Jon's pov

The very next day, I was showing Mar around the school some more, sympathizing with her since it had not been long since Jord and I had been the new kids at school. I still wanted to get to know her better, though, even if she seemed a bit distant and standoffish at first. I mean, sometimes people back in Metropolis would say the same about Jordan, but the truth was that his anxiety got in the way of being social sometimes. As Mar and I made our way down a hallway, I broke the silence

"So, I'm originally from Metropolis, but my Dad grew up here. How about you?"

Much to my surprise, I actually got an answer with personal information out of her. She smiled

"My Dad got relocated to here, he does some sort of government work. But I was born and raised in National City."

A smile crossed my face as I saw some family similarities

"Cool! My grandfather on my Mom's side is a three-star general. He's... well, it's complicated. And my aunt's adoptive sister- an aunt to me- works for some type of government thing too. Well, not really aunts, I guess. My Dad's biological cousin and her adoptive sister. But the whole cousin scale gets confusing, so I just stick with calling them aunts. Anyway, that's besides the point, and I'm rambling."

Suffice it to say that Mar was giggling at the end of my long-winded sentence. When she came to a stop, she smiled

"I think it's cool that we have some family similarities. So, did it take you long to adjust from a big city to living here? And you mentioned you lived in Metropolis, did you ever see Superman?"

Now that I knew a lot more about the hero than I ever imagined, the question left me uneasy, I had to be extra vigilant, and sometimes had involuntary internal freakouts at the mention of even his name. Forcing a smile to my lips, I answered

"Nope. Didn't get the chance. And you? Did you ever see Supergirl in National City?"

Was it my imagination or was she having the same internal struggle I had just mentally gone through? I was probably just seeing things and it was probably just nerves from opening up to someone new in a new place, I needed to stop being so overanalytical of everything. I guess keeping this secret was starting to give me paranoia. She broke me out of my thoughts

"No, I never got the chance, either. So, which teachers are the cool and nice ones, and which teachers should be avoided at all costs?"

I quickly gave her the rundown of both what I had witnessed firsthand and what I had heard from the guys in the locker room. She nodded

"Got it. I'll keep an eye out for the mean teachers. I'm really observant. I kinda want to follow in my Dad's footsteps work-wise when I get older."

I smiled

"That's cool! I haven't really thought of a second plan if pro ball doesn't work, but reporting or law enforcement are some appealing options."

She smiled

"I haven't even known you that long, but I can tell you'd be great at any of those."

It was my turn to smile at her

"Thanks, and, likewise, but I wish you the best in following in your dad's footsteps."

She smiled again, tucking a green strand of hair behind her ear

"Thank you."

I shot her a boyish grin

"You're welcome."

I know, I know. It looks like this conversation has 'rebound' written all over it. But really that was not what I was looking for. Not in Mar, not in anyone. I still needed to process that everything with Eliza that I once had, and that I could have had in the future are now both gone. I needed time before jumping into another relationship. She just seemed to get me. Almost too well. She was slowly opening up to me, but there was still so much mystery surrounding her that I thought it was funny how I could feel so at ease when she seemed to be playing a part with the use of over-secrecy while seeming to know a few things about me even before meeting me. Again, paranoia. The principal probably just gave her a brief introduction to who I was with my name and that I was a newer student as well just so she could know something about her school guide. Yeah, that must be it.

After a while, Mar and I parted ways as she went to a more secluded area to tend to her ringing phone, a hint of exasperation in her eyes once she saw the caller ID. Whoever it was must be really annoying her.

Mar's pov

Making sure no one could hear me, I hissed

"Exactly HOW many days straight are you going to keep bugging me about the same thing while I'm at school?"

I fell into silence, listening to him give me the same spiel as always, then retorted

"I will report back to you when there's something to report. There will never be any intel if you keep interrupting the very moments I am using to gather such intel. Trust me, I know what I'm doing, otherwise you wouldn't have asked me to play babysitter."

There was silence on my end as I heard the voice on the other end reply, then I sighed, much more placated now that we had come to somewhat of an understanding

"Love you too. Bye."

Then I hung up, meeting up with Jonathan to go to bio class. Luckily, this was one of the teachers with a sweetheart reputation.