It's lunch time. To spare herself from all the unwanted noise around her that she has been experiencing since she arrived in school with her older sister Alex, Kara Danvers decided to have her lunch in the girls' bathroom. It was working so far; nobody had entered the bathroom and disturbed her solitude. Still, tears gathered in the corners of Kara's eyes as she sat in a cubicle and tried her best to eat her lunch.
What am I doing in this place? I wish I never came to Earth. It's so hard to control my powers, it's like everything is going at two hundred percent. My teachers are nice enough but I don't know about the other kids. I feel like they're staying away from me because I say things that sound weird to them. Life here is so hard. Oh, Mom, what am I going to do? I wish you were here. I need you.
A few tears fell as Kara took a bite out of the lasagna that Eliza had packed for her. Then she almost choked when she remembered that she was supposed to have lunch with Alex and her friends.
Oh, no. I hope Alex won't get mad at me for not waiting for her. She has been nothing but kind to me, but I can also see that she wants to hang out with her friends. It's okay. I'll be okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.
Kara sniffled a little as she continued to eat her lunch. The lasagna was good, but she barely noticed it as she was just automatically eating. Suddenly the door to the girls' bathroom opened with a slight bang.
"Kara?"
Alex.
Kara's heart dropped to her stomach. "Alex? I-uh-I'm here in the last cubicle," she stammered. She hurriedly picked up her fork that had unfortunately dropped onto the tiled floor.
Swift footsteps brought her big sister to the cubicle door. "Are you ok, Kara?" Alex asked. "I've been looking for you everywhere."
Kara closed her eyes and tried to steady her breath. Good thing Alex couldn't see her watery eyes. "Yeah, I'm ok," she answered as convincingly as she could.
But Alex was not fooled. "I can hear it in your voice that you're so not okay. Can you open this door, please?"
The door opened slowly, revealing the young Kryptonian with a tear-streaked face. "Are you mad at me, Alex?" Kara asked meekly.
Alex's heart went out to Kara. Her mom and dad had sat her down the night before and asked her to look out for Kara especially in school since it will be her very first time to be with other kids on Earth. Being the obedient daughter and the kind person Alex is, she complied with her parents' request. In addition to that, she likes Kara well enough and it is nice to have someone close to her age to hang out with at home. She reached out and gently dried Kara's tears with a handkerchief.
"No Kara, don't worry I'm not mad at you. When I didn't see you at the lunch room earlier I already knew that something was up. Do you want to tell me what it is?" Alex asked. When Kara hesitated, she added quickly, "It's okay if you don't want to. And if you like, I'll keep you company."
Kara's eyes grew wide. "But... your friends. Won't they look for you?"
"Oh, that's okay. They know that I'll have lunch with you, wherever I find you. And it so happens that I found you here, so... we can't eat here. I mean, eww!" Alex made an elaborate show of pretending to puke.
Kara giggled. "It does feel weird eating in here."
"I know, right? Come on, we can have our lunch outside," Alex said as she helped Kara fix her lunch bag. "There's this huge shade tree beside the gym. My friends and I like to hang out there sometimes."
"Are you sure your friends won't mind?"
"One hundred percent sure," Alex declared. "Don't cry now, Kara. It'll get easier as the days go by, I promise. Life here will be exciting for you in no time, you'll see. For starters, Rick invited us to the beach later after school. That should be fun." She smiled encouragingly and then took Kara's hand in hers and squeezed it.
Comforted by Alex's presence, Kara squeezed Alex's hand back. Her mom may not be with her right now, but she is thankful that she has Alex with her. She is also grateful for Jeremiah and Eliza's support. With the three of them, she knows she can face her new life on Earth bravely. All she has to do for now is to survive school. Kara smiled broadly at Alex, all traces of sadness gone from her eyes. "Okay. I'd like that a lot. Thanks, Alex."
"Anytime, Kara."
The two sisters walked out of the girls' bathroom hand in hand.
tbc.
thanks for reading. :)
