“So, do you have a crush on anyone?” Lance asked, a sly grin underscoring his side-cut eyes.
Keith groaned at the question he really didn’t want to answer, at least not in front of a guy he barely knew. “Isn’t this stuff girls do at sleepovers?” he huffed as he dug his pajamas out of the duffel bag he’d packed just two hours prior. “Don’t guys play video games and eat junk food?”
Lance stood from his perch on the corner of his bed, arms crossed defiantly. “I’ll have you know that Pidge is one of the best Killbot Phantasm players I know,” he boasted loudly, “and if she were as hot as Allura I’d have a crush on her, instead!”
Hunk looked at Lance with an air of contempt, then to Keith with concern. “You know, Keith, I’d thought for sure you liked Allura.”
“What?!” Lance yelped, his expression one of genuine shock. “That’s crazy! Everyone knows he has a crush on me.”
Before Keith could even protest, Hunk let out a hearty guffaw that shattered the silence. “Oh, man, you really believe that?” he teased, wiping the tears from his face. “Dude, the only reason he came tonight is because I told him Allura was going to stop by.”
Keith motioned for Hunk to zip his lips, but the damage was already done. “You said some girls from school might show up…” he admitted reluctantly, unsure where to go with his slightly edited retelling of the conversation from earlier that day.
The tension in the room was palpable. Lance’s arms dropped to his side, his shoulders sagging under the weight of the truth he’d long tried to ignore. “So, I guess our competition goes deeper than sports and grades,” he mumbled. “And, if it goes as well for me as those things have, then I don’t have a fighting chance.”
“I’m not competing with you, idiot,” Keith responded, a tinge of playfulness overlapping the annoyance he felt. “I’m just doing my best. And Allura will grade me or score me, or whatever, but it’s her choice to make in the end.”
“Wow, that’s deep man,” Hunk praised as he plopped down on the floor next to Keith. “If I were into guys, I’d totally fall for you right now,” he continued, a wink and a quick elbow jab in his friend’s arm as he laughed, “and if I were a betting man, I’d say you’re already on her Dean’s List.”
At that moment, the trio heard a loud crack on the window. Then another.
“Hunk, go see if that’s a ghost,” Lance insisted while crawling under the covers on his bed.
The larger teen grumbled, grabbing a nearby baseball bat as he crept towards the window. Keith rolled his eyes as he jumped up to follow his friend. Realizing he’d been out-valored by his rival, Lance quickly scrambled to the front, his fingers nimbly unlatching the sash to throw it open. He jutted his head and torso out of the opening, looking down to ground level to find the noisy culprit.
“Oh, it’s just Pidge,” he lamented, his elbows resting on the sill as his chin nestled into his hands. “What do you want?”
“Took you long enough, loser,” she shot back. “Anyway, we just want to hang out. Our sleepover was kind of boring, and since Romelle and Allura didn’t want to play video games I thought we’d come crash your party.”
Lance stood up quickly, his head banging against the bottom rail of the window. “Allura’s with you?” he asked, his voice a full octave higher than usual. After clearing his throat he continued, sounding a bit more like his usual self. “Oh, well, of course you ladies are welcome.”
Pidge rolled her eyes, motioning for her friends to come out from behind the bush where they’d hidden. “We’ll meet you at the basement door,” Lance instructed. Pidge led the way, having obviously spent lots of time hanging out at the house.
The boys made their way downstairs to meet them. Keith’s palms were starting to sweat, and he wiped them on his pants several times before they reached their destination. He thanked his lucky stars that he’d not yet changed into his pajamas, which were old and tattered from years of wear.
Once settled in, Lance and Pidge wasted no time in starting a game of Killbots, while the others settled into watching a classic episode of Family Feud. Eventually they all found themselves sitting on the floor in a circle, the inevitable game of Truth or Dare having been suggested.
They learned a lot about each other that night, including Hunk’s affinity for cooking, and Lance’s intricate skin-care routine. Pidge was made to put on glitter gloss, and Keith had to eat a PB&J, the “J” being jalapenos.
He was surprisingly unbothered by it, to Lance’s chagrin.
Next time Hunk’s turn came around, he immediately turned to Allura. “Truth, or dare?”
Not wanting to risk too much humiliation, Allura decided to avoid having to do anything gross or unflattering. “Truth, please.”
“Who,” he started, pausing as he leaned in for effect, “do you have a crush on?”
Allura’s eyes shot wide open. “I, um, well…”
The air in the room shifted as quickly as she fumbled over her answer, her eyes quickly darting in one particular direction before looking down at the floor. “I guess…I guess I don’t really-”
“Oh, my god, it’s Keith,” Romelle announced to the group. “She only agreed to leave with us when we told her hot boy over there was going to be here as well.”
Everyone turned to Romelle, then back to Allura. She blushed as she buried her face in her hands. Still, she made no effort to deny Romelle’s answer, which Keith took particular note of.
Hunk apparently also realized this, and decided to help his friend out. “Since Allura didn’t answer me, it’s still my turn,” he insisted. “So, Keith, truth or dare?”
Keith felt his face grow hotter as he realized all eyes were now on him. In this moment he realized that there was only one correct answer, one chance to let her know how he truly felt. He inhaled deeply in a fruitless attempt to calm his nerves. When he did speak, it was barely above a whisper.
“Truth? I have a crush on Allura, ” he offered unprompted. Allura looked up at him, her cheeks slightly redder than before. “Dare? I already want to kiss her,” he answered as he looked across the circle to lock eyes with her, “but only if she agrees to it.”
Allura beamed widely, nodding her head harder than was necessary. She scrambled to her feet and eagerly reached her hand out to him. “I’m very much okay with it.”
Once the two had disappeared into a hidden section of the room Lance, who was quite put out by the display, angrily growled at Hunk for egging Keith on. “I thought you’d have my back!”
“What?” Hunk shrugged, seemingly confused by the accusation. “I was just going to dare him to drink hot sauce straight from the bottle. Did you see him eat those peppers without breaking a sweat?” he continued, his voice raising with every word. “I don’t think he’s human!”
