#jocklance

Keith stops at his locker and notices that there is a  voice coming from the locker bay. When he tunes in on the voice he realises that they are not speaking English but most likely Spanish. He looks over to see that is is Lance talking on the phone. Keith is mesmerized but Lance once again. Even when talking on the phone Lance still uses his hands. He must be talking to a fluent Spanish speaker because he is talking so fast even if Keith knew Spanish he does not think he could figure out what Lance was saying. Keith wonders if Lance is talking to a family member, he probably has a big family and they all love and support each other and spend holidays together and have many stories.

Keith does not know how long he stands there watching Lance like some creep but it is long enough that Hunk can come up behind him and startle him, “Lance calls his mom after school to make sure she doesn’t need anything.”

Keith smiles, “Cool.”

Hunk chuckles, “Yeah he is.”

Keith does not know what to say, he wants to keep the conversation going to learn more about Lance, maybe just even make a friend out of Hunk, but he does not know what to say. Luckily Hunk does, “Lance and I have been friends since we were five. I came into our kindergarten class with cupcakes I made myself and he told me they were the best he ever had so now I am stuck with him forever.” Hunk chuckles at the memory.

Keith laughs a little too, he can imagine that happening, He looks at Hunk a smiles, “He seems like a really good guy.”

Hunk smiles his big warm smile that can make anyone feel loved, “Yeah he is.”

This is the moment that Lance hangs up with his mom on the phone and walk over, “Hunk buddy!” he runs over and hugs his friend.

Hunk braces for impact seeming to know a running hug was coming. Keith uses this opportunity to put his earbuds in and fade into the background. He hears Lance and Hunk talking about their classes and teachers this year but he tries to just listen to his music. He opens his locker and begins putting his books he does not need away when he feels a earbud being removed from his ear. Keith tenses at first but relaxes instantly when Lance speaks, “I said how about you?”

Keith instantly looks at him, “What?”

Lance chuckles, “I was telling Hunk about having to meet with our dear principal and I was wondering if you have had the honor of meeting him.”

Keith nods, “Yeah he wanted to meet with me before I started here.”

Lance tilts his head to the side, “Really? Why?”

Hunk elbows him muttering something about personal business. Lance glares at him, “What?”

Keith laughs and shrugs, “Just something principals do.”

Lance fans himself, “Ohhh so mysterious.”

Hunk groans and says something about getting to practice before walking down the hallway.

Keith looks at Lance, “You think I am mysterious?”

Lance guffs at him, “Are you kidding? Look at you!”

Keith crosses his arms and leans against his locker and raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Lance rolls his eyes, “You got the whole dark and mysterious thing going on with your black clothes and long hair covering your face! You are like the definition and hot mysterious guy!”

Keith's eyes widen, “You think I am hot?”

Lance’s face pales, “Well I uh I mean yeah kinda.”

Keith blushes but he hopes that Lance does not notice. He wants to compliment him back, tell him that he is the most beautiful person he has ever met. He goes to do that but all that comes out is, “Aren’t you going to be late for practice?”

Lance looks up at the clock behind Keith, “Shit.” he runs down the hall yelling a goodbye as he goes. Keith laughs and walks down to join him.

He gets to the stands and sees Pidge there on their computer doing what looks like really long math problems. He shrugs it off and sits next to them and pulls out his sketchbook. He starts off by drawing everybody on the field. He imagines them as lions working together about to fight. After a while though he zeroes in on one player in particular who has the number one on his back. This player is easily the fastest player out there.

Keith is drawing him running when Pidge looks over, You know that is Lance right?”

Keith groans, “Of course it is.”

Pidge laughs, “Yeah, he picked number one himself, says no matter what he will always be ‘numero uno’.”

Keith laughs at that, “Sounds about right. I take it he is the running back?”

Pidge nods, “Yeah. Hopefully though next year he will be the quarterback.”

“Really?” Keith asks.

Pidge nods, “Yeah it is between him and,”

Pidge stops and looks down and the field. The players seem to be taking a break right now and Lance is sitting on the bench and Lotor is looming over him, Keith can see how Lance’s demeanor changes from the stand and he hates it, “What’s the story?”

Pidge shakes their head, “It is not my story to tell. Just know that Lotor is not a good guy and Lance might tell you more one day if he thinks you should know.”

“No problem.” Keith assures.

Pidge smiles and goes back to what they were doing on the computer. Keith watches for a bit longer and Keith sees that Lance has moved over to sit with Hunk and Lotor is by himself watching.”

“Promise you won’t be like him.” A small voice says from his side.”

Keith wakes up screaming for his mom. He looks around the room realising he is at Shiro and Allura’s house and his mom is gone. This isn’t the first time he has had this dream and it won’t be the last. He checks his phone and sees that it is three in the morning. He groans and lays back down but he knows he isn’t going back to sleep. He decides to make the best of it and gets out of bed and goes to his desk where he keeps his sketchbook. He turns on his desk lamp and begins sketching. He draws a woman surrounded by darkness and blood dripping out of her eyes.

He does not know how much time passes but the sun has begun to rise and an alarm on his phone goes off. He check his phone and it reads “Get Ready For School”. Shit he forgot about that.

He closes his book and rises from his desk. He has about two hours until he needs to get to school and he wants to go for a run. He changes into his work out clothes which are a pair of old black gym shorts and a gray tank top that hangs loosely on him. He pulls his hair up into a ponytail and grabs his music.He grabs his new running shoes that Allura swear he needed before he runs out the door.

As he is running he is thinking about his new school. His schedule is not that bad. He starts the day in Shiro’s AP Physics class, has art with Coran after lunch, and ends the day in Allura’s AP Literature. He has other classes mixed in there as well like but he has not gotten the chance to meet those teacher.

He ends his run about an hour later and gets in the shower to get ready for school. In the shower he remembers the dream that he had and tries to shake it away. He does not need to think about that right now. After his shower he decides that he is going to wear his black skinny jeans with rips on the knees, a plain black t-shirt, a red and black flannel tied around his waist, and his black Doc Martens that he came with. He takes a look in the mirror and takes a deep breath then heads downstairs.

Shiro and Allura are sitting at the kitchen table enjoying their morning coffee, they do not notice Keith walk in so he head over to the coffee pot to get his own.

After pouring his cup Keith goes to sit with them at the table, Shiro and Allura both look up, Allura smiles brightly, “Good morning Keith! Did you sleep well.”

Keith shrugs and takes a sip of his coffee.

Shiro senses that is all he is going to say so he tries to continue the conversation, “Well we plan to leave for school in about twenty minutes. Does that sound good?”

Keith nods and mumbles a quiet, “Yeah.”

Allura speaks, “I heard from Coran that he showed you around school so you knew your schedule?”

Keith looks at her, “Yeah I am in both of your guy’s classes.”

This time both of their faces light up, “Really?”

Keith smirks, “What? Are you guys surprised I am in your AP classes?”

“No that’s not it at all-” Shiro begins to say but seeing the smirk on Keith face stops, “We are just excited to have you is all.”

Keith smiles and they finish their coffee in silence before all heading out the door together to go to school.

Keith is grateful for them being teachers because they can get to school before the rush of students. He decides to walk his schedule one more time to make sure that he knows it. When he reaches Allura’s class he wants to say hi but she is not there. He shrugs and walks back to Shiro’s classroom because people were starting to arrive. He gets to Shiro’s classroom and can hear a quiet conversation going to he waits to walk in. He recognizes Shiro and Allura’s voice but there is one other voice he somewhat recognizes. The third voice speaks, “Why would you bring a delinquent like him to this school?” Keith now recognizes the voice as principal Zarkon.

Shiro speaks up, “He is not a delinquent.”

Zarkon scoffs, “His record says otherwise.”

“Principal Zarkon,” Allura’s firm voice adds in, “Keith has had a rough life. Shiro and I have been getting to know him and I do believe he is not a bad kid.”

“Really?” Zarkon says, “Mr. Kogane has already threatened some students.”

“When was this?” Shiro asks?

Keith can sense the sinister smile on Zarkon face, “Last week after your practice. According to my sources Keith had intent to harm Ezor and Acxa.”

Out in the hall Keith is shrinking in on himself, he did not want to cause problems for Shiro and Allura, he was just trying to help Pidge, he was not actually going to hurt those two girls.

To Keith complete surprise Shiro speaks, “Whatever Keith did I’m sure he meant no harm.”

Allura speaks those somewhat mumbled, “I do not believe we can say the same for those two girls.”

Keith smirks, he likes Allura.

Zarkon scoffs, “Nonetheless that boy is trouble and if something happens it will be on you two to fix it.”

Shiro voice is firm, “Keith is a good kid. Now I will appreciate if you leave my classroom. The bell is going to ring in ten minutes and students will be arriving soon.”

A few seconds later Zarkon storms out not noticing Keith which he is thankful for.

Shiro speaks, “Do you really think he threatened those girls.”

Allura scoffs, “Trust me I know those girls. They were probably doing something Keith did not agree with and he stopped it. I mean you know those girls they are friends with Lotor.”

This time it is Shiro who scoffs, “Oh right them.”

Keith is confused, who is Lotor? He doesn’t think about it to much because the hallway is now filled with people so Keith walks through the door. Shiro and Allura jump, “Keith your back.”

“Yeah.” Keith shrugs, coming up with a lie, “I walked my schedule a few times and just got back.”

The two worried faces in front of him fade, “Well,” Allura says, “I should be heading to class myself. I’ll see you at the end of the day okay Keith?” She tries to hide her emotion in her words like Kolivan does.

Keith nods, “Yeah.”

Allura smiles and gives Shiro and kiss before walking out the door. Shiro watches her leave and that makes Keith smile, Keith does not know a lot about love but he knows that those to are. Shiro tells Keith he can sit anywhere so he opts for his favorite spot which is the far back corner. Shiro does not seem bothered.

Keith takes out his phone and begins scrolling through his tumblr that he is finally able to use when two students walk in. He recognizes one of them as Pidge but the other students looks like, a bigger Pidge?

Shiro smiles, “Pidge, Matt! So good to see you two.”

Pidge smiles, “Shiro will you please tell Matt that he can’t stay?”

Matt smiles, “And will you please tell Pidge that this is my free period and you said I could student assist?”

Shiro laughs, “Yes and I know realise that putting you two in the same classroom might have been a terrible idea.”

Pidge and Matt both mock offense by putting their hands over their hearts and opening their mouths. They look so similar when they do it Keith feels weird.

Pidge finally turns around and notices Keith, “Keith! You are in this class?”

Matt turns to look at who is younger sibling is talking to his eyes narrowing slightly. Keith clears his throat, “Yeah.”

Pidge laughs, “Again with the talking.”

Keith shrugs.

Matt bumps Pidge’s arm, their face lighting up, “Oh right! Keith this is my brother Matt,” They motion to him with a wave of the hand, “And Matt this is Keith. The guy from last week that I told you about.”

At the mention of last week both Shiro and Matt’s faces light up in understanding. Shiro takes his phone out probably to text Allura and Matt softens his expression, “Well it’s nice to meet you Keith, and uh, thanks.”

Keith shrugs, “No problem.”

Pidge looks between them and rolls their eyes, “Yeah whatever. Keith give me your schedule.”

Keith takes his schedule out of his back pocket and hands it to Pidge who is now sitting at the desk in front of him. They read over it, “Sweet we have this class and AP Lit together at the end of the day. Oh and we have lunch together!”

Keith smiles. He is relieved that they have lunch together, more often than not when he starts a new school he sits by himself at lunch but maybe this year will be different.

The other students have now arrived and a lot of them look at Keith before sitting down. The girls whisper to each other and the guys look him up and down probably thinking they could take him. Keith chuckles to himself at the thought.

Once everyone is seated the final bell rings and Shiro begins his class. Keith listens intently because he wants to do well at this school. He reads over the syllabus and takes notes when needed. People will occasionally turn around to look at him but he does not notice.

-----

The rest of the morning goes by pretty quickly. He has three more classes before lunch and those were spent reading over different syllabuses. He has gym right before lunch and the teacher had students take different fitness tests and Keith scored the highest on all of them.

Feeling good after gym he walks over to the cafeteria and buys his lunch. He looks around for Pidge and sees them at a table with two guys he does not recognize. Their backs are facing him but he can tell one of them is telling a story by his arm gestures. He feels nervous but walks over and Pidge spots him, “Keith!” They wave.

Keith smiles and waves back. They guys finally turn around and everything in Keith’s brain stop working for a second. The guy who was telling the story has to be the most beautiful man Keith has ever seen in his life. He has a tan skin that looks amazingly soft that makes Keith want to run his hands all over and blue eyes that Keith feels like he could stare at for hours and never get bored. He’s wearing a blue muscle tee that says “Save the Turtles” on it in bold green letters, his varsity jacket is hanging on the back of his chair. But the part that really takes Keith’s breath away is that the beautiful stranger is staring at him too.

Pidge clears their throat making both boys jump, they have a knowing smile on their face, “This is Keith, I met him last week while you guys were at practice. Keith these are my friends Hunk and Lance.”

“Hi Keith! So nice to meet you!” The one Keith gathers is Hunk says.

Keith smiles, he did not notice Hunk right away but he seems really nice, “You too.”

Keith turns to look at Lance again but he is still very obviously staring at Keith. When they make eye contact Lance blushes and Hunk rolls his eyes and Keith swears he hears him mumble, “Here we go again.”

Pidge chuckles and tells Keith to sit down between them and Lance. Keith can feel the heat coming from Lance and Keith tries to move closer to Pidge.

Hunk talks, “So Lance you were saying?”

Lance shakes his head, “Huh? Oh right my story.”

Pidge and Hunk laugh, they love flustered Lance.

“So I take her to dinner right? I’m being a gentleman and listening to her stories which are incredibly boring but whatever. The waiter comes with our drinks and I tell them I don’t want a straw cause you know,” He motions to his shirt, “then she scoffs at me!”

He pauses his story for dramatic affect but Pidge and Hunk just roll their eyes.

“Then this girl starts saying how she doesn’t care about the environment and how she doesn’t even turn off the water when she brushes her teeth because, “It goes down the drain no matter what.””

Hunk puts his hand on Lance shoulder, “Aw buddy I’m sorry.”

Pidge is less helpful, “You have to stop dating cheerleader Lance, it never goes well.”

Lance groans, “But they are so pretty!”

Keith does not say anything, during Lance’s story his heart breaks and he is confused, he thought him and Lance had a moment but he went out with a girl? Is he straight? He can’t be straight.

Nobody seems to notice Keith’s internal dilemma, probably because his expression does not change, but Pidge talks to him, “So Keith how was classes?”

Keith shrugs, “They were alright.”

Pidge lifts an eyebrow, “Care to elaborate?”

Keith shrugs again and takes a bite of his pizza.

Pidge takes that as an answer, “Well are you coming to practice tonight?”

Hunk talks, “Thinking about joining the team man?”

Keith scoffs, “Nah. I just.. know Shiro and Allura.”

Hunk smiles, “Shame man I can tell you would be great.”

Keith smiles at Hunk, he seems really nice.

Keith directs his attention to Pidge, “I might stop by.”

Pidge smiles and Keith gains the courage to look at Lance and he sees a light in his eyes that Keith will never forget. But as soon as the light comes it fades by a voice yelling “McClain!”

Keith turns to look and sees a man with long silver hair that reminds his of Allura’s and is also wearing a blue varsity jacket with a purple t-shirt underneath that clings to his muscles, he is walking over and can feel Lance tensing up at his side.

The new man talks, “Heard you went out with some cheerleader last Friday.”

Lance turns to look at him he is glaring but Keith can see the fear behind it, “What do you want Lotor?”

Lotor smiles, “I just want to know how your date went. I heard that it didn’t go well.”

“Well if you know it did not go well then why are you here?”

Lotor puts his hand on the back of Lance’s chair and leans closer, “You know I like to know these things.”

Lance tenses up and Keith is glaring, who does this guy think he is taking the light from Lance?

Just then Lotor notices Keith, “Who is this?” He looks him up and down.

Lance speaks, “This is Keith, he’s new.”

Relaxation washes through Lotor’s face, “Oh right my father told me about you.”

Keith crosses his arms, “Your father?”

Lotor stands up straight but keeps his hand on the back of Lance’s chair, Keith wants to move it, “Yeah the principal you’ve met him right?” Lotor gives a knowing smile.

Keith scoffs, “Zarkon’s your dad? Figures.”

Lance gives a small laugh and Lotor narrows his eyes, “You better watch it.”

Keith smirks, “Or what? You gonna tell your dad on me?”

Pidge gives a cough beside him that sounds a lot like “Draco.”

Lotor gives one last glare to Keith and puts his hand one Lance’s shoulder, “I’ll see you at practice Lance.”

Lance looks down at the table not making eye contact and Lotor walks away.

Keith whispers to Pidge, “Hey Pidge.”

“Hmm?”