"Hey, Catra," Scorpia said slowly. "So you know that dance they put on every Fall? Well I was just thinking...Normally I wouldn't wanna go, but with you…I'd wanna go anywhere. What I'm asking is…will you go to the Fall Formal with me?"
Scorpia gazed into her mirror with a hopeful expression and then smiled. "That was a good one," she congratulated herself.
She had been practicing while getting ready the last couple mornings. At first, she had stumbled over her words despite just talking to a mirror, but now she was able to get out everything she wanted to say without messing up too bad.
"The only thing left to do is to ask her," Scorpia told herself as she brushed her tuft of white hair to one side, exposing the shaved side of her head. She looked at herself in the mirror and gritted her teeth in determination. This had to be the year that she actually did it.
Scorpia loved being Catra's friend. But more than anything she wanted to be even closer. Beneath Catra's rough exterior was a caring girl with a warm heart who Scorpia had fallen head over heels for. It was time that Catra knew.
"Step one, invite to dance. Step two, go to dance. Step three, I ask her if she wants to date and she says yes and it's happily ever after." Scorpia reminded herself of her grand scheme.
It was flawless. She had run it by Rogelio and he had assured her that it was a good plan. On top of that, Catra knew Scorpia better than anybody else and vice versa. In Scorpia's opinion, there was nobody who could be a better match for either of them.
"It will all work out," Scorpia repeated to herself, staring into the eyes of her mirrored reflection. "Be brave, Scorpia. You're an unstoppable force and you're looking especially jacked today."
Scorpia smiled at her own positive reinforcement, took a deep breath, and began to leave for school.
Bow was walking to his first class of the day when he caught a glimpse of movement in his peripheral. He turned and saw Catra forming a poor looking bird shape with her hands and awkwardly flying it upwards.
Bow instantly recognized it as their symbol and did a thumbs up in response. Catra nodded from across the hall with a satisfied look on her face and turned back to her business.
Bow continued to his class and realized that he had a decision to make. He had learned yesterday that Adora was starting to fall for her mystery suitor. Bow was very happy to hear this and he was glad that Adora was figuring this out. On the other hand, he had no idea what to tell Catra if she asked.
The obvious choice was to just tell her the truth and let Catra know that Adora seemed to be somewhat interested in this other person. The only problem was that Bow didn't think Catra would take it very well. He imagined Catra rushing to Adora and madly proclaiming her love before anybody else could. And that would be bad.
Even worse, she might have found out who the person in question was, and upon realizing this would try to sabotage her and Adora's relationship. This seemed extreme, but Bow didn't know Catra well enough to know what she would do.
He did, however, know that she was reckless, very determined, and hardcore crushing on Adora. And those were a dangerous combination. Bow ran his fingers through his well-groomed hair and sighed. It was too early for these big choices.
"So, like, I was thinking," Catra said premeditatively. "What if you just tell Mrs. Hope that I'm clear and sorry for my actions and then we don't have to see each other anymore?"
Madame Razz cocked her head, sitting across from Catra in her old, leather armchair. "Why would I want to do that?" She asked curiously. "I quite enjoy our meetings."
Catra shrugged. "I mean, yeah I figured. I just thought I'd give it a shot."
Madame Razz looked the girl over. She sat in a very closed off manner, leaning back in her armchair with her arms crossed. "Well Catra, I think you could benefit from having someone to talk to."
Catra frowned. "I have loads of people to talk to already."
"And who are these people?" Madame Razz asked.
"Well," Catra said defensively, "I have my friend Scorpia and there's Adora, you know her, and my dad and…I don't know there's these guys Kyle and Rogelio and they're pretty cool I guess."
Madame Razz nodded. "And how many of them do you feel comfortable talking to about your feelings? About personal things?"
"Well…you know. Probably, like, Adora. We're getting there. And my dad sometimes, I guess. If I have to."
"So the things you don't tell others. What do you do with them?" Madame Razz asked, sounding genuinely interested.
"Well I just keep 'em to myself I guess. It's alright to have secrets," Catra said quickly.
"I agree," Madame Razz said with a nod. "But I also think that not everything needs to be a secret. You haven't told me the truth even once about how you feel about the fight you were in."
"I did so," Catra objected. "I said I feel fine."
"You did. But that's not the truth, is it?" Madame Razz asked and observed Catra as her face appeared troubled for a passing second. "I think you are good at hiding how you feel, Catra. And I think it's hard for you to hold it all in. I don't expect you to tell me everything, but I would suggest you find someone you can do that with."
Catra considered Razz's analysis of her and found that it actually felt more on point than she would like to admit. She sat there quietly for a bit and Madame Razz seemed content in the silence.
It continued on like that for a minute or so until Catra became annoyed by the quietness. "Okay fine what do you wanna talk about?"
"Anything you want. I'm here for you," Madame Razz responded caringly.
Catra rolled her eyes. "Well you don't happen to know how to pass an Algebra test do you?" Catra asked sarcastically.
Madame Razz smiled. "I was very good at Algebra in high school. But that's not what we're here for. You don't have to talk about anything if you don't want to. We can just sit in here every morning and stare at one another."
Catra frowned. "Well if I show progress or something, can I stop coming to these?"
"I believe that can be arranged, yes," the counselor replied.
Catra sat up slightly in her chair. "Well then I think I'm ready to talk about whatever you want," Catra said eagerly.
Madame Razz smiled warmly, her face wrinkling. "Well hold that feeling, dearie. We're out of time for this morning. They don't give me near enough time for the three of you."
Catra groaned. "Okay fine, but I don't think I'll need many more of these before I'm done!" She rose from her seat and headed towards the door.
"It was nice seeing you! Please send in Lonnie if you could," she reminded her as she left.
Catra walked down the hall and walked past Mr. Hordak.
"Always nice to see you, Mr. Hordak," she said petulantly as she walked by. He just muttered something under his breath and kept walking.
She got out to the main office and saw Lonnie sitting in a chair. "Hey it's your turn or whatever," Catra told the girl before quickly walking off. She was almost out the door when she heard Lonnie's voice behind her.
"Hey, Catra," Lonnie said quietly from across the office, causing Catra to stop and turn around. Lonnie was looking at her curiously. "Do you...do you remember that time we dressed up as pirates for Halloween and ran around all night terrorizing the neighborhood?"
Catra instantly remembered the moment and how much fun they had that night. A lot of drama with Catra's parents had been going on at the time, but Lonnie had managed to make Catra forget about it. It all felt like a lifetime ago. For a brief moment, she met Lonnie's eyes, which held a complex emotion in them. Then Catra gritted her teeth and shook her head.
"No I don't," she replied coldly and turned around, abruptly leaving the office and Lonnie behind. As she walked away she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.
Catra tried to forget about that morning and by the time lunch rolled around she had put it behind her. She sat at their table with Kyle. He was talking about something dumb that Catra didn't care about and she had zoned out a while ago.
Instead she watched Adora from across the cafeteria. She was sitting in her usual spot. She was eating and laughing with Glimmer and Bow. Catra loved seeing her laugh. Of course, she liked it better when she wasn't a lunch room away from Adora, staring at her like a creep.
Catra's attention shifted to Bow and her excitement surged. She had to ask him if he had found anything out. She had to know everything she could. She already had plans for Halloween and the Fall Formal. She just needed to set things up. And Bow had been a huge help so far.
Catra then observed the last member of the table and felt an immediate surge of anger as she watched Glimmer.
"If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have to sneak around," Catra thought. Catra was pretty tired of Glimmer interfering in her life.
With the current situation, Catra couldn't help but feel like Adora was hiding her like a secret. Or maybe that she was ashamed of her. Whatever it was, it didn't feel good.
"Maybe I should just go up to their table and sit down," Catra mused, imagining the shocked looks on their faces and smiling to herself.
She suddenly snapped her attention back to her table and realized Kyle was still talking. Classic Kyle. Catra sighed and listened to him talk about whatever it was as she picked through her lunch half-heartedly.
Before long, Rogelio and Scorpia showed up together and sat down at the table. Kyle and Catra greeted them and they settled into their usual spots. Scorpia sat down and scooted her chair closer to Catra.
"Hey, Cat," Scorpia said as she elbowed the girl lightly. "I got you a pudding!"
Catra smiled and accepted the treat. Scorpia was always good at getting her mind off of things. "Thanks," she said and started eating her pudding gift.
The table was pretty quiet for a while as the four friends ate together. The quiet was a little uncharacteristic, Catra noticed. Usually Scorpia was the one to start up conversations, but today she seemed preoccupied.
"Nice day, huh?" Scorpia said after a while.
The rest of the table nodded in agreement, except for Catra.
"It's too cold," she said upsettingly. "You can feel stupid winter creeping in already."
"Oh yeah, I hate winter," Scorpia agreed quickly. She paused for a while. "But uh…they have that uh…that dance coming up," she mentioned slowly.
Kyle and Rogelio looked at each other briefly. They were wondering if today would be the day that Scorpia actually built up the courage to ask Catra to go to the dance with her.
"Oh yeah," Catra recalled. "Yeah it's always pretty lame though."
"Oh super lame," Scorpia agreed. "But… I don't know it might be kinda fun. Depends who you go with I guess." Scorpia could barely hear her own words over the quick pounding of her heart in her ears.
Kyle and Rogelio looked on in silent anticipation. This was the farthest they had ever seen Scorpia get.
"Guess it does," Catra replied, thinking of Adora.
"So…" Scorpia cleared her throat. "I was wondering…if…uh...you know if you weren't too busy…we could like…...check it out or whatever. Together." Scorpia got the last bit out and instantly held her breath. She hadn't said at all what she had wanted to say, but she hoped she had at least gotten the point across.
Kyle looked at Rogelio quickly and saw that his mouth was wide open in shock. He barely managed to hide his expression before Catra noticed.
Catra was initially confused by the question as Scorpia had never shown much interest in the school dances. But apparently Scorpia wanted to hang out at the formal this year. Which sounded fun enough to Catra, except she had been planning to take Adora to the dance this year. She scrambled to think of an excuse.
"You know that sounds fun," Catra pointed out slowly and watched Scorpia light up. "But…" The levity on Scorpia's face faded with just the one word that Catra had uttered. "I think it's more of a date thing and less of, like, a friend thing you know?"
Catra congratulated herself mentally. That was a good excuse. It would keep Scorpia from wanting to go with her and also Catra wouldn't have to tell the whole table about her crush on Adora.
Scorpia was busy panicking. She had to get Catra to go with her. But she couldn't just tell her right here that she wanted to be more than just friends. "Well…" Scorpia said slowly. "I mean we could just go anyway. I think it would be fun regardless." Scorpia bit the inside of her cheeks tensely as she waited for Catra's response.
"Oh," Catra replied plainly, having not expected Scorpia to want to go this badly. "Well see...I…" Catra's mind raced through dozens of options and excuses before she just decided to be straightforward about everything. "...I just think I might actually ask someone to go with me this year."
Catra wasn't in any way ready for the panicked look in Scorpia's eyes when she said this and immediately scrambled to make her friend feel better. "But hey, like, the dance is lame anyway. We can do other friend stuff! We can have another popcorn party! You love popcorn! That sounds good, right?"
Catra had no idea why Scorpia was so hurt by this. Maybe it was because they hadn't been hanging out as much as they used to. Still, it was strange for Scorpia to be so worked up about Catra skipping out on one night.
Scorpia looked down at her hands on the table, trying to avoid meeting Catra's concerned gaze. "Yeah that sounds good," she said weakly. "I need to go to the bathroom," she said and stood up, quickly speeding away. As she left, Catra could have sworn she caught a glimpse of tears in the girl's eyes.
Catra watched her go, dumbfounded, before turning to Kyle and Rogelio. "What? Did you guys see that? What was that about?"
The pair nodded. Rogelio looked like he was on the verge of tears as well. Kyle just frowned.
"I…Catra…you're telling me you really don't...?" Kyle trailed off and sighed.
Catra narrowed her eyes. "Don't what?"
"It's nothing. But…you need to talk to Scorpia. And really listen this time."
Catra scowled at the cryptic response and turned away from the boys. She glanced towards the bathroom where Scorpia had fled to and wondered what she had done wrong.
It was after lunch when Adora finally saw Frosta at her locker. She had been walking by frequently in between classes the last couple of days trying to get a hold of the girl. She approached rapidly and saw Frosta digging around in her locker.
Frosta could hear someone come up behind her. "What do you want?" She asked as she turned around, but upon seeing Adora her face lit up. "Oh hey, Adora!"
Adora smiled down at the girl who was bundled up in her puffy, blue coat despite it being pretty warm in the school. "Hey Frosta. I just wanted to say…"
Frosta raised a small hand, stopping Adora. "I know what you're gonna say. 'Oh Frosta, you're a total beast. I owe you my life.' But really, it's no big deal. I was just repaying a debt." Frosta smiled and rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet.
"Well I mean all I did was lend you my backpack! And then you…I mean gosh I don't know what I would have done without you," Adora explained honestly.
Frosta grinned, pride flaring in her dark brown eyes. "Well that does sound good to hear actually. I was gonna do the whole thing where I insist that you don't thank me, but I like where this is going."
Adora snorted. "Well then thank you. Thank you very much. And I'm glad you were able to slip away at the end of everything!"
"Oh yeah!" Frosta exclaimed, looking around to make sure nobody was paying attention. "Yeah I felt bad for bailing, but things were kinda going crazy."
"Yeah it got pretty bad. But it would've been worse without you for sure."
"Yeah you're probably right. Oh man did you see that drop kick though? I just ran in and was like 'wooosh!' And she was all like, 'oof!'" Frosta laughed, recalling the memory. "But really, I'm glad you're okay. I kept thinking about all that blood on your face…" Frosta shivered slightly.
"Well hey," Adora said, gesturing to the small bandage that still covered the spot on her cheek. "All better."
Frosta smiled. "Good. I was worried there for a bit when you kinda froze up, but then your girlfriend came in swingin' and next thing you know that g…"
"Woah, woah, woah," Adora said abruptly, visibly embarrassed. "Catra is not…we aren't dating or anything."
Frosta tilted her head to one side quizzically. "Did you guys break up or something?"
"What? No. I mean…yes? We were never together is what I mean," Adora explained nervously, sweat accumulating on her brow.
"Never together?" Frosta muttered to herself. "Well maybe I'm going crazy, but she said you guys were a thing."
"She…she what? When?" Adora scrambled to understand what Frosta was saying.
"Well yeah," Frosta replied slowly, not wanting to upset Adora. "The other day she came and talked to me and told me that you two were a couple and asked me if you were interested in anyone else besides her. I thought she was just way paranoid so I told her off. I was kinda mean actually so you can tell her I'm sorry."
Adora narrowed her eyes and tried to wrap her head around this. "I…yeah okay. Thanks for telling me. Hey I gotta go. I'll talk to you later," she said distantly and walked off.
"Okay," Frosta called after her awkwardly. "I hope everything's okay!"
Catra didn't see Scorpia for the rest of the day. Not even at the end of the day, when Scorpia usually hung out at her locker. It felt strangely empty without Scorpia there, despite all of the students crowded around her.
Catra was getting worried. She hadn't meant to upset Scorpia and she had really had no idea that her friend had wanted to go to the dance so bad.
She pulled out her phone and shot Scorpia a text. It read, 'Hey I'm sorry about earlier. Are u okay?'
Catra waited for a while, but didn't get a response so she put her phone away. With all of the stuff with Scorpia going on, she had almost forgotten that she had called a meeting with Bow. Maybe that would get her mind off of everything.
She grabbed her backpack and decided she had some time before talking to Bow. She went straight to Scorpia's locker, looking for the girl. She wasn't at her locker and Catra didn't spot her anywhere nearby.
She searched for a while longer before ultimately giving up. Wherever she was, she didn't want to be found. Catra just hoped that she'd feel better by tomorrow.
Catra kicked the bottom of a locker in frustration and decided to go and sit out front and wait for Bow to be ready. She went outside and disappointedly realized that it had gotten even colder since this morning. She zipped up her leather jacket and looked out at the lot.
She didn't see Glimmer's car, but Bow's was still sitting out in the mostly vacant parking lot. She walked over to the car, making sure to triple check that Glimmer and Adora were actually gone before she approached.
She recognized the outline of Bow sitting in the car as she got nearer and picked up her pace. She hurried up to the passenger door and opened it, taking a seat inside. She sighed contentedly as she felt the heat from the vents start to warm her cold skin.
"Hey, Bow," she said casually as she put her hands up, warming them in front of the vents.
"Hey," Bow said and turned the heat up for the girl, who was shivering profusely. "Wow you don't do good with the cold, huh?"
Catra shook her head. "The cold is evil. Not that you'd agree. You're always wearing your crop tops."
Bow chuckled. "I appreciate a clear midriff! It's very freeing."
"Well I appreciate this heat right now," Catra said thankfully. "And I'd also appreciate some news on how Adora's doing. What's the word on that other chump?"
"You mean the other person who's into Adora?" Bow asked. "Well…"
Catra instantly noticed Bow's hesitation. "Oh no. I swear Bow, I've had a crazy day and if you drop some bad news on me right now I'm gonna flip."
Bow bit his lip and squirmed in his seat. "Oh man. I don't…agh! I hate conflict!" He exclaimed, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Well I'm sure that's a great sign," Catra remarked, exhaling loudly. "Just throw it at me, man. I can take it."
"Okay," the boy said hesitantly. "Well…that other girl. It's getting more serious I think."
Catra felt her stomach drop out like she was falling from an impossible height.
"How?" she uttered bluntly.
Bow swallowed and instantly felt bad for Catra. "She said they've been hanging out more and…"
"Bow," Catra said warningly.
"Adora is starting to feel some things too," Bow blurted out and then shot a glance over to Catra to see how she was doing.
She looked surprisingly calm. She was staring out the front window.
"You okay?" Bow asked. "I have chocolate in here if you want it," Bow said comfortingly as he gestured towards his glove box.
"No I don't want chocolate," Catra said quickly. "Chocolate is for quitters."
"Well I wouldn't say th…" Bow started to say until he was interrupted by Catra.
"I'm not giving up. I've been spending more time with Adora too and I really like who she is. No wonder someone else is into her. But I have something they don't." Catra said determinedly.
Bow cocked his head. "What's that?"
"A crippling amount of stubbornness," Catra said defiantly. "I'm gonna go all in. Really butter her up. Win her over."
Bow smiled at the courage of the girl. "Well I won't stop you, but just keep in mind that what Adora wants matters too. If she's really into this other girl then that might just be what's meant to be."
"Pshh. There's no such thing as meant to be. It'll be what I make it."
Bow whistled in admiration. "Wow I don't know if I should be scared of you or respect you."
Catra snickered. "I'd prefer an equal share of both."
Bow smiled. "So are you just gonna tell her then?"
Catra thought about it. "I will soon. But I'm not ready yet. I'm just gonna treat her right. And do a better job of conveying to her that I want more than just a friendship."
Bow nodded. "That actually sounds like a really good and healthy idea. But I'll just prewarn you, if you were to ever try and mess up stuff in her life to get her to date you I'm gonna have to intervene somehow."
Catra snorted. Something about the idea of Bow trying to stop her from doing something was funny to her. She looked over at Bow to see that he wasn't joking. It was actually the most serious that she had ever seen Bow.
"Yeah I get it. You know I care about her too right? I wouldn't be that selfish."
Bow looked her over and smiled a little. "I believe you."
Catra didn't hear that a lot and it felt good to hear Bow say it. She looked out of the fogged up window at the cold parking lot and sighed. "Can you maybe just give me a ride home today?"
"Sure can!" Bow announced. "Doesn't Scorpia usually drive you?"
"Yeah. Yeah she does," Catra said quietly.
Bow sensed something there, but didn't want to pry. "Well I'll give you a ride for sure. And you know…if you ever want to talk…" Bow suggested.
Catra smiled. "You're just one awkward hand signal away. Thanks, Bow."
"Anytime," Bow said as he started to drive away from the lot.
As they drove, Catra caught Bow shooting furtive glances over at her. She ignored it for a while, but eventually she got annoyed and turned to face him. "Okay what do you want?" She asked bluntly.
"Oh," Bow said slowly. "Well…I was kinda wondering if I could have my spy shades back. You know…if you're done with them."
Catra snorted and took the glasses out of her jacket pocket. "Yeah I guess you can have 'em back," she said after some thought. "But I gotta say I got pretty attached."
"Well if you ever wanna borrow them, you can," Bow said happily as Catra tucked the shades into his glove box. "We can have shared custody of the shades."
Catra chuckled and the two made light conversation as they drove to Catra's house.
Meant to put this one out earlier and then totally forgot! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. This one kinda set some stuff in action. There's gonna be some new dynamics now. Also sad Scorpia hurts my soul. And then maybe next chapter a new character? Or the next one. Not sure but it'll be fun. Thanks for all the support and I really hope you all have the best possible day.