Chapter Text
Adora swears this has to be the worst Friday to ever exist. She already had a bad start when they woke up to the sound of the school dean - or rather her roommate’s mother - pounding on their door and yelling for her daughter to answer the door immediately. The intrusion had resulted in a 30 minute heated discussion between Glimmer and her mother. Adora couldn't fall back asleep and at that point just decided to get an early start to the day. Glimmer apologized over breakfast in the cafe with Bow and explained how her mom apparently found out she was failing her social justices class and it couldn’t wait until after 8 in the morning for some reason.
They all take the same class with the same teacher, so the dean - Angella - was confused as to why she was the only one with a low grade while Adora and Bow seemed to be doing just fine. Adora and Bow both knew it was because she didn’t turn in her final project last semester so she could go to a Peekablue concert instead, but Glimmer convinced her mom it was because she had trouble with the subject.
Adora knew that Glimmer and her mother often had their squabbles, but as soon as it interrupts her tight knit and well followed schedule, then - everything usually goes to shit. Soon they left breakfast and all made their way to their first class of the day, and for Adora it was football practice. Fridays are usually relaxed considering they're Fridays, but coach Huntara had other plans for them. Adora’s team ended up doing speed ladders and tempo runs for the entire period, and that was also not a part of her schedule. But of course she was still the first one done in every drill with no complaints because that’s just who she is. As soon as they let out for the next period, Adora decided to find coach Huntara.
“Hey coach, no disrespect of course but why did we do conditioning today instead of scrimmaging?” Adora crowded coach Huntara in the locker room afterwards because it was vital information and she needed to know when to prepare for another conditioning Friday and not a scrimmaging Friday. When she didn’t answer, Adora kind of stood awkwardly waiting - a bit antsy because she was almost late for her next class - and let out a small cough darting her eyes around.
“Mmmmm, ‘cause I felt like it,” Adora sank at the lack of proper reasoning, “but good job today kiddo. See you next week.” Her coaches lack of urgency for the topic was bothersome, but Adora knew not everyone had the same vehemence for sticking to a schedule as she did. She let out a sigh and shook her head in exasperation.
With a pat on the back, Huntara left a dazed Adora gazing after her in shock and a bit of annoyance. That annoyance only grew when she heard the bell ring and she realized she still had to bust her butt across campus to get to her next class. Ugh, she just can’t catch a break today. Considering she had just run a bunch, the rushing wasn't ideal but she still managed to make it all the way to her social justices class.
Now sitting in class after being 5 minutes late and missing the beginning part of instructions, she sat in a corner alone because Bow and Glimmer had already partnered up for whatever they’re supposed to be doing and had her head on the desk. After a couple of minutes, Adora's friends walked over and seemed to notice Adora’s state.
“Hey, you good there buddy?” Bow gave her a little nudge and quirked one corner of his mouth to form an expression of concern. She finally picked her head up from the desk and though the blinding light was a bit much, she was glad to see her best friends looking over at her. Bow and Glimmer always seemed to care and that thought alone brought a small smile to Adora’s face, breaking her streak of moodiness.
“Yeah, rough day I guess,” she yawned, stretching her arms out behind herself.
Glimmer gave an affirmative nod and grunt and Bow gave an encouraging smile before they sat down next to Adora and continued their partner discussion there. Adora would be upset at any other people because she knew this act would be out of pity because Adora was alone before. But she knew that Bow and Glimmer were doing it out of the pure genuinity of their hearts.
But even this act of kindness couldn’t change the fact that Adora’s day was started a little too early. The fatigue from the early wake and intense conditioning started to sink in, and Adora was about to let her head fall back to her desk again when the professor, Glimmer’s dad, clapped his hands twice to get the classes attention.
“Alright so change of plans. Apparently classroom B1’s professor retired after 49 years under the profession and decided to move with his family and husband to Tokyo. And all of this within a day's notice. So practically no notice at all,” he muttered that last part under his breath. “All of his students have been scattered around, meaning 3 of them will be joining our social justices class for the remainder of the year. They should be here soon" - and as if this were a well-timed teen rom-com, there was a knock on the door. “- Here they are.”
A tall, platinum-haired, and really buff jock walked in first. She seemed to know Bow because they shared a very energetic wave contest. She gave off very bubbly vibes, which was extremely contradictory to the preconceived notions one might have about her appearance. Next followed a very short girl with dyed purple hair and pigtails who seemed to be more interested in something on her phone rather than the class she just entered. Adora could also tell that this wasn’t for presumptuous reasons, but rather for hyper-fixation on whatever she was looking at. Micah kind of looked at the door awkwardly when he realized that the third person hadn’t walked in yet. Adora’s neutral expression morphed into one of confusion because usually when a student was late, Micah - and pretty much any other college professor - didn’t give two fucks and would continue on with whatever they were doing. He must really like this student. Adora, and everyone else in the classroom just kind of waited in anticipation for the last person to walk in. Adora suddenly understood the wait when the last student walked in because -
Well.
Let’s just say that Adora thought this wouldn’t be a bad Friday after. The girl hadn’t even fully stepped into the room until Adora heard a couple of students started calling out to - Catra, apparently? Either way the student was about 5”4 from what she could tell and had eyes of gold and cerulean that she seemed to demand attention from the entire room that Adora was so willing to give to her. Okay so Adora was probably gaping at the girl, so she shook her head and tried to focus on…. pure thoughts…
“Oh my god, I didn’t know Catra was in Mr.Phillips' class,” Glimmer commented as more of a spoken thought rather than directed towards anyone.
“Wait, you know her?” Adora seems to have missed out on the goddess of a woman's existence that everyone seemed to know about.
“Adora, if you didn’t live with Glimmer I would think you lived under a rock.” Bow deadpanned.
“Well I - okay that’s not fair. How am I supposed to know who she is?” Adora defended a bit exasperated at being the only one without the knowledge of the girl.
“Adora, look at her again try to think of how you would be able to forget her,” Glimmer said, grabbing Adora’s face with both hands and speaking to her slowly.
Okay, Glimmer had a point.
The class seemed to agree with the sentiment because Adora noticed a couple of girls wave at the last girl, and a couple of guys wink and whisper to each other.
“Well here they are! Here is Scorpia,” he pointed to the tall one, “ here’s Entrapta,” he pointed to the one with purple hair, “ and here’s Catra,” and he pointed to the brunette girl with absolutely gorgeous eyes and long cascading brown hair.
“Alright you guys can take your seats and group up with whoever you see and start working on…..”
Adora tuned everything else out as Entrapa went to sit with Lonnie, and Scorpia and Catra started walking towards the hands that waved them over. Quite a lot of people were but Adora noticed that one pair of waving hands belonged to Glimmer.
Who was sitting right next to Adora.
Holy shit.
“Scorpia! How was the painting seminar with Perfuma last weekend?” Bow immediately dived into conversation with Scorpia at the back row that they were all seated at. Well not all. Catra was still catching up with some people in the front row of the class, so that meant Adora had time to gay panic to Glimmer before she arrived.
“Glimmer!” she whisper shouted.
“What?” she whispered, shouted back, matching their energy.
“She’s really pretty. Like really fucking pretty. You didn’t think to mention you knew her this entire 4 year-period of knowing me??” Adora knew they probably looked ridiculous getting into a heated whisper argument, but she was freaking out having yet another curveball thrown at her today.
Glimmer’s expression went from confused to smug, and Adora already knew what was coming next. “What, do you liiiiiike her?” Glimmer drawled out giving her wiggly eyebrows of suggestion.
Adora rolled her eyes.
“Um. Yeah. Do you see her?” Adora was this close from running out of the classroom and joining Mr.Phillips in Tokyo when she saw Catra ending her conversation with the guy up front and walking up the steps looking at a tiny slip of paper in her hand with an annoyed look on her face. That guy totally gave her his number and Adora felt the flare of a feeling she did not want to explore at the moment.
“Shit, Glimmer what do I say. What if she thinks I’m weird,” Adora started dusting off the non-existent dust from their shoulders and straightening her posture awkwardly. Glimmer looked at her for a second and shook her head with a giggling sigh.
“You are, nerd. Just keep it together, I’ll handle this.”
Adora huffed and sat back into her seat.
The closer she got, the more backflips Adora’s stomach did and it was almost unbearable.
She finally got up to the level that their row was at and Adora saw her freckles for the first time.
Wow.
“Hey Catra! How’s Melog?” Glimmer stood up and gave the other girl a hug.
The brunette happily reciprocated and smiled while answering Glimmer. “Hey sparkles, he’s fine. But I’m pretty sure he had one of my Arepas because he’s been hacking up a bunch of shit since yesterday.” Her raspy voice sends a shock down Adora’s spine and she finds it hard to focus on anything other than that. Apparently Adora also has a thing for the way Catra pronounces Spanish words, because she starts to feel her cheeks rose up.
Catra started to unpack her stuff and sat in front of the 4 while Glimmer - and now Bow and Scorpia after finishing their conversation - laugh at the joke. Adora must have missed it with all the staring she's been doing. Shit. She's staring. Adora hopes that maybe it went unnoticed but Glimmer and Bow share a knowing look before Bow makes a quick subject change.
“I honestly doubt that. Your Arepa is too good to be wasted like that,” Scorpia makes a fake dreamy sigh and touches her heart sentimentally at Bow’s comment.
“Catra actually made some this morning, but I had them all before we got here,” she then said sheepishly.
“Yeah, you still owe me for that. I had to eat whatever shit they serve in the cafeteria,” Catra quips as she takes a sip of her water.
Adora watches her throat work and she can slowly feel her face flushing. She watches for a little longer and - fuck. She's staring again.
This time Catra notices. But instead of being uncomfortable, she makes eye contact with Adora and gives her a little smile. “I don’t think we’ve met before, have we? I’m -”
“Catra.” Adora doesn’t realize she's cut her off until Bow audibly smacks his own forehead. Glimmer lets out a snort and quickly tries to recover by coughing into her hand. I’m already fucking this up, she thinks to herself.
“Sorry, I just uh, I heard Professor Micah say it and,” she got the hint she should stop talking and just reached out for a handshake instead.
“Adora! My name’s Adora,” but when she reaches out for a handshake she knocks down Catra’s water bottle and all the water spills onto her macbook.
Bow and Glimmer shared that fucking look again and Scorpia’s eyes shot up out of shock. There was a momentary panic in Catra’s eyes and Adora cringed knowing she caused it.
“We’ll go get some paper towels,” Bow squeaked, grabbing Glimmer’s arm before rushing towards the front of the room.
“I’ll come too! For moral support?” scorpia dashed after them.
Holy fucking shit.
Fuck fuck fuck fuuuuuuck.
Ahhhhhhhh.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I’ll totally pay for that. But I should probably grab some paper towels. No wait, they’re already - yeah. Okay, so here’s the thing -” a soft and gentle hand on her wrist interrupted her spew of words and Adora’s eyes darted to the owner of the hand.
“Hey, Adora?” Her voice was so calm. Definitely not the voice you’d hear from someone who’s macbook just got obliterated by an idiot like Adora.
Adora finally met her eyes and was faced with a concerned and amused expression.
“It’s really okay. I know it was an accident. And plus I ordered a new one like, a week ago and it should come in today,” Catra grabbed onto Adora’s hand after she spoke and gave it a light rub.
“I swear I’m not mad. I don't think I could be when you've got that whole dorky charm thing going for you, ” she let go with a wink, but was still giving her a light and genuine smile. Adora felt a lot calmer and a lot less scared of Catra’s reaction.
“Oh. Okay then. I guess I’ll just - yeah I’ll sit down probably,” Adora let out an awkward chuckle and Catra gestures to the seat next to her - she takes into consideration the comment Catra made about her "dorky charm". Was she flirting? - and lights up while taking the opportunity to sit with Catra.
"So, you were really going to pay for it? Macbooks are pretty damn expensive and as a college student nonetheless," Catra sifts through her booking and pulls out a thick leather journal labeled "a bunch of shit".
Adora chuckles before giving Catra a sheepish smile. Not many people knew but Adora came from a very wealthy family business called Greyskull Industries. She never really knew how to bring it up so only Bow and Glimmer knew out of her whole friend group. Plus there's not really a way to say she's rich without sounding like an asshole in her opinion. "Uhhhh yeah, money's not really a problem for me. And I definitely wouldn't mind spending money on you."
"Well it's good to know you're financially stable," Catra jokes, giving Adora a sly smirk. "But how's the project going for you? Find a partner yet?"
Adora's brain clicks with the thought of being able to spend the next couple of weeks being around Catra. For the sake of the assignment of course.
"No, actually. Do you? If you don't have one I'm more than happy to offer myself up for the position," Adora perks up noticeably which makes her taller stature and their height difference more obvious. This position also gives her a clear view of Catra's low cut shirt that exposes a bit of her cleavage. Adora darts her eyes away with a slight blush on her face.
Maybe Catra notices because she sits up a little and arches her back into a stretch and almost murders Adora on the spot. "Mmm, actually I've had my eye out for someone else."
"Oh," Adora visibly deflates but still notices a smirk on the brunette's face.
"Mhm, they're a super hot, jacked football player," Adora chokes back that same feeling which she now recognizes as jealousy, until she notices Catra take a glance at her arms, "they have pretty good style," she continued moving her eyes up to her navy blue letterman jacket, "and might be the same nerd who ruined my macbook." She finishes with a playful grin across her face
Adora soon realizes who Catra was talking about and rolls her eyes before flashing a playful grin back. She felt a sudden boost of confidence from the compliments though, and wanted to see if she could keep up with this new girl's banter. "That's a lot coming from someone who thinks I'm hot." Adora leans back in her chair and takes the shorter girl's figure with a little less guilt now that she can tell Catra is at least a little interested. She notices how snug her jeans are around her waist with her legs crossed, and how her bangs and long hair perfectly frame her face, and how nice her boobs are. What? Adora’s a boob lesbian. Can you blame her?
"Well I'm only returning the favor, you're the one who said I was really pretty. Like really fucking pretty," Catra quotes while putting on a fake innocent expression and crossing her arms onto her knees.
Adora groans and covers her eyes. "Noooo, you heard that?"
She hears Catra laugh and it's the cutest thing she's ever heard. She has to remove her hands from her eyes to see it. When she does her heart clenches and she doesn't think she'll be able to recover.
"This classroom isn't that big. But I would love to be your partner considering we're probably going to see a lot more of each other anyways," Catra looks at her and Adora is caught in her gaze once again. It's so so addicting that she almost forgets to respond.
"Uhh yeah, that’s a good point. I guess I'll have to get your number too, right" Adora goes for "confident and smooth" but it comes off as a middle school boy asking for a crushes number.
"You also make a good point," Catra says as she hands Adora her phone to put her number in.
Adora does the same and they spend the rest of class talking to each other. Catra explains the assignment and they start to choose what case they will be presenting. They also decide that they can study outside of class a couple of times at Adora’s apartment and Catra’s dorm. Bow, Glimmer, and Scorpia, finally came back with the napkins and Adora could tell that they had left to give them some alone time. Soon all 5 of them talked about a bunch of things before the bell rang signaling the end of class. They all walk out of class together but Entrapta and Lonnie aren't anywhere to be seen. Huh. Weird.
"Ooo Catra! You should come to Razz's with us whenever you finish up today," Bow mentions while munching on some chips he, Scorpia, and Glimmer are sharing.
"That sounds pretty nice. Perfuma is going right?" Catra says while walking alongside Adora, scrolling through her phone.
"I think so. Don't you guys have that yoga session today?" Scorpia says taking another handful of chips.
"That we do. Just come by 'fuma's and we'll go from there," Catra nods.
Even the way she walks radiates confidence and Adora can't wait to see more of her later that day.
"Yesss, Perfuma needs to read me some tarot cards again," Glimmer claps her hands together excitedly.
Soon Scorpia and Glimmer head off, then Bow, which leaves Adora alone with Catra again.
"What do you have next?" Adora goes for casual and conversational and hopefully not prying and creepy.
"I have Art with Professor Castaspella. What do you have?"
"Oh, I actually have Marketing with Netossa right next door. Walk you there?"
Catra gives a short nod and they continue on.
"Hey, I hope you're not uncomfortable with me asking but, what's up with - you know, everyone knowing you?" Adora questions.
Catra looks up in thought while letting out a soft chuckle. "Ohhh, I have my cousin to thank for that. You know Peekablue?"
"Do I- Of course. I'm not that out of touch," Adora gives Catra a playful nudge and the brunette returns with a hearty laugh.
"Oh of course, my apologies. Well, he's my cousin's boyfriend and we were all close friends growing up. He gives me and DT a shout out every now and then and sometimes I end up backstage on his tours and Instagram. People recognize me so most of the connections are ingenuine," she looks a bit wistful while she explains, and Adora can't help but relate. Growing up with powerful and rich parents made for a lonely childhood and many toxic relationships in which they only used Adora for her money.
"Well if it makes a difference, I had no idea you knew Peekablue and still asked you to be partners. Nothing but genuine things over here. I know I like, just met you but I can't tell you've got a lot more going for you than just a friend of Peekablue's," Adora and Catra took a stop in front of Catra’s classroom. Adora flashed her a comforting smile before reaching out to give a fist bump. Catra laughs while returning with her fist.
"I guess you're right. Thank you for that, Adora. See you around?"
They way she says Adora's name makes her heart drop and feel that thing again. She grins once again.
"Of course."
And with that Adora went on with a much much better Friday than she ever anticipated.