Chapter 1: Enter Lena Luthor
Sunday 18th February 2018
The door was a rusty red colour; it's wooden figure was misshapen by rain and the paint peeled along the door knob. The door knob, too, was awfully old - it seemed to have been painted gold one time but had faded to a rustic silver- and loose. A lamp light on the right side of the door illuminated the doorway- which she was quite thankful for
when trying to fit the small silver key into the slot. Her ears drummed with the soothing sound of rain against the concrete steps behind her. In the hallway, only one other door to her left that led to another apartment was there, sharing the small corner. Behind her, a short concrete staircase that led to the parking lot with a grey chipped metal railing.
Lena checked her watch, 10:35 p.m., she was significantly late by her delayed flight and not only did she have to unpack, but she also started her junior year of high school tomorrow, which she told Lillian was, absolutely unnecessary since she had been home-schooled all those years in Metropolis. But, Lillian had decided she should 'fit in' these last years of high school- something about being more sociable.
This is it, she grimaced as she turned the key, fingers drumming on her suitcase handle. Jess better had given me the right address. Not that she'd ever doubt her attendant, although, this place was entirely unannounced to Lena up until the email she had received right before her flight. She had never once before heard about the small town of Midvale, Lillian had always occupied more lavish areas like National City or Metropolis.
What kind of mother had their daughter sequestered about the country? Closing her umbrella, and swinging open the door, she entered the rather little flat. She swore she saw a gust of dust and cobwebs blow into the air as she opened the door fully. She dropped her bags onto the ground and began surveilling the area. The floor was a laminate wood design and the place was entirely empty except for the old platform bed that occupied the one bedroom down the hall- which Lena was incredibly grateful for. Her heels clicked along the wood as she walked around, her wet hair was slick to her head, leading into a tight ponytail. Lena was nothing short of exhausted once she had finished unpacking her essentials in her new bathroom.
She let herself almost comically collapse onto the cold mattress in the apartments bedroom- well, my bedroom, Lena realized. It was hard to imagine feeling at home here; considering how dramatically different it was compared to Metropolis.
Lionel and Lillian had always been keen at making their family live obvious luxury lives to keep up with their family name but, they had decided they wanted Lena to experience even a little bit of a normal life- which is actually kind of impossible to Lena because how could someone with the last name Luthor lead a normal life?
Her brother had already made their name an inevitably noticeable trait. No dwelling on the past, on her brother, or any of that. She would make peace with the way things were then and move on. But, staying in this awfully lonely flat would be harder than she expected.
Lena hadn't even made a move to unpack so she decided to do it throughout the week- you know, with this new public school and all. And with that thought, her shoulders slumped a bit more and her face strained a little bit harder. Alas, she stood up considering she hadn't eaten since the start of her six hour flight- she should be getting ready to meet Lillian at "Noonan's" at 11.
With a quick change to a gray hoodie with the faded Superman symbol- which Lex had let her borrow years before the incident- and some black leggings. Her hair had dried so she let her hair down, inky locks spilling over her shoulders.
Lena wasn't one to ever need a car considering there was always a driver ready for her when she went places- sometimes she wouldn't even know where they come from but they're always there- but, here, in the small town of Midvale, Lillian had decided for her to keep a low profile and cruising around in a big black Cadillac XTS with body guards wasn't exactly normal. So, she had settled for a cab.
God, where even am I? Lena mused as dim yellow lamp lights colored the pine-tree-framed streets to her right- and to her left the light left shimmering streaks along the crashing waves against the cliff. There's barely any city pollution in the air, she had never seen the stars so clearly before.
"Noonan's, Miss, open twenty-four hours", the cab driver grunted, the smell of tobacco leaving his mouth, making Lena's face scrunch. It was nearly midnight. Lena silently left her payment- which, by the way, was way over what he needed but she couldn't have known that considering all her life her drivers wore designer clothes.
The cafe was a modern-looking place that was brightly lit. The area was decorated with booths and metal and wood chairs which gave it a rustic-aesthetic look. At the very back of the almost-empty cafe, was a woman with dirty-blonde hair wearing a large elaborate black leather pea coat- Lillian Luthor.
"Lena, dear, ready to discuss your new.. Situation?", Lillian said looking at the mess of papers on the wooden table of her apartment floor plan and multiple orientation papers for.. Midvale High? Oh, that's where I'm going.. Lena observed.
"Good evening to you too, mother,", Lena chuckled almost darkly, "So- uh- Midvale High that's-"
"Where you'll be spending the next two years at, honey,", Lillian cut her off sounding almost apologetic, giving a dirty look at the scattered papers across the table with big red letters over it saying Midvale High Enrollment. "How's the flat?", She says not looking up from the papers rather switching to the ones involving her complex, "You know, it used to be Lex's when he was down here for a business trip.. guess he never got rid of it and we could put to good use..", nodding to Lena's hoodie when she said "Lex", she trailed off.
"It's better than being stuck in Metropolis with father during his.. Reconstruction of LexCorp,", She grimaced, remembering how chaotic the company was after the incident. Everything had changed in Metropolis afterwards- it never really felt like home. She sighed, not wanting to let negative thoughts bring her down, Lena was positive she could survive her last two years of high school here. Even without her parents.
Lena shifted uncomfortably in her seat when her mother began drabbling on about how she should keep out of people's way as a Luthor and keep a low profile- things they've discussed multiple times. At this point, with all the topics Lillian has explain to Lena about the high school and Midvale, she could fall asleep right now, as her head was propped up by her elbow- eyelids getting heavier by the second.
Her eyes drifted to the tall, blonde girl behind the register, her position mimicking her own. Her hair is up in a ponytail being held up by a visor reading, "Noonan's". She looks as if she could fall asleep right then and there, as well. Lena also couldn't help but notice how strikingly beautiful this stranger was, she had piercing, electric blue eyes and a sharp jawline. Her soft features were easy on the eyes and Lena had thought she looked adorable in that uniform- although, she is a complete stranger.
The stranger's eyes soon met Lena's and suddenly Lena's palms are sweaty and she can't explain why, but the electricity those blue eyes are sending her can't be ignored. Soon, she realizes she's staring and the stranger has been staring back, and it seems the blonde has noticed the painfully boring situation Lena is in. The stranger sends her a half-smile that makes Lena's breath hitch and the stranger motions to Lillian and soon makes a gun motion with her index and middle finger pointed to her temple and flicks it up, letting her head fall onto the counter.
Lena finds this nothing short of amusing and sends the girl a small smile which the stranger replies with a big dopey smile. Lena laughs quietly- without Lillian hearing her, who which, is still rambling on about something she couldn't care less about- and mouths the word, "help", in a comically dramatic way to the stranger- who laughs. A laugh in which Lena would love to hear again.
"Looks like we're- uh closing up,", The stranger says, standing up- wait weren't they open 24 hours…? Oh. Lena thought, Ohhhh.
"I'll see you next weekend dear, tell me how your first day goes", Lillian gathers Lena in a side-hug and kisses the top of her head, waving her off out the door. The stranger winks at Lena as the cafe door rings as it closes, leaving the brunette completely dumbstruck.
"Uh- Okay- Wow, thank you,", Lena laughs nervously as the stranger leans over the counter, meeting eyes with Lena, one hand under her chin. "I think we both know this place is open twenty-four hours.."
"Looks like your mom was droning on- it's getting pretty late, I know how it feels so all I could do was help", The blonde smiled that easy, kind smile. Now that she was closer, Lena realized this girl is probably around her age, "So.. are you new around here?"
"Oh, yeah I am,", Lena said, caught off guard by the suddenness of the question, "How'd you know?"
"We live in Midvale- I think I'd notice a new person in this tiny town,", The blonde shrugged, "Name's Kara- Danvers. Kara Danvers.".
"Lena", She says purposely not including her last name because she decided she actually wanted to make friends in this town, then, feeling more confident, "Do you normally save strangers from their mothers at midnight or am I an exception?"
At this, Kara visibly blushes, and she tips herself back on her heels, rubbing the back of her neck, "Well- uh- I don't know at this hour it gets pretty uneventful around here.. I guess- I uh- was here to help?", which she says so unsurely it almost sounds like she asking a question, and Lena finds it adorable how easily it was to make her flustered- No, Lena- you just go here, don't hit on the first girl you see!
"Calm down,", The brunette muses, "You saved me from my mother's boring lectures, so, thank you.", she smiled, a genuine smile.
"It's getting pretty late- do you- uh- want a ride home? My shift is already over and Eve can just take over right now…?", Kara stutters, not wanting to impose- you know, with just now meeting Lena. But, you know, this sudden nervousness had nothing to do with the stunning brunette and her bright smile.
"I could be an axe-murderer, you know", Lena says as seriously as can be, trying to convince Kara.
"Ah, yes, there's always that possibility,", Kara jokes, "But, I tend to not be easily scared of five-foot-three girls who are into Superman hoodies."
The Luthor rolls her eyes, shaking her head at the tall blonde, "I'll take up that offer-, the hoodie is my brothers, by the way.", and she says the last part almost silently but the girl must've realize that was a sore spot for the brunette because she had then began removing her visor and apron and leading the way.
Suddenly, Lena is in the passenger seat of a rusty, brown-ish Ford pick-up truck with a cute blonde behind the wheel. The trunk was carrying a lumpy figure under a white sheet, "No, it's not a dead-body- my friend Winn asked me to carry his new project for some sort of robotic engineering class he's taking this year?", The brunette laughed at that, and they continued their drive to her's.
They rode in comfortable silence the whole way through and she couldn't help but notice the many news articles Kara has lying around her dash and paper-clipped stacks of self-written articles in the back seat.
Her eyes always tried to drift towards the blonde but the way her eyes blew like comets suddenly made her hands very interesting. Or anything else than the blonde.
The blonde's fingers drummed rhythmically with the low pop coming from the radio, humming just a bit. Lena couldn't stop herself from smiling at this, she was just too cute.
She had a photo pinned on her rear-view mirror of her holding the camera it seems, and she's grinning widely hugging a short-haired girl who has an exaggerated angry face. Next to her a short boy wearing a plaid button up is standing between them. Then, another boy- a tall, african-american with a letterman's jacket around himself and they're both grinning widely, as well. Lena couldn't help but feel jealous of the friends surrounding this blonde and loneliness soon filled her.
Soon, they were at Lena's small apartment complex and the rain had stopped. And then, "Oh..", Kara wonders for a moment, a crinkle forming between her eyebrows, "You live alone? I don't know if it's just me but you look around my age- in high school?" An expression Lena couldn't decipher entered her eyes, was it concern?
"Oh- yeah, I am in high school, actually..", Lena trails off, "So, this is it." She says, standing with the blonde under her doorway, looking up into those deep blue eyes, and her mind goes blank for a long moment, staring.
"Yeah, I guess I'll see you around?", she smiles, a wide smile.
"Hopefully,", Lena sends her a timid smile, as she waves off the tall girl as she opens the door to her apartment. She hears her truck's engine rev and follows the sound until it fades. Lena soon finds herself smiling, she hasn't remembered the last time she's made a friend- which, admittedly is quite embarrassing. Friend, can Lena even call her that?