Premium Seats [Klance] ✅

21 - Crush Quiz

LANCE

"Be honest with me,"

Adam Wright was not an austere man. He was collected and was filled with more humour than Lance's own dad. But sometimes the level of composure that radiated off him unnerved Lance to an extent. It was like watching a horror film; when everything grew quiet during a very tense scene, leaving room for the drums of heartbeat to be audible, and you would never know when the jumpscare would turn your skin inside out.

So that was why Lance sat straighter, levelling his flight instructor with an attentive look.

"Do you really wish to continue with the simulation?" Adam asked, crossing his arms on the desk as he did so.

Lance nodded, a little too hastily. "Yes, of course, sir!" he said. "I mean – sir."

"Are you honest with your answer?"

"I don't ... understand what you mean by that,"

"You do," the man sat back. "And deep down, you know the answer. Otherwise you wouldn't be so careless about this flight scheme."

Lance tongue curled in on itself. Because it was one thing to convince yourself that you knew something, but it was another thing when someone had managed to extract the raw form of the truth itself without having to dodge the vines and thorns that had built a barrier of ambiguity. It was oddly astonishing, not to mention the artful way in which Adam had done it.

"Keith told me you had a late detention and then had to help your gym teacher with something, and that's why you couldn't make it last week," the man proceeded with a tint of question in his tone.

"Sir – I swear I never told him to tell you that," Lance said, horrified.

"I know," Adam smiled. When Lance appeared perplexed, he added, "Keith's an awful liar, even when he's trying to save his friend. But, you know, gotta give that kid 'A' for efforts."

Lance didn't realise he was smiling until he felt his cheeks hurt. And Adam levelled him with a rather different stare now, almost curious. "Yeah, he did save my ass back there," Lance nodded absentmindedly, before realising his choice of words; "Butt. I meant butt. Keith saved my butt. He kicks butts but also saves them."

There was an almost knowing smile playing on his flight instructor's lips. "Lance," he said, "may I ask you a ... personal question?"

Lance's eyebrows shot up. "Well – I'm an open book," he shrugged, inching away from "yes" but also curious as to where this conversation was steering him.

"Do you like Keith?"

The sentence had Lance blinking a lot more than necessary. That had to be the most straightforward question he had ever received this year. And judging by the sounds of it, an unequivocal answer was required. The only issue, however, was that it lay in a grey area. No strings attached to any harbour.

So Lance responded with, "I mean, I couldn't stand him at first. But I like him now." Adam Wright continued to stare. "Is that ... the answer you're looking for? I like him as a friend."

"I may not be as close to him as his brother is," Adam said. "But I care about him as much. And you know about his past and mental health"— A vigorous nod from Lance —"He may be hiding it well now that his mother is back in town, but he's still adapting, and it's taking quite a toll. I just don't want anything else to hurt him."

Anything else?

It took Lance a few seconds to draw the conclusion. "Wait, you think I— sir, he's become one of my closest friends now, and I will never hurt him," he said, feeling somewhat offended that Adam would imply something as close to that. "Why would you—"