Bodysnatchers

8

The next morning, they're sat at Lance's kitchen table. Or, Keith is; Lance is leant up against the fridge with a bowl of frosted flakes in his hands, and he keeps giving Keith this odd look, and Keith just keeps blushing and tries to remain staring at his shreddies.

Suddenly they hear a door open at the front of the house, and Keith panics for a moment, because who would just be walking into a house? But then he looks at Lance, who looks as calm as ever, and remembers he has 3 siblings and parents who live with him, and it's probably one of them.

"Lance?" He hears a girl call.

"Kitchen!" Lance calls back putting his bowl of cereal into the sink.

"You whore," she says the second she steps foot into the kitchen. And Keith's heart rate speeds up, cause he has no idea what's happening, or what that word means in the context of Lance. Because what if he's sleeping with other people, and Keith is just one of many guys and girls that have been over this week?

"What's that's supposed to mean, Illiana?"

"You have the audacity to have your boy over when you knew I was coming back home early today. How rude."

Keith's slight panic subsides when he hears her say 'your boy' and the jokingness in her tone.

"Okay, says the one who brings her douchey boyfriend home nearly every evening."

"Yeah, at least I had the courage to ask someone to be my boyfriend," she says, pointing at Keith as she readjusts the bag on her back, looking at Lance expectantly.

Lance huffs.

"Ana, you're pushin' your luck here." He says hopping off the counter, as if it was a defence mechanism.

She gives him a grin then turns to sit town in one of the seats to Keith's left.

"Keith, right?"

"Uh, right."

"I'm Lance's sister, Iliana. I don't think I've ever seen you around school before."

Keith just shrugs, not wanting to explain that it's because he had been the definition of an emo-wallflower embodied for most of high school.

"Then again Lance does always tell me I need to be more observant if I'm going to meet people," she trails off then, looking up towards where Lance was stood.

The two of them just watch one another for a few moments, and Keith wonders if they're having some strange brother-sister telepathy conversation thing, because that's the only thing that would explain the looks they keep giving each other.

She turns her attention back to Keith.

"Anyways, I should head upstairs. Gotta write that 1920's essay for Lourd."

Then she stands up and stretches her arms above her head. After taking one strap og her bag off of her shoulder she walks towards Keith, and leans down to give him a chaste embrace.

"It was nice to finally meet you." She exclaims while pulling away from a very surprised Keith. But it didn't sound directed at him, more so Lance, as if she was bitter about something he had done.

The two boys then watch as she jogs up the stairs, taking two at a time.

"Hey, Keith?" Lance says, eventually.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry about all that."

And Keith laughs, because, that exchange was nothing to be sorry for, he was sort of relieved to know that Lance's family actually exists and isn't something just made up.