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"I wasn't an academic. I hated maths and science at school. I couldn't concentrate." - Michelle Dockery
So, in hindsight, taking AP Calculus was a very, very bad idea.
But since was Catra ever a fan of not setting herself up for self-destruction? She's been making bad decisions for twenty years, she certainly wasn't going to stop now. She was working on it though; not choosing the wrong path just for the sake of choosing it. So far it had gotten her into a pretty decent place in her life.
For one, she was attending Mystacor University in Brightmoon, on a volleyball scholarship, it was like the only thing she was good at-no, she was working on her self esteem, Perfuma would be proud. Self esteem was one of the harder subjects Catra had to tackle during one of her 'sessions' with Perfuma, hostility was another one. Flower Power had suggested finding more 'calming' outlets to take her aggression out on. Basically anything that wasn't alive and breathing would be fine.
That's why Catra was currently banging her AP Calculus textbook against her bed's headboard, totally normal by the way.
Everything was going fine until one of the few good decisions in her so far shitty life came barging into her room.
"What's all that banging noise for? Catra are you injured or something?"
Catra paused her carefully planned murder to mentally roll her eyes, leave it to Adora to always, A) assume the worst, and B) come crashing in to save the day. There was no chance on Earth or Hell she was going to admit that she missed this part of Adora's worrywart self. 'Nope', she thought, she would rather turn straight.
"Calm down princess, I'm just solving my calculus problems." Adora furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, taking in the scene before her.
Which was Catra paused mid-air from giving her goddamn textbook another good hit. (Again, totally normal, we've already been over this, move along now.)
"Kitten, it looks like and sounds like you're slamming a textbook against the wall." Great observation Adora, Kyle could have told Catra that.
Adora moved over to where Catra was standing, arms still paused mid-air, and lowered them for her. Good, her arms were starting to get sore anyways.
"Why are you 'murdering' your textbook anyways? Catra, these books are expensive, this is like, 350 dollars worth of Calculus you're destroying."
"Adora, do I look like the kind of person who gives a damn about how much some sheets of paper glued together cost?"
"Well you should care about these sheets of paper. I've seen your Calc grade, you cant afford to fail this class."
Catra cocked a hip, she could feel the rat's nest she had to call hair threatening to come out of the messy bun she had wrangled it into this morning, ruining the entire effect of the hip-cocking.
"Whatever mom, just give me the book back so I can continue on with my business. I promise not to make any more noise." She outstretched her hand so Adora could place the fucking book in her hand and continue on with her merry way, or whatever embodiments of perfection do these days.
Adora gave her a hopeful look and-oh no, Catra knew what she was going to say next, doesnt mean she had to like it.
"No, Adora, I don't need help," Catra put on a smug smirk, "Remind me who has the higher IQ out of the two of us again?"
"You don't have to keep bringing that up, you know." Adora spluttered. "For all we know, Entrapta could have gotten the test mixed up."
Catra reached up and pinched her girlfriend's cheeks playfully, "Aww, is wittle Adowa sad that she's the dumber one in this relationship?''
Adora pushed Catra's hands off her face, giving her an glare that held no real anger behind it.
"You have the higher IQ, yet I still make the higher grades out of the both of us." Adora smirked.
"If I cared enough about my grades to actually try, I could have the highest grades of out everyone in this whole school." Catra rolled her eyes again
"Mmhm, I'm sure you could Kitten."
"Shut up! I could!"
"Mhmm."
Catra turned away from Adora and huffed, “Whatever, I’m still the smarter one anyways.”
”Having a higher IQ doesn’t make you automatically smarter.” Adora cut in.
Catra only turned turned her head to side to glare at her ‘not-smarter-than-her’ girlfriend.
”I still need my book, by the way, I’ve got homework to complete.”
Adora hugged the book closer to her chest. ”You promise no damage will come to this book inside your room if I let you have the book back?”
Catra was going to be honest here. No and yes. No, because she promises that her stupid, god forsaken, shitty brick of a textbook will not come to harm, inside her room that it. The rest of their shared apartment was not part of Adora’s promise.
Catra remembers the last promise Adora made her, then Adora left her for two years, leaving her feeling furious and betrayed, and came back all shiny and new, turning Catra’s, then, shitty world upside right again.
Kidding!
(Not about Adora leaving, she did do that, but that wasn’t the last promise they made.)
The last promise they made was last week, when Adora said she ‘promised not to eat all the Fruit Gushers in the packet’. Surprise, surprise, Adora ate them all. Catra got her revenge anyways, because making your girlfriend sleep on the couch for a week isn’t petty, thank you very much.
Looking back on that last thought, Catra supposed that she shouldn’t joke about those types of things, Ha! Suck it Glitter! Catra can practice healthy coping methods without joking about past wounds as if they were nothing! Perfume would be so proud.
Adora was still looking at Catra expectedly, waiting for her answer, which judging by the look Adora was giving her, had better be a ‘yes’.
Mismatched eyes meet blue-grey ones in a silent showdown, one trying make the other yeld through the power and intensity of their glares.
Blue-grey won and Catra gave a loud, dramatic, “ugh!“, while dragging her hands down her face. “Fine! I’ll do the stupid fucking calculus problems, jeez. Happy?”
Adora gave Catra a proud smile. “Very. Here, you may have your book back now.” She held out the book only for it be snatched from her hand the moment it was out fo her protective grasp.
Catra pushed(read:tried, Adora had 4 inches of height on her and was like, fifty percent muscle), out the door and into the living room.
Catra grabbed Adora’s wrist and dragged her towards the center of their living room, so that they were in front of the fireplace.
That was currently lit right now, flames dancing across the pieces of fire wood Adora had bought from Walmart the other day.
(You see where we’re going with this?)
”Catra, I thought you said you were going to do your homework? What are we-“
Catra placed a manicured finger over Adora’s mouth, “I am solving my problems, just in a different way.”
”What-?”
Then Catra threw her textbook into the fire.
Here, several things happened.
Adora started screaming about ‘how much Catra had fucked up’ and ‘she was going to epically fail her class’, or how ‘they don’t have money to replace the book right now’
Catra was starting to see the problem as 350 dollars worth of stupid papers were slowly burning in the fire, the orange-red light dancing off the quickly blackening pages.
Whoops.
Adora eventually gave up trying to get Catra to care, made hot chocolate and pulled Catra onto the couch to cuddle with her, muttering about how ‘Catra’s reckless behavior would get her kicked out if Mystacor University one day’ into her hair.
Oh Well. Catra blames the calculus problems anyways, if they weren’t so fucking hard, maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t be burning away in the fireplace.
Whatever, Catra’s never been a fan of good ideas anyways.