"To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don't be."
-Golda Meir
Max looks alarmed as Alex and Kara approach, and she tugs on Lena's arm.
"What's up with the news van?" Alex asks.
Cookie and Lena explain that a news crew showed up to cover the dress code rebellion, which is making some local waves. They came early to talk to students before the school staff could prevent the kids from talking to reporters.
Kara gets excited, thinking that the public is interested in their cause.
"They are more interested in controversy than anything else," Lena explains. "Well, they were, anyway, before the weather got weird. They're saying that the temperature dropped from the 60s down to the 30s in less than 5 minutes."
"Yeah, I could tell," Alex responds with her arms crossed in front of her chest, shivering.
It is way too cold for many of the girls, who are still defying the dress code, but they're toughing it out and staying outside, sensing that something is about to happen.
Max notices that the news cameras are now pointing towards the sky, where dark clouds are forming at an alarming rate.
Just then, it starts to snow. There hadn't been any snow in that part of the country in more than a decade, and even as chilly as it was, it felt too warm for snow.
The weather is so strange for Leesburg, it feels eerie and a little exciting, and everyone is looking to the sky anticipating, as though waiting for fireworks or an eclipse.
Several students run out onto the football field celebrating the special event,
Then the sky darkens, and the snow picks up suddenly until it's as dense as fog, yet melting as soon as it touches the warm ground.
A quick gust of cold air blows in everyone's face followed immediately by a warm gust from behind, and the snow swirls like in one of those snow globes after being shaken up. It's both beautiful and unnerving.
An arc of lightning suddenly reaches out and hits an antenna on top of the school, along with an immediate crack of thunder, causing everyone to run quickly away from the building.
When they look up at the roof of the school and see that no harm was done, they glance at each other and giggle nervously.
While everyone is looking at the school, they don't notice that beyond the blanket of snow, the sky looks like night, and the falling snow is suddenly being sucked into the familiar shape of a tornado, moving quickly towards the school.
Everyone is caught flat-footed. Most students rush towards the school, creating a log jam at the entrance, but those on the football field are like prey caught in an open field by a fierce predator.
A few students scream out against the deeper sound of the coming maelstrom of wind, as a long tentacle of the elemental beast reaches out and grabs one of the students.
Kara doesn't even think. She runs towards the danger and jumps up into the air, flying into the vortex as though she was being sucked in. Her dress is pushed up and if she didn't have one of her arms cocked, it would have been pulled right over her head. Nobody would be able to tell the state of her clothes in this middle of this tornado, and Kara might have a problem to deal with when she lands, but she doesn't have time to worry about that, now, because at least two fellow students are being sucked into the tornado and thrown high up into the air.
Kara is surprised to find out who she is saving. First is Peggy, the new leader of Cookie's old clique, and definitely not a fan of Kara, but she doesn't resist Kara saving her now. Her boyfriend had been holding her hand when the tornado attacked, and he was now being tossed high in the sky, but Kara reaches him in just three seconds and holds him with her other arm. She carries them both to the front of the school where a small crowd of students and the news crew are hovering right by the door, transfixed on the action, since the escape into the building is blocked.
She puts sets both schoolmates down gently on the ground, met by stunned faces all around. Kara has the sense to hold down her skirt after letting them go, afraid of another blast of wind.
But Lena is by the door, pointing at the tornado, which seems to have stalled in the middle of the football field, chewing up stands and fences as though it were a predator ravaging its prey, ignoring the school and the onlookers. "Bobby went after you," Lena yells through the commotion.
Kara turns around instantly and stares into the storm, terrified that Bobby might be dying after valiantly trying to save her. Even with her vision, it's hard to see through all of that commotion. Then she sees Bobby, holding on for dear life to a goal post, which is soon to tear free.
She flies back into the tornado.
Bobby is petrified, barely noticing when she grabs his arm. The goal post is torn from his grip and tossed into the air, but Kara's grip on his arm holds firm. Still, he doesn't seem aware of what has saved him. Kara pulls him closer so she can shout into his ear, "Hold onto me!" He finally looks her way, and when he sees her, he throws his arms around her and clings onto her for dear life.
Then, amazingly, the winds abate, as though the tornado had hit an invisible wall. Kara had been flying against the wind, so she almost crashes into the school from her momentum when the wind dies down. The wind monster breaks up onto three smaller whirlwinds, which quickly disintegrate, leaving behind a sky full of falling debris and a school completely intact and untouched.
She carries Bobby back to the school entrance, where a dozen students remain bravely to watch the spectacle, including Kara's friends. Several other students who fled from the football field, barely escaping from the tentacles of wind, now approach Kara from behind in stunned disbelief of what they saw.
But there are potentially many, many more witnesses than that.
The news crew never took shelter. Their camera, which was zeroed in on the tornado, now follow Kara as she gently comes into a soft landing, and Kara knows they were probably following her as soon as she leaped into action. If they are broadcasting live, then countless others are already watching the super-girl's unveiling.
Kara wonders exactly how much of herself she had unveiled. She remembers several times in the air, the air had pushed her dress up around her chest, but could anyone really see her clearly in that whirlwind, with debris and snow everywhere?
Bobby still clings to her when she lands, as he struggles to catch his breath, which was sucked out by the vacuum in the eye of the beast. He might still be in shock, she thinks, because he's still holding on tight even after they land. Unfortunately, he is also holding her dress up, exposing Kara's bare ass, and Kara doesn't realize it until he finally lets go, and the hem flaps down against her thighs.
By now, the sky is clearing up, and the storm goes as quickly as it came. The storm was unprecedented in these parts, especially since the day's forecast predicted calm weather. But as newsworthy as the insane weather is, this young superheroine is a bigger story and is the center of everyone's attention.
Kara feels everyone's eyes on her. This was exactly what Eliza had always tried to protect her from, and Kara's adrenaline pumps through her body, feeling like she's in danger.
Dozens of people are watching her, most of them too shocked to ask the questions Kara is most afraid of.
Nobody acts aggressively towards her, but the eyes of the students seem more wary than happy to have a hero in their midst. Kara can hear their whispers. Nobody is talking about seeing her naked ass. They aren't even talking about the tornado that came out of freaking nowhere. They are only talking about the odd, skinny girl being much stranger than they ever imagined.
What worries Kara the most was that nobody comes forward to greet her, like she's a dangerous animal that might strike unexpectedly. Like she was no longer one of them. Even Bobby seems eager to get away, as soon as he realizes that he is safe.
Alex pushes her way through the rapidly growing crowd, yelling, "Kara!" Before Kara can answer, Alex is upon her, kissing her with a bit too much affection, then surrounding her in an embrace. "Are you okay?" she asks, seeing the deer-in-the-headlights look in Kara's eyes.
"Yeah," Kara says uncertainly, but Alex's touch calms her considerably.
While the man outside of the news van shoots Kara passively with his beast of a camera, a pretty young reporter argues with a man wearing a headset, and finally, they turn and approach Kara.
The reporter smiles at Kara and says very nicely, "Hello, would you mind talking with me for a moment?"
"Okay," Kara replies nervously, clinging to Alex, who is glaring protectively into the camera.
The man with the headset holds a light and microphone over the reporter's head, and whispers what sounds like nonsense, then says loudly, "OK, recording now."
"Cat Grant WCBS," she announces herself to Kara and to her TV audience. "That was an amazing show of heroics, young lady! What is your name?"
"Kara Danvers," Kara replies obediently.
"Are you a student here?"
"Yes."
"Were those your friends you just saved?"
"Well… Bobby's my friend," Kara answers, then looks for Bobby in the crowd around them. She can't see him.
"Everyone here seems really surprised by what you just did," she observes. "Clearly you are no ordinary young woman. Do you want to explain to everyone how you flew into that tornado, saved your friends and then carried them out?"
"Well," Kara starts, then looks at Alex, who looks back supportively. "I'm from Krypton."
The crowd of students murmurs, and Cat raises her eyebrow. "Funny. I just interviewed someone from there last week," she says. "He came to Earth as a baby when Krypton was destroyed. How long have you been here?"
"Two years," Kara replies.
"Hmm, the math doesn't add up, but okay," Cat says. "Do you have all of the same powers?"
She nods.
"Incredible strength? Laser eyes?"
Kara nods again.
"Is there anything different about being a super-girl?" she asks more playfully, afraid that she's making this cute little alien somehow seem boring.
Kara shrugs.
"Do you have any weaknesses?" Cat asks a little more aggressively. "For example, would you lose your powers if you wore underwear, because clearly, you don't wear any."
"No," Kara says, taking a step back, not sure if Cat is serious or not. "I just don't wear underwear all of the time."
"Well, most of us on Earth do," Cat goads. "Well, except for some of our spoiled starlets when they go out partying. Is that how you see yourself? A sexy starlet?"
"I-I don't think so," Kara stammers. "It's just fun dressing that way. It makes me feel better about myself."
That answer fascinates Cat. "So …. you have all of this power, but you can only have fun and feel good about yourself when you strip off your clothes? I thought you are coming out as a hero right now; doesn't that make you feel good about yourself?"
Kara looked at the ground, feeling intimidated. "I don't know."
"This is so discouraging, I must say," Cat says harshly, "to learn that even a super-powered girl from across the universe feels like she can only derive happiness from her body! Don't you think you owe it to all young women to do better? To be a powerful role model?"
Kara feels like she's being pushed into a corner, which gives her the strength to fight back: "I don't know, maybe I want to be a role model for freedom. Shouldn't girls feel free to dress the way they like?"
"So you're saying you're a lipstick feminist?" Cat replies scornfully. "Or maybe a stiletto feminist? Except without the shoes or makeup, of course. Or maybe that's just me giving you credit for knowledge you don't have."
Cat's ridicule finally forces Alex to speak up. "Why are you being so mean to my sister! She doesn't need to justify herself to you!"
"Sister?" Cat replies with curiosity, and immediately Alex knows she's made a mistake. Cat continues: "Well, this is all very interesting, and I'm sure this has a lot to do with this dress code scandal that is sweeping across your school. But one thing you students need to realize is that this is bigger than high school. Maybe such unruliness can work among your peers, but there are sexual predators in the real world, and in this digital world, what you show each other here, you are showing people out there."
Kara and Alex both feel intimidated by Cat, and when they don't respond the right way, Lena jumps in front and responds in their stead in her usual, direct way: "So you are saying that we have to censor ourselves because some horny men might lust after our young bodies? How is that feminist? Why are we responsible for what they do?"
Cat laughs and looked at the camera. "Well, it looks like we've covered the gamut here today. We came here to do a little story about teens revolting over a dress code in a small suburban high school. Then we are confronted by freak tornados, Kryptonian nudists, kissing sisters and a philosopher defending child pornography. One thing I can say: The teens in Leesburg High are getting quite an education."
X X X
Kara and her friends refuse to talk to any more reporters, and Kara thinks that once the news van left maybe things could return to normal. After all, the sky was clearing up and the school was undamaged. Maybe they could just go to class like nothing had happened?
That is a foolish hope, she quickly realizes, because the students are all looking at her funny, even many of those who had admired her.
The principal, who had lost his air of authority yesterday when the revolution began, now tries to take it back in the confusion. He stands by the school entrance and calls out, "Considering all of this … craziness… I think it's best that we all gather together in the auditorium and talk about what we have all witnessed."
The herd of students give Kara one last look with a range of stares that she can barely read. She can't even read Bobby's usually adoring eyes. The principal calls out once more, and the students dutifully move towards his voice and enter the building.
"I don't want to go in there," Kara says, shuddering. "I think all they are going to do is talk about me."
"You would be right," Lena says matter-of-factly.
"Are they angry at me?" Kara asks, her heart suddenly sinking.
"No," Lena says, her eyes squinting as if looking in the distance. "I sense a lot of confused emotions. Some grateful. Some afraid. A lot of them feel betrayed, feeling like they were getting to know you, only to find you were someone completely different."
"Oh," Kara says, sad but unsurprised. After Eliza and Jeremiah and even Alex warned her for so long about the dangers of telling the truth, she had braced herself for this. But that doesn't stop the tears from flowing.
"Shh," Alex coos, surrounding Kara with her arms. "You still have us."
Kara smiles thankfully and leans into Alex, but she does not feel better, because she was really hoping all of those worries that had been ingrained into her were overblown. After the encouragement from her mom and from Kal-El, she thought that she was finally ready to present herself proudly to this world, and now she just feels foolish.
Lena notices that several students and teachers with cell phones are calling the outside world, and she warns, "More news vans will be pulling up here any moment, as soon as Ms. Grant broadcasts her exclusive."
"I guess it's true, then," Eric added. "No deed goes unpunished."
Alex's expression is grim. "We can't go home. Everyone will be looking for us there."
"I've had to deal with media storms before," Cookie says. "They will find all of your friends' homes and look there, too."
"Oh," Kara whimpered, feeling more like a victim than a hero. "So... where should I go? Just walk in the woods? Do I have to live there?"
"Don't be silly," Alex says encouragingly and holding her possessively, "We'll wander around with you if it comes to that."
"What about my place?" Max offers. "Nobody knows where I'm staying, except my parents, your cousin and you guys."
"Great idea!" Lena says excitedly. "Okay, we'd better get going quickly, before anyone has the wise idea of following us."
When they turn to walk away, Bobby, who was hovering uncertainly nearby, does just that. He runs up to Kara and asks urgently, "Where are you going?"
"We're going… somewhere, just trying to get away," Kara replies. "I thought you were mad at me."
Bobby looks shocked. "You saved my life. I love you. Why would I be mad at you? Can I come along?"
Kara nods enthusiastically and smiles and gives him a quick hug, feeling a little better about telling the truth, now.
Kara can feel Alex's stare burning into her like heat vision.
"What?" Kara whispers.
Alex pauses before replying. "Nothing."
Kara knows better. She turns back to Bobby and says, "Maybe it's not a good idea. I'll see you at school tomorrow."
Then Kara takes Alex's arm, and the six of them walk through the wooded area alongside the road towards the Super 8.
X X X
A half hour later, they arrive at the hotel. Nobody stops them as they walk through the lobby, but they don't relax until Max opens the door to her room and they all slip inside.
The first thing they do is turn on the television, and images of Kara and Alex are inescapably splattered on every channel. They stop channel surfing and settle on WCBS which contains the full interview, with Cat Grant giving her exclusive eye witness report.
Kara stands transfixed in front of the old TV set, biting her fingernails.
The video shows the whole event as it was filmed outside of the school, starting with the tornado, but the video is edited strategically. The narrative focuses on the Danvers sisters' pride patches, then quickly switches to a close-up of them kissing. The video runs extra slow, making the kiss seem long and passionate.
After showing the full interview, the network anchor follows up with Ms. Grant live in the studio, pressing for editorial commentary, which Cat is only too eager to provide.
Anchor: "The news is barely even out, yet everyone is already calling this new hero 'Supergirl', yet you are resisting that title. Why?"
Cat: "With that title should go everything that Superman himself represents. This young lady doesn't even know what she represents. Someone named 'Supergirl' should be a positive role model to our girls and to our society. Instead, she's championing a hedonistic philosophy and living an incestuous, homosexual lifestyle, while convincing herself that she stands for freedom. Our society should not be standing behind such behavior just because of some initial excitement we feel right now. This girl has a lot of maturing to do."
As Cat speaks, the screen shows a slowed-down video of Kara taking flight. The image zooms in and stops at her skirt, clearly showing that she's not wearing panties, but with a black rectangle obscuring her pussy. Then another video shows her landing with her butt-cheeks exposed, except for another black box hiding whatever the producer decided was the naughty part. The banner on the bottom of the screen says "censored", letting viewers know that they will need to use Google to find the other version.
Anchor, shaking his head: "Disgraceful."
Cat: "I'm afraid she's learning this sad behavior from the people she calls friends. She's just a baby when it comes to American culture. She doesn't understand the importance of first impressions, and I'm afraid this is what we are looking forward to in the age of the Millennials. They don't understand that what they do now when they are young will have …"
"This is such bullshit!" Lena yells, as she switches off the TV. She blocks the screen from Kara's view, as though protecting her from whatever ghost image remains. "I know you couldn't tell what she was thinking back at the school, but let me tell you: she was excited when you showed your tush, because she imagined her ratings spiking through the roof. She's such a hypocrite! She attacked you for exposing yourself while saving people's lives, then shows almost everything on TV to boost ratings, and boosts them again by calling you a slut. She's evil, and you are a freaking guardian angel! Don't listen to her."
Kara's phone chirps and she draws her phone from her pocket. It's a message from Eliza, and she reads it out loud: "Don't bother coming home, Kara."
The Danvers girls look at each other, alarmed.
"She hates me," Kara says sadly.
"Maybe she just means that the media is there, so it's not a good time," Alex says hopefully.
Kara shakes her head. "She's not even home, remember? She's at work by now."
Alex forces Kara to look at her. "If she kicks you out, I'm going with you."
"Is there something wrong with me?" Kara asks urgently, as though everyone had been keeping the truth from her. "I wish I had just done what she wanted, and none of this would have happened."
"You tried to do what she wanted. I stopped you. This is all my fault, not yours," Alex says, trying to fall on the sword.
"I should have said something," Max joins the blame game. "I had a bad feeling before all of this happened."
"Okay, time out!" Lena says, giving the sports gesture with her hands. "Time out! No more talking about what we coulda, shoulda done. No more listening to what other people think. We all believe in you guys. You are surrounded by love. Let's just play some really old scratchy records and have a snuggle party and stop thinking about anything outside of this room. The outside world will come to their senses eventually."
X X X
Max picks out a few jazzy albums by Grover Washington Jr and George Benson, while Lena and Eric pull the mattress and comforters and pillows onto the floor.
Cookie, Kara and Alex just look on, confused and amused.
Back in the day, when Max, Lena and Eric were captives in Lex's orphanage, the evil mastermind had imposed many cruel experiments on them, but the snuggle parties were among the bright moments punctuating the torment. Lex had theorized that his orphans' telepathic powers could be strengthened by close, physical contact, so he had all of his orphans cuddle together on cushioned floors. The proximity was intimate, though never face to face. Everyone almost piled onto each other, but people only spooned with their closest friend, those they felt most comfortable touching. Sexual play was discouraged, but expressing love was not. These parties bonded the orphans together so strongly that it didn't matter what Lex did to them; they felt safe with each other.
That's what Lena wants to create here, now, four years later. She wants them all to feel like no matter what is happing outside of that room, it can't touch them when they are together.
Once the floor is prepared, Lena explains the rules, then Eric lays down with an arm wrapped around Cookie. Alex lays next to Cookie and rests her head on Kara's chest. Finally, Lena lays with her back to Kara and beacons Max into her arms.
Max hesitates, then she blushes as Lena's arm wraps around her body. She knows that Lena chose to pair with Max because the others were already coupled up, so it means nothing when Lena presses her body against Max's, like two puzzle pieces. That's what Max tells herself.
Quickly it becomes apparent that this cuddle puddle is not as peaceful as it should be.
"I'm sorry," Eric says suddenly. "I'm finding it hard to relax while holding onto this hottie in my lap."
Cookie giggles. "He's not kidding. It's quite hard!"
Everyone laughs, but the tension does not abate.
"Is this okay?" Lena asks Max, as her hand hesitates over Max's left breast.
Max bites her lip, not sure whose sexual feelings Lena is worried about, Max's or her own.
"I'm okay," Max finally answers unconvincingly, not sure how she feels.
"Maybe we need something else to think about, something happy," Lena says, then suddenly she sits up and grabs a pile of photos from the small table beside the bed frame. The snapshots were all taken since Max arrived from Oregon, and they mostly featured only the people in the current party. She hands several to Cookie and to Kara and then lays down against Max again.
"You are so artistic! These are amazing!" Lena says, holding the first photo in her hand where she and Max can both see.
This is the photo Max had taken of Lena and Eric when they first reunited near the bus at school. Max smiles, because Lena and Eric look so happy to see her in the photo and because Lena's attention tells Max that Lena is still happy to see her. Happy to feel her.
"Oh my God!" Lena says upon seeing the next photo. "Who took this photo?"
"I took it myself," Max says, taking the photo into her own hand. "Last night, after you guys left."
"It's beautiful! Your eyes look so sad, and the colors really stand out!" Lena gushes, as she pulls Max closer.
Max holds her breath, wondering with her mind and heart what Lena is describing as beautiful: Max's photo or Max herself.
Then Max feels Lena warm breath in her hair, making Max melt, but she worries that Eric is messing with Lena's mind. Because why would Lena feel that way about her?
Max stares at the photo, wondering what Lena sees. Max had created the photo as a gift to her late, deadbeat dad, and now imagines that she had created it for Lena. She looks at the white of her own cheeks in the photo where the color was washed out by the camera's flash, while Lena's hand now strokes her face. She looks at the valley between her head and blouse in the photo, while Lena's lips graze her neck. She gets lost in the grainy shadows of her blouse, while Lena's hand explores her body.
Then Max just gets lost. Dizzy. The photo disappears as Max loses her vision, and she feels like she's falling.
When she lands, she falls onto her bed, on top of her mattress, Her blankets are tucked and flattened beneath her, and her pillows are at the head of the bed.
The SX-70 camera is on the tripod. The flash bar on top is still warm. And Max is looking at the photo of herself, and it is still developing.
And Max is alone.
She runs to the hotel door and looks into the empty hallway.
She covers her mouth with her hand and says, "What the fuck?"
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