Adora strode to her locker. She deposited two books and withdrew one, thinking about her commitment after school. It was the Friday before homecoming and her and the rest of student council were scrambling to get as much done before the dance the next day. She was to decorate the gym with the other two freshmen members of the student council, Glimmer and Bow, the theme: lunar.
She closed her locker when standing next to her with an award grin on her face was Catra. Catra was silent, and slowly, stiffly, shifted her position so now one of her hands was in contact next to Adora while Catra looked directly at her. Everything about Catra was erect, her hair, her spine so straight you could roll a quarter on it, her tail sticking straight out. Catra blushed. Adora wasn't quite sure about cat nonverbal communication, but she looked terrified. Adora couldn't stand the silence any longer.
"Hey, Catra. Are you... bullying me?" Catra looked like she was about to explode, when suddenly, shove. Catra shoved Adora's book out of her arms. "Hey, Adora, looks like ya dropped somethin'!" Adora heard giggling and noticed Catra's cohorts, a burly scorpion-woman appropriately named Scorpia. A center on the football team and standout even as a freshman. There was also a lithe, twin-tailed woman named Entrapta. Already a fine addition to the robotics team even in her first year. Rumors had been spiraling around her for years that she was not neurotypical, but she never bothered to comment on them. Both smart enough to earn good grades if they tried, but only kept their grades high enough to do extracirricular activities and no higher.
"Leave her alone!" the voice belonged to Glimmer, walking to the hodge-podge group with her possibly-boyfriend, Bow. Glimmer's mom was the principle, so needless to say, people did not mess with her. Catra now looked cool and confident, and strode away with her companions.
"So what's the deal with you and Catra?" Bow asked, putting up one side of the banner. Adora put up the other side while Glimmer watched, squinting her eyes. Even though she could only be a member of the student council as a freshman, Glimmer was ambitious and wanted the dance to turn out perfect. "Well, it's a long story. We used to hang out all the time when we were kids. We'd sleep over at each other's house, alternating every week. But then, I had to move here. It wasn't my choice, but when I told her, she cried, and acted like it was a personal betrayal."
"Perfect!" Glimmer yelled, before realizing Adora was having an emotional moment. "Ooh, sorry!" Bow and Adora climbed down their ladders. "This year, she moved into this district. I thought she'd tell me. Or at least be happy when she she me in school. But instead she hangs out with those... delinquents." "I don't know if they'd like you calling them that," Bow added. "Yeah, probably not." Adora chuckled a little bit. "And she goes up to me, stares me down like she wants something, but then just does something stupid like she did today. Like, what does she have to say? Does she want to be friends with me? I miss the old Catra. The way she'd say 'Hey Adora.'" Tears began to run down Adora's face.
"Hey, it's okay," Glimmer began. "Bow and I are here for you!" Bow and Glimmer gave Adora a good, long hug. That cheered her up. Adora spoke. "I heard Catra's going to the dance. I wonder who she's going with. I wonder who those delinquents are going with too!" "Well, I'm pretty sure I've seen them hang around school anytime I've had to stick around after class. Maybe if you roamed the hallways for awhile you can figure it out." "Sure, I'll do that!," Adora ran off. "Wait, I was just joking... we still have a lot of decorating to do... ADORA!"
Adora purposefully meandered to the robotics lab. She knew she was getting closed when he sensed the sounds and smells of soldering. "I'm asking you, to understand that the lever-arm has more control!" that was the sound of the cyborg sophomore, Hordak. "And I'm telling you, with a catapult we can launch the ball farther and get more points from the judges!" Adora hung near a corner, and listened to them yammer on in their techno-babble, occasionally miming their arguments with her hand while rolling her eyes. Adora was just about to leave when suddenly...
"So, Hordak, ya going to the dance tomorrow? Have a hot date?" "No, I am not going to the dance tomorrow. There are few female in this school that find my cybernetics appealing. I am not bitter, I have made peace with this fact. This" he gestured around "is what I do." "Well," Entrapta began, her head covered and voice somewhat muffled by her safety mask, "I can think of one person who'd like to take you to the dance!""Really?" Hordak was intrigued. "Is it Mermista? Or Perfuma?" "N-no, no, it's me!" Adora gasped, but quickly covered her own mouth. Both Hordak and Entrapta briefly glanced in Adora's direction but Adora was hidden behind the corner at that point. They began speaking to each other and Adora peered around again.
"You would like to go to the dance with me? My grades are positively lacking, despite my greater experience I haven't contributed half of what you have to this robotics project, and besides, I have these cybernetics that glitch out all the time. I'm not even sure I could dance. I'm hardly what you would call perfect." "Well, without imperfection, scientific and technical progress would be impossible. Entrapta, in a fluid motion took off her mask, and whipped her hair, lit by the sparks that she had previously set off with her torch. One fact that often got buried under Entrapta's behavior was that the woman was gorgeous. Adora and Hordak blushed. "Imperfection is beautiful."
Adora scurried away, realizing she had accidentally intruded on a private moment. As she did so she couldn't help but over hear the two of them discussing plans. She was starting to get tired and didn't feel like going back to the gym to decorate. Suddenly she heard some music coming out of an art classroom. Adora was curious. She had seen one interesting sight this evening, maybe she could witness another one. She peaked open the door and what she saw was even better than Entrapta and Hordak.
Catra was on top of a safety mat, wearing her usual attire, dancing to the upbeat, dance music, performing moves that were obviously meant to be cheerleading in nature. Her moves indicated she had put some thought into them, including choreographing where her tail would be. Adora giggled, but also couldn't help but take in the sight of Catra dancing, which was certainly not unpleasant. Adora decided she would give this person the courtesy of letting her know she had been eavesdropped. Adora walked into the room and asked, innocently, "what is this?"
Spontaneously all of Catra's hair stood up and she hissed. Years of friendship and Adora still couldn't handle Catra's cat...ness and giggled some more. Catra went from startled to furious, her face turning red. "Well... this town doesn't have a gymnastics program so... I'm planning on trying out for the cheerleading squad next year! You think I enjoy doing this?" "Settle down, Catra! I think what you're doing is here is neat!" This calmed Catra down a bit, the red draining from her face and her hair falling to its normal place. "I do have a question though." Catra began to rub her own neck nervously. "Sure, go ahead." "What was today?"
"What do you mean?" "The locker, Catra." "Oh... well, I was wanting to ask you ou-r status on whether or not you're going to the dance?" Catra put on a weak smile. Adora could tell she was hiding something but couldn't quite tell what. "Well, I'm going to the dance. I'm student council so I practically have to be there." "Cool cool." "Are you going?" "Me? I don't have anything to wear. Besides Scorpia and probably Entrapta have dates to the dance so... I don't think anyone really wants me to go." "I do." Catra's eyes lit up. Adora wasn't sure if Catra was purring or not. "Oh, sure, I guess I'll go then." Catra looked away into the distance. "Well, I look forward to seeing you there!" Adora left the room, observing that Catra had a melancholic, contemplative look on her face.
A student council-member's work was never done. Adora assisted Glimmer, Bow, and the other members of the student council working the concession stand before the homecoming football game. Adora was bringing supplies to the stand when she walked behind the bleachers, where she spotted Scorpia and that thin hippy student who was in the gardening club, Perfuma, both sitting in a full lotus position. Adora tried not to look or listen, but just could't help herself.
"I'm so nervous. The whole team's counting on me to take on their linebacker who's the best in the conference." "Just concentrate, keep meditating." Perfuma kept on trying to guide Scorpia. "Okay. Okay." Silently, sneakily, Perfuma slinked over Scorpia, not touching the beastly woman, until their lips met. Scorpia opened her eyes in shock until she realized what was happening, closed them again, and put her pinscher's around Perfuma, drinking her in. After a few moments, their lips departed. "Will that help?" Perfuma asked. "Oh, I think it will."
Scorpia went on to play a key role in winning the game. Adora cheered with everyone else but was then onto the next thing: getting ready for the dance. Adora worked on her hair, her makeup, and donned a scarlet dress that left her shoulders tastefully exposed. She was at the homecoming dance, surveying the scene when she noticed Catra. Still with that same short hair, but now wearing a red suit, headdress that encircled her face, unbuttoned bowtie, and driving gloves. Catra looked downright handsome.
Adora smiled. Catra saw Adora and smiled right back. Catra started towards Adora. The music was loud. "Adora I-" "What was that, I couldn't hear?" Adora I-" That was when Adora was flanked by both Glimmer and Bow freaking out. She couldn't tell who was saying what. "We think someone spiked the punch" "the speaker system isn't working" "we need someone to announce the homecoming king and queen" someone shoved a microphone in Adora's hand "I LOVE YOU."
Catra's voice carried over the mic. The speaker system was working. The room fell silent. All eyes were on Adora and Catra. Catra covered her face as if she couldn't believe what she just said. Adora smiled her warm smile. "I love you too." The two gave a deep, passionate kiss and the entire room erupted in applause.
The new couple danced a slow waltz, felt each other's embrace, and listened to the lyrics. Baby in our wildest moments, we could be the greatest, we could be the greatest maybe in our wildest moments, we could be the worst of all. "Hey, Adora?" "Yes, Catra." "Promise you'll stay?" Adora smiled. "I promise."