And then, in the blink of an eye, the end of year drill team competition was upon Adora. It was upon them all; time would do nothing but go on at its steady pace until the team found themselves being shuttled to the venue in separate cars.
This was because the GWMA bus had broken down since the last competition, so each cadet had to make their own way. Some students were old enough to drive and had their own cars on campus. Others, like Adora, had their parents nearby and could drive them.
Entrapta and Scorpia rode with Adora, Octavia and Hordak. The drive was a fun mix of belting Disney songs (Entrapta only knew a few) and chatting excitedly about summer and senior year. Adora was super glad that it wasn't weird for Scorpia and Entrapta to be riding in the same car with the Commandant. On the contrary, Entrapta was very attentive to Hordak, complimenting his driving and asking him questions about his job. Adora pushed away the awkwardness; she was just glad Entrapta seemed to be coming into herself socially. Even if she may have been mildly flirting with her stepfather?
And who did she meet first in the crowd of people waiting to get into the competition?
"ADORA!" yelled Bow, coming up from behind her and lifting her up into the air, arms wrapped around her waist. The air squeezed out of her, she struggled to say, "Bow, Glimmer!" for Glimmer was grinning up at her from the ground.
"I didn't know you guys were coming!" said Adora when Bow had put her down.
"Octavia invited us," said Bow, winking at Adora's mom.
"Glad you could make it," said Octavia. "And hello to you too, Angella."
Glimmer's mom, tall and willowy, towered behind her daughter. Angella opened her mouth to speak but was promptly cut off by an excited Glimmer, so she just waved at Adora ruefully, rolling her eyes and sighing.
"We wouldn't miss our bestie's military school drill team debut," said Glimmer, holding up a sign she and Bow had painted. It said "We Adore-a Cadet Collins!" with a giant picture of Adora's face pasted underneath.
"I love it," said Adora, stepping forward to hug Glimmer around the sign. Over Glimmer's shoulder, Adora caught a glimpse of Catra at the other side of the crowd. It was unmistakable; Catra was staring at Adora and company with an odd expression that Adora couldn't place. When Catra saw Adora looking, she turned and disappeared into the crowd.
When Glimmer and Adora had untangled themselves, Adora introduced Scorpia and Entrapta to the Best Friend Squad.
"I have seen your faces before," said Entrapta cryptically.
"I think she means she's seen the mini-figurines," whispered Adora to a perplexed Bow and Glimmer.
"Ohhhh…." they said together.
"I am just so chuffed to meet both of you," said Scorpia, fingers forming a pyramid under her chin. "Adora thinks so highly of you!"
"Aw, Adora," said Glimmer, smirking. "You miss us or something?"
"Always," said Adora, pulling Glimmer back into a one-armed side hug. Despite her best efforts to stop herself, Adora couldn't help but keep her eyes darting around the crowd in hopes of catching another glimpse of Catra spying on them. No such luck.
"Where's Micah?" asked Octavia. Hordak had already gone with Huntara to get the GWMA team checked in.
"He said he was going on a hike this morning and then he'd come," said Adora, remembering the text she'd gotten from him last week. "Maybe he lost track of time."
Adora pretended like it was no big deal, but she would be pretty disappointed if Micah was late. He could always be relied upon to be there when she needed him most, and Adora had made it clear how important this competition was.
Adora 11:46am
hey, just checking in. we should be on deck for the first phase in about thirty minutes, don't want you to miss a thing!
It was time for the teams to enter their respective changing rooms (just normal classrooms with all the desks piled against one wall), pull on their uniforms, and get ready for the Inspection Phase. Adora tried to shake her nagging anxiety about her dad by re-doing her buttons several times, seeking perfection. The cadets' chatter became background noise to her when Catra entered the classroom, already dressed. She passed right by Adora without so much as a glance or snide comment. Adora didn't know why that bothered her; hadn't she wished for Catra to ignore her all year long?
Adora checked her phone obsessively for the next twenty minutes but Micah did not text her back. She was not usually prone to worry but this was very strange for Micah. Unless he was performing, he was always very quick to reply to her texts. He never left her hanging, never. Maybe he had snuck into the back of the stands to surprise her?
It was with this comforting thought that she filed into the gym with the rest of the drill team for the Inspection Phase.
As they lined up two meters apart and the judges began their questioning at each end, Adora scanned the bleachers. She saw Octavia and Hordak in the front row with Angella, Bow and Glimmer. That was unsurprising. When she made eye contact, Bow gave her a thumbs up and Glimmer pumped the sign they had made up into the air, almost hitting an already surly Angella in the face.
The back row held no Micah either; instead, Adora found an imposing Shadow Weaver at the far right against the wall, the bottom half of her face concealed by a surgical mask. Was she sick or something? Shadow Weaver didn't strike Adora as someone who would be conscientious of not infecting others with a contagious disease. Or maybe it was to cover up that conspicuous scar that ran down the left side of her face.
Huntara's super practice had done its job; the phase went off without a hitch. Not a single GWMA team member dropped an answer. Simply put; they crushed it. Adora was even lucky enough to be asked the easiest question about the Commander-in-Chief of the United States. The team exited the gym, pleased with themselves.
"Good work, team!" said Huntara, trying to mask her excitement behind her signature stoic demeanor. "But we can't get complacent. The Exhibition Phase is the most heavily weighted, we have to be on top of our game if we want to have a chance of winning against Rahway High School."
After the pep talk, Adora checked her phone once again. Still nothing from Micah. A spike of panic overtook Adora as a wild amount of catastrophic events that could have happened to her dad paraded through her brain, including but not limited to: eaten by a bear; crashed car; choked on hotel breakfast.
Across the classroom, Catra sat in a corner, brooding. Scorpia approached her, hand up for a high-five. Adora watched in surprise as the cadet captain accepted the request with a small smile. "Yeah!" shouted Scorpia, pumping her fists in the air and bouncing away. Catra raised those bi-colored eyes and looked across the room, catching Adora's gaze immediately. Another small smile tugged at the corners of her lips before Catra let her eyes fall and Adora had no choice but to look away as well, heart beating rapidly in her chest.
Well, that was… different…?
Finally, without so much of a peep from Micah, it was time for the GWMA drill team to get on deck for the Exhibition Phase. Huntara's nervous energy was transferring to the team; there was a lot of rustling and sighing. Even Entrapta, who would be watching from the sidelines as the equipment manager, seemed on edge. She had a rag in one hand, obsessively polishing a belt buckle that already shone like gold.
Adora herself was finding it hard to concentrate. She gripped her rifle for dear life, her mind working at a thousand miles an hour. Where was Micah? Had something happened to him? The unknown was the worst part. How was she supposed to get through the Exhibition, distracted as she was?
When called into the gym, the team marched in single file as Huntara called the commands from the front. When Huntara gave the word, they assembled into their starting positions.
The first half of their move set went off without a hitch. As they marched into their new positions for the beginning of the second half, something caught Adora's eye. The door to the gym had opened and someone with long black hair and beard had entered. Adora's heart skipped a beat. Was it Micah?
Adora had to take a quick second look to ascertain that it was not Micah after all, just a lookalike. It was enough of a distraction for Adora to completely screw up the entire Exhibition.
The team stood in two lines facing one another, poised to swap rifles by throwing them across the aisle they had formed between each row. Adora hesitated a second too long; she was unprepared to catch the rifle flying at her and did not throw out her own rifle for her partner to catch. Instinctually, Adora ducked under the rifle she could not catch and it clattered to the floor in a sickening crash that echoed all around the gym. Adora closed her eyes, wanting to become invisible and slink away.
There was silence after the echoes of the crash faded away, then a set of footsteps approached her. Adora cracked her eyes open just enough to stare down at the glossy black boots in front of her.
"Pick up that rifle, cadet," barked Huntara and Adora jumped.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," said Adora, scrambling to pick up the dropped rifle and return it to the cadet across from her.
"Again!" said Huntara. Adora didn't need to look at their drill captain to know that she had blown it for the whole team. Huntara had the cadets begin from the rifle throwing. Adora made sure not to let her concentration lapse again and the rest of the Exhibition went without issue. Unfortunately, it was too late. The damage was done.
The moment they had gotten back to their changing classroom, Huntara rounded on Adora.
"What the fuck, Collins?" she shouted, face red and blotchy.
"I-I-" stammered Adora, not knowing how to even explain what had happened.
"What happened, Adora?" Entrapta was there, anxiously hovering at Adora's elbow.
Scorpia also barged through the crowd. "Are you okay, Adora?"
"Give her space," barked Huntara, trying to calm herself. The team backed up, but they didn't stop glaring at Adora. Huntara's jaw was working and her nostrils were flaring. She took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then released it in a huff. "I just don't even know what to say."
"That's never happened before," said Scorpia. "Maybe it was a fluke thing…"
"You know, Collins, Captain Stone was adamant not to let you on the team," said Huntara, closing her eyes and rubbing them with a thumb and index finger.
"Hey, don't bring me into this," said Catra from her place against the wall. Her tone was milder than usual, more tired.
"Maybe I should have listened to her," continued Huntara, opening her eyes and glaring at Adora.
"She just slipped up, Huntara, it happens," Catra piped up again, and all Adora could do was stare at her in wonder. Was Catra… defending her?
"Quiet, Stone," snapped Huntara. "When it's your senior year and you're the captain of the drill team and the commandant is in the audience, then you can tell me it was a slip-up that we can forgive. This makes me look terrible, Collins. My senior year!"
"Please, Huntara," said Adora, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She would not cry! "I think something terrible has happened to my dad."
There was a pause while everyone in the locker room exchanged incredulous looks. Now that she'd said it out loud, Adora knew how dumb it sounded. But she pressed on.
"He was supposed to be here and he's not," Adora continued. She heard a few scoffs from the team. "You don't understand! He never misses stuff like this and he said he'd come."
"As if that hasn't happened to all of these cadets at some point," said Huntara unsympathetically.
"But he told me he was going on a hike earlier this morning. He's not really a hiker. I'm afraid he got hurt and stuck on the trail somewhere. I'm sure he didn't have cell service out there. I don't think I can concentrate on the rest of the competition if I don't go looking for him."
"What trail?" asked Entrapta, already with her GPS out.
"I think he said it was called 'Devil's Backbone,'" said Adora, looking over Entrapta's shoulder.
"It looks to be only a fifteen minute drive from here."
"That's probably why he picked it," said Adora, heading over to her locker and packing her stuff.
"Where do you think you're going?" said Huntara.
"I'm going to find my dad."
"You're kidding," said Huntara incredulously. "You're just going to leave us? How are you getting there?"
"I don't have my license, so I will have to order an Uber."
"Can't your parents drive you?"
"They wouldn't take me seriously," said Adora. In all honesty, she didn't want to bother them. Hordak would probably think she was overreacting.
"Do you have money for an Uber?" asked Scorpia.
"I'll figure it out," said Adora, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She felt frantic, rabid.
"Hey, slow down. I'll drive you." The voice was low, close, and… kind. Catra was right there, tugging on Adora's sleeve and talking almost into her ear. It was soft but hit Adora's heart like a dagger hitting a bullseye.
"No way!" said Huntara immediately. "I can't lose both you and Collins."
"No," agreed Adora, shaking her head. She took a few steps back to put some distance between herself and the cadet captain. What was Catra playing at?
"What?" said Catra, some of her old swagger coming through. "Hate me so much you can't even bear to be in the same car as me?"
"Not that…" said Adora, blushing despite herself. "I know it's really important that you stay here and do well at the competition. You can do your solo instead of our duel. Shadow Weaver will be proud."
"Fuck Shadow Weaver," said Catra. "I don't care what she thinks."
"But she'll transfer you to another school!" piped up Scorpia, a tinge of fright in her voice.
"Doesn't matter," said Catra. She looked right at Adora. "I'm ready to stop being an asshole all the time."
She held out a hand to Adora, who looked down at those long, cat-like nails in amazement. Was this really happening? Right now, on top of everything?
Adora pushed away Catra's hand, not yet ready to forgive her, but said, "Let's go find my dad."
"That's the spirit," said Catra, leading the way out of the classroom, past their teammates' astonished stares, through the hallway, and out into the parking lot. Catra whistled and jingled her car keys ostentatiously the whole way. Adora couldn't help but think that it was Adora's panic that was putting the cadet captain in such a good mood.
They finally halted beside a fancy black SUV. Adora went straight to the passenger side and once she heard the door unlock, opened it and got in.
As they both buckled themselves into the plush leather seats, Catra threw over a "for the record, this is not because I like you," before pulling out of the parking lot and taking off at top speed down the road.