Kara ran home. There was no way she would be able to face Cat after that kiss. How could she have been so stupid? Cat didn't seem angry, but Kara knew it was just the shock from the kiss. She wasn't ready for what awaited her tomorrow at school. It was only the first day of school and she had already managed to make a complete fool of herself, and with Cat Grant! How was she going to amend the situation? She couldn't talk to her step-mom, just the thought of trying to explain it to Eliza made her internally groan. Maybe...Alex?
Once Kara arrived at the Danvers residence, she quickly texted her sister Alex, NEED TO TALK, PLEASE CALL. Kara never knew whether Alex was or was not available to talk. I guess it was the biggest disadvantage of working for an uber secretive government organization, but Alex always made sure to make herself as readily available as possible whenever Kara needed her. Stemming from when Kara came to live with the Danvers, after her parents died. Alex made sure Kara always had someone to watch her back and help her with all life's problems. Even if she was thousands of miles away, or a few minutes away, Alex tried her best to be there for Kara. Tonight was no exception, a few minutes passed after Alex received the text, Kara's phone rang. "Alex! I need help, I have a huge problem!"
Alex sensed a genuine sense of urgency as she heard Kara's frantic cry. "Kara! What's wrong? Are you safe? Are mom and dad okay? Where are you? Do I need to send a unit out?"
"Wait, what?" Kara instantly realized she may have accidentally exaggerated her situation and thought she, maybe, should have elaborated her plea for help. "No, no we're all fine. This is more of a personal problem. I'm sorry, I probably should have mentioned that."
Alex sighed a breath of relief. "That's okay Kara, trust me, I'd rather it be a personal problem than a family kidnapping. Now, what's wrong?"
"Well, I went over to a friend's house after school to study and something happened." Kara's face flushed at the not so distant memory.
On the other side of the line, Alex was wide-eyed, automatically thinking of the worst case scenario. "Kara. What. Happened? Was it a boy? Did someone do something to you?" Alex was now beginning to worry.
"No!" Kara assured her. Perhaps she should try explaining herself thoroughly, before her sister sent a convoy to raid National City Prep. "Let me explain."
"Please do, I'm getting heart palpitations over here."
"Well, it all started when I first walked into school." Kara began to animatedly recall her day. Starting from the morning locker conversation with Cat, up to walking into her bedroom.
"So what happened after you walked into the room? Did you burn the place down or something? Or, let me guess, she's a hoarder and you ran away in complete and utter disgust!" Alex joked. As far as she understood from the story she was hearing, Kara had been experiencing nausea all day, induced by one Cat Grant, but Alex knew it wasn't simple nausea.
"Alex! No, something even worse." There was hesitation in Kara's voice, she wasn't sure how Alex would react to what she had done, but she knew Alex was probably the one who could possibly give her unbiased advice. Eliza would probably make her switch schools, which now that she thought about it, might not be such a bad idea. Then again, she would never see Cat again. She shook the thoughts away and resumed her story. "Okay, so I sat down on the edge of her bed, waiting for to come out so we could start studying and when she finally comes out, god Alex! She was wearing the skimpiest shorts and a tight tank and I was gawking at her like a construction worker on his lunch break! I'm surprised I didn't start whistling at her!" Alex laughed on the other side of the line. "Alex it's not funny, it's mortifying!"
Alex continued laughing, "I'm sorry kid, it's just…I don't see the problem here!"
Kara whined impatiently, "The problem here Alex, is that I'm not gay! I like guys and guys like me, I think."
"You think? Kara you're young, you might know who you are, but the truth is, you're still learning who you are and what you like and don't like. I'm just saying, you might have a little crush on Cat, you might not. Maybe it's just a small infatuation and it will pass. Just play it cool." Alex assured her.
"I kissed her!" Kara blurted out.
The line went silent for a few seconds, then Alex burst out laughing. "Oh my god Kara! No way! How in the world did you manage that? Did you fall on her or something?"
Kara rolled her eyes sarcastically, "Actually, she fell on me, well, she tripped on my backpack and then I sort of just kissed her."
Alex's laughter subdued and asked, "What did she say afterwards? You guys did talk about it afterwards right?"
"I...kind of, ran out the door." Kara admitted, looking back at it, she should have probably faced the music then and there.
"Hit and run, tsk tsk. You need to talk to her Kara. I mean, I know you kissed her, but you did say she walked out in a skimpy outfit right? A girl doesn't just invite someone over to study and just so happens to change into an alluring outfit. The feelings you have for her have to be at least somewhat reciprocated if she decided to do that. And as withdrawn as you say she is, it's quite plausible she doesn't do this often." Alex didn't know what else to tell her sister. As much as she wanted to help her, there was only so much advice she could offer.
"But Alex, how do I even know if I am gay? I've never had these feelings for anyone, not even James. I just feel nauseous all the time when I'm around her." Kara didn't mention her elevating heartbeat whenever Cat had linked their arms together that day, or the electricity that seemed to course through when their lips had connected.
Alex perceived there might have been some information Kara left out, but decided to not intrude. "Just talk to her Kara, who knows, maybe she's just as distraught over this ordeal as you are. Now, goodnight, keep me updated, and have a wonderful day at school."
"Thanks Alex, love you." Kara ended the call and saw that she had received a few messages during the call. Cat. Oh no. I thought I would have at least a few hours before I was reprimanded.
She opened the first message. Eyes closed. She breathed in deeply and mentally prepared herself for the backlash.
Kara. I'm sorry.
Confusion spread across Kara's face, why was she apologizing to her? She continued to scroll through the messages.
Please Kara, we need to talk about this.
Kara wasn't sure she was going to be able to face Cat. Especially, now that Cat thought she had something to apologize for.
You left your school bag here.
What? Kara looked to the floor where her school bag was, but was taken aback when she saw Cat's bag. She guessed, after spazzing out and running out of Cat's room, she must have gotten the bags mixed up and picked up the wrong one. She face palmed in sheer embarrassment, continuing to scroll to the last message.
We both know how much homework we've already amounted today. So, you either need to bring my bag or I'm picking it up myself and seeing as how I have no idea where you live, you need to return it ASAP. You have 5 minutes to respond.
Kara responded with a simple: Ok. She began to quickly change out of her school uniform, and mentally prepared herself for the inevitable encounter that was to come.
Cat felt her phone buzz.
Ok.
Ok? Ok? What the hell was wrong with that blue-eyed goddess? Ugh!
Cat sat at the foot of her bed and rubbed her temples. She had been in a constant state of agitation ever since Kara ran out her door. She wanted to talk about what happened, sure she had been momentarily shocked, and who wouldn't? Being on top of Kara, even if it was merely for what seemed like a fraction of a second, was exhilarating. Underneath the school uniform, Cat felt the outline of a seemingly muscular frame, she had fought the urge to roam her hands over Kara's body. Then Kara reached up and closed the distance between them and crashed her soft lips against hers. Cat's mind came to a halt. The kiss was so short, it left her wanting more, but it seemed to Cat that maybe Kara had made a mistake. She did run away, though Cat didn't know whether it was from fear or regret. Did Kara even like her like that? Was Kara even interested in girls? Cat herself was very comfortable with her own sexuality. She didn't discriminate against who her heart chose, but Kara had her in deep thought. What if she just wants to be friends? What if the kiss was just a mistake? What if Kara wanted something more than friendship? Cat smirked at the thought of Kara possibly having a crush on her. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted at the sound of her doorbell.
Cat debated whether she should change into something more modest, but decided against it and stood up and made her way downstairs to her front door. When she arrived, she placed her hand on the doorknob and hesitated. She took a deep breath and opened the door. There stood Kara, dressed very comfortably in a white tee, gray sweatpants and donning a pair of brown Ugg boots. Adorable. Thought Cat. She smiled fondly as she waited for Kara to greet her.
"Hey…Cat." Kara said nervously, handing Cat's school bag out to her, still not looking up at Cat.
Cat reached out and took the bag from Kara, carefully. "Thank you Kara. Would you like to come inside?"
Kara snapped her head up, wide-eyed in either surprise, or disbelief at the fact that Cat was still wearing her little tank and shorts. "NO!" Cat jumped back a bit. "I mean, it's okay. It's getting late, I should probably be heading back, so…I'll just take my bag and get on my way."
Cat involuntarily grinned. "Well, your bag is still upstairs in my room." Kara looked away at the memory of what had occurred not too long ago. "Seriously Kara, that thing weighs a ton, I couldn't lift it, let alone, bring it all the way downstairs."
This couldn't be happening. Kara had made a mental plan to simply drop off Cat's bag, pick up her bag and go home. No small talk, no big talk. She felt like she was about to be cornered into talking about the kiss. She wasn't ready. She needed time to come up with an excuse to deem the kiss as a mere accident. "Kara!?" Cat's fingers snapped before her eyes, startling Kara. "Are you coming up or not?"
"Uh, yes. Sorry." Kara followed behind Cat upstairs to her room where her bag was, being careful not to stare at Cat's backside, which was proving to be very difficult.
Once they made it upstairs, Kara made her way into the bedroom and quickly picked up her bag from besides the bed. As she turned around to leave, Cat stood at the door's threshold, hand on her cocked out hip with a sly smile adorning her face. "Okay, Danvers. Spill."
"I'm sorry?" Kara feigned confusion, though she knew exactly what Cat was referring to.
Cat seemed amused, "Okay. I'll let you explain, but you're not leaving this room until you do." Cat said as she crossed her arms in a defiant stance. She was going to get an answer, she didn't care if she liked it or not. She needed to know what compelled Kara to do what she did.
Kara adjusted her glasses nervously and began fidgeting with her bag. As she had predicted, she was being cornered into rationalizing her actions. The only thing about that was, there was no rational explanation to her earlier behavior. She reacted on pure impulse and looking back at it, she would do it over and over again. Of course, Kara couldn't let Cat know this. She had to think of something fast. "Well, you know…I actually…have this thing," her hands waving around animatedly "…this uh…muscular disease."
"Muscular disease?" Cat asked smugly as she slowly made her way to Kara who was standing by the bedside.
Kara looked uneasy, "Uh, yeah…I get really bad muscle spasms…I'm guessing one was probably triggered when you fell on me. Happens all the time! And I'm sorry if it seemed like I was taking advantage of you or something."
Cat didn't look impressed. "So when you ran out at the speed of light, what was that all about?" She stepped even closer, causing the back of Kara's knees to hit the bed.
OhmygodOhmygod. Dang. Kara was internally flipping out at the nearing proximity she was once again experiencing. She had hoped Cat didn't mention that small tidbit. She quickly spat out, "My foster mom went to the store and left the stove on. I had to get there as fast as I could or else the house would burn down …sorry about that too."
"Alright, Danvers. Seems somewhat plausible." Cat, of course, didn't believe a single word, but decided to play along with the charade and save Kara the embarrassment of telling the truth. Who knows, maybe she does have some sort of weird spastic disorder, and if going along with Kara meant keeping their friendship intact, it was worth it. Honestly speaking, Cat had her own little crush on Kara, but if Kara really didn't feel the same way towards Cat, she thought it best to keep it under wraps until she got to know her a bit better.
"Okay!" Kara started to shuffle around Cat. "Well, I better get going. Thanks…" She almost made it out the bedroom door, when she felt a tug on her arm, impeding her departure.
Hand still clinging onto Kara, Cat gazed into her eyes. "I'm sorry too."
Kara was genuinely puzzled. Why was she apologizing?"Sorry for what?"
Cat slowly released her hold on Kara. She didn't want to admit it, but there had to be some truth to this whole conversation, might as well be her own. Oh, boy. I'm going to regret this someday. She continued gazing into Kara's ocean blue eyes with her signature smirk, and said "I'm sorry I deliberately kissed you back."
Kara froze on the spot. Not knowing how to process this information, she simply nodded and ran downstairs and out the door, for the second time that day.
Cat remained once again, in her room, alone with her thoughts. Can I lock my room from the inside?
