Shortly after sunrise, the sound of pans clanking together and the sweet smell of coffee roused Kara from her sleep. She wanted to let Alex sleep on, but when she rolled out of bed, Alex woke up, too.

"Do you think she wants us to come for breakfast?" Kara asked.

"What is she making?"

"Pancakes and scrambled eggs," Kara replied. Those were Kara's and Alex's favorite breakfast foods respectively.

They adjusted their pajamas and quietly approached the kitchen, unsure if their mom could hear their bare feet on the carpet, but as they stepped through the door, Eliza said flatly, "You know, sisters or not, allowing girls your age to sleep together in this house could be considered bad parenting by some people."

The girls paused before sitting down at the table. Did that mean she was okay with it, or that she wasn't?

But Eliza turned around, flashed a weak smile, and then placed a plate of food for each girl on the table, so Kara and Alex sat down.

"Thank you for cleaning up after yourselves last night," she said, throwing out an olive branch.

The girls each thanked her for preparing breakfast, and all three of them proceeded as though they were just regular sisters again, and their mom pretended to be proud of them. Kara hoped that if Eliza pretended long enough, maybe one day she really would feel that way again.

Eliza piled more pancakes on Kara's plate without asking. When Kara immediately began devouring the second helping, Eliza smiled. "I'm glad you are no longer trying to lose weight."

Kara smiled and shook her head. After finally swallowing, she said, "I'm so over that!"

"You should have seen her eating pizza last night," Alex teased.

A few weeks ago, Kara would have been sensitive to such teasing, but now Kara poured syrup all over her food, as if proud of her appetite. She hoped that by eating so much, her breasts would grow as plump and beautiful as Alex's some day.

Eliza sat down. She sipped at her coffee and continued the tame small talk, trying to establish a new normal with her daughters. Kara appreciated the effort, but she wondered how long it would take before Eliza started judging them again.

"Have you thought any more about what college you might want to go to?" She asked Alex, to which Alex merely shook her head. "Well, you still have plenty of time."

Then to Kara, she asked, "Have you been able to make any new friends at school?"

Kara had confided with Eliza weeks ago that she felt very lonely at school. Kara didn't notice Alex's warning glare when she happily replied, "Oh, yes, we have two good friends now, Lena and Eric, and some people are really ..."

"Wait! Did you say 'Lena'?" Eliza nearly shouted. "Lena Luthor?"

Kara was startled, and Alex was confused.

"No, mom," Alex replied. "Her name is Lena Thorul."

Eliza's calm demeanor disintegrated in an instant. "I told you to stay away from her!" she yelled at Alex, then more calmly she said to Kara, "You can't be friends with her, Kara."

"Why?" Kara asked sadly, though in her heart she already felt defiant.

"Yes, mom, why?" Alex pressed.

Eliza looked more panicked than angry. She realized that she needed to disclose at least this one secret she had been keeping from her daughters.

"Her real name is Lena Luthor. She is the younger sister of Lex Luthor," she said as calmly as she could, and then let the words sink in.

Alex was too stunned to respond.

"So?" Kara asked. "Who is that?"

Eliza sighed then picked up the newspaper on the table. "You really need to read more of these, Kara."

"Nobody reads those anymore, mom," Alex informed her.

"Lex Luthor is a scientific genius, Kara," Eliza said. "He is also a madman with no conscience, who constantly breaks the law, and has even tried to kill your cousin on multiple occasions. He only found out he had a younger sister around five years ago, at which point he kidnapped her and several other children as guinea pigs for experimentation . Your cousin freed the children the year before you arrived on Earth, and then he helped hide Lena and her mother from Lex's influence."

"That's horrible!" Alex said.

"But why can't we be friends with her?" Kara asked, barely able to digest what Eliza had said. "Lena didn't do anything wrong."

"She is Lex Luthor's sister. It's in their genes," she explained, "but even if she has a better heart, she could suffer from Stockholm's syndrome. Despite how he had mistreated her, she might feel sympathy for her brother. If Lex Luthor ever finds out who you are, we will all be in danger."

X X X

Of course, Eliza would not let the girls leave home without them promising to keep away from Lena, and of course they promised, and of course they had no intention of keeping that promise.

At least Kara didn't. And Alex must have known this, because she kept trying to get Kara to think of anything else during the entire bus ride to school, but talking about food and whispering sweet nothings into her ear only worked for so long.

All Alex needed to do to distract Kara was show a little physical affection, and Kara would be able to think of nothing else, but their mere presence on the bus this morning was drawing intense attention, and for once neither girl was interested in putting on a show.

"I don't need telepathy to know they are wondering if you are wearing underwear," Alex noted, pretending concern.

The distraction worked.

"But you saw me put them on this morning!" Kara insisted.

"I didn't see you put on a bra," she countered.

"I didn't promise to wear a bra all the time," Kara complained, then doubted herself. "Did I?"

"No, you didn't," Alex reassured her, smiling, "but I'll bet it's not going unnoticed."

Kara looked around and saw several eyes look away as soon as her eyes targeted them. A few girls were actually blushing, and that made Kara curious, so she took a peek: At least two girls on the bus were not wearing panties under their skirts. Kara smiled with an embarrassing sprinkle of pride in the mix of emotions. With all due respect to Britney, Kara had started something at Leesburg High.

But she knew this was nothing to be proud of. Maybe proud was the wrong word. She felt confident. No, that also felt wrong.

She had let herself be swept away by her baser instincts, and in turn she somehow swept others away as well. This was new to her, both the sexual drive and the feeling of sexual power. Was she discovering a new impact of her Kryptonian heritage? Or was she discovering the sensual nature of a typical adolescent girl?

It was all exhilarating, dangerous, and very confusing. Until recently, she did everything everyone asked, never made any waves, and she had been a pariah. Then, in just one day, she had broken all the rules, and now people wanted to be her friend and others felt she was a sex symbol.

Kara and Alex arrived at school to a bevy of curious fans and scowling critics. They laughed at the absurdity of it all while they walked through the front door. Hushed whispers ensued as they kissed goodbye, and they went to their separate lockers.

Kara hoped to run into Lena, whose locker was only a few yards away from her own, but Lena was nowhere in sight.

However, the school principal was in sight. Kara tried to not make eye-contact with him and instead hoped to slip by unnoticed, but a peek back confirmed that he was following after her. Kara didn't know what he knew about her stunt yesterday, but really could his head be so far up his ass that he had no clue? He was following her with a mission.

As Kara opened her locker, the principal walked up behind her and said loud enough for everyone around them to hear: "You are not dressed according to the dress code, Ms Danvers."

Kara looked at herself, surprised. She felt exposed, because all of the people nearby were looking at her, but she thought she had dressed appropriately for once. Sure, she wasn't wearing a bra, but her blouse was loose, so she doubted he could tell for sure. Then he was standing too close to her, only a foot away, looking down her shirt where he could see what little cleavage she had.

"I'm sorry," Kara apologized, as she buttoned her top button. "I thought these clothes would be okay."

Then the principal's hand grabbed at the hem of her skirt and pulled it up slowly, making sure to stroke her ass all the way to her lower back.

Kara's body stiffened in surprise.

He tilted his head and seemed a bit disappointed at the unveiling of her plain white panties before a dozen students. He dropped her skirt back into place and critiqued: "Your skirt is too short" -though it was the longest skirt Kara had, covering more than half of her thighs. "It's okay for now, just wear something more appropriate for tomorrow," he said as he turned and walked away.

Kara stood frozen at her locker, and then looked around to see if anyone was still watching her, which of course they were. They saw the whole incident. A few people snickered and others shrugged and walked on.

Gone was that sense of confidence and excitement she came to school with. Now she just felt dirty, even though she did nothing wrong. She wasn't even trying to be sexy, today.

Was what the principal had done to her really okay? she wondered. Was his touching her the price to pay for what she had done yesterday?

X X X

Kara had two classes before biology, and once again she could not concentrate. Would her life ever settle down enough that she could keep her mind on what she was supposed to learn?

Then, out of the blue, she heard her name called out and she looked up. Her history teacher had just asked her a question, and all she could say was, "Huh?"

"Could you tell me the name of the case before the U.S. Supreme Court that led indirectly to the Civil War?" He asked condescendingly. "Answer any time, once you get your head out of the clouds."

A few students giggled, and one whispered, "more like out of the gutter."

Kara couldn't take offense to the remark, because that was exactly where her mind had been all through class, and she hadn't done any of her homework, so there was no hope for her to answer the question.

But before she could say "I don't know," one black student was shaking his head and he whispered the answer so quietly Kara almost missed it.

"Dred Scott?" Kara finally answered, unsure that she had heard it right.

"That's right," the teacher replied, surprised, then he went on to describe the impact of the court case on nineteenth-century history.

Kara gracefully accepted several unearned impressed looks, but she vowed to herself that next time she wouldn't have to cheat her way through class.

X X X

Finally, Kara hurried to the lab, where a few more groups were scheduled to deliver their own comparative biology presentations.

Kara was eager to get to her corner, where she could see Lena and Eric already standing, but she was intercepted by the teacher, who was looking at her in a funny way.

"Ah, Miss Danvers, I've been asked by the school board to notify any students who are not following the current dress code," He began critically.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Henkey," Kara said, "but I've been trying to find out what the dress code actually is, and even the librarian can't tell me."

"Well, I assure you, this won't cut it," he said as he reached eagerly for the hem of her skirt, like the principal had done earlier. "Are you even decent under there?"

Kara was ready this time, and she quickly stepped away from his grasp.

"Are you decent in there?" Lena said as she stepped between them and pointed at his head.

He ignored Lena and looked right at Kara, saying, "I'll be watching you."

"We noticed," Lena shot back and then escorted Kara to their corner, which was fortunately about as far away from the teacher as was possible.

Kara must have looked a little upset, because Lena asked, "Are you okay?"

Kara nodded and tried to relax. "It just feels like the principal and the teachers are trying to embarrass me today."

"Oh, he was trying to do a lot more than that," Lena warned.

A cute, slightly plump girl from the front of the lab came to their corner and whispered, "Hey Kara, I saw what he tried to do up there. I just want you to know that if you need a witness."

"Thanks," Kara replied. The girl smiled then quickly returned to her group.

"That's Cindy," Lena said, "from MySpace."

"Oh!" Kara looked at her again. "She's nice."

"Is something else bothering you?" Lena asked, making Kara wonder if Lena was getting better at reading her mind.

Lena's tone of concern caught Eric's ear, and he moved closer to hear.

Kara looked at them both and felt she was so lucky to have them as friends. Eliza's dire warnings seemed so out of place.

"OK, everyone get with your group, now," Mr. TightAss said, clapping his hands. They needed a new nickname for him.

Lena and Eric were still waiting for her answer.

"Can we talk about it at lunch?" Kara asked.

Then they relaxed and watched as Cindy's group presented the Excretory System as a parody of their Reproductive System show yesterday. Cindy got on the same seat Kara had made famous yesterday, and she flashed Kara a wink. Everyone in the lab saw where this was going, and the presentation became really funny and controversial when they got to the part about peeing.

X X X

Word about this latest outrage spread fast, of course.

"Well, you guys really have turned this school on its head!" Alex said admiringly, as she sat down beside Kara in the cafeteria. "Anything seems possible, now."

Kara smiled enthusiastically, but she was frustrated because she wouldn't know exactly how to express what she was feeling until a few years later, when someone would invent the phrase: "I know, right?"

Everyone at the table laughed in amazement at the changing mood within the school.

But then Alex's eyes met Lena's. Then Eric saw Lena's somber expression. Then Kara felt his smile fade, and instantly she knew what was going on.

"So … now you know," Lena said flatly, then to Kara, "Was this what was bothering you earlier?"

Kara nodded. "I think so."

"Well, I hope you can keep this between us, but yes, it's true, Lex is my brother," she said plainly, but she couldn't completely hide the sadness behind her words.

Alex sighed. "It's going to take a while for me to get used to you reading my mind before I even say anything."

Lena looked meaningfully at Eric, who nodded back at her reluctantly.

Then she leaned forward and waited for them to do the same because this was very secret stuff. When their circle was closed, she finally began:

"I guess you know the small things, the stuff your mother knows, but with all due respect, she doesn't know anything. Lex is my half brother. We have the same dad. It wasn't easy for dad when his son grew up into a sociopath, so he tried to disappear and start a new life with my mom. A few years ago Lex found out. Soon after that, dad died mysteriously, my mom got addicted to heroine, and Lex convinced a judge that he was the best person to take care of me. After all, he was my only sober relative, and he had his own orphanage… Yeah, you are right, Lex having an orphanage is a terrible idea. He wasn't trying to help us find new parents. As far as he was concerned, he was the only dad we would ever need. And yeah, he was trying to help us, if you think running scientific experiments on ten-year-old kids is helping."

Up until this point, Lena seemed detached from the story she was telling, but then she had to stop, as her voice cracked and tears leaked out of her eyes no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

Kara reached out and took Lena's hand. Then Alex and Eric piled on their hands in the middle, as if forming a pact.

"Were you one of the orphans?" Alex asked Eric.

Eric nodded, but he deferred to Lena to tell his story.

"Yes," Lena answered the question Alex didn't ask. "Lex was fascinated with telepathy in all of it's forms, and he experimented with them all. He gave me my ability to read minds. He also destroyed everything I had loved in my life, and he did nothing to help me deal with this power, so no it was not a favor at all. It felt like torture."

"I'm so sorry," Alex said urgently. "I didn't mean…"

"I know," Lena reassured. "I'm sorry...I'm just a little bitter about this. It really gets to me."

"Are you the only one who got powers?" Alex asked Lena, but then she looked at Eric.

"No, most of us got something," Eric replied.

Lena pointed at Eric, nodded and managed a mischievous smile, "Eric got the best power of all."

Then Lena kept cruelly quiet and waited until Kara finally asked self-consciously, "Well?...What is his power?"

Eric was blushing. Lena laughed and looked at the Danvers girls. "Don't you feel just a little embarrassed asking that question?"

Kara and Alex looked at each other wide-eyed. They were blushing, too, and they couldn't understand why.

"This is so weird!" Alex said. "Are these my feelings … or his?"

"Now you know what I deal with all the time," Lena said laughing.

Eric looked away. He felt incredibly embarrassed.

And therefore, so did everyone else.