Future in the Stars | Catradora

12 - Closed Until Morning

Glimmer's POV

The person we met less than an hour ago—who we still had yet to learn the name of—pulled off the side of the road and into the flock of vehicles. I looked out the the window on my right and watched the red lights flash by, trying to take in everything. I heard a scratching sound to my left, and turned to see Catra gripping the side of the car.

"Are you okay?" Bow asked, turning around from the passenger's seat.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Catra said, her eyes closed.

"What's wrong?" Adora asked, taking her free hand.

Catra leaned over so she could rest her head on Adora's shoulder. The blonde put an arm around her girlfriend lovingly, which seemed to calm Catra down.

"I think she's just nervous about everything," Adora whispered to me and Bow. Catra's mind was so absent that she didn't notice we were talking about her. "Or she's sleep deprived."

"Everything okay back there?" our acquaintance asked.

"Yeah, they're good," Bow said, turning back around to face the front. "So, uh... do you know where we're going, exactly?"

"No, not really. Here--take my phone and open the navigation app."

"Uh... what?"

"Maps. Google Maps."

"This is a really tiny tracker pad," Bow mused, moving his finger along the glowing screen. He stopped for a secodna dn showed it to the driver. "Is this the mappy thingy?"

"Yes," they replied, pushing the device away to keep themselves focused on the road. "Now type in 'mechanic' and click the first one that comes up."

"Got it," Bow nodded, pressing somthing with his thumb.

"Stay to the left," the phone suddenly said.

Bow shrieked and threw it at the windshield.

"Hey!! That was expensive!"

"Sorry, sorry..."

The phone continued to talk for the rest of the drive. It directed us of the busy highway onto a road lined with a whole bunch of small buildings.

"What are these?" I asked.

"Shops," our acquaintance said. "You buy things here. Look—there's the mechanic!"

They pulled into a small parking lot and hopped out of the car. They motioned for us to come out too, so Adora woke up Catra and then we all exited the vehicle. We headed over to a building, but when we tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge.

"This thing says closed," I said, pointing to a red sign hanging on the inside of the glass.

"Well, no sh*t," Catra muttered sleepily. "But how do we get the door to open?"

"The repair shop is closed for the night, guys," our friend said, heading back over to the car. "It won't be open until morning."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait," Bow said.  "How much longer until morning?"

Before we got an answer, the phone started to beep. The owner of it pressed a button, and held it up to their ear.

"Where have you been?!" someone yelled through the device. "You said you'd be back by now."

"I know, I know," they started. "I... I met some new friends. I'm helping them find a mechanic."

"Yeah, well, it can wait. We have work tomorrow, and I can't have you falling asleep on the job again. Besides, the majority of repair shops aren't open right now."

"That was one time, Roe. I'll be back soon—ten minutes or less. But I'm bringing some other people, so get the couch ready."

The person on the other end of the phone yawned. "I'm going to bed. You can deal with your new friends yourself."

Our new friend hung up the phone and sighed. "Okay, I'm taking you back to my place."

"Why?"

"You look like you guys could use some rest. And quite frankly, I need some sleep myself."

The five of us slid back into the car, where Melog was napping. After buckling our seatbelts, we were off on the road again. Soon enough, we reached a tall building with lots of windows.

"Come to think of it, I don't think you ever told us you name," Bow said as we got out of the car again.

"Hmm? Oh. Right."

"So... What is it?"

"What's what?"

"Are you avoiding the question on purpose?" I asked. "We want to know your name so we can call you someone other than 'acquaintance' and 'friend'"

"What's wrong with calling me 'friend?'"

"Argh!" I groaned. They were being almost as frustrating as Catra. "Just spit it out already!"

"Okay, okay," they laughed. "It's y/n."