Chapter Text
11.
It’s a hot summer, and a boy with bright eyes and brown waves runs past. Keith moves out of his way quickly and watches him with trained eyes. His skin is dark but his freckles are darker still, and he looks like he’s covered in stars, or black holes, or something else not of this world. Keith scrunches his nose. He’s come here every summer with his family and never once has he seen this boy.
He sprints down the bank, kicking up sand and yelling something Keith can’t decipher. In his wake follows two more children. One is tiny, nearly as pale as Keith with big glasses and thin limbs, the other much bigger with sunny yellow swim trunks on and a smile that could light up the world. Keith stumbles back a bit to get out of their path and watches in fascination as the freckled one runs up the dock and, with no hesitation, leaps off, all flailing arms and screaming and laughing. The two that followed stop at the edge of the dock and wait for their friend to come up.
When he does, he lets out a wild shout, splashing the water around him. He’s so full of kinetic energy, movement, smiles. Somehow, Keith finds it’s hard to look away.
“Is it cold?” The boy in yellow trunks asks.
“Not at all!” The one in the water replies happily.
Hesitantly, Keith’s bare feet touch sand, and he moves a little closer to them.
The one with the big glasses tugs at the edge of their t-shirt when the yellow one asks, “Want to jump in with me?” They look down at their feet and he adds on, “It’s okay if you’re nervous, I can go first and help you in.”
This lifts their spirits a little and they smile, “Okay.”
Within a minute or two, the three children are in the water splashing around and laughing. Keith sits down on the edge of the dock, kicking the water with his feet and staring at the dismal reflection it provides him.
“Hey!”
He looks up, and the loud boy is paddling over to him. His friends are still out in the lake, seemingly oblivious that one has left their ranks. Keith is given a smile but doesn’t return it, instead watches the boy with scrutiny.
“What’s your name?” He asks.
“Keith Kogane.” Keith replies stonily.
“Are you Chinese?”
Keith bites back, “No, I’m Korean.”
“Oh. Sorry. I’m Cuban, you know.” He grins.
“From Cuba?” Keith narrows his eyes.
“Yeah, I was born there.” The boy said proudly. “My name is Lance! I’m twelve."
Keith nods.
Lance kicks at the water for a second, thinking of something to say. “Those are my friends, too. Hunk is the one in yellow,” Lance turns to point, “And the one in green is Pidge!”
“What parent names their child Pidge ?”
“Their parents didn’t name them, they named themselves.” Lance says matter-of-factly.
“Oh.” Keith wiggles his toes under the water.
“Why is your hair so long?”
Keith reached up and touched his hair, shiny and black as the night, just barely reaching his shoulders. “I like it long.”
“Do your sisters ever braid it?”
“I only have one sister. She doesn’t live with us.” Keith replied, not meeting Lance’s eyes.
“Oh. I have lots of sisters. Three, actually. They braid each other’s hair. I could braid your hair if you’d like!” He offered excitedly.
“No.” Keith said quickly.
Lance asks, “Oh. Okay. Well… do you want to swim with us?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I said no.”
“But why ?”
“Because I can’t swim!” Keith says a little too loud, a little too defensively.
Lance furrows his brow, “What do you mean you can’t swim?”
“I can’t .” Keith shot back.
“Why?”
“No one’s ever taught me.” He shrugged.
Lance swam up closer to the dock and rested his arms on it. “Why not try now?”
Keith rolled his eyes, “I’ll drown.”
“You’re not gonna drown, I’ll be right here to help you.” Lance reassured him. He was so sure of himself, so positive that nothing could ever go wrong. Keith hated people like that. He knew first hand that plenty of things can go wrong.
“I don’t want to.” Keith wouldn’t look him in the eye.
“Okay, whatever you say.” Lance turned and swam off, back to his friends.
Keith huffed and stood, shaking off his feet. He despised the fact that Lance was better than him at something. He crossed his arms and stalked off from the lake, the sound of children’s laughter and shouting being left behind.
Though he can’t swim, Keith can paddleboard. And so he does, later into the evening (when Lance and his terrible, loud friends have deserted the lake and he is alone) when the soft pink glow of the setting sun is pouring over the water. He’s strapped into a life vest, gently pushing along against the waves until he’s nearly to the other side of the lake. He kicks his feet in the water, still bothered about Lance. He wasn’t sure why he was so angry that this random boy could be better at something than he was. Who even cares whether you could swim or not? No one. It’s just a dumb, stupid thing that people do.
I can swim. Keith thought haughtily. “I can swim.”
He unhooked the clips on his life jacket and threw it down onto the board in front of him. Now vulnerable over the wide expanse of water, he shuddered a little. How hard could it be? He was a smart boy. He could do anything if he set his mind to it, obviously.
And so he did. He leapt off the board, pushing it away from him, and swam.
Or, rather flailed and splashed than swum. The waves were guiding his board away from him now, his lifejacket sliding off the slick plastic and into the water. He was struggling desperately to keep his head afloat, kicking his legs and breathing heavy.
“Help!” He screamed, the end of the word being muddled by the water making way into his mouth. “Please! Help!” Tears were forming in his eyes, his lungs and legs burning. His throat was raw from screaming and finally an arm wrapped around his middle and was shoving him towards his board.
Initially, he kicked away from the object touching him, but when he heard a familiar, “Oof!” When his foot made contact, he calmed down a little.
“Stop! I’m trying to help!” The voice defended, pushing him to his board.
Gracelessly, he climbed atop it, all sprawling limbs and shaky breaths. He was in tears now, shaking, and Lance looked up at him with wide dark eyes, resting his arms on the board. “Are you okay?”
“I didn’t need your help!” Keith shouted.
“It looked like you did--”
Furiously, Keith wiped at his eyes, “I thought you left the lake!”
“Pidge lost their necklace, I was down here looking for it--”
“Just leave me alone! I can swim! ”
“Keith, it’s okay--”
Keith spat through his teeth, “Leave me alone , Lance!”
Lance gently pushed himself away from the board, hurt crossing his childlike features. “I’m sorry, I was trying to help…”
“Well, don’t .” Keith’s tone was venomous, and took Lance aback. He clutched at the life jacket, white-knuckled and face flushed. His eyes hadn’t stopped watering, and angrily he wiped the tears away, hand splashing in the water when he threw it back down.
“I could help you, you know.” Lance raised his eyebrows, speaking softly.
“What are you talking about?” Keith couldn’t dare meet the other boy’s eyes.
Lance shrugged, “I mean… help you learn how to swim.”
“I don’t need you to teach me how to swim, I already can.” Keith narrowed his eyes, studying the water, face red as a tomato in his embarrassment.
“Yeah, you… looked like you had it down perfect.” He ducked his head and smiled a little, despite himself.
Keith replied by splashing him in the face.
“Hey!” Lance chuckled and splashed him back, “I’m just trying to help.”
Keith weighed his options, biting his lip and picking at his cuticles. There was an expanse of silence before he sighed and conceded, “Fine.”
“You’ll let me?” Lance’s eyes lit up.
“No-- yes, but you can’t tell anyone!” Keith hissed, glaring at him.
Lance nodded, “Okay, when do you want to meet?”
“Um. I don’t know.”
Lance took a moment of consideration, “We could sneak out tonight and come onto the lake when no one’s out here, then no one will know!”
“But that’s not allowed!”
“Then don’t tell anyone.” Lance grinned, his eyes alight.
Keith gaped at him for a second before dropping his head, “Okay. Are you sure we won’t get in trouble?”
“Positive! Pidge and I would sneak out here sometimes and build sandcastles at night.” Lance did a spin in the water as he spoke.
Keith wrung his hands. “Okay. What time should we meet?”
Lance took a moment of deliberation. “At eleven?”
Keith nodded.
“Okay. I’ll meet you by the dock. Make sure no one sees you!” Lance cautioned, beginning to backstroke away from Keith.
Keith watched as Lance smiled, then turned abruptly and disappeared beneath the water, swimming back to the bank. Hesitantly, he accepted his defeat and put the life jacket back on, paddling back to shore.
The next time Keith sees Lance, it’s well after dinner, and his father sent him to bed a few hours ago. He could faintly hear him talking to his grandmother in the living room, and so he decided that then was his chance. The clock said 10:54 in bright artificial red, which would make it eleven by the time he got to the dock. He kicked the blankets off his body in a hurry-- he had put his trunks on under his pajama bottoms-- and opened his creaky window as quietly as he could. His grandmother lived in this tiny cabin and every summer for the past four years he’d spend a couple weeks in this very room, so he knew how the window creaked and which floorboards would whine in protest under his measly weight.
Sparing one more apprehensive glance over his shoulder at the door, where the hallway light streamed in under the frame, beckoning him not to make this reckless decision (the first of many he would make with Lance).
Without much grace, he climbed out of the window, and with the gentle hushed sound of his bare feet hitting the sand, his decision was made. He, for some ungodly reason, felt as though he was obligated to follow Lance in any of his endeavors, and as though it wasn’t much of an obligation at all.
By the time he got to the dock, Lance was there, kicking his feet in the wate r. The sound of the old wood creaking as Keith stepped onto it made the other boy turn. Lance stood and smiled.
“Ready for your swim lesson?” He said excitedly, hands on his hips.
Keith nervously pulled his hair back into a ponytail with a spare hair tie he’d picked up before leaving. “Um, I think so.”
“Don’t be nervous,” Lance assured him, walking to the stepladder that led into the water, which was pitch black in the night. The moon was full overhead and cast a shimmery, silver light onto the two boys. Lance, as though not bothered by the chill, sank into the water as though he was meant to be there. Keith would’ve believed it if you told him that were true.
Keith shook his head, “I’m not.”
“Good,” Lance smiled, “Because it’s not scary as all, you know. There’s nothing in the water that could hurt you. The water loves you, it wants you to have fun, it wants you to enjoy your time and to be comfortable with it.”
Keith wanted to smile but refrained.
Lance, after a small pause, continued. “Anyway, it’s gonna be fun, I promise. Here, come down the ladder.”
Keith, despite himself, trusted Lance-- at least a little-- and so he began to descend the stepladder. He recoiled at first, “It’s cold!” He exclaimed.
Lance laughed, “Yeah, it’s nighttime.”
Keith, who couldn’t bear to seem weaker than the boy behind him, braved the chill and forced himself into the water, gritting his teeth.
Lance said, “Okay. Now let go of the ladder.”
“What?” Keith said incredulously, “No!”
“Keith, I’m right here--”
“No, no, no!” Keith began to climb the ladder again, “This was a bad idea, I’m going home!”
“Keith, no! Don’t! C’mon!” Lance insisted.
“No!”
“Keith--”
“I don’t want to! I’ll get hurt!”
“You’re not gonna get hurt, I’m right here to protect you!” Lance grabbed the bottom of Keith’s shorts.
Keith deliberated for a long second.
“Keith, please, just trust me.” Lance pleaded, hand still gripping the shorts.
Keith shut his eyes tight and slid back into the water.
“Let go of the ladder,” Lance said gently.
Keith bit his lip, “I’m… I’m scared.”
Lance touched his back, “It’s okay to be scared. Let me help you stop being scared.”
Keith turned to glare at him over his shoulder.
“I’ll make sure you don’t drown, okay?” Lance promised.
Keith nodded. “Fine. I’m letting go now.”
Lance had a secure hold on his middle as Keith began to float away from the dock. “Now start paddling your arms and legs.” Keith begrudgingly did as he was told, and after a minute or two of that, Lance declared, “Okay, I’m going to let go now.”
“Are-- are you sure? I don’t want to drown--” Keith could feel his heartbeat picking up in fear.
“I know you don’t want to drown, which is why I’m not gonna let you.” Lance promised. “Just keep moving, okay? You won’t drown unless you choose to.”
“That’s not how drowning works!” Keith exclaimed.
“Just trust me,” Lance said gently.
Keith took a deep breath, “Okay…”
Lance let go of him and Keith struggled for a few long moments to keep his head afloat. Lance was always nearby as Keith paddled his way back towards the dock. Lance gave him encouragement the whole way there, and by the time Keith’s hands gripped the ladder, Lance was cheering. “You did it! You did it, Keith! You swam!” He was gleeful, splashing the water. Keith shied away from the droplets as he smiled.
“I--I did!” Keith chuckled to himself.
“You know what this means, right?” Lance raised his eyebrows.
Keith looked confused, “What?”
“You gotta race me across the the lake!” Lance took off into the darkness of the water.
“No, I can’t!” Keith insisted, “I’m not that good yet!”
Lance spun around, “Oh, okay. Well maybe next summer!”
Keith furrowed his brow, “Next summer?”
“Yeah, my aunt owns the house we’re staying in and she invited back again next summer. You live here right?”
“No, I come here every July, my grandmother lives here.” Keith explained.
“Oh, good!” Lance smiled.
Keith found himself mirroring his grin and he looked away.
Lance swam a bit closer, “Hey, Hunk and Pidge and I are going to hike in the forest tomorrow, do you want to come with us?”
Keith shrugged, “If… if you want me to.”
Lance nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, of course! We’re friends now, aren’t we?”
Keith couldn’t wipe the smile of his face.
They spent the rest of the summer joined at the hip. Keith did become a slightly stronger swimmer towards the end of the month, and Lance taught him how to do “wicked cannonballs”. Sometimes when Keith wasn’t looking, Lance would find himself smiling at him just a little, but looking away when he realized what he was doing. At the end of the summer, Lance enveloped Keith in the tightest hug he could, telling him that he couldn’t wait for next summer. As his car was driving away, he hung out the window and shouted, “Next time, I’ll teach you how to dive! Bye Keith!”
Keith felt his heart sink as the van disappeared onto the forest road. He dropped his waving hand, and his face lost it’s smile. He finally had learned what it was like to have a friend.