. Finally, the images started to fade. The voices become lower his heartbeat becoming less audible.
After a few more seconds Lance stands up, grabbing the sink for support when his legs give out. After washing his face with cold water and gaining more consciousness Lance unlocks the door and steps outside. It must not have been too long that Lance was in there, only two groups have gone after he did. He walks over to Hunk and Pidge, pushing what just happened to the back of his mind.
“-and, oh! There you are Lance! We were wondering where you went!” Hunk said, waving him over.
Lance forced out a laugh, “Yeah, sorry about that. Had to run to the bathroom.”
“Oh ok! Anyways we were saying…”
“Let’s just forget about him guys. No need to focus on him when he probably doesn’t even give us a second thought.” Hunk says, shaking his head. Pidge nods in agreement, “You’re probably right, Hunk.” The rest of their walk home was full of mindless chatter. Lance was trying his best to forget about what happened earlier that day and so far it was working. That was, until they reached their door. There was a piece of paper that was taped on their door. After looking around, the trio noticed there was a piece of paper taped on every door in the hall. Pidge took down the piece of paper and began to read: ”Dear students,
It is our displeasure to inform you that the dorm service provided by The Garrison will be closing down for some time. This will begin during the summer time as to not interfere with classes. We at The Garrison know that most of you students stay over the summer for more experience and to keep in contact with friends so we are truly sorry for this inconvenience. We hope you all have a place to stay. If not, talk to one of your teachers for assistance so we can find a temporary housing arrangement. Once again, we sincerely apologize.
- The Galaxy Garrison Faculty
Lance freezes. This cannot be happening. “Aw that sucks. I was really looking forward to studying with the professors to learn more about the physics that surround space exploration.” Pidge said, disappointment in his voice. Hunk nods, “I wanted to stay too so I could learn more about cooking.” Lance doesn’t say anything. He just stands there starring at the paper like it burned him. He can’t go back. He doesn’t want to go back. He can’t believe that this is happening. This is not going to end well, Lance will be luck if he comes back alive, as he did not tell his father he was leaving until the day it happened. Lance has a very, very bad feeling about his future.