The Small Town

Lance wrote it when Plaxum dumped him.

"Mr. Emo is trying to win you over." Lance chuckled. He elbowed Pidge in the side, which she returned, only more violent.

"Nah. This is for me," Keith joked. "Besides. The thing is bigger than Pidge."

Pidge glared at him with the look on an angry chihuahua.

"It is not." She stomped her foot on the ground like a toddler. "I'm not that small."

"Yes, you are, Pidge," Hunk chimed in.

"Hunk! You're supposed to be the nice one!"  Pidge crossed her arms and continued to walk. The sun was almost set by the time they arrived at a large yellow townhouse. There was a small woman in the front yard, tidying up garden supplies. She stood when she saw the four teens approaching.

"Hello dears!" she smiled sweetly. "You kids here for the night?"

"Yes we are Mrs. Garrett," Pidge smiled back. "I hope you don't mind, but we brought another friend. Is that alright?"

"Of course!" Mrs. Garrett clapped her hands together. "And who will be staying with us?" she asked, gesturing to Keith.

"My name is Keith. I'm staying with Katie and her family for the summer." Keith smiled as he stuck out his hand. Her calloused and weathered hand took his and shook it, the smile never leaving her face.

"Well, it's lovely to meet you." She released her grip and went off to finish cleaning up her tools.

"Need any help?" Lance asked.

"Oh no. Not at all, thank you dear." Mrs. Garrett lifted her bag of tools and walked off to the shed, waving to the four teens.

"Come on in." Hunk led them onto a large wooden porch and into the house. It reminded Keith of a Boston Box house, with stairs leading down and up. Hunk took them downstairs. Keith marvelled at the elaborate gaming setup they had, with three Xboxes, two televisions on two different walls, and an array of controllers. There was a coffee table and a bunch of couches surrounding it. There was a recliner and a beanbag chair as well. Hunk showed Keith where the bathroom was and his dad's office, that they couldn't go in. There was a door that led to a garage too.

"Oh! I gotta set everything up." Pidge ran into the garage. The other three watched from afar as she connected wires and spun dials and pulled levers, running around what looked like a dolly covered in batteries and makeshift plugs. Sitting on the top, angled towards where Keith assumed Pidge would stand, were three launchpads, the only thing that Keith recognized. Lance and Hunk eventually walked down the few steps that led to the concrete floor of the garage. They travelled over to two different instruments. Lance lifted an acoustic guitar and Hunk walked over to his keyboard.

Lance sat down on a stool and placed his guitar in his hand, then readjusted his microphone so it sat nicely near his face. He spoke into it as Hunk did the same with his keyboard, except he stood next to his. Pidge hit some buttons and Lance's microphone started up.

"Road work ahead? Uh. Yeah I sure hope it does," he said into it, earning a quiet laugh from Pidge.

"Hunk, see if the power is connected," said Pidge, pressing buttons quickly. She plugged her laptop cord into the side of her large machine. Hunk gave Pidge a thumbs up and she started hitting buttons on her launch pads, making an interesting beat. Lance plucked strings on his guitar and Hunk moved his fingers from key to key.

"We've never had someone really listen to our music," Lance said to Keith. "So go easy with your criticism."

Keith nodded, and sat on a chair across from them.