"A new girl arrived today. She has long dark hair, light brown skin and two different colored eyes. One was blue while the other was yellow. It made her look so cool and attractive! It was actually Swifty who first noticed her. He doesn't usually get excited by other people but there was something about her… Can you guess what her name is? Catra…"


Catra scowled at the school uniform being offered to her by the school secretary. It was so tacky - the institution's coat-of-arms was woven onto the shirts and ties, as well the jackets and skirts… Catra had had to wear school uniforms before and it was usually just the jacket that was tarnished. The secretary raised her eyebrow at Catra:

"What's wrong?" Catra looked up at the woman defiantly:

"A lot of things. I thought this was some crazy prestigious boarding school that no one could get into, but it seems your marketing is just so bad that you require your students to do most of your advertising!" The secretary frowned:

"St. Mara's is one of this nation's most distinguished schools and you are lucky to be here! Now put this on! One of the girls will be down to show you where to go." Catra's face went red:

"Well, I hate this nation and I don't want to be here! And I am not putting that on!" The secretary looked like she was about to yell at the girl but she thought better of it. Instead, she picked up the phone and called the headmistress:

"Hello, ma'am? The new American student just arrived and she's refusing to put on the uniform… It's Catra Weaver… Yes… Alright, see you in a minute!" The secretary hung up the phone and sneered at the teenager standing on the other side of the counter:

"Mrs Brightmoon is coming downstairs. You can complain about your clothes to her." Catra gave a mocking smile:

"Great! Maybe you could also call my mom on that thing and tell her I still hate her and no amount of English boarding school is going to make me apologize for what I did!" Just as the secretary was about to finally lose her patience, the office door opened.

Catra turned around, expecting to see the principal. Instead, she saw a beautiful blonde-haired girl not much taller than her. The girl looked like she had been running, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand while leaning somewhat dramatically against the doorpost.

The girl did not look at Catra, looking instead at her watch. Catra could not help but observe her bulging muscles, perfectly accentuated by a school shirt that was way too small for her. Her tie was loose and dangling provocatively down either side of her neck, while her jacket sleeves were tied around her waist. Just as Catra's gaze started to linger on the girl's legs, she noticed she was wearing pants instead of a skirt. And they did not have the awful coat-of-arms…

"Ha! That's a new record! Swifty, I made it from the canteen to the office in 2 minutes!" As soon as Swifty's name was called, an adorable golden retriever trotted past the muscular girl and entered the office. Catra realized the blonde beauty had been holding the door open for it – only she had done it in the dorkiest way possible.

Catra gave a small chuckle. The dog, who the girl was now petting, looked up at Catra and barked. That was when the girl finally looked up at her. Catra could not help but blush when those gorgeous blue eyes met hers. The girl looked at mesmerized as she was. Just when it looked like the blonde jock was going to say something, the secretary spoke:

"Okay, whatever's happening right now has to stop. The headmistress will be here any second… can I help you with something, Adora?" Catra blushed even more. The girl's name was Adora? Why not just write 'enormous dork' on her forehead? Adora stood up, cleared her throat and said:

"Sorry, Juliet! I'm just here to take the new girl to her room. I know Glimmer was supposed to do it but… um…" It was finally too much for Catra – she burst out laughing. Both Adora and Juliet raised their eyebrows at her. After a moment, Catra managed to explain between laughs:

"You…Your friend's name…is…Glimmer?" Adora responded by crossing her arms while Juliet rolled her eyes. Catra, sensing that that was the wrong thing to say, made an effort to stop laughing. She was about to try and make up for it when the door opened yet again. This time, a tall Indian woman walked in. She was beautifully groomed, immaculately dressed and had a very serious expression on her face. Both Catra and Adora inadvertently stood to attention.

Mrs Brightmoon raised her eyebrow at the two students before turning to Juliet:

"Right, what seems to be the problem here?" Juliet, who was now sitting in her chair, simply pointed at Catra, who proceeded to gasped angrily:

"What? Am I really the first person to complain about your uniform?! Look, if it means so much to you guys, I'll wear the wretched thing! Just don't expect it to be returned in one piece!" The headmistress raised her eyebrow before surprising everyone with a small chuckle:

"You're just like Glimmer…" Once she composed herself, the principal walked behind the counter and leaned over Juliet's shoulder:

"Can you pull up Miss Weaver's file on the computer please, Juliet?" The secretary looked utterly confused by this request but did as she was asked. Once Catra's file came on-screen, Angella gently nudged Juliet out of her seat, took her place, and spent a significant amount of time reading it. As she did so, Catra felt something lick her hand.

Catra looked down to see Adora's dog, looking up at her with similarly adoring eyes. Catra also finally noticed that it wore a red harness discreetly labelling it as a service dog. This made Catra involuntarily look back at Adora, subconsciously scanning her for abnormalities.

When she realized what she was doing, Catra stopped herself. It was too late though – Adora had noticed.

Catra looked away in embarrassment when Mrs Brightmoon suddenly spoke up:

"I see you have just arrived from America, Miss Weaver. Welcome to England!" The principal then stood back up and walked out from behind the counter:

"I understand that moving away from home is hard – especially when travelling alone - but this place is not nearly as bad as you think. For example, I'm actually trying to get the uniforms redesigned as we speak! Any opinions you have on the matter would be welcomed." Catra gasped in disbelief. Adora stopped herself from laughing. The principal continued:

"That being said, this is still an educational institution that has been around longer than the United States of America and you will treat it with the respect it deserves!" Catra gulped. Adora chortled. The headmistress sighed:

"Adora, what is so funny?" Adora regained her composure long enough to reply:

"I'm sorry…it's Catra's face! It's so… cute!" Catra turned to stare at Adora incredulously, yelling:

"I'm not cute!" This just made Adora laugh once more, which made Swifty bark happily while wagging his tail. Mrs Brightmoon pinched her nose:

"Enough!" As Adora calmed down, the principal put her hand on Catra's shoulder. Giving her a tired smile, she said:

"Look, I'm not your mom. I appreciate that you're angry but this is neither the time nor place to take that anger out. Adora can take you to the gym later… I know she loves using the punching bags." Fighting to get the mental image of Adora boxing out of her head, Catra took a deep breath and said:

"Thank you. I'm sorry. Um… could I have pants like Adora's? I didn't realize it was an option and I would much prefer it to the skirt." Juliet looked ready to protest but Mrs Brightmoon stopped her.

"Of course. Like I said, I'm trying to change things around here. Another girl in trousers would be good for this school." With that, the principal left the office.

Juliet glared at Catra with an expression of pure frustration. Adora (still blushing uncontrollably) knelt on the floor to give Swifty some belly rubs. Catra closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Two years. She was going to be here for two whole years. How would she survive?


"Catra's totally into me! I'm certain of it! Should I do something about it? I don't know…what if I read her wrong? Maybe she was just trying to see if there was something wrong with me…I mean, she did ask why I needed a service dog…No, I can't think like that! Based on today's interaction, Catra is a great person who is ridiculously hot and who I'd very much like to kissask out get to know better!"


As Adora led the way to the dormitories, she rambled endlessly about how Mrs Brightmoon was really quite nice and how things would get better once Catra settled in. Catra, on the other hand, wanted to scowl but found it impossible when Adora's sweet voice was all she could hear. She was also still really embarrassed of her reaction to identifying Swifty as a service dog.

Once the two girls left the building, and Adora turned strangely quiet, Catra decided she should just ask. It was going to eat her up if she did not.

"Why do you need a service dog?" Adora froze. She then turned to stare at Catra with a raised eyebrow. Catra hugged herself sheepishly, muttering:

"I'm sorry. You obviously don't have to tell me if you don't want to… I'm just curious…" Adora gave a small smile:

"It's okay. I prefer it if people just ask instead of pretending they didn't see anything." Adora then turned back around and continued walking, deliberately not answering the question. Catra decided not to push the matter. Instead, she changed the subject entirely and, raising her eyebrow, asked:

"So, you do boxing in the gym? Is that something you do alone or are others allowed to join?" Adora blushed furiously and failed to hide it from Catra. Catra gave a wry smile and moved closer to the blonde girl, now walking alongside her instead of behind her. Adora turned to face the dark-haired girl with heterochromatic eyes, murmuring:

"Other people can join too…" Catra hummed happily in such a way that it could have been mistaken for a purr. Adora blushed again but quickly regained her composure:

"Anyway…um…the gym is over there behind those trees. The canteen is to the right…over there…and the dorms are on the other side of the school itself." Catra's happy hum turned to a frustrated groan:

"Oh right… this place is a school..." As the two girls walked a little further down the path, the old Tudor building came into view. Catra was surprised to see it had been recently repainted pink. It was a very soft pink – almost peach – but it was still pink and not red or orange like most old English buildings. On top of that, the roof had several large spires instead of the usual flat tiles and/ or turrets. It looked like Andy Warhol had thrown up on the Tower of London and Catra did not know what to make of it. Adora laughed at her puzzled reaction:

"Believe it or not, this place used to be called St. Mary's. It was founded during the reign of Mary Tudor, who wanted it to be a Catholic School specifically designed for converting Protestants back to the one true faith. Sadly for her, the Protestant prisoners who were kept here were not so keen on being converted. They fought back, took over the school and burnt it to the ground.

"A couple of centuries passed and still no one wanted to touch this place. The government put the land up for auction countless times but people were convinced the site was haunted and/ or it was just too broken to repair. Then, nearly four hundred years ago, Mara and her unnamed partner bought it. They restored the school and renamed it. It was an art school for women, eventually allowing men to enrol too. It was quite successful until the Victorian era and the 20th century, surviving only due to an enormous sum of money donated by a Mrs Razz. To this day, we have no idea who she was.

"In the sixties, St. Mara's became successful again as one of the biggest centers for modern art in the UK. The institution became so popular it started to expand and allow secondary school students to join. When that paid off, it was only a matter of time before this place became a proper boarding school with uniforms and everything. Now it's no longer an art school. The crazy decor is the only reminder it ever was." Catra took a deep breath, trying to process Adora's impromptu lecture. Honestly, the blonde girl was so attractive that only about half of the information had entered her head.

Realizing Adora had stopped her lecture and was waiting for her to respond, Catra coughed awkwardly:

"Wow, you're quite the historian! Um…that's so cool! Awesome!" Catra was really bad at dealing with situations like this. History bored her to death and she was really struggling to act like she cared about anything Adora had just said. Adora, on the other hand, just laughed and smiled:

"Oh yes, I'm a great histor-e-an!" Adora winked at Catra, having deliberately mispronounced the word. She then added:

"If it was that boring you should've just stopped me." Catra, trying hard to laugh, simply blushed and said:

"I could see it's important to you… the history, I mean… Why do you love it so much?" Adora turned to Catra in surprise:

"You really wanna know?" Catra nodded. Adora then gave her a mischievous grin and grabbed the dark-haired girl's hand, pulling her off the track and over the wall (which Catra had falsely assumed to mark the boundary of the school's property). Once the girls were over the wall, Catra gasped. A beautiful flower bed had been planted completely out of view from the path. Adora smiled, whispering:

"Come on!" As Adora led Catra around the flower bed, the dark-haired girl became aware that they were on another path now, just not one that you would find on a map. It was old, naturally formed, and led deeper and deeper into a forest of pine trees that Catra could have sworn was not part of the school. She was wrong again, however.

Once they reached the end of the path, Catra was amazed to find an extremely old and dilapidated little cottage in the center of a clearing. The sun shone directly on it, making the whole place seem like the setting of a fairytale. Adora silently beckoned Catra to follow her as she walked up to the house and effortlessly pushed open the large front door – a feat Catra would have struggled with and only made her even more attracted to the blonde girl.

When Catra stepped through the front door, she gasped in wonder. She found herself staring at a room covered in the marvels of the universe…comets, galaxies, planets, stars and suns…it was truly beautiful. Adora grinned from ear to ear, exclaiming:

"Welcome to Mara's old house! I found it years ago and now I come here whenever it gets too much. Mara herself wasn't really into astronomy, but I bet her partner was! Every single one of these stars was painted for a special reason! And, I know it sounds dumb but, it makes me feel I'm here for a reason too." Catra did not know whether she was simply turned on or madly in love. Adora had moves…

Before Catra could formulate a response, Swifty, who had been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, suddenly began to growl. Catra and Adora turned to see him glaring at a shelf in one of the darkest corners of the room. Catra retreated behind Adora, asking:

"Is there something up there?" Adora nodded with a cheeky grin:

"Oh yes! It's the terrifying, awe-inspiring ruler of the universe: MELOG!" At the sound of its name, the dark-grey tabby leapt down from the shelf onto the remains of a table, hissing at Swifty. The dog seemed to calm down, pulling back from its aggressive stance. Accepting the dog's action to be an act of surrender, the fluffy cat gracefully landed on the floor and made its way over to Adora and Catra. Adora bent down to stroke it but the cat completely ignored her. Instead, it walked straight to Catra and nuzzled her legs. Adora laughed:

"Well, it clearly likes you better than me!" Catra raised her eyebrow at the blonde girl:

"Melog?" Adora laughed:

"I was three, okay? I don't remember how I came up with the name…" Catra gasped:

"Wait a minute, three? You've been here since you were three?!" Adora nodded awkwardly:

"Yeah…it's been fun…"


"After I took Catra to Mara's house, she got really quiet. We barely said a word to each other on the way to the dorms. She's now in her room, getting settled in. I offered to stay and help but she said it wasn't necessary. Did I mess up? Should I have insisted on staying? No, I could tell she wanted me to leave… I know! I'll ask Bow and Glimmer what I should do at dinner this evening!"


"You did what?" Glimmer burst out laughing. Bow managed to stop himself from doing the same. He asked:

"Adora, why would you take someone you literally just met to Mara's house? That's your special place! It was nearly a year before you took Glimmer and I to see it!" Glimmer stopped laughing and regained her composure with some difficulty. Adora frowned:

"It was different with you guys. You were my first friends ever!" Glimmer chuckled mockingly:

"Oh Adora, you mean to tell me you didn't take me there because you were attracted to me? I'm hurt!" Bow glared at his girlfriend:

"Not helping." He then turned back to his best friend, smiled reassuringly, and said:

"I'm sure it's okay, Adora. This Catra person sounds lovely - she probably just got a bit overwhelmed with everything. She's just arrived in a new country and a new school. Also Angella yelled at her, so… how about you just give her a little time and-" Glimmer raised her eyebrow at her boyfriend:

"Just give her time? You make it sound like they had a fight! And my mom didn't yell at her – Adora said she just gave her the "this school is so prestigious" rant. That's nothing."

"Only because you've heard it countless times! I was scared the first time I heard it!" Adora chuckled:

"You were! That was when I met you for the first time!" Bow gave a small smile:

"Yeah, she made me regret asking for a crop top… at least she let me alter my gym outfit!" As Bow continued to reminisce, the whole canteen suddenly went silent. The trio turned around to see Catra walk in. She was wearing her uniform, which featured trousers instead of the usual skirt. She also had her tie hanging around her neck just like Adora did, while also slinging her blazer over her shoulder provocatively. The dark-haired had already made alterations to her clothes, dying everything either dark red or black. She looked incredible and Adora blushed uncontrollably while Glimmer whispered:

"Cool kid alert! Cool kid alert! Adora, get her to sit with us! Please?" Adora, however, sat frozen in her seat, completely unable to move. Bow finally broke the tension by waving Catra over. The dark-haired girl saw him and made eye contact with Adora. After spending a few seconds debating in her head, Catra finally walked towards them.

When Catra made it to the table, she silently slid into the empty chair and muttered her thanks to Bow, who gave her a welcoming smile, saying:

"You must be Catra? I'm Bow! Adora's been telling us all about you!" Glimmer then interrupted him, saying:

"You are absolutely slaying that outfit! I still can't believe you got my mom to agree to it! She's usually quite a stickler for tradition!" Catra nodded awkwardly before saying:

"Oh, she didn't agree to all of it, but I wasn't going to let that stop me." Catra then turned to Adora, who seemed to be trying and failing to speak. The dark-haired girl gave a mischievous smile, saying:

"What's the matter, Adora? Cat got your tongue?" Adora, now thoroughly consumed by gay panic, stood up and murmured something about needing some water. As she ran across the room, Glimmer burst out laughing once more. Bow glared at her disapprovingly. Catra, unsure of how to process Adora's response, turned to the dark-skinned boy:

"Okay, can I just ask if she's always like that when someone flirts with her?" Bow suddenly gave a giant smile:

"You were flirting with her?" Catra nodded, saying:

"Yeah, of course I was! She's hot!" Bow and Glimmer gasped in astonishment. Catra, finally realizing what she had just said, began to stutter:

"I…I meant to say that I find her attractive so I…um…look, why're you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?!" Glimmer's gasp also turned into a giant smile. Bow then began to chuckle:

"You are definitely American. Opening your heart to complete strangers in a place like this…wow!" Glimmer glared at Bow before adding:

"Don't worry, Catra! You didn't do anything wrong! Adora's single and, between us, she thinks you're hot too!" Catra breathed a sigh of relief and began to visibly relax:

"Oh God, I genuinely thought I'd messed everything up! The UK is so weird. You guys never say it like it is, huh?" Glimmer shook her head:

"Nope. Then again, there is my mom – but she's another breed entirely." Catra raised an eyebrow and Bow answered her unasked question:

"Glimmer's mom is Mrs Brightmoon - the principal?" Catra's eyes suddenly lit up in recognition while her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment:

"Oh, right! You're Glimmer! I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it! You were too distracted by my 'hot' best friend to notice…" Catra glared at Glimmer while Bow tried and failed to stop himself from laughing. When it took him too long to stop laughing, Catra hissed:

"What's so funny?" Bow wiped a tear from his eye, saying:

"You just…you look so cute when you're grumpy!" Glimmer pretended to look really offended before joining him in his laughter:

"You're right! She looks like an angry kitten!" Catra growled:

"I'm not cute! Seriously, you're just as bad as Adora!" Just as Catra uttered her name, Adora appeared right behind her. She had bought not only water but some snacks too. Both Bow and Glimmer stopped laughing and smiled guiltily at their friend. Catra looked down in embarrassment.

Adora, who seemed to still be bright red from earlier, gave her friends an awkward smile before returning to her seat and silently pushing the entire tray of snacks in front of Catra. Catra looked up at Adora in surprise. The blonde muttered:

"You haven't eaten. I thought you…um…would like what was left in the snack basket?" Catra raised her eyebrow before looking at the wide selection of flavored chips in front of her. She gave a small smile and murmured her thanks.

As Catra began examining the packets, Glimmer kicked Adora under the table. Adora glared at her friend, who immediately began pointing at Catra, gesturing wildly to indicate she should ask her out. Bow nodded in support of what his girlfriend was saying, giving Adora a reassuring smile and two thumbs up.

Adora took a deep breath and turned to face Catra again. However, before she could say anything, a phone began to ring. The dark-haired girl pulled the device out of her pocket, scowled at the screen and declined the call. The sudden change in atmosphere led Glimmer to ask:

"Who was that?" Catra's scowl turned into a look of unbridled rage:

"My mom." The dark-haired girl suddenly stood up, grabbing a few packets of chips as she did so, and started to walk away. However, before she walked too far away, she stopped herself and sheepishly murmured:

"Thanks for letting me sit with you…and for the chips… See you tomorrow?" Bow, Glimmer and Adora all nodded and watched in silence as Catra left the canteen. Once she was gone, Glimmer immediately turned to Bow, asking:

"What do you suppose that was about?" Adora answered her question:

"There's something going on with her mom. I think she's making her come here… I don't know…" Bow and Glimmer watched as their best friend slumped down in her chair, clearly regretting having left the table for so long. Bow put a hand on Adora's shoulder, saying:

"Hey, don't worry! She likes you – she told us!" Glimmer nodded, adding:

"Yeah, she did! She called you "hot" and "attractive"!" Adora blushed before faking laughter:

"Oh wow, very funny! You got me! Seriously though, what did she say?" Bow frowned:

"We're not lying, Adora. That's what she told us! You've got a real shot here!" Adora raised an eyebrow before nodding in acceptance. Instead of smiling, however, she stared off into the distance.

Adora knew her friends would not lie to her, but it still surprised her that Catra had not asked them why she needed a service dog; or at the very least whether there was anything wrong with her. Adora knew that was what she would have done… what most people would have done…