Chapter Text
Katie “Pidge” Holt, of Altea University for Math and Science, was proud to say that she was perfectly normal and a well-rounded individual, thank you very much.
Unfortunately, her parents and older brother disagreed.
There had been an Intervention for the second-semester freshman the day before winter break ended. Apparently, her family was worried about how little socialization she had, the even less daylight she saw, and her terrifyingly huge caffeine consumption rates. Her perfect 4.0 grade point average and record of no partying, underage drinking, drug consumption or pregnancy scares apparently counted for nothing in this case.
Thus, she was given an ultimatum: either find some sort of extracurricular activity by spring break, or her parents were going to sign her up for ballroom dance classes for forced socialization.
She was sure this was all Matt’s fault, even more so when the first Saturday into the semester, when her brother banged on her door, waking her.
“It’s too early for this, Matthew. And too cold.” Pidge hissed as she opened the door, comforter wrapped around her and bags under her eyes, her long hair sticking up slightly from static electricity.
“It’s ten o’clock in the morning.” Matt retorted. Then, he smirked and tossed something at her, making Pidge scramble to catch the rapidly approaching object, tripping over the comforter and landing on the floor on her rear, just grateful that it was clean for once.
“What the—?” She said as she looked at the object in her hands with a frown.
Why the heck had Matt tossed a broom at her?
“Get dressed, or we’re going to be late.” He said, grinning down at her, reaching for the doorknob. “Oh, and dress in layers. Good, comfortable shoes.”
“Late for what exactly?” Pidge asked, looking up at him. His grin grew.
“Quidditch practice.”
*
“I seriously thought you were joking when you said you play Quidditch.” Pidge said, shivering despite her many layers of clothing as she trudged through the snow and slush alongside Matt.
“I never joke about Quidditch.” Matt said proudly. “A classmate of mine is the captain, he’s the one who got me into this.”
“What position are you?” Pidge asked as they approached the empty, snow-covered soccer field, where there were already a few other students with brooms milling around the bench, stretching. However, there was another girl, tall and olive-skinned with broad shoulders and a cute bob hair-cut, sitting on the bench with crutches beside her and a big black brace around her right knee.
“I’m a Chaser, and today so are you.” Matt said as they got up to the bench with the other students, who all immediately greeted him. “Hey, guys! So, this is my little sister, Katie, and she’s going to be our fill-in Chaser today.”
“Lovely to meet you, Katie!” Said a tall, dark-skinned girl with an English accent and her long white hair in a ponytail. “I’m Allura, and I’m also a Chaser.”
“I’m Shay,” The girl on the bench said, giving Pidge a smile. “Usually a Chaser, too, but, as you can see, today I’m just here for moral support.”
“Wait? Pidge?” One of the other boys said, brows furrowing before bursting into a grin. “Pidge!”
“Hey, Hunk.” Pidge said, smiling at seeing their lab partner from the previous semester. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Hunk’s one of our Beaters, and he’s awesome.” Said a tall, lanky Latino boy, putting up his elbow against Hunk’s shoulder to lean on him. “Keith’s our other Beater, and really it’s just a good excuse for him to hit people with dodgeballs.”
Keith—an Asian boy with a mullet, sharp violet eyes and a scowl, arms folded over his chest, though Katie couldn’t tell if it was for warmth or just trying to look edgy—just made a small grunt in agreement while he scrutinized Pidge. She had a vague recollection of seeing him in the computer lab in the wee hours of the morning during finals week, wearing big headphones and sipping something out of an extra-large convenience store slurpee cup that she was 99.9% sure wasn’t a slurpee.
“And I’m Lance, Seeker extraordinaire!” The Latino boy said, grinning. “Great to finally meet you, by the way. Hunk’s told me a lot about you.”
Before Pidge could respond, someone came running up, a broom in one hand and a sports bag on his shoulder. Pidge had to do a double take when she saw him.
Despite a pink scar across his nose and a shock of white in his black hair, he was tall and bulging with muscles. And hot. Incredibly hot.
She felt her entire face heat.
Suddenly, the January chill wasn’t as noticeable anymore.