"Guts! Guts! Guts!" Glimmer chanted loudly as she pulled orange pulp out from the inside of a pumpkin. Bow watched the violent act in silent horror and reminded himself never to get on her bad side.
On the kitchen counter beside them, Adora was cleaning out her own pumpkin. Her massive sword rested threateningly on the counter beside her. "You don't wanna gut your own pumpkin?" Adora asked Bow as she looked up from her work.
"Absolutely not," Bow said confidently. "The insides feel like…like…"
"Like guts!" Glimmer suggested and Bow shivered.
"Yeah like guts. Plus I just had my nails done," Bow said with a smile. "That reminds me. Adora. We're having a full on spa day here soon and we're gonna get you a manicure and you're gonna love it."
"I dunno," Adora responded doubtfully, pulling another clump out of her pumpkin. "What do they do? Just clip your nails? I can do that myself."
Bow laughed and Glimmer spoke up. "I'm not a big manicure person myself, but they do a lot more than just clipping. They, like, file and give you a little hand massage and put it in warm water and then they paint it for you and stuff."
Adora seemed unimpressed. "Painting, huh? Why should I make them all pretty if I'm just gonna break them off on accident in weights or something?"
"You're reading too much into the details," Bow said. "It's really about being pampered. Feeling all special and relaxed."
"Hmmm. Maybe," Adora considered. "But I still don't see the point. Nobody ever looks at people's hands."
Glimmer chuckled and Bow gasped. "I look at hands , thank you very much!"
Adora rolled her eyes and smiled. "Well besides you then. I don't think anybody else ever really pays attention."
"She's kinda got a point," Glimmer admitted and Bow slapped her arm playfully.
"You two heathens wouldn't understand," he said with a sigh. "I like to be beautiful from head to toe."
"Well you are one of the prettiest people I know if that makes you feel better. And you're rocking Lara Croft," Adora assured her friend.
"Aww, you're so sweet Adora," Bow said emotionally and gave Adora a quick hug.
"Watch out I'm covered in pumpkin guts," Adora said with a chuckle. "I think I'm all ready to carve though!"
"Me too!" Glimmer exclaimed, throwing a final pile of pulp into a bag beside her. She missed a little and a lot of the insides landed on the floor with a wet slap. Glimmer frowned at the mess. "Sorry mom!" Glimmer yelled.
"Clean it up!" Angella's voice came from further back in the house.
Adora and Bow laughed and Glimmer eyed the floor begrudgingly before cleaning it up as best she could.
Then they all took their hollowed out pumpkins and went and sat down at the dining table.
"Alright," Glimmer said, eyeing her pumpkin. "Should I go scary or cute?"
Adora answered 'scary' just as Bow answered 'cute.' Glimmer looked between the two.
"Well I guess I'm gonna go for cute and scary," Glimmer said happily as she began to draw sketch lines on her pumpkin with a sharpie.
Bow sighed deeply and took in the essence of his pumpkin. "Uhuh, yep. Alright I got it. I'm gonna make us. A monument to our best friend squad."
Adora whistled impressively. "That's gonna be hard to carve all three of us in there!"
"Oh I have my ways," Bow said, eyebrows raised.
Adora snorted and turned to her own pumpkin. "I don't know what I'm gonna do but it's gonna be scary. Like a big mouth with big teeth and, like, a hundred eyes."
"Oooh," Glimmer cooed at the description. "I like that. Now I ki...Woah!" She recoiled from the table. "I just about cut the old finger off right there."
"Glimmer! Be careful!" Bow exclaimed, eyeing the knife in Glimmer's hand.
"Oh I'll be fine, mom," Glimmer retorted. "Who needs a pointer finger anyway?"
Shortly after they all began to focus on their carving. Glimmer put on a Halloween playlist and they all talked amicably as they worked.
Bow gave up about halfway through and asked Adora to carve the rest because his arms were tired. And Glimmer managed to avoid cutting herself the whole time.
After an hour or so, the friends all put candles in their jack-o-lantern's and put them out on the front porch. They took a few steps back and watched their pumpkins glow together in the light of the slowly dimming evening.
Glimmer had taken cute and scary very literally. Half of her pumpkin was smiling and happy and the other half was gnarled and evil looking.
Adora's had a huge mouth with razor sharp teeth and around 20 eyeballs. She was very proud.
And then Bow's was...very creative.
"Y'know, Bow," Glimmer said, cocking her head to one side and examining Bow's pumpkin. "I think I actually look pretty spot on. You carved my hair good and I'm holding, like, a stick or something?"
Bow smiled defeatedly. "That's actually supposed to be Adora holding her sword."
"Ooooh."
"Is Glimmer that one on the other side then?" Adora asked.
"Yeah you can tell cuz she's all goth and frowning."
Glimmer chuckled. "Well you win the award for the most love poured into a pumpkin."
"That's all I wanted," Bow said cheerfully. "Thanks for carving a good half of it, Adora."
"I wouldn't thank me. I'm the reason that sword looks like a stick."
The group laughed and Bow clapped his arms around his friends. It was getting dark and kids were starting to roam the streets with their parents close by and empty bags in their hands.
"How about we go watch that scary movie now?" Bow asked, and the girls agreed.
They went inside and all curled up on the couch to watch a scary movie together. By the end they were all gripping one another tightly.
"Catra! Scorpia's here!" Catra's father yelled from the front door, an overflowing bowl of candy in his hands. He turned back to Scorpia who stood waiting at the door. "Come in, come in," he urged as he ushered her inside and she shuffled in slowly.
Gerald instantly noticed Scorpia seemed a little less animated than usual and he hoped the girl was alright. "Happy Halloween, Scorpia. No costume this year?"
Scorpia shook her head slowly. "Not this year."
"Well it's probably for the best. Catra's dressing up for the first time in a while and that's probably why she's still getting ready." He noticed that Scorpia seemed distracted and he frowned slightly. "Are you alright? Do you need anything?"
Scorpia looked surprised at being addressed. "Oh no I don't. Thank you though. Uh. I will take some of that candy though."
"Help yourself!" He handed her the bowl and she grabbed a random handful that she absentmindedly stuffed into her pocket. "You're free to go see if Catra is ready or not. She hopefully shouldn't keep you too much longer."
Scorpia nodded and walked off towards Catra's room in the basement. As she got closer, she could hear the sound of some loud punk song playing from Catra's room. She paused for a moment at the door before knocking.
There was a sudden shuffling sound followed by the gentle thudding of approaching footsteps and then the door flew open, revealing a fully costumed Catra.
Her costume seemed to be just a few steps off from her regular outfits. She had her fitted leather jacket on and that necklace she always had was draped around her neck. She wore a simple, white t-shirt under the jacket and a black belt that held up black skinny jeans with tears in the legs. Scorpia noticed a few chains hanging from Catra's jean pocket. She had a red bandanna on her head and her hair was slicked back so that it poofed out the back.
Scorpia watched as Catra took her black sunglasses off and observed Scorpia in half-hearted disapproval.
"Hey you," she said casually. "You totally ditched me during practice."
"Yeah I did...Sorry about that," Scorpia said nervously, trying not to stare at Catra too much in her costume. As she looked at Catra, Double Trouble's words rang through her head again and she felt a pang of sadness. She wasn't sure if what they said was true, but it had sure made sense to Scorpia.
"So...what's up? Why'd you bail?" Catra asked, waiting expectantly and leaning against the doorframe.
"See I...uh...I'll tell you in the car. Are you ready?"
Catra squinted at Scorpia, trying to figure out what she was hiding, before scanning her room. She ran down the basement steps and grabbed a comb before heading back up the stairs. "Ready to go," she said assuredly.
They were almost out the door when Catra's dad called from behind them. "Hey now! No leaving before your old man gets some pictures!"
Catra groaned loudly and turned around to see her dad holding his little digital camera. "Daaaaad, we're gonna be late."
"Oh, it'll just be a couple seconds. And you look so cute in that biker costume!" Gerald said as he excitedly held up his camera.
Catra grumbled to herself before wrapping one arm around Scorpia and facing the camera. Scorpia managed to whip up a smile that she hoped was convincing enough.
About a dozen pictures later, Gerald was satisfied and told both girls they could go free. "And be safe! If you need me to pick you up, just call!"
The girls left the house and hopped into Scorpia's car. Catra looked down at herself as Scorpia backed out of the driveway carefully.
"Is this costume alright? I kinda just threw it together and hoped it looked cool."
"Oh yeah you look great!" Scorpia agreed instantly. "Really cool, Cat."
Catra eyed Scorpia suspiciously. "Okay, what's up? You're very obviously out of whack."
"I...yeah I mean maybe a little. I uh...I dunno I'm not feeling well. Maybe my fever is coming back? And also…" Scorpia trailed off.
"Yes?"
"Well there's...I don't know. I'm just dealing with some stuff. I guess."
"You guess? What's up? Maybe I can help."
"I don't think so, Cat," Scorpia said with a sigh. "Uh...subject change. You excited for your party?"
Catra stared intensely at Scorpia for a while longer as she drove, wondering what she was hiding, before eventually answering begrudgingly. "Well. Yeah I am pretty excited actually."
"That's good. And you're fine going alone? Do you wanna bring a plus one?"
"Uh. I'm actually going with Adora. So I should be alright."
"Oh."
There was a period of awkward silence and Scorpia turned up the radio a little bit.
"Well," Scorpia said, clearing her throat. "That's good. You and Adora seem to be real good friends, huh?"
"Yeah we are," Catra said slowly, fully aware that Scorpia still wasn't acting like herself. She toyed with the idea that maybe Scorpia was jealous that she was spending more and more time with Adora instead of her. "Are you, like, alright with Adora?"
"Oh yeah," Scorpia said quickly. "Yeah she's...great."
"Okay," Catra said awkwardly. Both girls could feel the tension in the car and for the rest of the short trip, neither of them spoke much at all.
When they finally got to Scorpia's house, Catra was relieved. Anything to get out of this car right now.
Catra bit at her nails unceasingly as she wondered what was wrong with her friend and waited for Scorpia to park the car. The second they were stopped, Catra hopped out.
"Oh hey, it looks like Rogelio is here," Catra said, gesturing to their friend's car.
"Oh, huh," Scorpia said in an unconvincing excited tone.
Catra ignored her and walked quickly up to the front door, letting herself in. Kyle and Rogelio were standing at the island in the kitchen and looked at Catra when she entered, followed by Scorpia.
"Happy Halloween!" They greeted the pair cheerily. They weren't wearing costumes either, but Kyle had a t-shirt on that said, 'If lost, return to Rogelio,' and Rogelio had a matching shirt that said, 'I'm Rogelio.'
"Love the costume, Catra!" Kyle complimented.
"Did you guys bring the chips?" Rogelio asked.
"Oh shoot," Catra responded. She had forgotten all about it with how weird Scorpia had been acting. "We can go grab some from the place down the street."
"I'll get them," Scorpia insisted and turned to leave again.
"I'll go with you," Catra said as she followed the girl. Regardless of how awkward it was, if something was wrong with Scorpia, Catra didn't want her to be alone.
"I'm fine going alone," Scorpia insisted. "I'll be back in a few minutes." With that she walked outside, shutting the door behind her.
Catra stared in disbelief for a moment before looking back at Kyle and Rogelio. They also looked a little confused.
"I was gonna say we could just eat the dip with a spoon," Kyle said quietly. "Is she…"
"I have no idea," Catra said exhaustedly. "But something's up and it's weirding me out."
"Yeah," Kyle said, pretty sure he knew what was going on to some degree. "Well maybe we can cheer her up! We brought board games too!"
Rogelio held up a stack of board games and Catra smiled wearily at the pair.
"Yeah we'll see," she replied meditatively, sitting down and grabbing a spoonful of dip.
Catra sat in her car a few hours later, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel absentmindedly. She watched kids run around from house to house with their oversized costumes and clutching their bags of candy. One of the kids, who was dressed up like a little pirate, tripped and fell on the sidewalk and Catra chuckled to herself at the sight.
She didn't always laugh at kids hurting themselves, but at the moment she needed a good laugh what with all the Scorpia stuff. Catra still wasn't even sure what was going on there. She had taken forever to come back with the chips. She had claimed they were busy, but Catra got the feeling that wasn't true. Scorpia wasn't exactly a great liar.
The rest of the night had been a little awkward. Scorpia had pretended she was fine, but everyone could kind of tell something was off. Catra wanted to just interrogate Scorpia and figure out what was wrong, but she hadn't had an opportunity to get the girl alone. She would have to corner her at school the next day and figure it out.
"God, I hate drama," Catra muttered to herself as she rubbed her eyes wearily. She was happy to get out of the situation early and hopefully enjoy herself at this party with Adora.
Catra was parked down the street from Adora's house. She couldn't see it from where she was and Adora had made it their spot for incognito meetings. With a surge of excitement, Catra realized that Adora had been planning on telling Glimmer about them after Halloween.
"It'll feel nice to not be a secret anymore," Catra thought as she leaned her seat back a little and rested comfortably. "Even if I gotta deal with Glimmer again."
Catra checked her phone for the hundredth time. She had been waiting for a while, but then again she had gotten here super early. Catra sighed and went back to staring out the window. The kid who had fallen was sitting in the grass, crying and being coddled by his parents. Catra chuckled again and started to wonder if she'd ever want kids when she heard a knock on the passenger side door.
She turned to see a girl peering into the window and only registered that it was Adora after a few seconds of blankly staring. She waved her hand, signalling Adora to get in.
Adora opened the door and hopped in eagerly. The girls stared at each other for a brief moment, registering how the other looked.
"Wow," Catra said almost breathlessly. "I am...I mean you look...absolutely incredible and I feel suddenly very underdressed."
"No, you look amazing! We'll be a perfect match," Adora said quickly. She was also very stunned by Catra's appearance.
Adora actually wasn't sure she had ever been so attracted to somebody before and if she had, she sure couldn't remember.
"A perfect match," Catra repeated warmly. She reached over and played with the patches of 'fur' on Adora's costume. "I like these. Did you make this?"
"Me and Glimmer have been working on it for a while as a little side project."
"Well... congratulations. I mean this is pretty next level. I just combed my hair and put on a bandanna."
Adora laughed. "I guess you're just an actual biker in real life."
Catra nodded cooly. "Yeah just you wait. One day I'll be pulling in to pick you up on a motorcycle."
"Well I can't wait for that," Adora said excitedly. "You ready for this party?"
"As I'll ever be," Catra said and turned the car on, pulling away from the curb. She made sure to be extra careful to impress Adora with her driving skills. "How was time with friends?"
"It was fun!" Adora responded. "We carved pumpkins and ate a bunch of chili and watched a really bad scary movie."
"That sounds fun," Catra said distractedly, narrowly avoiding backing up into a parked car.
"Yeah it was. How was your little shindig?"
"Well for one never say shindig again. That's just weird."
"Yeah it felt weird saying it too," Adora said thoughtfully, absentmindedly clutching the handle on the door as Catra began to maneuver her way through the busy Halloween streets.
"But anyway, it was...not particularly a great time."
Adora cocked her head and looked over at Catra. "Why not?"
"Well," Catra took one hand off the wheel to bite at a fingernail and spit the severed piece of nail onto the car floor. Adora figured that in some circumstances that could be seen as rude, but when Catra did it, it was just cute somehow. "Scorpia's been acting kinda weird. It started when she left theater practice, I think. I think she's mad at me or something."
"Hmm," Adora considered the situation, feeling sorry for Catra. "What could she be mad about?"
"I don't know," Catra said helplessly. "I have no idea. I didn't do anything wrong, I don't think. I asked her before I left if I had hurt her feelings somehow and she said I hadn't and that she was fine. Which, like, is a total lie. I mean, I know Scorpia and she was just...off."
"Well maybe it's not something you did. Maybe it's an unrelated issue," Adora wondered aloud.
"Maybe," Catra said with a sigh. "I don't even know. But I'm trying not to worry about it anymore. Now is the time for you and me and a Halloween party."
"That sounds good. But let me know how it goes, okay?" Adora wondered if she should try to comfort Catra in some way, but she wasn't sure how to go about doing so without being awkward.
"Yeah I'll keep you updated. I think it'll blow over though. Maybe a bad day or something. But onto a more pressing matter. Can you pull up Maps? Cuz I'm realizing I have no idea how to get to Mermista's place."
"Oh my gosh. Then where are we going right now?" Adora asked with a grin as she fished her phone out of a small leather pouch that held her phone and also worked with her costume.
"Well I just kinda guessed it'd be this way. I was honestly just gonna drive and hope I'd find it, but I don't wanna be late."
"That is, I think, the dumbest idea ever," Adora joked and Catra laughed.
They made it to Mermista's neighborhood before too long with the help of Adora's navigation. Catra proudly announced that she could probably have found the place on her own and was going in the right direction anyway. Adora strongly disagreed.
They pulled into the fancy looking neighborhood and gawked at the big houses.
"Man, why does Mermista get to be popular and rich?" Catra asked as they drove past the homes. "I mean, that house there is like four of my houses. Who needs that?"
"It is pretty crazy," Adora agreed, keeping an eye out for Mermista's house.
"I wanna be rich," Catra mused to herself. "We could have solid gold furniture and a butler and have fancy dinner parties."
"We?" Adora asked.
"Well yeah," Catra replied matter-of-factly. "If I get rich you're definitely gonna live in my big mansion with me."
"Oh yeah?" Adora said, staring over at Catra with a big grin etched on her face. "I think I could get behind that."
"Heck yeah you could," Catra replied. "Maybe I'll win the lottery or something. There's still time. Oh hey. I think I found it."
Catra pointed to another huge house with a ton of cars parked in the driveway and on the curb outside. As they drove up to it, Adora checked the house number and nodded.
"Yeah this is it," Adora confirmed, and Catra parked the car outside the house on the street.
"Well that was easy," Catra said confidently. "And we're only fashionably late."
"Yep," Adora said, staring out her window at the house.
Catra craned her neck to get a look at Adora's face. "Hey are you getting anxious about the party?"
Adora sighed and half-nodded. "It's a lot of cars."
"Hey look at me," Catra said with a soft voice and Adora turned from the window, locking eyes with Catra. "It's gonna be okay. We'll go in and I'll stick right by your side and either you'll decide it's kinda fun or you'll decide it's too much and we'll be out of here in a heartbeat."
Looking into Catra's multicolored eyes, Adora genuinely felt better. More at ease. Adora wondered if anyone had ever had this effect on her before.
"Okay. You're right. It'll be fine either way. Thanks," Adora said genuinely.
Catra smiled and nodded before checking her hair in the rearview mirror.
Adora laughed as Catra pulled out a comb and fixed some stray hairs.
"Your hair looks fine," Adora told the girl. "I like it when it's messy anyway."
Catra set the comb down and shot a smile at Adora, wondering how she had lucked out in meeting her. She also couldn't help but stare at Adora's exposed biceps, but was able to not make her ogling too obvious.
"You ready?" Catra asked.
"Definitely."
The girls got out of the car and walked up to the house together. As they approached, they began to hear the sound of low, pulsing music emanating from the house. They stopped at the big front door and stared for a bit.
"Do you ring the doorbell to get into a party or just walk in?" Adora asked.
"I don't know, I'm not exactly invited to many parties. I don't know party etiquette or whatever," Catra responded.
They stared a bit longer before Adora reached out and rang the doorbell. They waited a bit and there didn't seem to be any answer.
Catra sighed. "Well I guess the music's too loud for th…"
Catra was interrupted by the door opening suddenly and both girls saw a tall guy dressed in a cowboy costume standing in the doorway. He looked them over for a bit and then seemed to recognize them.
"You're those girls who got in that fight at the football game, right?"
"Uh…Yep. That's us," Catra responded and the guy nodded.
"That's awesome. Nice costumes. Come on in." He ushered them inside and the girls tentatively stepped in and took in their surroundings.
Prior to this, the biggest house Adora had been in was Glimmer's. This house was even bigger and was currently full of older looking high school students. Most of them were seniors and Adora wondered if any juniors from her and Catra's class were there.
The music was a lot louder from inside and Adora wondered if there was a spot in the house where they could go to get away from the noise. Adora could see the kitchen, where there seemed to be a chocolate fountain and various drinks. She could also see a living room area where a lot of costumed people were hanging out and talking or dancing to the music.
It was a lot to take in all at once and Adora was just wondering if it was too late to turn back when she felt a hand grip her own and squeeze gently. She looked over to see Catra grasping her hand and smiling encouragingly.
Adora felt relief followed by shocked satisfaction that Catra was holding her hand followed by self consciousness as she silently prayed that Catra wouldn't notice how sweaty and gross her hand was right now.
"Mermista's out back. She'll probably wanna see you guys. You can follow me if you want."
Catra and Adora nodded in agreement and followed him through the kitchen into a big dining room and through a sliding glass door that led out to a huge deck facing a backyard with a big pool and plenty of lawn space. Strings of lights hung from the awning over the deck and Adora spotted a couple teens gathered around a fire pit over by the pool.
The bewildered girls blindly followed their guide over to the side of the deck where a group was circled around a ping pong table watching two people play.
Adora and Catra recognized Mermista as one of the players right away, even with her back to them. She was wearing what looked like a mermaid costume. Her dress sparkled with scale-like flaps of shiny aquatic colors. She seemed pretty enraptured in the game and was quickly exchanging shots with a girl across the table. The ball bounced over to Mermista's side rapidly and almost went off the table, but Mermista slapped it back with her paddle and the ball landed back in her opponent's side, bouncing twice and slipping off the table as the girl swung and missed.
Mermista held her paddle up in the air and the group around her chanted her name.
"Undefeated ping pong champion!" Mermista yelled and was met with more cheering. Mermista wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the girl she had been playing against and said some things to her friends before stepping away from the table to grab a drink she had left on a dining table nearby.
The guy who was leading Catra and Adora walked up to her and greeted her.
"Hey Mermista. Some more of your friends showed up. They looked a little lost."
Mermista turned around and smiled when she saw the pair of them standing there. "Look at you two being, like, totally cute with your freaking dope costumes. You got some wide eyes though. First high school party?" Both girls nodded in agreement and Mermista continued. "Yeah I figured. This is super tame compared to some other stuff. My parents are, like, right upstairs so it's kinda lame. But whatever. It's good to see you guys."
"Yeah, same," Adora responded dazedly.
Mermista looked Adora over and nodded to herself. "I have just the place for you two. Follow me."
She led them over to the other side of the deck. There were two people leaning on the guardrail and talking, but other than that there were just a few empty tables. Adora instantly liked the spot. It was quieter and a little removed and the twinkling fairy lights above the tables had a calming effect.
"This is, like, more your guys' speed. But, seriously, if you guys get bored or something feel free to go anywhere. Or come find me and we'll hang out. I'd love to destroy you both in ping pong."
"Thanks, Mermista," Adora said, already more at ease.
"Oh yeah, for sure. And also, like, these are pretty cool people but, like, if anyone messes with you in any way let me know and they're outta here, alright?"
"Will do," Catra said enthusiastically, thankful to Mermista for inviting them to this so that her and Adora could have a chance to hang out.
"Awesome. I'll be over there asserting my dominance. You two keep being cute," Mermista said with a chuckle and walked back over to the ping pong table.
They watched her go and then made their way to one of the little umbrella-covered, wooden tables and sat down.
Adora scanned the area again and eased up a little. "So...what exactly do you do at a party?" Adora asked Catra, who was quickly checking her hair in her phone mirror.
"Uh. Well I don't know," Catra answered as she put her phone away. "Most people probably mingle and dance or something. But I just wanna do what you're doing."
Adora smiled at her friend. "Well I don't wanna bore you is all."
"I'm at a senior party in a practical mansion with a barbarian sitting across from me. I'm not bored," Catra explained with a chuckle. "How about we just talk for a bit? I'll go get us something to drink."
"That sounds good," Adora agreed. "Can you see if they have lemonade?"
Catra laughed. "Yeah I'll see if they have lemonade, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. And I'll make sure nothing is spiked or something." Catra pushed away from the table. "I'll be back," she said and dashed away to the glass door they had come from that led to the kitchen.
Adora watched from their spot as Catra wandered up to the island in the kitchen and began looking around. Probably for lemonade. Adora smiled to herself as she watched Catra from afar. She couldn't believe she was at a party with Catra. That was definitely not something she would've seen coming a month ago.
Adora noticed Catra continuing to search the kitchen as she opened the pantry door. Adora pulled out her phone and began to text Catra to forget about the lemonade when she saw a tall girl she had never seen before approach Catra.
Adora watched curiously as the girl seemed to introduce herself and Catra closed the pantry doors, responding to the girl.
The girl was definitely a senior. She was tall and pretty and athletic looking. Adora couldn't make out many more details than that from where she sat. She squinted her eyes to watch the exchange. The girl said something and Catra laughed in response. The girl moved a little closer to Catra, leaning up against the island as she did so.
Adora wasn't exactly sure why she did it, but before she knew it, she had stood up from the table and was walking towards the door. She slid it open and slipped inside, wading into the kitchen precariously.
The older girl, who was dressed up like a vampire, noticed her enter the room and Catra followed the girl's stare, turning to see Adora approaching.
"Oh hey!" Catra said excitedly, waving her over. "This is Adora," she said, introducing Adora to the girl.
The girl smiled and waved. "Hey, I'm Casey. I heard you wanted some lemonade?"
Catra laughed a little at this and Adora just nodded. "Yeah I did. Just came to tell Catra that if she couldn't find any that's alright."
"Well that works out cuz there isn't any I don't think," Catra replied.
"I mean they have lemons and sugar and stuff," Casey said, looking around the kitchen. "If you really need some lemonade I'm sure we could make it."
"Oh no I'm fine, really," Adora insisted.
Casey nodded and then turned her attention back to Catra. "But as I was saying, I really love your costume."
"Oh thanks," Catra said appreciatively. "Yeah it's basically just what I normally wear so it wasn't that hard to throw together."
"Wow. You're always in biker girl mode?" Casey asked with a smile. She scanned Catra's costume again and Adora swore that the girl's gaze lingered for just a little too long.
Catra shrugged, seemingly oblivious to any unusual behavior. "Yeah it's kinda my thing I guess."
"Cool," Casey said thoughtfully. "And is this real leather?" As she said this, she reached out and felt the sleeve of the jacket Catra wore, squeezing Catra's arm lightly. Adora's eyes widened a little at the physical contact and if she had any doubt that this girl was hitting on Catra before, it was definitely gone now.
Catra seemed a little confused at the touch, but still didn't seem to be reacting in any way. "Yeah it is. Its still got that nice leather smell, too."
"Oh yeah?" Casey asked curiously. "I love the smell of leather. I w…"
Casey was interrupted mid-sentence as Adora said "oh shoot" rather loudly, reacting to a cup of soda that she had knocked over onto the floor. Catra and Casey turned to look at Adora and she shrugged guiltily.
"Oops," Adora said simply.
Catra looked around for some paper towels and grabbed a handful off of the counter, walking over to where Adora had spilled the drink.
"Oh let me clean it, I'm the one who spilled it," Adora insisted, but Catra just shook her head.
"No way," she said with a defiant smirk. "I pride myself on being a gentleman."
Adora smiled and Catra began to clean up the puddle. Casey looked on from where she had been standing. Adora eyed her suspiciously out of the corner of her eye. She had spilled the drink on purpose, of course. She hadn't even thought about it first. She just wanted to stop whatever interaction was happening between Catra and this girl as soon as possible.
Catra finished cleaning up the mess and clapped her hands together, turning to Adora. "Well no lemonade in sight. What do you want instead?"
"You know I'm not actually all that thirsty," Adora lied. "We might just head back outside."
"Oh you guys are outside?" Casey asked and Adora was barely able to stop herself from groaning out loud. "I haven't been out there yet, but I heard they have a big pool."
"Oh yeah it is pretty big," Catra agreed, looking out through the screen doors.
"Do you like swimming?" Casey asked.
"Every once in a while. I did swim team for a little bit way back when and kinda hated it," Catra said, looking from Adora to Casey and then back out at their table.
"Oh my gosh, I did swim team too!" Casey exclaimed. "And I also quit after, like, a year. The practices were way too early and the water was freezing. Plus the coach was awful."
"Oh yeah Coach Trabon," Catra replied. "She would always yell at me when I'd splash my friend Scorpia. Super mean."
"The meanest," Casey agreed with a smile. She looked over at Adora momentarily. "So are you two a couple or…?"
Catra, who had been calm up until now, froze a little and looked over at Adora, who averted her eyes, her face turning red.
"Uh...no. No we're just here as...friends," Catra responded. Catra hated friend-zoning herself, but it was really the only option.
Adora watched as Casey nodded in response and she instantly spotted the look of relief on Casey's face. Adora fought the urge to scowl at the girl as she once again turned her attention back to Catra.
"Cool, cool," Casey said, diverting the subject. "Well you seem pretty cool. You guys wanna come hang out in the other room? We can hang out and maybe dance a little."
Catra frowned and began shaking her head as she instantly looked to Adora. "I don't think so...we're a little tired from the night and all." Adora felt the tightness in her chest loosen a little and she breathed a small sigh of relief as Catra turned the offer down.
"I get it," Casey said. "These things are tiring. Well maybe we can go hang out by the pool or something where it's less...populated."
"Uh…" Catra replied slowly. "I mean...how does that sound to you, Adora?"
"I'd rather die," Adora thought to herself immediately.
"You know," Adora replied slowly, moving up beside Catra and putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I actually am feeling…uh...I have a headache. Real bad. And I left my headache medicine in your car so we should go get that...first," Adora stared at Catra, trying to convey to her without speaking that she wanted to escape the situation.
Catra didn't seem to get the subtle look in Adora's eyes. "Oh I didn't even know you brought that. I'll go grab it for you if you want."
"I'll come with you," Adora said hurriedly and practically pulled Catra along as they moved out of the kitchen.
"It was nice meeting you Casey!" Adora yelled over her shoulder as they left and Catra waved a quick goodbye to the confused looking girl.
Adora slowed her pace once they were out of the kitchen, but she continued pulling Catra towards the door.
Catra was a little confused by the urgency of the situation at first, but soon started to realize that Adora was trying to get out and walked with her to the front door which they quickly exited.
Adora closed the door behind them and let out an audible sigh of relief.
"You okay?" Catra asked instantly. "I figured a little too late you were in a hurry to get out of there. Is...do you actually have a headache or…?"
"No I don't," Adora said with a shake of her head. "And I'm fine now."
Catra groaned lightly. "I'm sorry," she said guiltily. "I should've known you were uncomfortable. I know you aren't a big fan of meeting strangers and with the whole new environment and everything…"
"No it wasn't that at all," Adora explained as she moved over to a nearby porch swing and sat on it. The swing began to sway gently and Adora motioned for Catra to come sit next to her.
Catra settled into the swing next to Adora as it rocked slowly back and forth. It was pretty chilly at this point in the night and Adora wasn't wearing anything over her arms so she shivered a little and scooted closer to Catra.
"Here take my jacket," Catra said as she began to shrug her jacket off.
"No, you keep it," Adora insisted. "I know you're a baby when it comes to the cold. You shiver when it's like 70 degrees out."
Catra huffed and resisted, but ultimately conceded and kept her jacket. "So...what happened in there?" Catra asked this as Adora scooted a little closer to her on the swing. Catra tried to focus on the conversation and not Adora's body.
Adora sighed, her exhalation creating a visible mist in the cold night air. "It was dumb."
"It wasn't dumb," Catra countered and continued to wait for a reply.
"It's... embarrassing," Adora responded with a shake of her head as she looked away.
"Well now I gotta know," Catra said, her curiosity piqued.
"I'd rather not," Adora said hesitantly.
"Oh fine then I'll just assume you peed yourself or something," Catra replied petulantly with a poorly contained grin.
"I did not!" Adora cried out, laughing despite her embarrassment. Catra laughed with Adora and then there was a brief moment of silence before Adora spoke up.
"It was just...I don't know... it's dumb. But that Casey girl was, like, all over you and...I don't know she just creeped me out. So...I wanted to leave."
Catra was completely taken aback by Adora's explanation. "You mean… Really? Was she?"
"Oh yeah!" Adora asserted. "She was all like, 'Oh that leather looks so good on you. I better feel up your bicep to ensure this is real leather. You smell so good. Let's go swim together.' Super creepy."
Catra laughed at Adora's reenactment of Casey's words and thought back to the interaction. "I guess it might have been a little...flirtatious on her end maybe?"
"Oh definitely," Adora agreed. "You must be real bad at reading these cues cuz she was big time into you."
"And that made you wanna leave?" Catra asked, feeling a sudden rush of excitement as she pieced together what had happened.
Adora instantly turned away and looked out at Mermista's front yard. "I mean...yeah. She was...I don't think she was good. Like...she just eyed you weird and I got a bad vibe...I guess," she stuttered awkwardly, wishing she hadn't told Catra why she had left.
Catra stared in shock at Adora. Catra had been pretty sure that Adora was somewhat into her, but she had never gotten such a strong reinforcement of this.
Adora, hearing no response from Catra, looked over and saw the shocked look on her face, which Catra quickly tried to drop.
"What?" Adora asked worriedly. "Okay maybe I overreacted. I shouldn't have dragged you away. I mean I was just feeling re…"
Catra quickly grabbed Adora's arm and pulled it close to her, clutching it tightly to her chest. Adora was so surprised by the sudden reaction that she gasped audibly, abandoning her apology.
Catra held Adora's cold arm against herself. She wasn't sure if this was too much or too little, but she had decided that she needed to be touching Adora in some way.
"I'm not mad," Catra said lightly. "Honestly I think it's...really sweet that you got so flustered over someone flirting with me."
Adora felt her face grow hot. "I mean I wasn't... flustered. I was…" Adora trailed off and Catra clutched her arm tighter.
After a few moments Adora relaxed and let herself fall into Catra a little more. Her head was almost resting on the girl's shoulder at this point as they sat semi-intertwined, rocking slowly in the swing.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, enjoying the feeling and warmth of each other. Neither wanted to disturb the moment and end the contact. They stayed like that for a while before Adora looked up at the stars in the night sky, angling her neck so that she could look upwards, but still rest her head on Catra.
"Do you know any of the constellations?" She asked quietly.
Catra looked up to where Adora was looking. "Not really. I know there's the dippers and like a guy in a belt somewhere and that's about it."
Adora laughed gently, careful not to disturb Catra. "Well I know just about all of them. Not to, like, show that off or anything. I just got real into space when I was little."
"Awww," Catra crooned as she stared up at the sky.
"Yeah I was a big space nerd. Read a ton about space whenever I could. I still think it's crazy how...insignificant we are."
"Woah," Catra said, surprised. "That took a dark turn."
"I don't know," Adora replied. "I think it's kind of freeing. Knowing that nothing matters too much compared to all that's out there."
Catra mused on this for a bit. "I guess I can see that. What's that big star?" Catra extended her arm and pointed to a bright speck in the sky.
"It's called Sirius," Adora responded. "It's the brightest one we can see. When I was little I always wanted to go up there and claim it somehow. So it'd be my star."
"That's cute," Catra said with a smile as she looked at Adora out of the corner of her eye. She was too busy focusing on the sky to notice her staring.
"It's so pretty," Adora said thoughtfully.
Catra continued to stare at Adora. Relishing every detail of her face as she continued to hold her arm tight.
"Yeah it is."
Adora and Catra never went back inside Mermista's house. Adora had insisted that they go back in, but Catra had declined. Adora hadn't put up much of a fight as she enjoyed their current situation much more.
They sat on the swing for at least another hour. Just talking and keeping close to one another for heat and comfort.
Eventually it got too cold to be comfortable and Catra was shivering visibly so the girls went back to Catra's car and warmed up. They drove around the neighborhood slowly and took the long way back to Adora's house as it began to get late and near Catra's curfew.
Catra stopped the car in their usual meetup space a few homes down from where Adora lived. Catra looked over to Adora regretfully, not wanting to have to part for the night.
"Well. First high school party! What did you think?" Catra asked, trying to stall for more time.
"It was...short," Adora responded. "But I enjoyed it. Mostly the last bit."
"Same," Catra agreed. "I uh...yeah I really had fun. I'm really glad you were there."
"I'm glad you were there too. I wouldn't have even gone if you weren't going." Adora looked at Catra and they made eye contact and Adora looked away again.
There was some kind of a tension in the air and both girls could feel it.
"Well…" Catra said hesitantly, "I should probably get back or my dad will chew me out."
"Yeah I should too."
Both girls looked at each other for a bit and Adora started to say something and then thought better of it. "I'll see you tomorrow?" Adora asked.
"Bright and early," Catra replied. "I'll text you goodnight when I get home."
Adora smiled back at Catra as she opened the car door. "That sounds good. Bye."
Catra waved as Adora got out and looked back at her one last time before walking down the street towards her house.
Catra watched her go and waited until she was out of eyesight before she pumped her fist excitedly. She smiled to herself and thought back to their time on the swing together. Then she cranked the music up on her radio and drove home, already excited to see Adora again.
Cute. One of my favorite chapters to write I think. It was a struggle though! I've had a real bad fever and writing is really hard when you're hurting all over and your brain wants to die. But when you're bedridden there isn't much else to do anyway. Anyway the story is still as fun as ever to write and I like where it's going! Thanks to everyone who reads and everything and I hope you all have a good day!
