This Is The Road To Ruin (She-Ra High school AU)

A thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins

(TW: swearing, mention of child abuse, drug use)

"You LOST Adora?" Lonnie screamed. 

"Shh!" Catra covered the other girl's mouth. "Do you want Shadow Weaver to hear?" Lonnie grabbed Catra's wrist and pulled her hand away. 

"Without Adora what are we going to do in the game? She's our striker!" Kyle worried. Rogelio put a hand on his boyfriends shoulder and gestured to Catra. 

"Me? Oh no no no. I don't-"

"Catra... I think you have to. We need you." All three of them looked at her. 

"I really don't think-" Wait. This was her chance. Maybe if she played striker in this game, Shadow Weaver would realize that she was just as good as Adora. Maybe... "Ok, I'm in." She announced solemnly.

Back at Bright Moon, the Princesses were showing Adora the wonders of a pre-game party. "You really never did anything like this in the Horde?" Bow asked her. 

"Nope. What's the point?"

"To... have fun?"

"Yeah... we don't really do 'fun.' It just seems like a waste of time."

"See if you think this is a waste of time." Bow shoved a tiny cupcake into her hand. Adora regarded it suspiciously. 

"Why is it so small?"

"Oh, Entrapta won't eat anything that isn't tiny. And they're so cute!" Bow tossed one into his mouth. "Try it!" He said around a mouthful of cupcake.

Adora took a bite of the cupcake. It was sweet and moist. Easily the best thing she'd ever eaten. "Holy shit." she moaned. "Okay, you have better food than the Horde." 

"Attention Princesses!" A voice with a slight british accent yelled. A tall woman with pinkish hair walked into the room. 

"Coach Angella. She's also the principal." Bow whispered to Adora. 

"Has anyone managed to recruit another teammate or are we without a striker again?"

"You guys don't have a striker?" Adora whispered.

"It used to be this girl Scorpia. But she was kind of an outcast and she ended up moving schools. So we always show up to games a person short." He shrugged. "That's probably why we always lose." Adora looked around. Bow was probably the nicest person she'd ever met. Glimmer hadn't been quite as welcoming but she seemed like she was really sweet underneath her grumpy exterior. Sea Hawk, Mermista, Perfuma and Entrapta had been pretty nice to her as well once Bow convinced them she was cool. Why did the Horde hate Bright Moon so much? Everyone here seemed really awesome. 

"I'm your striker." She said, stepping forward. The room buzzed with shock. Angella looked at the Horde symbol on her jacket. 

"Is this some kind of a joke?" She looked around furiously. "Who brought a HORDE SOLDIER into my school?" 

"Mom!" Of all the people Adora had expected to defend her, Glimmer wasn't one of them. The shorter girl grabbed Adora's forearm. "She's with me." Glimmer gave her a small smile. 

"I would love to be part of your team. My old school was..." she looked around at everyone. "Nothing compared to this."

"We do need a striker." Angella seemed to be deep in thought. "You would be transferring here full-time?"

"Yes." The words were out of Adora's mouth before she realized the full implication.

"Welcome to the team." Angella shook her hand. 

The Horde was getting ready in their locker room at Thaymor. "You ready, Catra?" Lonnie asked her. Catra looked at herself in the mirror. 

"Yeah. Let's get out there."

The Bright Moon team walked out onto the field. Adora blinked at the brightness of the lights. The white and gold uniform felt strange compared to her usual red and black. She almost looked like a different person.

Maybe that's why Catra didn't recognize her at first. The game went smoothly. Adora was definitely an asset to the Princesses. The score was tied with two minutes left in the game, when Adora was dribbling toward the goal, ready to score the winning goal. 

Catra ran toward the Bright Moon striker to play defense. That's when the tall blonde turned, revealing icy blue eyes. Catra took a step back in shock. "Adora?" She whispered. They made eye contact. But Catra's hesitation cost her the game as Adora turned and shot the ball directly between Kyle's legs into the goal. 

After the game, Adora looked for her best friend. She saw a small figure behind the bleachers. "Catra?" She walked over to her. They were completely alone, but they could hear the sounds of the Princesses celebrating.

"So what, you're a princess now?" Catra scoffed. She pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her bag. 

"Are those cigarettes? I thought you only smoked weed?"

"Well apparently there's a lot we don't know about each other." Catra said, her face momentarily illuminated by her lighter. 

"Catra, I'm transferring to Bright Moon. And... I want you to come with me."

"No."

"What?"

"The Horde is our home, Adora!" Tears pricked at Catra's eyes. "I can't just leave!"

"Yes you can!" Adora grabbed her hand. 

"Fuck you, Adora." Catra said bitterly. She pulled her hand away and turned her back to her ex-best friend. 

"I'm sorry." Adora whispered, and walked away.

a/n: what did you think of the chapter? this one was a little shorter mainly bc i don't know how to write about sports :P but after this the story really starts to pick up! Next chapter will be focused on Adora getting to know the other princesses, and of course you'll get that good Drunk Adora content lmao. The chapter title is from the song Cute Without The E (Cut From The Team) by Taking Back Sunday.