A nervous Kara crouched behind a desk in the music room where she was hiding. With a lot of musical instruments spread throughout, she was careful not to make any noise. She had been running away from a group of girls in her grade who thought of having some fun at her expense.
At first Kara thought they would like to be friends with her because they had sounded so friendly. They even asked her to sit with them during lunch. She told Alex about this and she said okay and it's great that she is trying to make new friends. Alex's look of approval actually made Kara feel good because it means she had made some stride in adjusting to school life.
However, Kara's older sister being in a higher grade had no way of knowing that the girls, whose names are Carissa, Iris, and Raine, were not of the nice sort. Especially to new kids with spots of weirdness like Kara. The girls did make Kara feel comfortable with them first by chatting with her over lunch, asking her how her life was like before and after coming to live with the Danvers family, her likes and dislikes, basically the whole gamut of getting to know someone.
To clinch Kara's full trust, Raine went the extra mile as to fix Kara's hair into two neat braids since she is very good in creating different hairstyles. Kara's smile was a mile wide as she expressed her thanks.
When they finally got tired of the charade, Carissa told Kara that they would like to show her something cool. "I'm sure you'll love it," she'd said, winking surreptitiously at her friends.
Kara, still innocent to the ways of humans, went.
They stopped walking when they got to a deserted hallway in school. Kara looked around apparently searching for what the girls were going to show her.
"Looking for something, Kara?" Iris said.
Kara heard a snipping sound behind her and whirled around to see Carissa holding up a pair of scissors. She and the two other girls closed in on Kara, grinning menacingly.
Kara looked at them, bewildered. Were these the very same girls who were so nice to her just moments ago? "W-what are you gonna do?" she stammered while slowly backing away.
Iris rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"
"I-I don't know... I thought..." a confused Kara said.
"Come on," Raine scoffed, "Did you really think that we wanted to be friends with a freak like you?"
"Freak?"
"Oh, quit playing innocent, Kara." Carissa lunged for Kara with the scissors. Kara screamed and tried to get away, but Carissa had caught one of her braids.
Even in the scuffle, Kara still managed to remember not to use her powers. But she had to get away from these mean girls, and fast. It was a bit difficult to do so without using her super strength, and Iris and Raine had already held her fast to the wall by her arms. Carissa was in the act of snipping off the braid that she caught when she, along with her friends, found themselves sprawled on the floor a millisecond later.
They looked up to see Kara wide-eyed and gasping for breath, with the half of one braid chopped off and the braid starting to unravel. Unknown to the trio, Kara was able to push them away by using her strength on a very minimal scale just so she wouldn't hurt them as much.
Kara did not wait for them to get up anymore. She ran.
She ran and ran until she found herself in the deserted music room where she was now hiding. Based on her super hearing, she knew that the girls had gotten up and were looking for her. She now crouched lower, hoping that Carissa and her posse won't think of entering the room. Kara stiffened as she heard them coming down the hallway, nearer and nearer to her hiding place. She heard doors opening and then closing; obviously the girls weren't giving up on finding her and finishing what they started.
"Oh, Kara," Raine called out. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
"Don't be scared, we're just having a little fun." This came from Carissa.
Kara's spine tingled when the girls laughed. Pure meanness oozed from their laughter and it was clear to her that these are the kind of humans that she did not want to associate with.
The girls' voices came nearer; Kara held her breath when she heard them right by the door of the music room. She scooted backwards to ensure that they wouldn't see her but she didn't notice that there was a drum set behind her. She accidentally stepped hard on the pedal of the bass drum, which to her sounded like a thunderclap as the sound reverberated throughout the room. Her heart dropped to her stomach.
"She's in here!" Iris yelled.
The door to the music room burst open and Carissa and the others charged in, expecting to see Kara slumped over some instruments. Fortunately for the young Kryptonian, she was able to quickly move behind a cabinet near the door. So when the girls passed by, she swiftly got up and escaped the room.
There were still a few minutes left before lunch period was over. This time Kara made sure to go to where the people are just in case those girls were still hot on her heels. She made the right choice and bumped into Rick.
"Kara, hey! What happened to you?" Rick asked, surprised at Kara's dishevelled appearance.
Kara bent over, trying to catch her breath. "Rick... mean girls... Carissa and her friends... they-they did this to me." She ran a hand through her messed-up hair. "Please don't let them get me."
"I won't." Rick's voice was angry. "Come on, let's get you to Alex." He led Kara to where Alex and their other friends were hanging out.
"Kara!" Alex screamed when she saw her miserable-looking sister being supported by Rick. "What happened? Who did this to you? Are you okay?"
Kara hastily filled Alex in on what was happening. Alex's face grew darker at every word and before Kara could finish, she was out the cafeteria dragging Kara along with her.
"Where are we going?" Kara cried while being unmercifully pulled along.
"To where your fake friends are, that's where!" Alex spat out. "How could they do that to you? What do they look like? I'll show them!"
Kara pulled her hand back, making Alex stop in her tracks. "No, Alex, don't!" Kara cried. "There'll only be more trouble!"
Alex grabbed Kara's hand and held fast. "No, Kara," she said darkly. "Those girls could have hurt you worse if you hadn't gotten away. They need to be taught a lesson!" she started walking again.
By a stroke of luck, Kara saw Carissa, Iris, and Raine walking in their direction. They haven't noticed the sisters yet as they were focused on finding Kara.
"That's the one who cut my hair," she whispered, pointing Carissa out to Alex. After that, everything that happened next were a blur from the moment Alex let go of Kara's hand and sailed right at the three girls. Kara could only watch helplessly as the scene unfolded before her.
"Why did you do that to my sister? Who do you think you are?" Alex lashed out. "How would you like it if I cut your hair, huh?" She reached for Carissa and pulled her hair violently. Iris and Raine jumped in to help their friend.
"Ow! We were just having some fun with your freak sister!" Carissa screamed and tried to pull Alex's hands away, but the other girl's grip was too strong.
Carissa's statement really got Alex going. "What did you say?" she bellowed as extra pairs of hands hit and clawed at her. She shoved them away violently.
"Kara's a freak!"
"Take that back!"
"No!"
"Take. That. Back!" Alex gripped Carissa's shoulders hard and shook her until she had her pinned to the wall. Iris and Raine came back at Alex with a vengeance in an attempt to pull her off their friend. More screams and insults arose from the fighting girls until a male voice silenced them.
"Stop!"
It was Mr. Munro, the school principal.
Jeremiah and Eliza, as well as the parents of the three other girls, were called to the school by Mr. Munro after informing them that their daughters were in a fight. They had a good long talk with him, who laid down the appropriate punishment for the girls afterwards. Kara did not get punished since she was the target for bullying, but Alex got suspended for one day for fighting and inflicting slight injury to Carissa. Alex herself sustained some bruises and scratches as well.
Iris and Raine got a three-day suspension, and as for Carissa, she got suspended for five days as she was the one who had the scissors and perpetrated the whole thing. The three were also made to apologise to Kara.
"Come on, girls, let's go home," Jeremiah said, putting an arm around each of his daughters. Eliza held Kara's hand as they walked towards the car.
Kara and Alex could not speak at all, so great was their worry that sparks will fly any time from school up until they arrive home. Thus it was a very silent ride back to the Danvers residence, not that any of them noticed.
Once at home, Jeremiah and Eliza spoke to their girls one at a time. There were lots of explanations and copious tears from Kara and Alex, but more so from Alex because this is the first time that she ever got punished for something she has done in school. Her parents reassured her that the punishment she got was a lesson enough, and besides, she did protect Kara in her own way.
"Just don't pick a fight with anyone anymore just because you're mad, all right? Call Mr. Munro or any of your teachers. They'll be the ones who will handle the situation." Eliza reminded her daughter.
"Yes, Mom."
"How are you, Alex?" a worried Kara asked her sister as she entered their room. "Did your parents ground you?"
Alex shook her head. "No, they said that my suspension is punishment enough," she said, plopping down on her bed.
"I'm sorry."
"Oh, don't be. At least you can be sure that those brats won't bother you anymore. They have a lot of nerve."
But Kara wouldn't let the matter go. "But it's because of me that you got in trouble. I should have been suspended too."
"That's not how it works, Kara," Alex laughed. "And anyway, missing just one day of school wouldn't be so bad. I'll just think of it as a three-day weekend instead of the usual two."
"If you say so," Kara said, still concerned about her older sister's wellbeing. Just then a horrible thought came to her. "Alex."
"What?"
"If you won't be in school tomorrow, then it means I'll be going to school by myself."
Alex stared at Kara. "Oh, you're right."
"What am I gonna do?"
to be continued...
thanks for reading :)
