Team Catradora

32 -Second Impressions

Yes I changed the title realizing this is technically the second time Angella and Catra met, if you count their phone call

Ten minutes later, Catra was up. She was completely dressed, her brown hair a little disheveled. At the sight of the clock, she startled, and checked her phone to verify the time. "Oh, my god. I have to get to work in an hour."

Adora had her books spread out on the counter as she studied. It was surprisingly hard to focus, when her mind was on Catra's scar, and it intensified when seeing her.

Adora forced a smile. "Hey! How was your...sleep?"

Catra shrugged. "Nightmares."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," she muttered, then quickly cleared her throat. She got out some toast, and looked over at Adora's textbook. "That looks difficult."

"It's actually not that bad." Adora shrugged. "As long as I keep reviewing everything, I tend to do fine."

"Yeah, I can't relate." Catra shrugged. "I found regular school too hard, let alone this shit." She opened a random page. "How do you understand this?"

"Oh, those are how to divide radicals." Adora scribbled down answers, trying her best to make her writing neat and tidy. "And infinite numbers, like uneven fractions or pi."

"Yeah." She shook her head. "Remind me to introduce you to Entrapta sometime. She'd love talking math with you-and she even does tutoring on the side."

Adora frowned. "She does? Then why don't you..."

Catra put her hands on her hips, smirking. "What? Graduate?"

"Yeah, I mean...you'd have a tutor living with you." Adora cleared her throat. "And-and me."

Catra laughed. "It's more complicated than that. I quit as soon as I could, and I don't remember anything about highschool. The foundations were hard enough to remember when I was in class, for crying out loud." She shrugged. "It's been too long to go back."

"I don't believe that," Adora said. "This time, you'd have people who could help you. You wouldn't be alone-"

"Until you and your friends left for college." Catra crossed her arms. "It's fine. I don't need a diploma to waitress."

"But you hate it."

"True. But even if I did go back, there's no time to study." She sighed. "Not everyone needs a highschool degree. I could do something without it."

"Of course," Adora said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate anything."

The toast was ready, so Catra plopped it on her plate, spreading a thin layer of peanut butter overtop. She needed to do it over the table, as there was no counterspace. "It's fine. I just..." she sighed. "It doesn't matter."

"Okay."

For once, Adora wore some makeup. Nothing much-just pastel pink lipstick. It wasn't as nice as Catra's, but either way she hoped she'd noticed. If she did, she didn't say. She was too busy brushing her hair. Catra needed to leave early, so she'd have time to change into her uniform, so she was about to leave when Angella walked in.

They had been in the middle of a goodbye hug. Catra slid her hands into her leather jacket's pockets at the sight of Angella. Against Angella's tall frame, Catra almost seemed to shrink. "Hey, Adora's mom."

"Good morning." She quirked a smile. "How was your sleep?"

"Good," she said, giving a weary glance towards Adora. "I really appreciate you letting me stay here. So thanks..."

"You're welcome," Angella said. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too..." She cleared her throat. "I'm gonna head off, but I'll see you." She nodded towards Adora, and slipped out the door. Once it clicked shut, Adora leaned against the doorframe. Thank god that was over with! She couldn't believe that after all this time, Catra had finally met her mom.

"You seem happy," Angella said, forcing Adora out of her reverie.

"Yeah..." Adora rubbed the back of her neck. "That was great! And to think, she didn't think you liked her." As soon as she said it, Adora put her hand over her mouth. "Oh, no! I shouldn't have said that-"

"It's okay." Angella smiled, but there was something off about it. "She's right. I don't really care for her."

Wait, wait wait.

"What?" Adora rubbed her forehead. "Why?"

"Something she said." She crossed her arms. "But that doesn't matter-it was only my first instinct, meeting her in person. She might change my mind."

"Oh?" Adora shook her head. "She will, trust me. You don't know her-she's my friend, and she's been my friend since my parent's..." she swallowed. "It doesn't matter. But she's known me longer than I've known you."

"Yes," she said, after a pause. "You're right."

Did she say something wrong? "I'm sorry." Adora grabbed her arm. "You want to say something, don't you?"

"It's nothing," she said. "Intuition. I won't stop you seeing her based on my gut reaction to meeting her-especially if she makes you happy. But I also won't lie about my feelings if you ask me about it. Right now I'm getting mixed vibes from her. I'm grateful you have her as a friend, but I also fear she might want different things than you." She bit her lip. "Are you dating her? Glimmer said you were, but you just said she was your friend."

She swallowed. "We don't really do the whole labels thing." She shrugged. "Catra wants to ease into it, just in case we don't work out."

"And are you happy with that?" She asked. "It's okay if you want to take it slow, but you care about her so much, and I'd hate if she's stringing you along."

Adora couldn't believe this. "She's had a hard life. She doesn't deserve this." She grabbed her coat, opening the door. "I need some fresh air. I'm sorry."