When I first met you| Catradora Highschool AU

Chapter 3

Catra Weaver had to be as inconspicuous as possible. Who knows if she had a softball girl with a bat following her around. Catra snuck out of the house earlier this morning to get some fresh air. She was at her limit with the tiptoeing around her mom's drunk antics.

After cussing her out to exhaustion, Shadow Weaver did, in fact, pass out, but her hearing was like a bat. Any noises Catra made were likely to be picked up until she finally went to r.e.m. sleep. The girl was unable to fully relax that night or even unwind from the confusing day she had.

Today was Saturday, and normally Catra was to go to the shelter and volunteer, but today was not the day. She needed to find a ride to the mall to pick up something very important. She needed to get that jock a gift.

Catra never knew how to explicitly explain her feeling after being raised by a literal demon, so her love language was gift-giving. She was going to ask an old friend/crush, of hers for a ride to the mall, and hope she wasn't busy. " Hey, Lonnie I got a favor to ask."

"Catra, you never ask for favors, this must be a big deal," Lonnie said while glancing at Catra from the driver's seat. Catra huffed, "Yeah, whatever."

Lonnie approached a red light and turned to look at Catra fully, " You know, I never really thanked you for setting me up with Rogelio and Kyle, even though you had a giant crush on me." The other girl sputtered and said, "No I did not... ok maybe a little one," while crossing her arms indignantly. The black girl laughed and sped up again, focusing her attention back on the road.

"Catra, it's in the past. And I can tell you have another crush now." Everyone was figuring out Catra immediately. " Yeah and what about it? Can't I have a high school romance like you three have?" With a chuckle, Lonnie says, " I'm not saying you can't, it just seems like a good look on you." Catra had nothing to say to that, so she just looked out the window.

"Okay, that'll be 30 dollars, ma'am." Lonnie joked as Catra made her way out of her car. " Haha, very funny. I'll see you around. alright?" Catra said genuinely. Lonnie started to say, " Catra, I can pick you up when you're do-," Catra interrupted her with " Nah, I'll find a way home, thanks." And with that, Lonnie waved and drove off.

Catra's mission of the day was to get something for Adora to say sorry. Even though it was not Catra's fault, it was her bitch mom's fault. Still, the sentiment was there. "Do girls still like teddy bears?" Catra thought as she went into the mall entrance. Valentine's Day was coming up also, so Catra could potentially give her two gifts.

As Catra passed by a kiosk, she saw something that caught her eye. " Ah, yes. An ancient Eternian replica necklace" said the vendor. Catra didn't pay enough attention in history class to know where Eternia was, but she sure did know that the necklace was beautiful. It was in the shape of a sword and had a blue gem in the middle of the handle.

Okay, she'll bite. " How much?" The guy looked surprised and replied, "Only $15." There was no way this was only 15 dollars. With a glance down to his name tag, Catra said, "Look Tung Lashor, I may be only 17, but I'm not stupid. There's no way this necklace can only be 15 dollars."

The man huffed and replied, " Kid, I only work here. I don't make the prices. I'm not trying to swindle you. I don't make enough to do that." The young girl scanned his face for sincerity, a skill you had to have when living with Shadow Weaver, and found it surprisingly.

" Okay, I'll take it." She said to the man. He guided her over to the register and bagged the necklace into a clear bag. " That'll be $16.20." She handed him the exact change and left, not before getting her receipt of course.

Catra checked her phone for the time and was met with a missed call from Shadow Weaver. Dammit. The time said 3 p.m. "How did the time go so fast?" Catra thought frantically. Calling Shadow Weaver back was completely off the table, so she decided to walk back home. The mall wasn't that far from her house.

Hands stuck in her pockets to protect her from the cold, Catra walked down the street on her way to her house. In the February cold, Catra was torn from going home or staying out here and freezing. The latter sounded very pleasing at the moment, but she knew that the shiny new thing she bought couldn't go to waste like that.

" Think warm thoughts," she thought. Adora's face after getting her necklace, how she would hug Catra, what Adora would smell like- Woah, nope, nope. Catra could not get this ahead of herself. They met yesterday and-and this necklace was not an engagement ring. They will not be getting married-Not yet. Ugh.

Catra planned as she made her way up her driveway, where she would hide her gift for Adora. Not in plain sight. Or should she hide it in plain sight? Her hands grabbed for her keys to open the door when the door suddenly opened to reveal her mom, with a concerned look in her eyes.

" Elizabeth Weaver! Where have you been! I've been looking all over for you." Catra barely managed to hide her confused look. "There must be someone else in here," she thought incredulously. After finishing her exclamation, the cold-hearted bitch brought her in for a hug. She hasn't gotten a hug from her since her 8th-grade graduation, in front of many others.

When the hug was over, she got a tiny threatening look from Shadow Weaver before being lead over to the couch she wasn't allowed to sit on. There sat Scorpia's two moms and Scorpia. She gave them a small wave before sitting down next to them.

" Oh gosh, Wildcat. I was so worried about you. Your mom called over to ask if you had come over to my house and I told her no- an-and." Scorpia seemed like she had just seen a ghost. "How long did she tell them I was gone?" Catra guessed it was since last night.

Mrs. D'ream addressed her warmly, " Catra Dear, we're glad you're okay. Just let your mom when you're gonna leave the house next time, okay." They all stood up and made their way to the door. "Thank you again for having us, Ms. Weaver, your home is lovely. Until later." And they were gone,

The silence in the room was thick. Catra could feel her hairs stand up on the back of her neck at the feel of her mother staring daggers into her head. She didn't speak or move. She could feel her mother's presence appear closer and closer until she felt breath on her neck. " Don't ever pull this shit ever again, or I won't look for you at all. You're dismissed."

Catra got up off the couch and walked to her room. Once the door was closed, Catra pulled her gift out of her pocket and sighed. "Where to put this," Catra contemplated. Then she saw it, a tampon box. "Eh, what you don't know can't kill you," She dropped it in there and closed it up.