The box sat in the corner of Catra's room for a few hours now. It wasn't that late when she got home, so she felt like there was nothing to do. It wasn't like she could go have a chat with her mother as normal daughters do. So she got to planning. On Monday she would hand Adora that necklace and say " I'm so sorry for not coming to your game and not being able to see your shiny muscles in action," With her hands laced together and brought to her chin like Shirley Temple.
Definitely not. That was not going to work. Sweetness was not Catra's way of flirting. Her way was more like saying " Here take the bag, you idiot. This is not because I like you." While she was facing the opposite way. Perfect. But also not at all. She felt that Adora wanted nothing to do with her and had a bounty on her for not coming to a simple softball game. But that would all change once she saw the necklace. She could hand it over to one of her friends- nope that wasn't going to work. She had made a fool of herself in front of them yesterday, so that's out of the question.
Walking over to the box, Catra took it out and held the bag it was kept and held it inside her palm. It really was beautiful and it would suit Adora perfectly. Truth is, Catra had only been in one relationship her whole life and it was with Scorpia. And Catra didn't feel as strongly as she did in the relationship. Anyway, that meant she never knew how to get into long-lasting romantic relationships, where both people were interested.
Remembering that she hadn't eaten at all, Catra decided to head out of her room and into the kitchen to get some food. Her mom rarely grocery shopped, and when she did it was for wine. So, Catra had to make do with what they had in the cabinets. She didn't know if her mother was gone or not, but decided to risk it anyway for the stake of hunger. Shadow Weaver didn't cook at all, Catra's only meals were from school or ones she made herself.
Having made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the teen was sated enough for the day. She knew it wasn't enough, but this was all she could manage. The next day was going to be tough, she was Catra, she could do this.
She could not do this. Adora was freaking out, as she always does. She could not figure out this poem business for the life of her. And this was her thing! Maybe it wasn't anymore. She had softball, and-. Wow, that was it. Mara had said speak from the heart, but Adora could never do that. She thought she was good at writing, but now that was out the window.
Knock, knock. Adora walked over to her door and opened it, seeing her mom with a bowl of fruit in her hands. " Mom! I thought you had work on Sunday's, " Adora said in surprise. "Well, not today. I took a day off to spend some time with you, honey, " Mara said while setting the tray on Adora's desk and sitting on her bed. She patted next to her to signal Adora to sit with her, and she did.
Reaching out to hold her daughter's hand, Mara spoke up " Adora, I have something to tell you." Adora jumped to the worst conclusions. Cancer? Job loss? Oh gosh, they were going to be homeless. " Hello, sweetie you there?" Mara chuckled while waving her hand in Adora's face. " Adora I know how you are, I'm not dying or losing my job." Adora could've cried. She spoke up again. " I'm dating someone."
Eyes almost popping out of her skull, Adora gave Mara a shocked look " Huh? Who? Since when? Mom!" The woman rolled her eyes at her kids' ridiculousness. "You actually know her, it's Hope."
Hope was actually Adora's soon to be stepmom from years ago. Adora loved her and was sad to realize she wasn't coming back, until now. Mara and Hope were dating whenever she was around 5 years old until she was 13. She was considered a mom in Adora's eyes. Now, Adora knew why she told her that story on Friday night, it was to warm her up at the idea of Hope coming back.
"When can I see her! Omg, it's been years," Adora cried after jumping up and spinning in a circle. Mara watched in amusement at her baby's excitement towards the idea of a reunion. " She wants to take things slower this time, Adora. That means you probably won't be calling her mama again so soon." That made Adora stop celebrating. Why doesn't Hope want to see her? It's been four freaking years! " But why mom? You guys were together for years! How can you go slow again?"
Mara put her hand on Adora's shoulder to get her to sit down again. " Honey, I know it's hard, but it's important to set healthy boundaries in relationships, okay? And I have to respect hers." Understanding but disappointed, Adora gives Mara a sad little look. Out of nowhere, Mara engulfs Adora in a big hug and kisses her cheek. " The Grayskull women are in looove!" She croons. Pushing her mom away, Adora huffs " I'm not in love."
Mara gives her a once over and hums, " Sure you're not, you got the look all over you." In horror, the blonde drags her hands over her face, like she had a giant cockroach on her face. Mara laughs at Adora and goes over to get the forgotten fruit bowl. " Yes you are, baby, and that's okay." She gives the bowl to Adora and makes her way out of the room, " Oh, and invite her over for dinner someday. I'd love to meet her. Also, get dressed, we're going to get lunch later." And she left, closing the door with her. Adora groaned and fell backward on her bed, spilling the fruit everywhere.
Fork and knife in hand, Adora stared down at her waffle with a hungry expression. " Damn kid, you make it seem like I don't feed you, " Mara said in disbelief. Adora shrugged and began to pour her syrup all over what was soon to be a sugary disaster. The two of them went to IHOP for lunch and Adora was excited, to say the least.
They never really get to hang out, she and Mara. Due to Mara working herself into the grave to provide for Adora since the breakup got rid of an extra income. After biting into her omelet, Mara looked over to Adora in hopes to get her to speak. Adora, almost done with her food, looked at her mom sheepishly, and started talking, " I haven't told you the girl's name yet." Mara sat up in interest. " Yeah, umm. Her name is Catra. And I don't know too much about her, but what I do know is that she's beautiful," Adora said quickly.
Glad to have some conversation going, Mara wiped her mouth with a napkin and spoke, " That's great sweetheart, you got any plans for Valentine's Day?" That's right. Adora almost forgot. It was in a week and she needed to have her plan ready by then. " Well, I was planning on writing her a poem, you know, as I do. And I told you how the game plan went," she looked down shyly.
Mara contemplated her answered before speaking, "Hmm, you should definitely do something tomorrow, like ask her out for Valentine's or something." The woman grabbed another bite of her omelet and started chewing. Adora thought her plan was good, if not simple, but it could work.
"Ok, mom. I'll do that. So, " the blonde wiggled her eyebrows, " Doing anything with Hope on Valentine's Day?" Mara laughed and put her hand over her face to cover the blush. " Uh, young lady! That is none of your business, " she said jokingly, swatting one of Adora's hands. Adora held up her hands in surrender, " Fine, fine! I won't pry."
She hated the bus. Why was it so foggy? And why do kids not wear deodorant anymore? Catra wanted it to be over. When she looked inside the small pouch of her backpack, Catra knew it was going to be a good day. She kept the necklace meant for Adora in there and planned to give it to her when the time was right.
Creeping up next to the school, the bus finally arrived. Catra said her thanks to the bus driver and stepped out. She needed to eat soon. When she got out of the cafeteria line for breakfast, she heard the loud booming of her friend's voice. " Hey, Wildcat!" Catra felt as if every pair of eyes in the universe just stared at her at the outburst.
She gave Scorpia a small wave as she made her way over to her. "Hey, Scorp. How you doing?" That seemed to light her up even more, " Oh, Catra I'm so glad you're alright! Your mom had us so worried-" Catra held up a hand to quiet her best friend down, " I was fine, Scorpia. My mom just likes to exaggerate the truth to make it seem like I'm so irresponsible." The girl seemed to deflate at that, " Okay, so you did come home on Friday, right?" "Yes, Scorpia." Her smile came back after that, " You were at the mall, right?" Catra would have to tell her eventually, " Yes I went to the mall on Saturday. I went to pick up a gift for... Adora." Scorpia jumped out of her seat when Catra finished her sentence. " Yes! Catra that's so great. What did you get? When will you give it to her?"
After watching her friend sit back down, Catra told her everything. Like gossiping girls in the back of a class, they reconnected over what they did over the weekend. Turns out, Scorpia Dm'd Perfuma and asked her out and of course, she said yes because Scorpia is a really great gal. " Hey, where's 'Trapta?" Catra asked, missing her purple-haired friend's face. " Oh, she had a last-minute robotics meeting this morning. That girl was in so many stem activities it made Catra's head spin.
When Scorpia had her mouth open to speak the bell rang out in the cafeteria. " Wildcat, I'll see you at lunch, okay?" " Of course Scorp, see ya." And Scorpia left, backpack pulled over one shoulder in her rush. Catra really loved her friends. She had told Scorpia she had a plan to give Adora this necklace, but in reality, she had no idea what she was going to do.
It was before lunch and Catra had yet to see Adora, she thought it would be easier to find her considering her popularity, but she was wrong. " Catra!" she froze on the spot. Was she that noticeable? When she turned around, she saw a great big smile and Adora... holding something?
Adora decided that she was going to keep it nice and simple. No elaborate sonnets or haikus. Just from the heart like Mara said. The night before school, Adora got out a notebook and started writing. Maybe it sounded a little blunt, but it would have to do.
- Catra, you are pretty and I want to go out with you.
Wow, that was really blunt and not from the heart at all. She would have to do better. It's not like she could ask her friends for help, they've been dating since the womb. Adora tried again, less blunt this time.
-You with the sad eyes, don't be discouraged. Oh, I realize-
Okay, those are just lyrics to True Colors. Adora knew she liked this girl, so why couldn't she write a sweet poem for her? The blonde thought some more and pulled out her final draft of her poem to Huntara.
- Face and hair hot as fire, your light shines bright on me, setting me ablaze under your shimmering inferno.
What the hell. That was good. To the average eye, it looked like she was calling Huntara smoking hot, and she is, but that wasn't what it was about. It was about Adora's admiration for Huntara's drive and motivation to her team and sport. So, what did Adora admire about Catra? Her face, of course, her voice, mannerisms. Oh, whatever.
- Face soft like silk and hands that carry the weight of the world, your presence enlightens me to continue.
Hopefully, Catra wasn't able to understand poetry, or she would be in trouble. She just said that Catra was pretty in fancy form. Girls like being called pretty right? It was 11:30 and she was still stuffed from those waffles, so it was time to sleep.
This poem was hot garbage and Adora knew it. She was just hoping that Catra would appreciate the sentiment and jump into her arms. Adora got into her car and started the drive to school. Before she left, she put the poem on fancier paper and wrote it in cursive to disguise the nonsense it really was. Adora did genuinely like Catra, but it was only for her outside appearance. This poem was meant to change that, to allow Adora to know her inside and out. Not in that way, of course, they had just met. Ugh.
Adora dragged her hands down her face when she parked in the student parking lot. She needed to wait as long as she could to see Catra. Her anxiety was through the roof at the moment, but she needed to get to her first period, regardless of the stress.
The blonde had not seen Catra at today, and she guessed it wasn't odd because they had just met halfway through the school year. And then she saw her, way late into the day, almost lunchtime, next to the Lady Rebel bathroom. Almost like she was looking for her. Nah. "Catra!" She saw the girl stiffen at her calling her name and she hesitated, did she not want to talk? She didn't come to the game for a reason. Shit. she was holding the poem and everything.
Catra did eventually walk over to her though."Hey, Adora," she said, eyeing Adora expectedly.
The blonde let out a sigh of relief. " Hey, Catra," Adora started, then she continued when Catra said nothing.
"I have something to give you."
But they both said it at the same time. The shorter girl looked in confusion at the blonde before starting over, " I have something for you, Adora. I wanted to apologize for not coming to the game when I said I would. And because... I like you."
Adora's mouth opened in shock and it stayed that way for a while.
" Hello, Adora? You gonna say anything?" Catra asked, waving a hand in front Adora's face.
Knocked out of her stupor, Adora spoke. " Wow, I- um, I have something for you too. Read it." She handed the poem over to Catra and gauged her reaction.
Her eyes read over the words and her brows furrowed. Yes! She didn't get poetry!
" This is um, great, Adora. What does it mean?" Catra said, looking up from the paper in her hands and up to meet Adora's gaze. Adora grabbed Catra's hands and looked her in her eyes, " It means I like you, too."
What the hell? Catra was here to apologize and she ending up confessing her feelings.
Great.
Adora liked her too. And wrote her a freaking poem? This was not in Catra's plans for today. Not like it was a bad thing or anything, it was just really unexpected. " I actually have something for you too," Catra said while she turned her backpack towards her front and unzipped the front pocket, pulled the necklace out, and put in in Adora's hands. Catra was nervous as hell, her hands shaking like she had three cups of coffee for breakfast.
Adora observed the piece of jewelry in her hand. And gasped a little when she saw what it was. "Wow, Catra. I don't know what to say," the blonde said in awe.
And without a word, Catra led them over to a side hallway, away from the lunch crowd, placed her perfectly manicured finger up to Adora's lips, and said " You don't have to say anything."
Then, went on the tips of her toes to kiss her cheek. " Give me your phone," Catra said after putting out her hand, palm facing up. Adora did so without any hesitation and Catra put her number in, " text me later, okay?" the shorter girl said before walking away.