I continued my nightly excursions, always wearing dark clothes, always keeping my ears peeled for trouble. It wasn't until a week later, a Friday night, when an incident did occur at a local party. I took care of it--just in time too--and afterwards, oddly enough, I was absolutely starving.

I managed to sneak back into my room and grab a box of mac and cheese without waking my roommate. Then, I crept back down the steps to the dorm kitchen, the dry macaroni noodles jangling in my hoodie's pocket.

The light was on in the dorm kitchen. I considered turning around and just going to bed, but I knew that sleep would be impossible without first sating my appetite for mac and cheese. I could ignore whoever else was down there snacking.

Except that I couldn't. Because she recognized me when I walked in.

"Oh, hello," Lena Luthor said from the table in the corner. "Kara, isn't it?" She said that with a tone that let me know she already knew my name, and was just clarifying out of etiquette.

"Yes," I said, crossing the kitchen to the stove.

"I'm Lena."

I nodded as I filled a pot with water.

"My roommate is always asleep by 9:30. Always. And she always wants the room to be dark and quiet. Meanwhile, I have essays to write and online quizzes to take."

I couldn't figure out why she was talking to me. Most of the time when someone was in the kitchen, they absolutely ignored my presence. I maybe recieved a nod and/or tight lipped smile, if I was lucky. So why did Lena, the Textbook Thief, insist on making idle conversation?

"Anyway, that's why I'm down here. At--" she checked her phone-- "2:36 in the morning."

I watched the water begin to boil. "I was hungry."

"I can see that."

Lena reached up and pulled her hair out of its messy bun. Her sleek hair cascaded down her back, glistening in the fluorescent lights. Her hair was absolutely captivating. I tried to stop staring.

I suddenly became aware of what I was wearing. Dark colored sweatpants and Alex's baggy hoodie. Not exactly the height of fashion, but also exactly what the vigilante would wear. Hopefully Lena would not put two and two together.

"So what topic did you choose for your research paper?" Lena said around the hair tie clasped between her teeth.

"Uh...Vindication, actually."

Lena tugged her hair into a ponytail, then started wrapping it around itself. "No kidding. So did I."

I poured the box of macaroni into the boiling water. "You probably chose to write about all of the misogynistic things that she said."

"Actually, I chose to write about the historical figures and events that Vindication inspired."

"Oh."

"I thought that it sounded interesting."

"It...does."

There was silence for a few minutes, other than the sound of me draining the macaroni and stirring in the cheese powder, and Lena tapping her pen against the table.

I should have just made myself a bowl and left. Or sat down in silence. Instead, my manners got the best of me.

"Would you like a bowl?"

She glanced up. Then smiled guiltily. "Would you mind? It does smell amazing."

I shook my head, and Lena stood up and grabbed a bowl from the cabinent. I sat down at the table opposite of where Lena had her homework set up.

Had Lena forgotten all about stealing my textbook? Or did she think I was someone else, and had not put two and two together yet? Or was she just playing it cool? I couldn't figure it out, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why I was being nice to her.

"So, Kara, are you a sophomore, junior...?" She asked, keeping her eyes fixed on her bowl.

"Sophomore."

"Me too. Well, it's actually a bit complicated. I did a year and a half at a community college, getting my prerequisites out of the way. So I think that I'm a sophomore?"

"Is this your first semester here?"

Lena nodded. "Not to be weird, or anything, but this mac and cheese is amazing."

I smiled, in spite of myself. "It's just normal Kraft macaroni and cheese."

"It's so good." She forked another bite into her mouth. "It probably helps that I haven't eaten since noon."

"Probably." I took a bite too. "Do you know if the cafeteria is open again?"

"It is. It opened for lunch."

I shouldn't have brought up the cafeteria. It would be so easy for Lena to turn the subject to the vigilante.

But she didn't. Instead, she asked me about my major.

"Journalism," I replied.

"How fun."

"It is. Or at least, I think it is. I haven't done a lot of classes for my major yet. That starts junior year." I really needed to stop talking to her. She might think that I actually liked her or something.

"I'm getting a business degree."

"Oh, that's..." I tried to think of a word.

"Boring, I know. But it's useful. Practical."

I looked down at my bowl.

Lena stood. "Thank you for the amazing mac and cheese. It was truly a lifesaver."

"No problem." I stood as well, rinsing out my bowl and fork in the sink.

"I'll see you Tuesday, then," she said.

"Yeah. See you."

The poster took up half of the bulletin board in Ellsworth Hall. It was bright blue, with red block letters.

Don't Take the Law into Your Own Hands! See a Crime--Report It!

I wasn't sure if I should be angry or flattered. I mean, this poster was obviously in response to my actions, put up by the school board or the police. Or both.

I briefly considered taking a picture to send to Alex, but decided against it. I didn't want to freak her out, especially since she was already freaked out about my vigilante night job. So instead, I turned my back on the poster and headed to class, its message still hiding out in the back of my mind.

I sat down in the front row once again, busying myself with opening my notebook, finding the correct page in my newly arrived textbook, and not looking at Lena, or even acknowledging her presence. We had shared a late-night meal, and she had stolen my free textbook from me--that was where our relationship ended.

In class that day, we discussed Coleridge's poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I had found the poem odd, to say the least. I mean, it was about this old guy who crashed a wedding to tell the guests about this time he killed an albatross which resulted in his ship's crew dying off and several weird run-ins with supernatural beings.

Ms. Steele asked us what we thought the point or the theme of the poem was. I snuck a small glance around the classroom, to see if there was any sort of possibility of someone other than Lena or I answering. I wasn't surprised when I saw that there were only two other people present: Sleeping Beauty, whose cheek was plastered against the table, and Anime Guy, who had lost any sense of subtlety and was scribbling away in a sketch book.

"'Don't kill an albatross,'" I suggested.

Ms. Steele laughed. "That's always a good idea."

"'Shoot any bird you like, but to kill an albatross, well that's a sin," I said, spoofing the quote from To Kill A Mockingbird.

This time, I got a chuckle out of Lena too.

"Actually," Lena said after a moment, "that brings up an interesting point about the similarities between this poem and To Kill A Mockingbird."

"How so?" Ms. Steele asked.

"Well, the reason why Atticus told the kids not to shoot a mockingbird was because of their innocence. He said that mockingbirds did nothing but sing, and shooting one is a sin because of that, because they do nothing but provide sweet songs for anything that is listening."

I found myself staring at Lena as she talked, watching as she tugged at her shirt, the same shirt that she had been wearing the other night in the dorm kitchen.

"This particular albatross did nothing other than offer help to the ship's crew. In that way, it was innocent. And the Mariner killed it anyway."

"That's interesting," Ms. Steele said. "I have never thought about that."

I had not either.

"I just thought of it, actually," Lena said. I noted the smile that kept tugging at her lips, the proud glint in her eye. Lena was a woman who liked to be praised.

I wondered why she had not talked to me before class or after class. Not that I should care. I didn't. But she had been very friendly last night. Now, she was acting like I wasn't even there. Perhaps it was because there were people around. Witnesses that could ruin her reputation if they saw her doing anything kind. A true Luthor.

I spotted Winn once again as I left my class, catching sight of his backpack as he shuffled down the hall. I called out to him, and he stopped in front of a water fountain.

"I...I actually have something that I want to talk to you about. A question I'd like to ask."

He frowned a little. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. Don't worry about that."

I paused when Lena walked past the two of us. I knew that she saw me, though I wasn't sure exactly how I knew, but she kept her eyes fixed ahead.

I shook my head, turning my attention back to Winn. "Do you still want to hang out sometime? We could go get some coffee."

"That sounds good to me. I'm free tonight if you are."

I had a test to study for, but I could make time. "How about Sips, seven o'clock?"

He nodded. "I'll see you then."