An Unlikely Match (Catradora AU)

Chapter 1

Adora sat at the edge of the front desk. Her front desk. She was restless and kept spinning herself back and forth on the pleather chair she had fought her mother on buying. She had unpacked the last of the books a week ago, but the store still didn't feel real.

After 4 years of double majoring in journalism and fine arts in New York, she had somehow ended up back in Seattle opening a shop rightfully named "The Heart" with her mother, Angella, that described itself as a bookshop/art studio/coffee spot/ whatever else Adora decided along the way.

It was a small place but cozy, with rows and rows of books and plush chairs sporadically placed around the empty spaces. There were art pieces for sale all over the walls that featured mostly Adora and Angella's work, but also the local scene trying to make a few bucks. On the back wall there was a staircase that led up to the art room. Adora planned on using the space to teach and run art workshops but for now it was a holding cell for all of her larger art projects from school that were too big to hold anywhere else.

She sighed and spun herself around again, this time to refill her mug with more coffee from the almost empty pot that had been sitting there all day. Once the shop opened on Monday, someone named Glimmer would be joining their team and making sure the coffee was fresh for customers. Tonight though, Adora could care less if the coffee was stale and sludge-like as long as it kept her awake. She had bled her sweat and tears into this shop, and she'd be damned if opening day didn't go as planned. Everything had to be perfect.

She took another glance around the place and frowned. There really was no more to be done tonight. Plus, she had tomorrow and the weekend to prepare. Still, she couldn't bring herself to close up yet. She sipped on the coffee.

Her phone buzzed. Adora looked down to see her mother's text coming through under the contact name "Business Partner". She laughed at her own joke knowing her mom would loath being called that. "I hope you are out with friends and not still mopping about the shop" The text read. Adora groaned and threw her phone down on the counter. She knew her mother meant well but it really wasn't her business whether Adora was with friends or sitting alone in the shop drinking 8 hour old coffee. Mostly because she had no friends and was in fact, doing exactly what her mother asked her not to do.

When Adora left here 4 years ago she may have burned some bridges on the way out and she wasn't exactly in a rush to let anyone know she was back in town. First, there was her ex-boyfriend Bow who she hadn't spoken to since he dumped her 2 days before she left for school. They had been good friends that turned sour and in her final emotional breakdown, she had thrown a milkshake at him and lost contact. Then there was her ex-friend Catra, who hated her guts, no need to revisit those reasons. Adora bit her cheek. She needed more friends apparently. She thought about messaging Mermista or Perfuma in New York but it was probably too late their time to start a conversation now. Adora picked up her phone then placed it back down. She paced back and forth, and thought about the consequences if she did decide to text Catra.

Catra, Adora had been avoiding her since she returned. Actively avoiding actually. She opened her phone again and promptly searched Catra's Instagram at @thtwildcat. She had posted yet another photo of her band tagged @thefrightzone. The photo featured Catra sticking her tongue out at the camera while she strung at her guitar. Her brown hair was as long and wild as ever and her clothes were tight and ripped with a dusty leather jacket on top. A woman could be seen behind her, tall and muscular with a short bleach blonde hairdo, holding a microphone and singing into it with her black lipstick and deep red eyeliner. And, as suspected, behind her at the drums, sat Bow. He looked classically him. His dark stomach exposed in a tight crop top and his drumsticks held between his strong, nail painted hands above short dark hair. Another girl had joined that Adora didn't recognize but had learned her name was Lonnie and was their new bass guitarist.