The Small Town

Hope she can swim

"Screw practise then!" shouted the larger boy. "We're showing him around!"

"No. I have to set up the rig, and we have to get our next album ready to put up and-" Katie was cut off by the tall boy.

"Now Pidge," he said in a southern accent. "We gotta be nice to the city boy. We could hurt his feelin's. We gotta show him around. Don't want him gettin' lost."

Keith wasn't phased by what the boy said.

"Please, try navigating Galra city, then come talk to me," he retorted.

"Ooh, snippy. Well, Keith, you got a bathing suit underneath them clean jeans?"

Keith raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"Lance, knock it off. I'll walk him back and then we can--" she was cut of again, this time by the boy in the green vest.

"Why don't we show him around for the day until it gets dark? Then all four of us can go back to my house, set up the rig, and watch movies till we fall asleep."

"Good idea, Hunk! Then we can have Keithy-boy here let us know what he thinks of Pidge's new song!" Lance yelled out.

Pidge?

"Who's Pidge?" asked Keith.

"This gal right here!" yelled Hunk, throwing Katie over his shoulder. Katie pounded her fists on his back and yelled at him to let her down.

"So Keith, you got swim shorts or no?" Lance asked again. Keith shook his head. Lance turned and ran into the house behind him. He came back out after about two minutes with a pair of red swim shorts.

"Go try these on. They should fit you." Lance tossed them at Keith's face. Keith went into the house and into the nearest bathroom. He changed into the shorts and found that they fit him perfectly.

He walked back out and saw that Katie -Pidge?- had a backpack on. Hunk took Keith's other clothes and stuck them into the bag on Pidge's back.

"Where are we going?" asked Keith. They had been walking for five minutes down a dirt road in the woods. The other three exchanged glances. Keith got nervous.

"Don't be scared, Keith," said Pidge in a sickly sweet voice, resting her hand on his shoulder. "But... be very, very wary."

There was a crack in the woods and Keith spun around.

"It's fine," Lance said softly, pushing him forwards slightly. "You'll hear things following you in the woods. Don't worry. They're just checking on you."

Keith shook his head and treaded forwards, taking harsh steps.

"Wait, Keith!" Hunk yelled out. Keith spun around to face the larger boy, glaring.

"You don't know what's buried underneath you. You have to pray, that every step you take, whatever it is won't wake up." He spoke in a soft and quiet voice as well.

"Ha ha." Keith laughed sarcastically. But on the inside he was kinda freaked out. What were they doing? Suddenly Pidge stopped walking, a blank expression on her face. Then her eyes widened in horror.

"They're watching us again, Lance." She slowly turned around and dropped to the ground, holding her face.

"Katie!" Keith screamed. He ran to her side and lifted her from the ground. She was shaking. Then Keith realized that she was shaking with laughter. Keith dropped Pidge and turned around to see the other two boys rolling in the dirt, howling with laughter. Pidge had tears in her eyes. Keith couldn't believe that he had been tricked like this.

"City boy can't handle the forest!" Lance cried.

"You guys are assholes," Keith sighed, crossing his arms. "Where are we going? Actually?"

"Keep walking Emo. Then you'll know." Pidge walked past him, wiping the tears from her face. The two other boys seemed warmed up to Keith a bit more. They finally saw the end of the road. It led to rock and sand. Keith saw people, too. They were on a beach. But they were nowhere near the ocean. It was a lake.

Lance threw his t-shirt to the side, followed by Hunk they ran into the water, wearing their bathing suits. Pidge ran to an out house and emerged in a green one piece bathing suit. She put her clothes and backpack and glasses in a pile with the other boys' things. Keith followed suit and was soon submerged to his shoulders in water. He could touch the bottom and so could Lance and Hunk, but Pidge had to tread water to keep her head up.

The small girl swam up the lake until she could touch the ground, then she made her way up still. She waved the boys over, but Hunk and Lance shook their heads.

"Pidge! You're insane!" Lance yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"You can't!" Hunk called to her. "You're gonna get hurt!"

Pidge just waved them off.

"I'm going to stop her." Keith started to swim towards the girl, but was stopped by a hand his shoulder.

"She's going through the undertow to get to a jumping spot. If you follow her, you could drown." Keith looked back, but he didn't see the small girl.

"Where'd she go!?" he panicked.

"It's fine," Hunk reassured the two other boys. "She went into the woods. There she is." He pointed to a large rock. Pidge was at the top waving to them. She yelled something to them, but they couldn't hear. They followed the path that she took, away from the undertow, meeting up with her on top of the rock.

"You scared us Pidge," said Keith. Pidge seemed surprised that Keith had called her that. She shook it off and said;

"You guys are just big babies." She turned back to the edge of the cliff. "If you avoid the undertow, you won't have any problems. You just have to walk around it."

She got ready to jump, but was interrupted by another, new voice, calling out to her.

"What do you want, Lotor?" Lance and Hunk stepped in front of Pidge. "Get behind Keith, Pidge," he ordered her.

"Still as protective as ever, I see," the other boy, Lotor, said.

He had almost white hair, and he was tall and skinny.

"You're not gonna jump off of Devil's ladder are you, babe?"

"Don't call me that," Pidge snapped. "I'm not your babe. You've got a crowd of girls waiting at your feet for you to abuse. I'm not one of them. So leave us alone."

Pidge stood to her full height, but she still only reached to his shoulders.

"Oh little Katie. So confident." Lotor snaked his arm around the small girls waist and pulled her closer to him. Keith suddenly felt a burning rage rising up in him.

"She said to leave. Her. Alone," Keith snapped, tearing Pidge from Lotor's grasp and into his own arms.

"Katie, got a new boyfriend?" said another person behind Lotor.  A girl with tan skin and short, purple hair stepped from behind him. Pidge pushed herself away from Keith and stood her ground next to him.

"Lotor is perfect. Why would you leave for some," she scoffed, "Emo?" she continued.

"Alright Axca, listen you whore. I only met this asshole today. But I'd rather be with him a hundred times more than that abusive piece of-"

Pidge was cut off by Axca pushing her off the cliff and into the water.

"Hope she can swim," was the last thing Keith heard before he, Hunk and Lance dove off the cliff after her.