Nonsense

March Off

Keith slept in the next Monday, hoping to drown his sorrows in sleep. He rolled over and stared at his open window, where the sun shone directly on him. He rolled back over. He didn't want to go back to school; he wanted to stay in his bedroom and sleep all day. Lance couldn't bother him in his bedroom. The group couldn't try to make up for Lance in his bedroom. It was just him and his bed.

Until his foster mom poked her head in the doorway. She was smiling and holding a coffee in her hand, it was probably her fifth one, "Hey sweetie, you're going to be late for school if you don't leave right now!" She ducked back into the hall, closing the door. Keith threw his pillow at the door, muttering something unintelligible.

The only reason he got up was because he wanted his pillow back. He'd gotten up to grab it and realized by that point that there was no point in trying to fall back asleep, so he'd grabbed a grey t-shirt and black jeans and went to school.

Avoiding friends was harder than Keith would've thought. Especially when one of his friends seemed to know about his every move.

"Did Lance text you yesterday?" Pidge was waiting for him by his locker, watching him. He ignored them, opening his locker and grabbing a textbook before slamming it and walking away. They followed him though, and he knew he'd have to say something.

"Yeah."

"What'd he say?" At this point, Keith knew Pidge had made Lance text him. That added an entire level to his annoyance with his friends currently. He walked faster, hoping Pidge's short legs couldn't keep up.

"What did he say?" He had no such luck.

"I dunno, he was apologizing for yesterday," Keith shrugged and pretended he was nearing his classroom, ducking into the nearest open door and waiting a few moments. When he thought he'd lost Pidge, he stepped out and started walking again, only to find Pidge waiting outside the door.

"That's not your class."

"I know."

"So what'd you go in there for?"

"To avoid you." And that was the end of that. Pidge rolled their eyes and walked away, happy with the information they got. Lance had texted Keith and apologized. Did Keith accept the apology? Probably not. But it was a start.

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At the end of band rehearsal that day, Mr. Coran had a very important announcement. He yelled to get the band's attention, but when it lead to nothing. When the entire group was silent, he stopped. "Good, that was hurting my throat," He coughed and a couple students chuckled, "We have a very important announcement!" He gestured to the drum majors and stepped off the pedestal, allowing Allura to take his spot.

"Okay guys, we have officially been challenged to a march-off!" Shiro said it with a bright smile, like a kid on Christmas, "Our rival school, Galra High, wants to march against us in a competition and let the audience pick the winner!" He grinned excitedly as the group started to whisper to each other. The murmuring got louder and louder as the band got more excited. They started cheering, something about kicking Galra ass.

Keith watched them, refusing to smile. The only thing he could think of was the last performance, and how badly he'd screwed up. He thought back to marching in the wrong direction, and ending at the wrong time, and dropping a stick. The last show was a disaster and that couldn't happen again. He could ruin the competition for the entire band if he and Lance didn't get their stuff together, and quick.

"The competition is in one week, so prepare yourselves!" Allura shouted it over the roar of the excited students, who just grew louder at this realization. They had less time to practice than they'd thought. This meant Keith had to get the problem with Lance sorted out immediately. This rivalry had to be laid to rest, for at least the time being.