Bookgirl111 – yes you have probably guessed it. :(

The Best Guesst – yes he is making friends, lets hope they stay with him… as far as the puppy goes, well… no promises.

Rogue Active – yea, the beginning and end memories of the chapters will probably only be for the first few chapters, after that they'll probably slow down. But there will still be a few. I'm glad you are liking it tho!


Chapter 3: First Day as Freshman Part 3: School days

Now in fourth grade, the boy comes home every day happy to see his Rover. The dog sits with him as he finishes his homework and eats a sandwich for dinner. One day he comes home only to receive a slap as soon as he walks in the door. His father mentions how he had received a call from his teacher saying he got detention for getting into a fight with another boy.

"B-but that boy was bullying ano-" His explanation was cut off by another slap from his father.

"I don' give a shit who the boy was beatin' up on! Tha's his business!" He drug the boy to the closet locking the door.

He was beginning to expect that. What he wasn't expecting was to hear a sickening thud against a wall and the pained whimper of his best friend. "Rover…" the boy whispered. When he heard another thud and more whimpering, a heartbreaking scream escaped the boy. "ROVER! NO-OO!" His voice cracked from his own pained cries. "LEA-VE H-im al-one." His voice died off with his crying. He screamed, begged his father to leave the innocent dog alone. The last thing he heard was something hitting the closet door. He saw a shadow fall to the floor. He reached his fingers beneath the door to feel the rough fur of his best friend. "R-Rover. I'm here." The boy whispered through the door. He could feel the dog breathing but feared for his future in that hell-hole of a home.


The bell rings, signaling the end of the lunch period. Pidge, Keith, and Hunk end their conversation to head to their next class. Lance mumbles a 'see ya' to the others before following Hunk. However, when they all notice they are heading in the same direction, they give each other a bit of a suspicious look. They all pause outside the same classroom.

Lance points between himself and Hunk. "We've got English for sixth period. So, I don't know why you guys are following us."

Pidge smirks. "That's funny 'cause I've also got English."

"Me t-"

"No, no no, no. Don't even finish that sentence." Lance interrupts Keith. "There is no way we have this class together, too!"

"Uhh…" Keith isn't sure what to say.

Pidge lets out a huff that sounds vaguely like a laugh. "Come on, Keith. Just ignore him." She makes her way inside the classroom with Keith following. Lance pouts as he sits next to Pidge, Keith sitting on the other side of her. Hunk takes a seat behind Lance.

Once the tardy bell rings, there isn't much more room for talking between the four as their teacher begins her discussion immediately. Shortly into her discussion, Lance found his gaze slowly drifting to the dark haired boy two seats over. He watched as Keith laid his chin on his forearms, still keeping his eyes on the teacher. A few strands of hair fell into the boy's face and Lance watched as he gently brushed them back behind his ear. For just a brief second, Lance thought he saw a bruise on the boy's neck but it was quickly covered by more hair. Was it a bruise? A hickey maybe? No. Lance pushed that thought out of his mind. Purple eyes connected with blue as Keith caught him staring. A soft but sad smile appeared on Keith's face as Lance quickly looked away. When he looked back over, Keith's eyes were back on the teacher. He watched those deep purple eyes, eyes that were filled with sadness. He couldn't help but wonder how someone as young as him could hold such deep sorrow in his eyes. He didn't even realize how long he'd been staring until the bell rang for the end of class.

Lance shook his head, coming back to the present. He made his way out of the room with Hunk, not really listening to his friend's words.


Lance made his way to his next class. It was his first elective. Just for the fun of it, he had signed up for dance as his PE credit. He wasn't sure how he'd like it but decided to try anyway. Once he arrived at the dance studio classroom, he heard the instructor informing the others that there was no need to change. He was saying they aren't going to be doing any movement until next time. Lance sat on the floor of the studio with the others. His mind soon wandered back to Keith.

The bell ending seventh period rang at 2:50. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge just finished Spanish together and headed their separate ways. Keith had JROTC for his second elective. He pulled out his schedule while walking to look for the classroom number. With his full attention on his schedule, he ran right into another student, papers went everywhere.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." Keith continued mumbling apologies, helping pick up all the papers and books that dropped.

"No, no. It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going and I should probably have a bag for all this anyway."

Keith finally looked up, handing over the papers. The other student was much larger than he was. He was well built and had dark hair. Keith noticed the subject of most of the boy's papers. "So, uh… piloting?"

The other smiled softly and chuckled. "Yea, I've always liked flying and would like to be a pilot one day."

"Oh, me too." Keith smiled.

"Really? That's great! Uh, what class are you headed to?"

"ROTC." Keith found his schedule in the mess of papers and continued looking for his room number.

"Wow, well I could walk you there. That's exactly where I'm headed." He motioned down the hall. "The name's Shiro, by the way."

"Keith."


As first days go, this was definitely one of Keith's better ones. As he made his way home, he just couldn't help the smile that still remained on his face. He'd made friends. Or, at least, he'd like to think he's made some friends. Lance… may take some time, but he has Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro, the senior he met before ROTC. He's made friends before, but they never last. Things happen, and he usually ends up alone. He wants his time to be different. He really likes them.

His thoughts continued on about his new friends. Before he knew it, he was staring at the front door of his house. Keith lives about a mile and a half from the school, but he doesn't mind the walk most of the time. As soon as he saw the car in the driveway, the smile adorning his face slowly fell. He's home early. His eyes dropped to the ground as he approached the door. He opened the door slowly as to not wake his father, assuming his father was knocked out on the couch again. Turns out his assumptions were correct and several empty bottles lay around the couch as well. He continued silently through the living room and turned down the hallway. His head turned away, eyes closed, as he passed small closet, unable to even look at that place. He closed the door behind him as he entered his room. Dropping his bag on his chair, he sat on his bed staring at a small bowl. It was battered and dented and a name across the front was faded and barely readable: Rover.


The ring of a phone cut through the sound of snoring. The phone was picked up and answered with a very groggy voice. "What?"

"Oh, um, Mr. John Kogane? This is Jane Gibbs. Keith is in my homeroom class."

"Wha's he done now? Gotten into another fight?" John interrupted.

"Well, no. Not that I am aware of. Actually, I'm a bit concerned. Keith has been much quieter in class lately and he also seems to have some bruises. I'm worried that it may mean possible bullying. I-"

"Keith is the bully. I've already dealt with his fighting."

"Oh. No, that's not wh-"

The man hung up the phone and turned down the hall. "Boy! Have you been tellin' your teachers 'bout what goes on here?!"

"No! I didn't! I never said anything!" A young Keith stood from his bed and backed into a corner. Rover quickly scurried beneath his bed. His father's large hand wrapped around his neck, pushing him against the wall. "P-ple-ase." Keith clawed at the hand around his neck. A small bark was heard beneath the bed.

John dropped Keith and he fell to the ground. "I should have never gotten you that damn mutt." He turned towards the dog but was blocked by Keith holding his arms out between him and the dog. "Boy, get outta my way!" Tears streamed down Keith's face but he didn't budge. He slapped the young boy across the face before dragging him to that dreaded closet.

Keith squeezed his eyes shut and clamped his hands to his ears, unable to listen to the painful cries of his friend.


So, even though I'm sure you all guessed it, it has now officially been revealed that the young boy at the beginning and end is indeed Keith. Yep, not a pretty childhood. Please review! Tell me what you think! Until next time,

NyteXade