Green - Voltron Fanfiction - 1215

1

We were laughing. We were always, always laughing together. I was a year older than her, but we got along just fine and she helped me with my homework. We met because she was smart enough to skip a grade, and after a while of running into each other in and outside of school, we eventually just decided to hang out for real. She showed me all of her parents' books and science stuff, and even though I never really understood a word she said, I listened.
She was my best friend. She got me a camera for my birthday, and I spent the film on the sky. I loved the clouds, and the colours, even though I couldn't understand any science behind it, nor did I care.
If I couldn't be a scientist, or an astronomer, I could still be a pilot.

"Kate? Hey, come on, wanna go on our usual lunch walk?" I asked. She'd been acting off recently, ever since her brother and dad left on that mission and there was an apparent piloting failure, but I decided not to push. Going on our secret back route through the school and hijacking the vending machines always cheered us up. We'd talk about the class gossip and how annoying some of the boys were, and then we'd just get lost theorizing about the newest episode of our favourite show.
"No, not today."
I rose a brow. She never said no to that, we did it everyday. "Why?"
"Because, Leigh. I just... let's just go hang out with the others."
"The others? You mean Charla and her friends? You don't even like them."
"No, you don't like them." She fired back, "I don't want to be alone right now, okay?"
I blinked, "But... you're not alone..."
"Come on, let's just go."
When we got to the group, they were talking about this new boy band rising in fame. It annoyed me. Kate and I listened to a lot of alternative music, and movie soundtracks. Why would she want to talk about this instead? Let alone listen to it.
I looked around. She was gone.
"Kate?" I called out, stepping out of the circle to look on the outside to see if she got distracted. She wasn't a few feet away, or hidden behind someone taller.
I spun around to look over the area. She wasn't even here. She'd left entirely while I was distracted, lied to me so that she could go off on her own.
She did want to be alone. She was trying to get rid of me.

At home, my father was upset because I got another low grade. By low, it was three marks away from a failure. My father wasn't an overachiever, he just wanted something good enough. I couldn't be good enough in school, though. Of course Kate would get tired of someone as stupid as me, being as she's ridiculously smart. She doesn't even have to try.
That's... that's not fair. None of this is fair.
After my father was done and dinner was finished, my dad washed the dishes and told me to take a shower and get some rest. In the bathroom, I cried quietly in the mirror, watching my eyes redden. Wherever Kate was, I'm sure she wasn't even batting an eye. She didn't miss me. If she cared enough about me to miss me, she wouldn't have left me. She would have taken me with her, wherever she wanted to go, because I would have gone.
I gripped the edge of the counter and ripped out my headphones, playing the songs she showed me not too long ago. What's two years of friendship to her? We were 14, I wasn't changing, and she had a world of greatness ahead of her. She always had that.
When I opened my red eyes back to the mirror, they were glowing yellow. My skin was splitting on my cheeks, the colour was fading. I screamed, quickly ducking out of the mirrors view, I held my head and told myself to calm down. My father banged on the door.
"What happened?!"
"I... I just saw something! It's just a spider!"
"Jesus, Leigh. It's smaller than you, you know."
So is a grenade. I thought, looking at my shaking hands. So is whatever this horrible feeling is, but I'll let it consume me anyways.

I woke with a start. The ceiling was the same grey as always, but it was still dark. I moved my eyes to see the clock, it was just before sunrise. Well, sunrise on Earth, anyway. I turned back to the ceiling and just laid there for a few more moments, feeling how cold I was. I reminded myself that every time I fall asleep on my back I get the worst nightmares and wake up in a cold sweat, which sucked, so I should really stop letting myself fall asleep on my back.
Sitting up, I shoved the covers off and stumbled towards the bathroom, rubbing my eyes.