It was a normal first day of school for Lena Luthor. She was sitting in the back corner of her class, her uniform immaculate as always, hunched over a book that she had strategically hidden within her textbook. Of course, the teachers never paid much mind to that; she passed all of her classes with flying colors. The material came easily to her most of the time, or she simply had already learned it. Instead, she spent her class time reading higher educational books.
Despite being the textbook definition of a teacher's pet in many ways, Lena was far from one in reality. She tended to avoid sucking up to teachers; it was a hassle to deal with them asking her to join their various clubs and organizations that she had no real interest in. She was also not often the target of bullies. She didn't trust people easily, so she didn't have many friends, but everyone knew that if you messed with Lena, you messed with Lex, and nobody wanted to mess with Lex. Most people just stayed away from her for that reason; Lena wasn't too fond of friends, and seeing as how Lex went after anyone who bothered her… well, it was easiest for everyone to just leave her alone.
"We have a new student joining us," the teacher announced, piquing Lena's attention for a change. She looked up from her book curiously. The teacher was standing next to a girl at the front of the room who was nervously looking down at her shoes. She had her wavy blonde hair pulled back into a somewhat disheveled half-up, a stark contrast to Lena's neat ponytail with not a hair out of place. Her skirt looked one size too big, and her yellow polo was bagging out of it slightly.
"Well, go on," the teacher said softly, nudging the girl. "Introduce yourself."
"I'm Kara," the girl said dutifully, her voice sounding hesitant and shy. "Kara Danvers."
The teacher smiled at her before saying, "She just moved here from another country. Please try to make her feel welcome; she is still learning American customs and you could all have a thing or two to learn from her as well." The teacher then ushered Kara forward to find a seat.
Kara's eyes scanned the room, and Lena watched curiously. She started to walk eagerly toward a group of upperclassmen, and Lena raised an eyebrow. It was an elective class, which meant students of numerous grade levels were in it, but Kara was approaching Alex Danvers and her gaggle of friends. It made sense, she figured, since they had the last name; Kara must've been Alex's cousin or something. But Alex and her group were notorious for refusing to give freshmen the time of day.
Lena watched Kara's blue eyes brighten excitedly, but one of Alex's friends muttered something to her and she sharply jerked so that her back was facing Kara. The blonde's face fell instantly, and a hot red heat rose into her cheeks. Hugging her books tighter to her chest, she shuffled toward the back of the room, her eyes scanning as she walked for any empty seat. Some kids toward the front of the room were snickering and laughing at her, which only made her sink further into herself.
Fresh meat, Lena thought, frowning. She knew the feeling. She'd been the new kid once, and there was a reason the entire school knew not to mess with Lena or you'd face Lex. A bunch of them had been on the receiving end of Lex's revenge before. Sighing, she looked back down at her back, tuning out of the poor girl's misery. She was Lena Luthor. She didn't have friends, and she didn't want friends. The new kid could fend for herself.
The chair next to Lena made a soft sound as it scraped the floor. Wait, what?
Lena looked up, a sharp look in her eyes. The entire class was now staring at Kara, their mouths agape. Lena felt just as surprised. Nobody ever had the nerves to sit next to her.
Noticing Lena's staring, Kara turned even redder, and Lena thought she could see tears brimming at the edges of her eyes.
"Is… is it okay if I sit here?" her voice was hesitant. Lena normally would've said no, but now, she paused. It was the poor girl's first day. There really wasn't anywhere else to sit and if nobody was going to be friends with her, it would be awful to just leave her alone. Lena remembered how lonely she'd felt on her first day when she started coming to Mount Helena Boarding School for middle school; if it hadn't been for Andrea, who she'd since had a falling out with, and Lex, she would've been miserable. Kara already looked traumatized. Lena didn't want to make her cry.
Lena found herself nodding, giving her a little nonchalant shrug. "I don't care. Go ahead."
Kara looked relieved, sitting in the chair and putting her books down on the desk in front of her. She opened her textbook to the page the class was on, but seemed to very quickly get distracted by other things going on around her. Lena was usually able to focus on her book, block everyone else out, and spend the period in peace. But to her frustration, she kept getting distracted by Kara sitting next to her. It was weird, not sitting alone.
"What's your name?" Kara said softly when she noticed Lena looking over at her.
Lena gave her a weird look. "…Lena Luthor," she said, putting emphasis on her last name. Her family was well known; her parents were very rich and very powerful figures. Lex was a genius, and was constantly being recognized for his brilliant inventions and discoveries. When most people heard her last name, they quieted down and knew better than to keep talking. She looked back down at her book.
"Nice to meet you, Lena Luthor," Kara said, and when Lena looked at her, she had a teasing grin on her face. "Why do you sit all by yourself back here?"
"None of your business," Lena muttered.
"What are you reading?"
"I'm not. I would be, but you keep interrupting me."
"Oh, sorry."
They fell into silence. Kara kept looking out the window like she wanted to jump through it and run. Lena could practically feel her pent-up energy like static electricity rolling off of her in waves. Shaking her head, she focused on her book again. In a couple of minutes, she had managed to get back into the swing of reading and was lost in the words of her book.
"Do you want to sit together at lunch?"
Lena took a deep breath, trying to compose herself and not look too irritated. At this rate, there was no point in even trying to read.
"Maybe," she said.
"Okay. Hey, sorry for interrupting your reading, but… thank you. The Danvers were very kind to adopt me but… I don't think Alex likes me very much."
"You're adopted?" Lena frowned. Something within her eased then, as if one of her walls was wearing down. "I just assumed Alex was your cousin or something. Sure, you can sit with me at lunch, Kara."
Kara's eyes widened. "Oh, no, please don't just say that because you feel bad for me. I just wanted to thank you for your kindness. We don't have to be friends."
"It's not because I feel bad for you," Lena blurted out before she could stop herself. Realizing that she had to finish the statement then, she sighed and added, "Look, I've been in your shoes before, and it wasn't easy for me. I'm not gonna lie… you have kind of been driving me crazy. But I also think… it wouldn't be so bad to get to know each other. I don't really do friends, but if we're both going to be living here and attending the same classes, might as well have an acquaintance or two, right?"
Kara smiled softly, nodding, and Lena tilted her head. This girl was odd, for sure. It didn't matter how aloof Lena acted, she didn't take the hint. Deep down, Lena was impressed by her ability to remain unfazed in the face of her chilly demeanor. For the meantime, though, she shifted her attention from the blonde, wanting to keep her intrigue concealed. Andrea had been different, too, and even she made Lena into a fool.
When the class ended, Kara bid Lena a goodbye before heading out into the hall, another thing Lena found very odd. Brushing it off, she told herself to stop focusing so much on Kara. For now, she'd be picked on; she was the new kid. But she was friendly, sweet, and pretty. There was no way she wouldn't be picked up by some group once the novelty of her newness wore off, and when that happened, Lena didn't want to be anywhere near it. Even if the two of them could be friends in another life; in this world, they would have to be acquaintances.
Kara found Lena at lunch, sitting at a table by herself, now at the end of her book. Lena was glad she only had one page left; whether it was conscious or not, she'd read a bit faster to finish it before lunch so that there wouldn't be anything distracting her thoughts. Closing her book, she looked up as Kara sat down, noticing that Kara's hair was now practically falling out of its hold and her glasses were hanging on to her face precariously; one of the hinges was bent noticeably. She didn't look bruised, though. Lena frowned.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"Oh, I, uh, tripped in the hall," Kara said sheepishly. "I didn't see where I was going and someone… had his… foot out…" her voice trailed away before she quickly said, "it's fine though! It was just an accident. And I'm okay. It's just my glasses that really took any damage. And now my head is spinning," she said the last part quietly, as if she hadn't wanted Lena to hear it. Her head was simply overwhelmed by the fact that she could now hear every single conversation in the cafeteria in excruciating clarity.
"Do you need some ibuprofen? I know we're not supposed to have medications, but I can get away with a lot around here. I get frequent headaches so I keep some in my dorm room." Kara looked up quickly, her eyes slightly alight with surprise.
"Oh, that's okay, thanks for offering, though," Kara replied, smiling slightly. "I have a spare pair of glasses in my room, too, I just won't have the chance to grab them until later on. I think I'm just cursed today."
Her voice had a joking tone to it, but Lena could sense some sadness hidden underneath. "Don't sweat it, Kara," she said, "my first day transferring to boarding school was terrifying as well. It'll get better eventually."
Kara sighed. "I hope so. I feel so out of place here. Plus, everything is different from what I'm used to. I was hoping Alex would help me out."
"I'm surprised she isn't," Lena said. "I was adopted, too, but Lex really took me under his wing. Did Alex just not take getting a new sibling well?"
Lena noticed that Kara paused, as if deciding whether or not she should answer. When she spoke again, she seemed to be selecting her words very carefully.
"Not really," Kara said, "I mean, I was kind of a surprise for them. I, um, I was a refugee. My parents were targeted for their religious beliefs. So, I had to come here, and Alex's parents agreed to take me in. Alex didn't find out until I was moving in, so I don't blame her for holding a grudge against me. I did kind of barge into her life and take a bunch of her parents' attention away from her."
"Still," Lena said between bites of salad, "if you were a refugee, it's not like you had a choice in the matter. If it makes you feel better, though, Alex doesn't exactly hang out with the greatest crowd, so it doesn't surprise me that she's kind of rude toward you. She has an image to protect." The last part of her sentence came out dripping with contempt. Kara gave her a curious look, but didn't pry; she seemed relieved enough as it was that Lena hadn't pried on more details about her being a refugee.
Kara shrugged. "Well, thanks, I guess that makes me feel a little better. I hope it's not entirely personal. At this point I'm just going to try to blend in and keep pushing forward. That's all I really can do."
Lena simply nodded. It fascinated her how collected and mature Kara was about everything, despite the fact that things didn't seem to be going well for her. It was a refreshing change from the drama and petty bullshit other students their age seemed to be completely wrapped up in. Kara's eyes drifted to Lena's book, sitting to the side of the table.
"Did you finish reading that already?" Kara asked, her voice betraying a bit of her surprise.
"Yes," Lena said, feeling somewhat guilty about having brushed her off so quickly that morning when she asked what the book was about. "It was a high-level book about engineering, I've always read books just for the sake of learning, so that's why I read instead of paying attention during class. Class is honestly a waste of my time, but supposedly, it's important for me to have a normal childhood education."
Kara's eyes widened. "Wow. I feel like I still have so much to learn. I mean, there's a lot about the culture here that I don't understand yet, but even aside from that… I couldn't imagine being ready to graduate already. You must be a genius."
Lena felt her cheeks grow warm as she looked down at the table in front of her. "I'm definitely not a genius," she said with a chuckle, "but thank you. Anyways, don't compare yourself to me by any means. Most students are probably about as new to the material as you are, I've just already learned a lot of it in my free time."
"Do you want to be an engineer?" Kara asked, tilting her head to one side. Lena frowned, raising an eyebrow at Kara. It wasn't often somebody asked her what she wanted to do with her future. It was bizarre meeting someone who didn't know all about her family and its expectations.
"Well, I… suppose I do have a great interest in building new technologies and products that can help humankind," Lena said thoughtfully, "I've never really thought about it in terms of what I want to do, though. I've always known that I'm going to inherit a position in my parents' company, Luthor Corp; whether that's as CEO or CFO depends on which of my parents wins the pissing match. My stepmother, Lillian, wants Lex to run the company. Lex will take the company higher and higher, no matter what obstacles get in his way. My father, on the other hand, wants me to be in charge. I would direct the company to work on new products that help people and help the world, rather than focusing just on profits and personal gain. I love Lex, but… sometimes he really only has his own interests at heart. No matter which of us is in charge, though, I've always just known that I'll be splitting power over the company with him."
Kara frowned. "So, you never had a say in what you wanted to do? That kind of blows. Although, I kind of get what you mean."
Lena shrugged. "I mean, if I become CEO, I can really do whatever I want with the company. Besides, I do have the necessary skill sets, so it's something I can be successful at. I mean, you said you get it—what is it that you want to do with your future?"
Kara bit her lip. It was only day one, and she was already saying things Jeremiah had warned her not to say. It didn't help that the more she nearly let slip, the more lies she built into her web of potential friendship with Lena. She could tell that with Lena, it was a matter of pushing the right buttons at the right moments; she wasn't going to trust right away, it was going to take patience and time for Lena to decide if she wanted to be Kara's friend. Kara was fine with that. If she made a single friend during her entire time in school, she'd consider it a win, and Lena seemed… different. She wasn't looking at Kara with judgment in her eyes, snickering at her in the halls, or making snide comments when she walked past. Needless to say, Kara didn't want to mess it up by fabricating the truth.
If anyone knows you're an alien, your life could be in jeopardy. There are anti-alien groups that research different planets and know how to produce weaponry capable of destroying you. If they can't get to you, they'll come after the people you care about. I know these are hard truths, Kara, and I am so sorry that this is the way things are around here. But as beautiful as Earth is, the people do not take kindly to outsiders. Me and the others at the DEO can offer you protection, but you need to take precautions as well. You can't tell anyone… Jeremiah's reminders rang loud and clear in her head. She was only fifteen. Kara was going to have to find a balance between earning Lena's trust and protecting her identity, unless she wanted both of their lives to be at stake.
"Kara?" Lena asked, and Kara jumped, realizing that she hadn't responded yet.
"I'm sorry," Kara said, "I mean, I guess I also haven't thought about it much before. I definitely want to help people, and I like to write things… I might try to go into journalism or something. People deserve to know what's really happening in the world, you know?"
Lena smiled. "Well, once you're a journalist, you should do an article on Luthor Corp," she said. She felt a giddiness building in her that was not unfamiliar, but was something she hadn't felt in a long time. Changing her tone so that it sounded like she was a reporter on the news, she leaned toward Kara, holding her fork like a microphone, "Breaking from reporter Kara Danvers: Luthor Corp Discovers Technology that Revolutionizes Hospitals!"
The two girls broke into giggles then, and Lena allowed herself to be carried away in their joyful banter. She hardly noticed the strange looks students at other tables were giving them, wondering how the hell the weird new kid had befriended the terrifying, solitary little Luthor. Having finally broken the ice, the two got off to chattering about all sorts of things, and it felt as though they were reconnecting with old friends. They continued to chat even as they left the cafeteria, as Lena poured details about the latest things she'd read about and all of the ideas it gave her and Kara encouraged her to share more, hanging on every word with eyes wide in curiosity.
When the two had to part ways for different classes, Kara gave Lena a bright smile and waved, saying that she'd see her around and she'd love to hang out when they didn't have class to worry about. Lena gave her a hesitant smile in return, the offer reminding her of the distance she ought to be keeping. She gave Kara a simple 'perhaps' and a small wave as well, before walking off down the hall.
Kara, meanwhile, headed into her chemistry class, feeling a buzz of excitement within her. She hadn't expected Lena to open up at all, and now that she had, it felt to her as if they should've been friends all along. She knew that Lena didn't want to be picked apart, but Kara didn't care about the parts of Lena that everyone else seemed to dislike. If anything, Kara just thought she seemed misunderstood. So, she figured she'd just let Lena open up to her more on her own time, and in the meantime, she'd relish in the fact that someone was giving her the time of day.
Sitting down at one of the last empty seats, Kara realized they were set up in pairs, and when the teacher announced that the student sitting next to them would be their lab partner, she looked over to see a girl with brown hair and a cool smile eyeing her curiously.
"You're new around here, huh?" the girl asked. She sounded friendly enough.
"Yeah, I'm Kara," Kara said, smiling. "Nice to meet you. I guess we'll be partners for the year, then?"
The girl nodded. "I'm Andrea. It's nice to meet you too, Kara."
Once the class had gotten accustomed to the person they were sitting next to as their partner, the teacher passed out packets with a basic lab assignment for them to do that day. It was an easy assignment, simply intended to get the students engaged and used to working with their partners. Andrea's eyes had a certain unsettling gleam to them that Kara couldn't quite put a finger on, but she decided it was probably her imagination. Lena had been the only kind person to her so far that day; it was a miracle at all that Andrea wasn't being as mean to her as she could be.
Setting up the experiment, Kara turned on the Bunsen burner, which they were to use along with different chemicals to make the flame change colors. Andrea read off the instructions to her, her eyes occasionally flicking up from the paper to ensure that everything was going alright and to keep an eye on what Kara was doing. As Kara picked up the rolled-up newspaper drenched in chemical solution with a pair of tongs, Andrea suddenly lost her balance and bumped into Kara, causing her hand to land directly on the flame.
Kara moved her hand, but it was slower than the instantaneous reaction that would've occurred as a result of her reflexes had she truly been burned.
"Oh my gosh!" Andrea said, "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"
"I'm fine," Kara said, her eyes wide as she focused on keeping the chemical-soaked paper from falling or dripping on anything, "are you okay? You really stumbled!"
Andrea nodded. "Of course, I'm fine, Kara, let me look at your hand," she said, taking the tongs from Kara and using her free hand to inspect the blonde's palm. To her surprise, there was nothing there, not even a red spot to suggest she'd been burned at all.
"I promise I'm not burned," Kara said, "my hand didn't even touch the flame! Maybe it just looked that way since you were falling."
"Right…" Andrea said. "Well, I'm glad we're both okay. You gave me quite a scare there. Should we get back to the experiment?"
Kara nodded. "Absolutely! Accidents happen."
They finished the experiment relatively quickly, Kara doing most of the chemical work while Andrea filled out the paperwork and wrote down their answers to the questions. The rest of the class went by without a hitch, and they were able to turn their packet in with a bit of time to spare at the end of class. Kara chose to use that time to organize the assignments she'd gotten earlier in the day, while Andrea turned around in her seat to chat with some of the other students.
When Kara walked out of the classroom, she felt much better about the entire day than she had earlier in the morning. At first, she'd been worried she wouldn't be able to make any friends and she'd have to stick out school entirely on her own. But then she met Lena, and now Andrea, and neither of them seemed to be as mean to her as the other students were. She smiled to herself, thinking about all of the exciting things she'd be able to tell Jeremiah and Eliza about her first day of Earth school.
Andrea, meanwhile, headed out of the classroom and made a sharp right, grabbing a girl's elbow gently and pulling her off into the entrance to one of the bathrooms. The girl had curly blonde hair and bright red lipstick, the skirt of her uniform rolled up so that it was much shorter than it should've been and her polo unbuttoned as much as it could be. She crossed her arms as she looked at Andrea expectantly, seeming unsurprised by the interaction.
"Well?" the blonde asked, blowing a bubble with her gum and popping it, a bored expression on her face. "Spill. What have we got on her?"
"Geez, it's only been day one, Gemma," Andrea said, rolling her eyes. "Not everyone can get information that quickly."
"You're right, not everyone can," Gemma said, her voice sounding dark and irritated as she spoke to Andrea. A look of fear crossed Andrea's face as she continued, "That's why I asked you, Andrea. Don't forget what my parents can do to yours if you don't follow through with this. We both have reason to hate them—they took your brother from you, remember? You don't want to lose your father too, right?"
"No," Andrea muttered, looking down.
"Good. Then you understand why this is such an urgent issue. I know you, and you found something. So, what is it?"
Andrea sighed, explaining in quick, hushed tones what happened with the flame. She elaborated that she'd fallen on purpose, so she knew for a fact that Kara's hand had gone into the flame and had come out unscathed. The more the spoke, the more Gemma's expression melted into a smug one, as if Andrea was confirming everything she had already known to be true. As Andrea finished, explaining, her eyes locked on Kara's back walking down the hall in the opposite direction.
"She seems nice enough, but one thing's for sure," Andrea finished, "Kara Danvers isn't human."
A/N I don't know about y'all but I neeeeeeed Supercorp! I'm sure plots like this have been done before, but I hope you'll all still enjoy this story 3
Some things about the world are going to be different, as you can already see. I will try to keep most characters as in-character as possible, especially major ones.
Major changes so far are: Lex and Alex are one year apart, Clark is not Superman yet, Gemma is human and they all attend the same boarding school that Lena and Andrea attended! Kara is still Kryptonian with powers to boot, but for the sake of this story, those are the big changes so far to the world.
Thank you for checking out this first chapter, please follow, fave, and review if you like it and I hope to be updating with the second chapter in the next few days!
Until next time!
Nana