Adora sat in her room, perfectly still on her freshly made bed. She was sitting cross-legged and her chest rose and fell slowly as she breathed deeply and in rhythm. Her eyes were closed and her face was calm and expressionless.
Her window was cracked and the morning air breezed in through the opening, wafting across Adora and slightly rustling her messy morning hair.
Adora was faintly aware of the sound of birds outside her window and the smell of waffles being made downstairs, but she tried not to focus on these things as she meditated.
She sat like that in her comfy new pajamas for another 15 minutes. It felt good to let go of everything and just kind of drift. Adora was in a good place when a loud crashing sound from the room next door startled her and instantly snapped her out of her state.
At first Adora was disgruntled, but when she heard a groan of pain from Glimmer's room she immediately jumped up and rushed over to her friend's door. She started to open the door, hesitated, and then knocked rapidly. She was instantly met with a weak and muffled, "Come in."
She opened the door quickly and scanned the room. Glimmer was lying on the floor face-down and was wrapped in her bedding.
"Oh my gosh are you okay?" Adora asked as she walked up beside the girl and knelt down next to her.
Glimmer groaned. "I fell outta bed," she grunted and Adora smiled a little at her grumpy friend, relieved that she hadn't been hurt.
"Well that's one way to wake up," Adora noted.
Glimmer groaned again and tried to get up, but she was rolled up in her blankets and after struggling for a few seconds, she gave up and returned to laying on the floor.
Adora chuckled at her useless efforts.
"Adooora, it's not funny," she whined, her face smashed into the floor. "My life is a tragedy. I'll never be able to get out of this. I will live and die in this cocoon. This prison."
"You're so dramatic," Adora said with a grin.
"No I'm realistic," Glimmer responded. "And on top of all this, I had a dream last night that a huge dog, like, swallowed me alive so that memory is still fresh."
"Ugh. Well that doesn't sound fun," Adora sympathized.
Glimmer sighed from her floor position. "Have you ever been swallowed by a dog, Adora? It's not good. And now I'm a floor dweller. What a morning."
Adora smiled and brushed Glimmer's tousled hair out of her face. "Well there's waffles downstairs."
"Even waffles cannot dull this pain," Glimmer said dramatically. "You will have to bring them to me and spoon feed me." Glimmer cracked a smile as she said this and Adora snorted and shook her head.
"Okay we're getting you out of this," she said decisively as she began unrolling Glimmer and extricating her from the surrounding blankets.
"Noooo!" Glimmer protested as Adora unraveled her. "This is my life now!"
Adora ignored her cries and quickly got all of the blankets off of her friend. Glimmer laid on the floor and sighed deeply.
"Alright I'm free, I guess," Glimmer said and sat up slowly. "Thanks for running in here like a first responder or something."
"Well yeah! I thought you hurt yourself!" Adora explained.
"I did," Glimmer justified as she looked herself over. "Mostly on the inside, though."
Adora chuckled. "Well you broke me out of my zen so I hope it was worth it."
"Oh you were meditating again? Cool. Has Perfuma's advice helped any?"
Adora nodded. "Definitely. I was spending a lot of time trying to force myself to calm down and it didn't work. You gotta sort of let yourself do it naturally. It's pretty cool."
"I wanna meditate with you!" Glimmer exclaimed and grasped Adora's shoulder, shaking the girl gently.
"I dunno. Could you sit still for that long?"
Glimmer pursed her lips. "Okay well maybe not."
Adora chuckled and stood up. "C'mon let's go help with breakfast."
"You always wanna help with house things," Glimmer said reluctantly, but followed Adora out of her room anyway.
"Well your mom works really hard and I just don't want her to have to do it all alone," Adora explained.
"You're, like, actually too sweet," Glimmer said with a smile as the girls walked down the steps and into the kitchen.
Angella was listening to jazz music and pouring batter into a waffle maker when she heard them come in. "Good morning girls! What was that noise earlier?"
Adora giggled and Glimmer just shook her head. "I don't wanna talk about it," she said distantly.
"Ah," Angella said with a knowing smile.
"Is there anything we can do to help, Angella?" Adora asked politely.
"You're such a sweet girl, Adora. If you could set the table that would be amazing."
Adora started to set the table. Glimmer even decided to help out. She spent most of her time folding napkins into pretty shapes, but she was still contributing.
Eventually Angella settled down with a bunch of waffles and some fresh fruit and the three ate together. It was a nice morning, if a little chilly, and the sun shone in through the windows at the back of the house and lit up the kitchen with a peaceful glow.
They ate and chatted a bit. At one point Glimmer asked Adora if she wanted to hang out with Bow after breakfast.
"Well actually," Adora said slowly. "I was planning on hanging out with Perfuma today." She recited her well-planned story.
"Oh really?" Glimmer asked, a little surprised. "Well that's cool!"
Angella nodded in agreement. "That is cool. I don't think I've met Perfuma."
Glimmer and Adora shook their heads.
"She's in my art class this year," Adora said. "And she's really nice. We were gonna meet up and go for a walk I think."
"Well then definitely do that," Glimmer said encouragingly. "But if you two get bored just hit me and Bow up and we can all hang out together like a big gang of friends."
Adora smiled. "Yeah I'll let you know. If that's okay, Angella?" She looked to her foster mother who instantly agreed.
"Yes, of course! You can hang out with friends whenever you want," Angella looked at Adora fondly.
"Thanks," Adora said appreciatively. "And thanks for breakfast!"
"Oh yeah, it's not much, but I just wanted to treat you girls. It's been a long week."
"What if I permanently dyed my hair jet black?" Glimmer asked suddenly. "Would that be cool or too much?"
"Sounds pretty awesome," Adora said.
Angella was much less receptive. "I don't know about that. What's wrong with the pink?"
Glimmer shrugged. "I love the pink, but I'd look so edgy with black hair. I could start wearing all black and, like, thick eyeliner."
Adora chuckled. "Goth Glimmer! Go for it," Adora said approvingly.
Angella shook her head. "I think Adora's a bad influence on you," she joked.
Adora feigned being insulted. "I'll have you know I'm a great role model for Glimmer! This is all her!"
"Maybe I'll just shave my head instead," Glimmer said thoughtfully.
Angella threw her hands up in defeat. "I will support your choices, but you should know that you've had a weird shaped head since you were born and I don't know if you'd want it uncovered."
Adora gawked at the remark and burst into laughter.
Glimmer frowned and pouted. "My head shape is perfectly normal."
"You…" Adora managed to say amidst her fits of laughter, "...you do have…that weird lump…"
Glimmer rubbed the back of her head self consciously. "My skull bump is a natural and healthy formation."
Angella put a hand on Glimmer's head. "You have a beautiful head sweetie."
"That's right I do!" She exclaimed as Adora continued to giggle. "I need a new family."
Catra sat waiting on a park bench for Adora to show up. She adjusted her jacket for the hundredth time and checked her reflection in the screen of her phone.
Catra wasn't used to this whole wooing thing. She had been in a few flings before, but they had just kind of happened. Catra hadn't ever really made the first move.
And she hadn't felt this self conscious and nervous around someone probably ever. She wasn't entirely sure what about Adora drew her in.
There was the obvious, of course, that Adora was incredibly cute and was definitely Catra's type. But there was also so much more to it.
Catra liked how strong Adora felt. Not in a physical way, though her physical strength was also a plus, but in a more emotional way. She could tell that Adora had been through a lot. And because of it she was incredibly strong. This made Catra feel safe. And protected.
Catra scoffed at her own thoughts as she realized how cheesy they were, but it was definitely the truth.
On top of all that, she liked Adora's personality. She was sweet and gentle, especially when you were first getting to know her. And once you got under her she'll you saw that she could also be rugged and charismatic. She had so many sides to her and Catra wanted to experience every last one.
"I'm too deep in now for it not to hurt," Catra realized as she thought about how Adora might not even like her, at least in the way that she wanted. She cursed herself for growing so attached and hoped that everything would work out so she wouldn't have to feel so idiotic for all of this.
Catra didn't know who the other girl was, but it didn't really matter in the end. The only thing she could do was make sure that Adora at least saw her as an option. And then it would really be up to her.
Catra sighed and watched a squirrel run around in the grass in front of her. "I even beat someone up for her. What's hotter than that?" She questioned.
The thought reminded her of Lonnie and she quickly pushed the thought away and pulled out her phone as a distraction. She texted Adora to see if she was close. They had decided that this little park area that was a near equal walking distance from both of their homes was a good place to meet up.
Catra still didn't like that it felt like they were unofficial friends just sneaking around everywhere, but she could handle it for a while until Adora was ready to tell her friends about it. Not that it was a huge deal. Glimmer would probably freak for a few days, as she was prone to do, and then she'd begrudgingly come around.
Catra found herself thinking back on Glimmer for the first time in a while and found it curious. Honestly, in hindsight their whole continued feud seemed a little childish. It was just a grudge that neither of the girls had ever decided to call off and so it just stood between them. And it had been that way since middle school.
Catra smiled as she thought back to the times they had shared back then. It hadn't all been bad. A lot of it had been fun and exciting. If it weren't for the rough ending and the fact that they were just immature children at the time, Catra liked to think they'd still be close friends.
Regardless, Catra didn't lose that much sleep over it. She did, however, want Adora to feel comfortable being around Catra at any time. And if Catra had to put up with being around Glimmer to do that, then it was well worth it.
Catra was rifling through her thoughts like this as she felt a small tremor run through the bench she was sitting on and a loud noise from behind her. She jumped in surprise and turned with wide eyes to see Adora laughing.
"In hindsight, if I had known that you'd be that scared, I wouldn't have thrown it," Adora said joyfully as she walked up to Catra.
Catra looked down at the ground and noticed a pinecone that Adora must have thrown at the back of the bench. She shot a wry smile at Adora.
"You little punk. What if you had hit me?" Catra asked as Adora plopped down on the bench next to her.
Adora shrugged. "Bonus points."
Catra gasped and reached down, grabbing the pine cone off the ground and holding it above her head threateningly.
Adora yelped and shielded herself. "Okay I take it back!"
Catra smiled and dropped the pinecone. "I wouldn't be able to do it anyway."
Adora cackled snidely. "You're too weak!"
Catra shook her head with an amused grin. "You're in a good mood today."
"Yeah I guess I am," Adora said. Honestly, she was just excited to get to hang out with Catra again outside of school. "How're you?"
"Better now that you're here," Catra said with a smile as she leaned back on the bench.
Adora smiled and felt her chest fill up with excitement. Regardless of whether her and Catra could ever be more than friends, it felt good when Catra said things like that.
"Sooo," Adora said after a comfortable pause. "Did you wanna walk around a bit? Do you have another hidden-away beautiful spot of scenery to picnic at?"
"Fresh outta those," Catra replied. "But I figured we could just chill today. Walk a bit. And we could always head back to my place if we get tired."
"I like that. A nice, relaxing day. I need more of those."
"Well hit me up literally any time. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's avoiding my responsibilities and relaxing," Catra responded. "You wanna walk a bit?"
Adora feigned surprise. "Wow. Is Catra actually initiating a form of physical exercise right now?"
Catra rolled her eyes. "You know I may not be a hardcore gym buff like you, but I can appreciate a nice walk."
"Hardcore gym buff," Adora repeated. "I like that."
Catra smiled and stood up from the bench. Adora followed suit and the pair began to walk along a paved pathway that led around the park.
"You excited for Halloween?" Catra asked Adora as they strolled.
"Eh, I guess. Never been a huge fan of Halloween," Adora responded.
"What!?" Catra exclaimed. "Halloween is, like, the best holiday!"
Adora held her hands up in defense. "Look man, I just never got too into it."
"You're probably a huge Christmas fan then?"
"Not really," Adora said slowly.
"What? You don't like Christmas either?" Catra asked, wondering if there was one holiday that Adora did like.
"No. It was always really…sad, I guess," Adora said quietly, rubbing her arm nervously.
The knowledge that Adora was an orphan suddenly hit Catra like a punch to the face. She couldn't believe that she had briefly forgotten that. No wonder holidays hadn't been all that great for her.
"Well, hey. I promise you that I'm gonna make your holidays truly magical this year."
Adora perked up a little at that, looking over at Catra. "You don't have to do that."
"Nah too late. It's done," Catra said quickly. "No take-backs. We're gonna have a great Halloween. And a great Christmas! In fact, I will personally ensure that every holiday you have from here on out is nothing but perfect."
Adora smiled at Catra and realized that she believed the girl. Determination glowed in Catra's eyes and Adora nodded as she stared back at her motivated friend.
"That sounds nice," Adora replied with a content smile. "But don't go overboard."
"Oh I'm already way overboard. I got plans now. We're going all out," Catra said enthusiastically.
Adora laughed. "Well you really don't have to. But thanks. You're sweet."
Catra smiled to herself and began to tell Adora about fun things they could do on Halloween as they continued to walk down the trail through patches of barren trees.
After a while of walking they passed by a small pond and sat down on a bench to watch some geese.
"That one's really chubby," Catra chuckled, pointing out an especially large goose waddling by the edge of the pond.
Adora laughed and took a picture of the chubby goose. She had discovered that taking pictures was one of her favorite things about having a phone.
Catra watched Adora crop the picture and smiled endearingly at the girl from over her shoulder. "Now we can always remember chubby goose."
Adora nodded reverently. "It has been immortalized."
Catra chuckled. "We'll have to come back sometime and feed 'em. Especially that one. You wanna keep walking or what?"
"I'm kinda tired. And hungry. Maybe we could go to your place. If your dad's alright with it."
"Oh yeah," Catra said assuredly. "He loves when I meet new people."
"Alright. We can head over in a bit," Adora decided.
The two sat for a while longer, laughing at the geese. Then they finished walking the relatively short distance left on the trail before making their way down through some neighborhoods on their way to Catra's house.
As they walked, Catra told her stories about her growing up around here and the trouble she'd gotten into. She pointed out a curb that she had hit while riding a bike and sprained her ankle. There was a little hair salon they passed that Catra had used to go to when she was younger and just sit and collect clumps of people's hair and create voodoo dolls. Adora told her this was creepy and Catra realized in hindsight that it kind of was.
She pointed out the house of a classmate that she had egged one time. After she told Adora this, she paused for a moment.
"You know, come to think of it," Catra said slowly, "Glimmer egged that house with me."
Adora's jaw dropped. "You and Glimmer egged houses together!?"
"Only the one," Catra said proudly. "We were little rebels."
"I guess so," Adora said distantly as she tried and failed to picture Catra and Glimmer doing anything together, let alone egging a house. She couldn't believe they used to be friends. However, Adora could see the similarities between them if she looked hard enough.
They were both feisty and didn't take no for an answer. They were headstrong and defended their friends ferociously. Upon second thought, they were pretty similar and Adora wondered if that's why they had gotten along so well.
She thought about prying again into what had happened to make them hate each other so much, but decided against it. She had already tried asking Catra a while back in detention and it was clear that the question made her uncomfortable.
When she had asked Glimmer, she hadn't wanted to talk about it either. Adora figured whatever it was, it was pretty personal. And as curious as Adora was, she didn't want to violate their privacy. Maybe she'd just squeeze the truth out of Bow sometime.
Before long, they made it to Catra's house. Adora realized that Catra didn't live that far away from her foster home at all. It wasn't exactly close, but it was certainly within a reasonable walking distance.
Catra's home seemed pretty normal for a home and was in the same style as a lot of the homes in the neighborhood. It was relatively small and looked to be kept in good condition. There was a small garden by the front porch with a variety of things growing.
Catra noticed Adora observing it as they walked up to the front door. "That's my dad's garden. He really likes to plant things. Like squash and junk."
Catra tried the door handle and found that it was unlocked. She smiled and ushered Adora inside with a wide sweep of her arm. "Ladies first."
Adora stepped inside and looked around. From the entrance she had a good view of the living room and the kitchen and dining room. Everything was nicely kept and the atmosphere was warm and inviting.
One thing that stood out in particular to Adora was a wall of framed pictures that looked to be of Catra and her family. Catra closed the door behind them and noticed Adora walking towards the pictures.
The biggest picture on the wall was a photo of what looked to be a much younger version of Catra's dad and another woman who Adora assumed was Catra's mother. Adora had never seen Catra's mother before and found it interesting. She didn't dwell on it long, however, as her attention was quickly drawn to the small figure between the two adults.
Snuggled in between them was a young Catra that couldn't have been more than 10 years old. She was wearing a black onesie and was laughing. It looked like they couldn't get her to sit still for the picture and her outline was a little blurred.
"Oh. My. God," Adora said in awe. "You were so freaking cute."
Catra snorted and admired the picture alongside Adora. "Yeah well you shoulda seen me about a week after we took this. I tried to cut my own hair in my room with some craft scissors. I looked much less cute after that."
Adora laughed and a voice came from behind the girls. "Personally, I think she looked even cuter after the scissor incident. And trust me, I have tons of pictures if you wanna see that disaster."
Adora turned and saw Catra's dad with an inviting smile on his face.
Catra shook her head vehemently. "Let's skip the whole cliche where the dad shows embarrassing photos."
He chuckled warmly and shrugged. "No promises. A dad's gotta do what a dad's gotta do."
Catra visibly cringed and shook her head slowly as Gerald turned to face Adora. "Where are my manners? Welcome, Adora. It's nice to have you here."
Adora smiled and waved back. "It's nice to be over. Sorry for just barging in."
He scoffed. "Oh it's no problem at all. I do wish Catra had told me though so I could have cleaned up a little." He shot a calm look at Catra.
"I know, I'm sorry," Catra apologized quickly. "I'll let you know next time for sure."
"Ha! The old 'next time for sure' promise," he said with a grin. "Anyway, can I get you two anything?"
Adora started to say, "no thank you," but was cut off by Catra.
"We are a little hungry. We were walking around the park," Catra explained.
Gerald nodded. "Well I was about to start making some mac and cheese. Does that sound alright?"
Adora nodded. "That sounds great, thank you," she said graciously and Catra shot her dad a thumbs up.
"Yeah no problem at all," he replied and started to head off to the kitchen, still in his pajamas. "If you girls need anything let me know!"
"He's so nice," Adora whispered to Catra as he left and Catra chuckled.
"Yeah I guess," she agreed. "Here, come with me," Catra said and looped her arm around Adora's.
Adora didn't have time to question where they were going before Catra started pulling her along down the hall and through a door that led to the basement.
They walked down a few steps and Catra unhooked her arm from Adora's, gesturing to the space around them. "Welcome to my humble abode."
Adora looked around and realized that she was looking at the room equivalent of Catra herself. The space was lit by a warm yellow light coming from a standing lamp by the bed. The walls were painted a dark maroon and almost every square inch of them was covered with posters and flyers for bands. A big pride flag was spread across the ceiling above Catra's bed and Adora could see dozens and dozens of those little glow-in-the-dark stars sprinkled around the ceiling as well.
There was an acoustic and electric guitar resting on stands in the corner of the room next to a dresser with a large fish tank on top of it. Adora couldn't see any fish inside, but it was still filled with water.
Catra's bed faced a TV stand that supported a small television. An Xbox was hooked up to it and next to the stand was a mini fridge with a glass front that had a couple cans of soda in it.
The whole place smelled like somebody had recently sprayed an obscene amount of air freshener and looking around, Adora could see piles of clothes peeking out from under the bed and under the closet door.
Adora smiled, realizing that Catra must have put a genuine effort into cleaning her room in case Adora came over. She looked at Catra who was still awaiting some kind of a response from Adora.
"Okay this is a pretty awesome room," Adora said and Catra pumped her fist.
"That's right it is!" She exclaimed. "I love this place."
Adora chuckled and walked over to the fish tank, inspecting it closely. "Are the fish hiding?" She asked.
Catra sighed. "Bonnie and Clyde both passed away last month and I've been too deep in mourning to get more fish."
"Aww," Adora said and she put a reassuring hand on Catra's shoulder. "Sorry about your fish."
"It's fine. They were super old. And they died together. It was all very poetic," she said admirably.
"Rest in peace," Adora said reverently and turned her attention to the guitars in the corner. "Those are pretty. Do you play?"
"Heck yeah I do! I've gotten pretty good too," Catra enthused as she plopped down on her bed, which was tidy and well-made. She patted the space next to her and Adora took a seat there.
"You should play something!" Adora suggested excitedly.
Catra winced. "I don't know if I'm that good," she replied slowly.
"Oh I'm sure you're amazing," Adora said, dismissing Catra's attempt to shoot the idea down. "C'mon just a little something?"
"Well…" Catra looked over at the guitars and then at Adora, who was staring at her hopefully. One look at that face and Catra had made up her mind. "I guess I could play a little something."
"Yesss," Adora hissed in celebration. She watched as Catra got up off the bed and walked over to the guitars.
"You like acoustic or electric more?" Catra asked.
"Acoustic," Adora responded instantly.
Catra picked up the acoustic and carried it back over to the bed. "I'm more of an electric fan myself but we can't all have great taste," Catra joked and Adora scoffed.
Catra pulled open a drawer on her nightstand and rustled around amongst its many contents before pulling out a black guitar pick and a tuner and situating the guitar on her lap.
Adora watched as Catra methodically tuned the guitar. Every few seconds, as she looked down at the strings, her hair would fall into her face and she'd absentmindedly brush it back. She held the pick in her mouth and Adora couldn't help but stare at her lips wrapped around the pick.
After she finished tuning, she looked at Adora. "What now?" She asked.
"Well play me something, of course," Adora replied. "Do you sing too?"
Catra stiffened up a little and half nodded. "I mean, I do…but, like, never in front of anyone."
Adora could see Catra was nervous and she didn't want to push the girl too hard. "Alright then you don't have to sing this time. But I fully expect it in, like, a month or so."
Catra smiled goofily. "Yeah maybe then," she replied. "I could play a little tune I made up a while back. It's…uh…you know. It's nothing much. And I'm not, like, great or anyth…"
"Catra," Adora cut off her rambling. "I wanna hear it regardless. I'm sure it's great."
The two shared a look for a moment before Catra nodded and turned down to look at the guitar in her hands. She took a deep breath and began to tap her foot rhythmically to an internal beat.
Then, after a few seconds, she pressed her fingers onto the frets in a predetermined pattern and began to strum the strings in a back and forth motion.
Adora watched as Catra moved to another chord, her nimble fingers drifting quickly into another arrangement and another sound leaving the wooden mouth of the guitar.
The sound was deep and warm. Catra stayed in time with her ever-tapping foot and continued to switch between chords.
Adora had never watched or listened to somebody play a guitar in person before and she wasn't sure what she had expected, but this was much better than what she had thought.
It was beautiful. Adora wondered how much time Catra had put into it. The song sounded sad in a way, but then there were tones that kept it more uplifting.
Adora observed Catra as she played. She seemed entirely focused on what she was doing, and watching all of the intricate moves she was making with her fingers, Adora was amazed that Catra hadn't messed up. Adora looked from Catra's gliding fingers to the girl's face and saw the concentration there.
Under it all though, there was something else. And as Adora listened to the melancholy tune carry onwards, she could have sworn she saw a deep longing on Catra's face. For what, she didn't know, but it seemed to fit the song and Adora wondered what the girl was thinking about.
Catra played for a bit longer as Adora sat on the bed next to her and watched quietly, enjoying the sound and Catra's company.
Finally, Catra strummed a final chord a few times, getting quieter with each strum until eventually the song faded away. She let the silence hang for a moment and then cautiously looked up at Adora.
"Whaddya think?" She asked with a lopsided smile.
"I think it was beautiful," she answered honestly.
"I don't know if it was beautiful or anything, but I never messed up!" Catra said proudly, lowering the guitar into her lap.
"It sounded really nice. How did you move your fingers that fast and remember all the notes and stuff?"
"Well I just play a lot I guess. It's a good stress reliever. Calms me down, y'know?" Catra asked Adora, who nodded understandingly.
"Yeah I get that," she replied. "Do you, uh, think I could try?" Adora asked.
Catra's eyes lit up. "Of course! I'm sure you'd be so good at guitar if you practiced." Catra handed the guitar over to Adora who held it clumsily, trying to remember how Catra had positioned it.
Catra chuckled at her failed attempts and reached over. She gingerly grasped Adora's hand with her own and guided it into place. Adora's eyes were glued to Catra's hand on hers.
"Now put that other hand," Catra reached out and positioned that one as well, "right there."
Adora now held the guitar in a similar fashion to how Catra had. She experimentally pushed down on some of the strings and found that they were much thicker and resistant than she had thought.
"They kinda hurt," Adora said as she pushed them down.
"Oh yeah they do that for a while. You gotta play enough and grow calluses. Feel this," Catra held out a pointer finger.
Adora rubbed the tip of Catra's finger and was surprised to find that the skin was tough and solid. "Wow. And as a side note, you gotta stop biting your nails so low."
"I know!" Catra whined. "Don't nail shame me!"
"Alright, alright," Adora chuckled. "Now teach me a good note or something."
"One good note, coming up." Catra scooted a little closer to Adora to where she was basically looking over the girl's shoulder. Adora could feel the warmth of her and it was majorly distracting. She was genuinely surprised by how Catra was affecting her today.
"Alright put your pointer finger on the second fret, that's the little box thing, and on the second string from you," Catra explained.
Adora tried to follow, but even the simplified version that Catra was giving her seemed confusing. "Uh. Box thing…"
"Okay, here," Catra said as she reached out again. "Is it okay if I grab your hand?"
"Uh…" Adora went brain dead for a few seconds before realizing she had to answer the question, "...yes."
Catra smiled and grabbed hold of Adora's hand. Adora liked the feel of Catra's rough fingertips grazing the back of her hand. Catra grabbed Adora's pointer finger and placed it on the spot that she had been trying to point out.
Adora pressed down into the string and became acquainted with the feeling. Catra then took Adora's middle finger and gently placed it on another string. Catra withdrew her hands slowly, leaving Adora in the correct position.
"There's only two strings in this one?" Adora asked.
"Yeah I thought it'd be good to start you out with an easy chord," Catra explained. "Now keep your fingers there. Here's your pick." Catra handed her pick over to Adora who held it in her fingers how she had seen Catra doing it.
"That looks great," Catra said approvingly. "And now you just press down on the strings with the very tips of your fingers and strum down here."
Adora nodded and pressed her fingertips down onto the strings. They cut into the flesh a bit and Adora could tell why Catra had those calluses on her fingers. She made sure she was pressing them fully down and then, pick in hand, strummed at the strings.
Adora missed a couple strings with her strum, but it still produced a nice sound and Adora smiled widely. "Look at that! I'm a musical genius!" She proclaimed.
Catra chuckled at Adora's enthusiasm. "That was pretty good for your first time ever playing."
Adora continued to strum back and forth, even trying to produce a rhythm. Catra enjoyed watching her play. Adora had her eyes fixed on her hands and the tip of her tongue was sticking out of her mouth as she focused on the guitar.
Adora was starting to try out strumming individual strings when both girls heard a knock on the door at the top of the steps.
"Come in!" Catra yelled.
"I would if I could!" Catra's dad yelled back from behind the door. "Can someone get the door?"
Catra hopped up off the bed and up the small flight of steps. She opened the door and her dad was there with two bowls of mac and cheese in his hands and two cups nestled into his arms precariously.
"Oh wow," Catra said as she took the plates from his hands and walked back down the steps, her dad following.
Gerald smiled as he saw Adora with the guitar. "I thought I heard some lovely tunes from upstairs. Do you play too, Adora?"
"Oh no, I'm just learning I guess," she replied, her fingers still glued to the same spot so she wouldn't lose track of where it was. Catra sat back down on the bed next to her with the food.
"Ah well I'm sure Catra will be a great teacher. After all, I'm the one who taught her," he said with a proud smile as he placed the drinks down on the nightstand. "Is lemonade okay?"
Both girls nodded and he smiled. "Alright. You two have fun. And Adora you are free to come over anytime."
Adora thanked him and he turned to leave before turning back around. "That also goes for the whole family," he added. "You know. If Angella wants to come over with you and Glimmer we can have a little dinner and…"
"Okay nope," Catra said as she got up and began to literally push her dad up the stairs and out of the room. "We had an agreement. No talking about Angella ever again. Ew. Get out."
Adora laughed as Catra pushed her dad out of the door and shut it quickly. "That was embarrassing," she said, out of breath as she walked back to the bed and sat next to Adora.
The two sat and ate and laughed and Catra spent some more time showing Adora how to play different chords. They spent hours down there in the cozy, darkened basement, getting to know each other better and enjoying one another's company.
Adora finally got home that night after spending the whole day with Catra. Angella and Glimmer were watching a movie together on the couch when Adora walked in.
Catra had dropped her off a few houses down, per Adora's request. That way there was no chance that Glimmer would recognize Catra. It had been a wonderful night and Adora was sad that it had ended. She was already thinking of the next time her and Catra could see each other again.
Glimmer and Angella turned to see Adora taking her shoes off at the door.
"Man you and Perfuma hung out for a long time!" Glimmer exclaimed. "I didn't know you two were such good friends."
"Huh?" Adora asked before remembering her own ruse. "Oh yeah! Perfuma? Yeah we're pretty tight."
"Did you get cold, sweetie?" Angella asked. "You didn't even bring your jacket. Do you need a new one?"
"Oh no it's fine. We didn't walk much. We had a great time though!" Adora said happily as she drifted over to the couch.
Glimmer noticed Adora was in a really good mood and was happy that she was making new friends.
"What are you guys watching?" Adora asked.
"One of the Fast and the Furious movies for some reason," Angella said disappointedly.
"Hey you got to pick last time!" Glimmer exclaimed. "We had to watch your old lady movies."
Angella gasped and hit Glimmer with a pillow. "We aren't allowed to call me old! That's a rule!"
Glimmer and Adora laughed and Glimmer scooted to one side of the couch, making a little room in between them. "You wanna watch with us?"
"I would, but I'm actually really tired. I was thinking I might go to bed," Adora replied.
"You get your sleep," Angella said. "You had a long day!"
Adora nodded and said goodnight to both of them before walking upstairs. Glimmer watched Adora go and eyed her curiously as Angella resumed the movie they were watching.
Later that night, when they finished the movie, Glimmer walked upstairs quietly, trying not to wake Adora. She accidentally stepped on the creaky spot near the top of the steps and winced. She looked over to Adora's room and listened to make sure that she hadn't woken her up.
She didn't hear any movement, but she did see a faint pale blue glow from under the door. Glimmer thought Adora would have been asleep by now and wondered what she was still doing up on her phone.
Adora was acting a little strange, but it definitely wasn't a problem and as excruciatingly curious as Glimmer was, she didn't want to pry. So she just crept into her own room and fell asleep.
Next door, Adora was still up, listening to acoustic guitar music and texting Catra. When they finally said goodnight to each other, it was just past three in the morning. Adora fell asleep smiling.
Loved writing this chapter. It gave me heavy feels. Guitar has to be the most romantic instrument. Or like a harp or something. Anyway, I should be able to upload next week's chapter on time, but also I have a big weekend-long project next week so it might get pushed back a bit. Either way, it shouldn't be too long. As always, thanks for the support and I wish you all the best!