Writing The Tides

Fanaa (n.)

As if he would even socialize. He usually just finds a pet to hang out with, or just awkwardly linger by the punch bowl. It wasn't like he didn't try. His entire high school life was him trying. Years of awkward school dances and eating alone at lunch. He didn't mean to repel people. He just did.

"Keith! Is that you?"

He turned around to face a tall girl with shiny dark skin and white hair, and she came closer he could make out her bright blue eyes. She walked toward him with a wide smile, hands shoved into the pockets of her bright blue dress.

"Hey Allura." Keith managed a smile, trying to hide his growing anxiety.

"You look adorable!"

The compliment took him off guard, but he did make an attempt at his appearance for once. He was wearing one of his nicer shirts, a black turtleneck, which in hindsight was a bad choice for a beach house, but it paired nicely with his maroon jeans that Shiro forced him to wear. ("IT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU" "THEY LOOK GAY" "YOU ARE GAY")

"Uhh thank-thank you." he pushed back his hair instinctively, despite having it up.

"Come on!" She pulled his arm into hers, "Let's head in! My boyfriend's waiting inside."

'Oh no...what if this is one of those couple parties....will I have to hook up with someone? Oh God please let there be nice-'

He didn't have much more time to think, time doesn't work like that. In truth, the human attention span is constantly shifting the mind quicker than we can even process. We are always drawn to something new, things that shine.

Lance shone like the sun against a room of clouds. Keith could barely topple into the doorway before noticing him across the room, his laughter ringing louder than whatever song was on, the yellow lighting casted onto the crowd melted into his skin like paint seeping into the canvas.

Lance was a masterpiece in a museum that yelled "DO NOT TOUCH".

And every single time Keith thought he was over him, he found himself in a painful surprise. It's like his heart and mind were spies plotting against each other, nothing was in equilibrium anymore.

He just wanted to have fun. Couldn't he be allowed that?

Pulling himself together, he decided- yes, yes he was. He watched Allura cast away and followed after her, determined to control the situation.

Keith wanted to dance, laugh, make a fool out of himself, damn it.

So he was going to.

///

Lance didn't know what he was doing. It was the first time he's been out socializing in weeks, and honestly, if it wasn't for his friends physically pulling him out of his home, he probably wouldn't even be here.

He'd been practically living at the beach. It's the only place Lance knew he wouldn't run into....

...Koalas! They're so cute! In a super bad type of way. You know? Like evil and manipulative, you think they're all adorable and wonderful and a total blessing in your life and they let you completely fall for them until they decide they don't want that type of commitment and leave you brokenhearted and-

Ahem. Yeah, Koalas.

But he was here, around an entire crowd of people and potential koalas, trying to have a good time. His friends were laughing at everything he was saying, which he didn't think was even that funny, but he did love laughs, and drunkards are always an easy crowd. Hunk left with Shay a while ago, which he couldn't bring himself to stop. He always feels like they need to baby him, and it made him feel like shit. Here his friends were, being absolute saints and what does he do? Yeah, keep falling for the wrong people, getting drunk, over all being a huge-