A Beat in the Stars

14

I groaned and dragged myself out of bed at 5:30, my whole body was sore but I ignored it. Alex was in the bathroom so I couldn't do my skincare routine. I threw on some random clothes, grabbed a piece of toast, and headed out the door. I got to the practice just in time. My whole body groaned in protest as I danced, pushing myself to keep up. Allura told me I needed to clean up my dancing because I was getting sloppy. I just said, "Yes Ma'am," like I was raised and we all headed off to class. I go to 2nd, 4th, and 6th. They all go by in a blur. 7th was agony, my body screaming at me to stop. When we finally called it quits at 5:38 I stumbled out and to the fields. I picked more lettuce. I finally got home at 8:57 and crashed.

I was tempted to throw my phone across the room when it went off at 5:30. Alex was in the bathroom so no skincare routine. Bags had started to form under my eyes and I could barely keep them open. He struggled through the day and was relieved when Shiro told us we would be observing the Blade's practice instead of practicing. We all made their way over to Marmora high. We drive up while they're doing their laps. The captain greets us and leads us over to the team. 

"Alright today we are showing how we do things," He explained to them. "So the usual 100 push-ups," the captain ordered, no one complained. They all just got down and did them. They're all done in 5 minutes. "Sprints. 100m. READY! SET! GO!" I watched as the team ran, Keith finishing in 13 seconds and the rest of the team close behind. "High knees, READY! SET! GO!" Keith is first again the first one back, closely followed by that stupid Sky guy. Keith high-fives the captain. We all go inside to the dance studio, which is not the upstairs gym for them and watch them do pull-ups a few at a time. Then they did 50 sit-ups. They paired up and stupid Sky was holding Keith's feet. I was jealous, no doubt. I saw Keith avoiding getting close to Sky, and wondered if he didn't really like him after all. 

Finally, they started dancing. "I hope you all remembered what I told you yesterday otherwise well you know by now the penalty BUT just in case you forgot you have to clean up afterward. NOW GET IN POSITION," the captain said. I watched the team dance, well... I watched Keith dance. I bit my lip at the end of the complicated song, letting out a huff of relief when Keith backed away. I glared at Sky when I saw him wiggle his eyebrows at him.

They all left to shower, and I asked Shiro if I could go ahead and leave. He let me go and I headed out to my truck. But just my luck, the stupid truck doesn't start. I get out and lift up the hood. The stupid radiator was overheating, I take off my shirt and use it to take the cap off the radiator. The temperature immediately goes down, but I don't have anything to put in it to fill it back up. "I'm gonna be late! All the spot will be filled before I get there," I mumbled to myself.

"Lance," Keith asked.

I turned and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, Keith do you have a water bottle or two. Something is wrong with my radiator but I gotta get to work." 

"No, I don't. I'm sorry," Keith replied. He looked sad, 

"It's fine, I'll just run inside and see if any of them have any. I'll see ya later alright!" I called over my shoulder as I ran inside.

"WAIT! LANCE YOUR SHIRT," Keith yelled.

"Its covered in grease and radiator fluid!" I called back from running inside. Shiro was the first to see me and completely confused.

"Lance... you don't have a shirt on..." Shiro raised an eyebrow. Others started to notice.

"Yeah, I know. My radiator is cracked or something, but I gotta get to work. Anyone got some extra water bottles?" I raised an eyebrow, mimicking Shiro. I acted like not wearing a shirt was completely normal in October, even though it really is NOT. I got a few bottles and head back to my truck, but by the time I made it to the field, all the slots were full. I turned around back to my truck and slowly drove home, thankful that the truck didn't overheat again. I spent the afternoon working on the radiator and homework since it wasn't my turn to help with the kids or dinner. 

I went to bed early that night and actually got a good night sleep for once.