glimbow- reasons to smile

chapter one: the start

Glimmer has always been a little shy. She's always had trouble expressing her feelings. So when she finally discovered that what she felt for her best friend Bow was romantic feelings, she was scared. She didn't know what to do. They've been best friends since Glimmer can remember. They do everything together. Bow was the first person Glimmer told that she was bisexual. When she broke her arm in 7th grade from falling off a tree, Bow was the first one to comfort her and make her feel better.

She found out that she liked him romantically one day after softball practice. He always stayed after school to watch her play and so of course when she was done that Thursday evening, she ran over to him.

"Hey Bow! Did you see me hit that?" She huffs out, breathing heavily.

Bow smiled with his all tooth, shining smile, "Yeah that was awesome. You looked so cute hitting the ball," He says as he ruffles her hair.

She swats his hand away and blushed deeply. Why's he making her feel like there's a swarm of bees in her stomach? "T-thanks Bow," She stutters. She actually stutters! She's only ever been like that when Adora first moved to their school. And she knows what stuttering, blushing, and butterflies in the tummy mean. They mean she has a crush. Not just any crush. She has a crush on Bow. Her best friend. She can't believe it. How could this happen?

"Glimmer? Glimmer you alright?" Bow asks, waving his hand in front of her face.

She blinks. "Uh sorry Bow," She chuckles and blushed some more. This is all happening so fast for her. She's got to get away from Bow. "I'm gonna go meet up with Adora...I'll talk to you later Bow," She hugs him quickly and walks away before he can protest.

Ever since that day, she's had a major crush on Bow. That was four months ago. She hasn't been the same around him. Adora has asked her about and every time she denies anything.

On Monday morning the second week of May, Glimmer wakes up in a cold sweat at 4:00 AM. She's been having nightmares. The same thing every night. She's walking to a mirror that stretches all the way to the sky. She's curious. When she walks to the mirror, hot metal spikes penetrate her back. He wakes up with aching pain in her spine.

This Monday is no different. Same dream, same pain. Glimmer sits in the middle of her bed, blankets tangled all around her, and she's sobbing her eyes out. Hands shaking on the bed as she holds herself upright. She should talk to her mom about this, but she'd just get upset at her for not telling her sooner. Fifteen minutes later she's calmed down a little.

She stands over the sink as she splashes her face with water. It's Monday, she didn't want to wake up this way. Now that she's up, there's no going back to sleep. She decides to take a shower.

She walks back into her room to get her clothes. She decides on a lavender turtle neck and white jeans, paired with low top black converse and a black belt. She gets her clothes and heads back into the bathroom. Turning the water to scorching hot to melt her nightmares away and then stripping herself of her pajamas. She steps into the hot shower and visibly relaxes.

A half an hour later she's out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her. She needed that. She dresses quickly and when she's finished, she gets out all her hygiene products. She starts with brushing her teeth. Then she washes her face and puts on moisturizer. Then she brushes her hair and puts some products to make it shiny. When she's satisfied with herself, she goes into her room to make sure she has all her supplies ready for school. It's only 5:30 AM now and she doesn't have to be at school until 9:00 AM. She decides to finish up some of her art commissions that she's been slacking on.

Glimmer grabs her book back and puts all her books and homework into her bag first. Then when she's finished, she gathers her basketball stuff and packs that bag. She plays all kinds of sports. She's super competitive and is the number 3 star player. After Adora and Catra who are number 1 and number 2.

When she's done getting all her things, she grabs her laptop and tablet. Then she hears downstairs. Her mother is still sleeping and for that she's thankful. She decides to feed her cats. Mina, black alley cat she found when she was 8. And Meme, an orange striped kitten who she rescued from a shelter 3 months ago. "Come here my little girls," She coos.

The first one to show is Meme. Her little orange monster, as Glimmer calls her. Then after Mina comes as well. She feeds and pets them. She feels like sometimes they're the only ones who get her.

She starts up the coffee machine next. She wakes her mom up with coffee and a breakfast bar every morning. It's her way of saying thank you for all the years her mom took care of her. Her mom has cancer. She's had it for almost a year now. Though she doesn't show signs of getting worse, she doesn't show signs of getting better either. So the least she can do is make her coffee and feed her.

After she hears the coffee machine turn off, she goes to the cabinet and grabs her mom's favorite mug. It's a mug that Glimmer made her when she was 6 in first grade. Now Glimmer is a sophomore and will be off to college in 2 years.

Glimmer tiptoes down the hall to her mom's room. She knocks lightly 3 times. "Hey mom, you awake?" She whispers through the door. Her mom just makes a grunt in response. Glimmer smiles to herself then opens the door. "I brought you coffee and a bar. It's strawberry!" She says in a sing-song voice. Glimmer here's her mom chuckle and it makes her smile even wider. She sets down the mug and hands her mom the breakfast bar. She sits at the end of the bed waiting for her mother's response.

"Sweetie you know I love you very much, and I'm not going to around for much longer," Glimmer winces as her mother says those words. She knows it's true, but she doesn't want to believe it. "When I'm gone, you're going to live with your aunt, Castaspella," Her mother finishes with a cough. Glimmer groans. She doesn't want to be stricken by her mother's death and then move in with her aunt as well! Plus she really doesn't like her aunt at all.

"Just know princess, mommy always loves you and will always be with you," Her mother caresses Glimmer's cheek as she says this. Angella then turns her body around. "Go now, have a good day a school love," She says quietly, already half asleep.

Glimmer tried to ignore the really depressing talk she just had with her mother and goes to finish her commissions. She sets up her laptop and tablet on the coffee table in the living room. She has 3 unfinished. One of them is from Catra oddly enough. Catra, Adora's girlfriend, has never shown any interest at all in Glimmer. So when she came to her asking if Glimmer would draw her something, it really shocked her. Catra asked if Glimmer could draw Catra and Adora for their anniversary. Of course, Glimmer agreed, but not for free. So Catra paid her $35 for her to draw an anniversary gift.

Glimmer was in the middle of lining Catra when she got a phone call. Who would call her at 6 in the morning? Speak of the devil. It was the sly kitty herself! Glimmer picked up the phone.

"Catra, why on God's green Earth, are you calling me at this time?"

"Listen, Glitter-"

"Glimmer."

"Whatever. I need you to do something for me."

Glimmer can already see that this isn't going to end well. "Why?"

"I just need you to ummmm have the drawing done by 4 PM today. Thanks you're a doll, love you!"

And with that Catra hung up. Didn't even give Glimmer enough time to process what just happened. Have the drawing done by 4?!?! Is she crazy? It'll take her at least 5 more days to complete the drawing! But she can't just /not/ listen to Catra. She'd beat her up or...something like that.

Glimmer groans and rubs her eyes with both her hands. When did things get so complicated?