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jeserai · 5 years

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burnt sugar (1/8)

Adora frowns down at her phone and skims through the proposition again: someone is willing to pay whatever amount to take a girl to a family dinner. The price is negotiable, and it starts out at $1,000. There’s a phone number listed, too, but that’s the only way to contact...whoever it is.

or, catra needs a date and adora needs money

Adora blinks the sleep from her eyes as the customer in front of her finally finishes paying and leaves; she shuffles up to the register and haphazardly drops her miniature mountain of ramen and soda onto the counter. It’s definitely not the healthiest meal she’s ever had, and she knows she’ll have to go to the gym extra early before classes tomorrow to make up for it, but it’s already later than late and she’s exhausted. Today seemed extra long even if it was just the same as usual: first her morning exercise, then classes, fencing practice, and an evening shift at Bright Moon—it’d all left her feeling more drained than usual, and she hasn’t even touched her homework yet.

The cashier looks just as out of it as Adora feels, scanning all of her items and barely containing a huge yawn as she does so. “Swipe or insert your card when you’re ready,” she says, and Adora pulls her card out from her phone case, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she swipes it. She’s pretty sure she has enough money, but she doesn’t get paid until Friday, and—

The machine beeps a harsh decline, and Adora feels the back of her neck begin to heat up as she swipes her card again. She’s hoping to god that it was just the machine, that it’s just a dumb mistake, but her card is declined again and god, she’s never been more embarrassed in her life. Luckily, when she takes a quick glance behind her, no one is in line, and Adora gives the cashier her most winning smile as she says, “Can I just—I have to add money to my card, it’ll take just a minute.”

The cashier—Mermista, her name tag reads—shrugs and pulls her phone from her pocket. “Sure, whatever, I’m stuck here until midnight anyway,” she grumbles, and Adora gives her another apologetic smile before pulling out her phone and texting her group chat.

Ado-ra (22:08): can someone send me $$$ real quick i mat the store and my card got declined :(

B♥w (22:08): D: of course and don’t worry about paying back !!

Glim! (22:09): tell us if you need more !!

Almost immediately, Adora’s phone lights up with two notifications—Bow and Glimmer have both sent her money, and before she can just about melt into a little puddle of embarrassment, she loads the money onto her card and slides it into the machine again. This time, the transaction goes through.

Ado-ra (22:13): thank u sm :(((( i love u guys

B♥w (22:14): awww we love u too!!

“Ugh, how do you get someone to stop trying to ask you out?” Mermista groans suddenly; she’s scowling at her phone, and as Adora watches, she huffs and puts it facedown on the counter. “He won’t stop texting me.”

“Maybe just tell him you’re not interested?”

Mermista looks away, still frowning, but this time, it seems forced, like she’s trying to bite back a softer expression. “I can’t do that, he’s…”

Ah. What would Glimmer and Bow say here? “I don’t really have much experience with relationships, but can you try to just talk to him about it? If he really likes you, he should understand if you need more time, or a smaller gesture, or whatever else you need. And if he doesn’t understand that, then he doesn’t deserve you.”

Mermista glances up, startled, a soft little smile melting the stoniness of her face. “That’s so sweet, thank you. Here, let me—” she cuts herself off to bag Adora’s things, slipping in a chocolate bar despite Adora’s weak protests.

Glim! (22:23): what time are you coming home?

Ado-ra (22:23): leaving the store now :) im just talking to the casheir, shes really nice

B♥w (22:23): hurry home we miss u

"Thank you again," Mermista says as Adora grabs her bags, "really. I'm going to try talking to him tomorrow."

"You don't have to thank me—I really do hope it goes well with him!" Adora's phone buzzes in her pocket, but she ignores it in favor of giving Mermista another big smile again. "Tell me how it goes if I see you again, okay?"

"Sure, I guess, yeah." But she's still smiling, and she even waves when Adora heads out the door.

Ado-ra (22:25): omw now :)

The walk from the convenience store to her apartment is blessedly short; one of the perks of living so close to campus is that everything is in such close proximity—a double blessing since Bow is the only one with a car. If she’s being honest with herself, Adora doesn’t really mind the walk, tells herself it’s extra training, and really, it is. It also gives her time to think, time to be alone—because as much as she loves Bow and Glimmer, she needs time by herself, time to be quiet and reflect and just be. Tonight’s going to be another long night, though. Adora sighs and pockets her phone, hefts her bag up, and begins to walk home.

When she gets home, Bow is lying curled up on the couch, headphones in as he focuses on his laptop, typing something—probably the paper he’s been procrastinating. He flashes Adora a bright smile when he sees her, but otherwise doesn’t say anything, and Adora waves and leaves him be, heading straight to her room and dumping her stuff at the end of her bed. She’s tempted to go straight to sleep, but Adora forces herself to go shower, to heat up her ramen, to sit at their tiny table with her textbooks and laptop. She forces herself to work until Glimmer gently shakes her awake, sleep in her eyes and softness on her lips. The clock on the other side of the room glares out 3:06am and Adora lets herself be tugged and pushed into her bed with not even a single protest.

When she wakes up, it’s six minutes before her alarm is supposed to go off, and Adora spends them staring at the ceiling, mentally going through her day. She’ll walk to the gym, breakfast—a granola bar and a smoothie—in hand, and once at the gym, she’ll do a mile warmup run, work her legs for half an hour, and her core for another half hour, then do a mile cooldown run. Bow will pick her up at around 8 for classes, then she’ll go to practice, and since it’s Friday, she doesn't have work, so she’ll only go to the gym again for another hour. Maybe she’ll head to the library afterwards and do her work there so she won’t fall asleep, or—

Adora’s phone interrupts her thoughts, and with a heavy sigh, she sits up and gets ready to start the day, moving quietly because she knows that Glimmer and Bow are still sleeping. Right before she heads out, she grabs the lunch Bow had made her yesterday and starts the coffee machine for Glimmer, then grabs her stuff and heads to the gym.

The best thing about being at the gym so early—6:15am, an ungodly hour, according to her roommates—is that no one else is there, and Adora works out in peace, losing herself in her ragged breaths and the sweat dripping down her forehead, the pounding of her heartbeat and the familiar burn of her muscles being pushed further, further. She’s always enjoyed working out: the discipline it takes, the soreness the day after, seeing the slow and steady progress—but the gym has become something of her own private space. Glimmer practically breaks out into hives when Adora even thinks about working out, and while Bow enjoys exercise, just half of a session with Adora had him ready to quit. So the gym is hers, now.

When Adora finally takes a break for water, she grabs her phone as well to see a few messages from the group chat.

B♥w (6:49): sooo

B♥w (6:50): guess what I found!

Ado-ra (7:03): what?

B♥w (7:04): [link shared]

B♥w (7:04): read it!!!

Ado-ra (7:05): will after i finish up here :)

B♥w (7:06): :(((

B♥w (7:07): fine…..

Adora allows herself one more moment to rest, then goes back to work, and this time, she doesn’t stop until Bow calls out her name from the doorway of the gym. From there, it’s their usual routine: while Adora takes a quick shower and changes into her school clothes, he puts away all of the equipment she’d used, then talks to the girl at the desk until Adora comes out, ready to go. Then they both say goodbye to Perfuma and head out to Glimmer’s car.

“So,” Bow drags out the word, “did you read it?”

“Oh!” Adora digs her phone out of her pocket and finds the link again, glancing over to see Bow glancing back at her in quick bursts as he drives. “I’ll read it now.”

That earns her a satisfied smile, and as Bow fiddles with the radio, Adora reads the article he’s sent her. And it’s—”What, is this a joke?”

“I don’t think so, and even if it is, what’s the worst that can happen? You meet them someplace public and say no. Me and Glimmer can even go too, just in case.”

“You’re not doing it for nothing,” Bow reasons, “you have to go to the dinner to get the money anyway.”

“The base price is $1,000, Bow! That much money for one dinner? Whoever this is, they have to be crazy!”

“Maybe they’re just rich—” Bow cuts himself off as he pulls into the parking lot, and Adora lets him concentrate as he parks before he finishes with, “Rich people do things like that, don’t they?”

Adora frowns and shakes her head, uses the moments spent getting out of the car to think. “I don’t know, Bow…” and to placate him, she promises, “I’ll think about it, though.”

“You don’t have to do it, I’m not trying to pressure you or anything! I just thought it wouldn’t hurt to at least tell you about it, y’know?”

And yeah, Adora knows. “I promise I’ll think about it.”

And think about it she does, all through her classes, all through fencing practice. She thinks about the ludocrity of the situation, thinks about how much money they’re offering. Thinks about Bow’s offer to go along with her to the meeting, thinks about how it’s just one dinner. Thinks about her card being declined, and having to ask her roommates for money. And she decides.

Adora manages to wait until she’s halfway to the gym to text the number.

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#she ra #shera #catradora #my writing #dont let this flop (pensive emoji)#burnt sugar

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