The Brightmoon Institution (Catradora Boarding School AU)

THREE DAYS

"What did your mom want?"

Adora was slightly worried about Glimmer, shutting off her laptop when she saw the weary look in the normally vibrant lavender eyes. They'd been talking for a long time, about an hour or so. Adora had hoped it was just a catch up call, but Glimmer's face suggested otherwise.

"She wants to take us to the holiday house this time. For the entire two weeks."

Adora looked over to Bow to see how he would react, but he just turned towards Glimmer with a neutral expression.

"The whole two weeks?"

"She invited you guys to come too, but two weeks is a fucking long time. I tried to negotiate for a few days, but dad managed to get some time off work. Apparently he has a break before his next project."

Adora didn't know too much about Glimmer's dad, but she was curious to meet him. Glimmer mentioned that she rarely saw either of her parents, let alone both at the same time. And two weeks was a long time.

"Is...Catra coming?"

Glimmer gave Adora a pointed look.

"Yes, we are all being forced to come. Well, not you two, but Catra, yeah."

Adora didn't know how to react to that piece of information.

"Which house are we at?"

"Snows."

Bow smiled, sitting next to a disheartened Glimmer.

"At least it's the good one?" He turned to Adora.

"The Kingdom of Snows house is like a cabin. A cabin mansion really, as big as their summer house."

Adora was glad she managed to delay her reunion with Shadow Weaver until the Semester Break, it was clear Glimmer would need her friends to deal through the two weeks. Besides, the snow sounded fun. Warm and cozy.

"Come on, Glim, it'll be fun. We can have a fire, make s'mores, and Adora hasn't even been there before, she won't know how to ski or anything."

Glimmer began to warm to Bow's words, a smile blooming on her face.

"You're right. It will be fun. I'm sure we'll barely have to deal with lectures."

"Exactly."

Adora came around her other side, giving her friend a small squeeze as Bow rubbed comforting circles on her back.

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The days began to run by in a blur of tests and assignments. Adora had recollected her leather jacket back from Ms. Ella, receiving her first 'A+' in Textiles for the year. Smiling down at her grade and filled out criteria sheet, Adora handed the jacket to Catra.

"Happy early Birthday."

"You definitely don't remember my birthday. It's ages away from now."

Catra took the jacket from her in surprise, and Adora was momentarily distracted from her single good grade for Textiles.

"October 28th. How could I ever forget?"

Catra was wordless at that, running her hands over the smooth leather as she handed Adora the gorgeous letterman jacket. She touched the soft fabric with reverence, almost feeling unworthy to wear it. It could honestly be sold for a good few hundred dollars, and she was getting it for free.

"Do you remember mine?"

"19th of Jan."

Catra murmured the words, and Adora almost missed it. Almost. Looking over at her past friend, memories of eating grey sludge and swapping torn presents surfaced to her mind. She debated bringing them up, but decided against it. The Horde held some special memories, but she wasn't about to recall the darkest parts of both their lives.

"Are you coming? To the holiday house?"

"Yeah, Glimmer invited me. But I won't if you don't want me to come-"

"No.. No, it's fine. You can come. Just don't come near me."

The bell signaled their release, and Adora watched Catra walk out of the door with an air of sadness. She barely spoke to her, and the apology seemed to do nothing for their broken friendship.

"Don't sweat it, darling. She'll come around."

DT's voice had lost its sassiness, holding something a little more sympathetic. Adora smiled at them as she walked out the door, hoping that on some level, they were right.

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"We only have three days of school left, we only have THREE FUCKING DAYS. DID YOU HEAR THAT ADORA? ONLY THREE DAYS!"

Glimmer violently shook Adora by the shoulders, her blonde ponytail becoming loose with the motion. Adora steadied herself using Glimmer's shoulder, looking into the manic purple eyes.

"Glimmer, it's fine. It's gonna be fine. Bow and I will be there literally at every moment."

"Two weeks with her. All she's going to do is comment on my grades, tell me to fix my clothes and-"

"Glimmer, Glimmer!"

Adora was just about ready to slap her friend's face just to get her attention.

"It's going to be alright. It's a holiday, you should be excited."

"Oh I am, I am. We're going to have baking contests, and I'm going to see Dad, it's going to be great."

"It is. Don't let your mom bring down your mood. A holiday is to relax, not stress."

Glimmer scoffed.

"Ironic you're the one saying that. We practically need a whole extra suitcase for your study kit."

Adora followed gaze to her desk, thinking she just might be right. That stack certainly wouldn't fit in her suitcase with clothes.

"What? I can't take two whole weeks off studying. I hope there are some good trails up in the snow."

"Don't tell me you're doing that god awful run on your holidays?"

Adora gave a sheepish smile, scrunching her shoulders with a shrug.

"I can't help it! It's like a drug."

Glimmer whacked her with a pillow and Adora laughed, rubbing her slightly sore stomach.

"Relax for once you maniac!"

"I will, I will! You better have good ice cream there."

"Ice cream in the snow? You really are a psychopath."

"Ice cream is ice cream, no matter where you eat it."

Glimmer opened her mouth to protest when Bow walked in.

"THREE DAYS TO GO, THANK THE HEAVENS!"

Adora shushed him, wondering what on earth possessed Bow to yell in the dorm.

"I think our neighbors are going to kill us in our sleep."

The others giggled along with her, trying to keep their excitement to themselves as they laughed. Weirdly enough, Adora found herself really looking forward to having a break from everything.

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