Since she was a bit of a hero at school, there were always people patting her back for no reason, as if just to say, hey, you did well. Kara had to keep remembering what Kal-El told her about humans, especially Americans, being super handsy. She had to resist, and Kal-El had stressed this, resist fighting back and punching them into the air. Kal-El could take it, he had said, but her strength would obliterate a human's insides.
It was difficult for Kara to fit in and she felt… adrift when Kal-El had left her with the Danvers. Shouldn't she be with him? Her not-so-little cousin? She could watch him and make sure he was okay… but he didn't need her to do that. And he had explained that he had become a Champion of the Earth, a protector, who had many enemies who would hurt him and his if possible. The best way for her to keep him safe was to learn to blend into the surroundings, be 'normal'. So he didn't have to worry about her.
This was why Kara was in mathematics class and learning to do calculations long-form. It was equally easy and hard. She could easily give the answer immediately, but in human mathematics class, she was treated with suspicion if she only gave the answer. That meant she had to break it down into human long-form. But it was still quite easy, easy enough that after finishing, Kara's classmates were still struggling along and she had half-an-hour left on the clock. How humans learned was inefficient, Kara surmised. But until their technology advanced to the level of the Kryptonians, this was the only way to absorb information, she supposed.
The young Kryptonian fidgeted in her seat, before lowering her glasses a little to look out into the direction of where she knew Alex would be in the school. Kara could see the older girl as if she was right in front of her, her x-ray vision making Alex's form shift and her hair shimmer from brown to a dark red. Kara had noticed this recently and been entranced with how Alex's hair was changing colours. She had asked Eliza about this and Dr. Danvers had told her that some children's hair darkened or lightened as they aged, but would not change colour drastically until they were much older. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the steady beating of Alex's heart as the other girl read an excerpt from a book authored by a 'Shakespeare' in her class.
"Kara." Kara pushed her glasses back up her face and looked up at her teacher.
"Yes, Ms. Gunasingham." Kara acknowledged dutifully.
"Are you okay?"
"I am 'okay'." Kara beamed a smile up at Ms. Gunasingham. This teacher had been the most understanding of her differences and kept her voice calm and soothing.
"Are you finished?"
"Yes, I am." Kara nodded, her paper at the edge of her desk.
"Kara, you should flip your paper over when you're finished." Ms. Gunasingham explained.
"Oh, I did. But Chad asked me for help." Kara said cheerfully. Chad swore under his breath as Ms. Gunasingham turned to the young man with a frown on her face.
"Thanks a lot, Kara." Chad muttered as Ms. Gunasingham rounded over to his desk and picked up his paper.
"You're welcome!" Kara replied brightly.
"Mr. Dawson. Instead of blaming other people, why don't we reflect on who's really doing something wrong here?" Ms. Gunasingham took his test from him and pointed to the door. "Office, Mr. Dawson. I'll call ahead so the secretary knows to expect you."
Kara frowned, hearing the whispers of the other students. She had done something wrong again. What did she-
"I can't believe she told on him-"
"-good for her, he's always-"
"-taking advantage of the special kid-"
"Class!" Ms. Gunasingham reigned them in. "You have 25 minutes left on this test. Please keep your eyes on your own paper. Kara, come with me."
Kara stood up, wringing her hands anxiously. She had done something weird again. She wished Alex was here to explain to her. Approaching the front of the class, Kara sat down on the stool beside the teacher's desk. The teacher leaned closer, still smiling kindly.
"Kara, it is always good to help other people." Ms. Gunasingham started out, speaking very quietly. "I want you to know that and I want you to know that you're not in trouble, okay?"
Kara nodded nervously. "Okay."
"But this was a test, and tests must be completed alone, without any help from your other classmates. This is how we see how well you've learned the material." Ms. Gunasingham explained.
"Rote memorization and regurgitation is not the best way to learn new subjects." Kara replied, just as quietly. Ms. Gunasingham chuckled, used to Kara being, well, Kara.
"I know you can do the calculations in your head, Kara. It is a bit of memorization, yes, but I need to know that the class remembers enough that they can apply the formulas correctly to the problems. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I do." Kara nodded. It made sense. It was a good way to see if the students knew how to use the formulas. "I apologize. When he asked for help, I wanted to help."
"You're a good girl, Kara. But the best way to help someone in a test is to make sure they study beforehand and maybe explain the homework to them. It is not helpful at all to give the answers or do the actual work for someone. Do you understand?"
Kara nodded. It definitely made sense now and she was ashamed to have not come to that conclusion.
"I apologize. I had only wanted to help."
"It's okay, Kara, we're all learning. You just learn a bit differently, right? Which is not bad at all." Ms. Gunasingham smiled. "Do you want to read while everyone else finishes their test?"
"That would be nice."
"Alright, you go on ahead, then."
Kara went back to her desk and pulled out a book from her bag. She had already finished it, but it was easier to zone out and listen to Alex's heartbeat secretly with a book in front of her, than to just sit there looking into space. She was so focused that when the bell rang, she didn't hear it until one of her classmates tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hey, it's time to go." Sharon was the only other Chinese person in the school besides Brendan. Her family owned the only Chinese restaurant in town. The two Chinese students were not related, as Kara had found out and also very quickly found out from Alex that it was impolite to ask if they were.
"Okay Sharon P-"
"It's just Sharon, Kara." Sharon rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Come on, our next class is science."
Kara had learned from Sharon that Alex had asked her to keep an eye out for Kara but the blonde hoped that Sharon wasn't just talking to her because Alex had told her to. She did like Sharon. Her classmate who shared three classes with her was nice, smart, and smelled of delicious food. She was part of the science club with Alex, and Kara had learned Sharon was usually Alex's partner in science club activities.
"Next time, just ignore Chad." Sharon and her walked through the crush of students to their next class. "He's just gonna make you do all his work for him if you help him."
"Yes, our teacher told me I should let the individual students do their own tests and homework." Kara nodded. "I will do better next time."
"It's not your fault." Sharon bumped her shoulder gently. "He's just an ass who'll take advantage of people when he can."
"Thank you, Sharon P-Sharon." Kara amended cautiously. She had to force herself to just address Sharon by her first name, rationalizing that since they were technically the same age (minus Phantom Zone years), it wouldn't be seen as incredibly rude. Even though she wasn't on Krypton anymore, good Kryptonian manners were hard to break. At least she was expected to address teachers by their family names… if one ever asked her to call them by their first names, she would just not know how to deal with this break in decorum.
"Hey," Sharon shrugged. "What are friends for?"
At the mention of friends, Kara's face split into a wondrous smile.
"Really? Friends?"
"Yeah." Sharon grinned at Kara, almost shyly. "What? Did you think I was just hanging out with you cuz Alex asked me to?"
"Well, I am the 'special kid' so-"
"There's nothing wrong with you." Sharon said firmly. "You're just a bit… socially awkward. We can fix that. Calling me just 'Sharon' is a good place to start."
Kara nodded. "You are a good friend, Sharon."
"Hey, don't set me up for failure." Sharon joked. "Come on, science is on the first floor and we gotta hustle-"
"Oh, I forgot my textbook in my locker!" Kara suddenly stopped. "You can go ahead, I will catch up."
"Alright, I'll save you a seat!" Sharon split ways with Kara, the blonde taking a second to look after her new friend, before hurrying up the stairs. Her locker was at a corner of the school, far away from most of the classrooms. The hallway was relatively deserted as she retrieved her textbook-really, she didn't even need it-when she felt a presence over her shoulder.
"Hey, freak!" That was the only warning she got before she went sprawling across the floor. Her glasses went flying from her face and her focus exploded as she looked through three walls and saw through a thousand layers and the sounds pounded in-
Kara quivered on the linoleum, hands immediately going to her ears, unable to stop her senses from going haywire. She was aware of someone shouting something at her, the voice ugly and cruel, flinched as something came crashing down on her head and body again and again. It didn't hurt, but it was too much, there was too much she just couldn't-
"Hey! Get away from her!" The voice obliterated the white noise so efficiently that Kara was able to concentrate and grope forward until her hands found her glasses. When she put them on, she could see Alex, fists flailing, and Chad retreating at the surprisingly ferocious attack.
"Alex!"
"Kara-" The distraction was all Chad needed to wind up and clock Alex good across the side of the face. Alex went down hard, but she recovered quickly enough to kick out at Chad's legs as he advanced on her. As they struggled on the floor, Kara pushed herself up so her back was against a locker and clapped her hands over her ears. She had never really witnessed anything violent at home, the closest she'd been was witnessing the traditional arms-dance that Kryptonians entering the enforcement arm of the judiciary performed during the swearing-in ceremony.
Though Chad had a bigger mass, Alex was a lot more agile and had maneuvered so she was sitting on Chad's back with his arm in a lock. He tried to buck her off but she applied pressure until he squealed and stilled.
"You stay the hell away from my sister." Alex hissed. "If you so much as LOOK at her wrong, I will find you and HURT you. Do you understand?"
Footsteps were coming towards them and Kara was relieved to see a teacher rounding the corner, a gaggle of curious students following him.
"I said DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Alex snarled, twisting his hand in a way that it most assuredly was not supposed to go.
"YES! OKAY! I'm sorry, just-"
Alex was hauled off Chad unceremoniously and the boy was also picked up by the back of his shirt. Kara could see that Chad's nose was leaking blood and the area around his eye was swollen and starting to colour.
"Alex!" Kara screeched, sheer terror ripping through her at the red that covered the brunette's chin. Kara scrambled towards her, feeling a gut-wrenching sense of horror at the injury. The smell of something… iron, filled her nostrils, sharp and rich.
"What is the meaning of this?" Mr. MacNeill, a bearded, stocky teacher boomed. Kara vaguely remembered he taught geography in the grade above hers.
"He was beating up on my little sister and I just made sure he was picking on someone his own size." Alex lifted up her chin defiantly. Even though she was bloody and dishevelled, Kara likened Alex to maybe one of the Greek Gods that she had been reading about.
"Ms. Danvers," Mr. MacNeill turned to Kara, frowning. "Are you okay?"
"He c-caught me by surprise." Kara stuttered, trying to push her glasses up her nose, frowning as it kept slipping down, then realized that one of temples of her glasses was barely hanging on by the hinges.
Mr. MacNeill turned his gaze towards Chad, who studiously looked at the ground and avoided the teacher's eyes, which was just as good as an admission of guilt. Mr. MacNeill let Alex go grudgingly, but ordered the sisters to follow him and for curious students to go back to class. Then he pushed Chad forward and frog-marched him in the direction of the principal's office. The girls followed a good length behind so they could talk quietly.
"Are you okay?" Alex slurred through the blood that sputtered out. She tongued the side of her cheek and grimaced. "Ugh. Apparently better than me."
"Are you hurt? Do you require a physician?" Kara's hands fluttered to and fro, landing on Alex sometimes but flitting away again, afraid that she would do more damage than good.
"It's just my lip. And I probably cut the inside of my cheek." Alex reassured. She grabbed Kara's hand and placed it on her cheek, encouraging Kara to inspect for herself. The blonde tentatively cradled Alex's face, fearful of doing more damage, but wanting to make sure Alex was actually okay. It was awkward as they continued walking behind the teacher, but Alex allowed it to assuage Kara's anxiety.
"You okay?" Alex's hand on Kara's head was affectionate, her gaze, worried.
Kara nodded. "Why do you ask me this? I'm not hurt."
"I'm worried about you-" The blonde continued touching Alex's face in an almost nervous staccato rhythm, her fingers dancing across Alex's chin, swiping at the blood there ineffectively. Alex shied away. "-stop it. I'm fine, Kara."
"You're bleeding." The worry was starting to fade away from Kara and the feeling that was replacing it was less charitable. She glared at Chad walking in front of them, the simmering anger that was filling her igniting into white-hot rage as he protested that he didn't do anything wrong. Kara, for the first time in her life, felt like hurting someone deliberately. She had taken one sure step ahead of Alex, suddenly eager to get her hands on the miscreant in front of them when she felt Alex pull her back by the arm.
"Kara, look at me." Alex's hand was on her face, gently tilting the blonde's face so Kara had to look Alex in the eyes. "Kara, it's okay. I'm fine. Don't stoop to his level."
"But he-"
"What he did was wrong, but you cannot punch him through a wall. He's just a stupid kid. He also won't survive a fight with you. And this is a good learning experience because you definitely must not ever, ever fight back. You must always protect yourself and escape." Alex whispered lowly.
"But he hurt you." Kara gritted out.
Alex sighed and pursed her lips, pausing a bit to think of a way to even out Kara's murderous mood. "What would Kim Possible do?"
Kara jutted her bottom lip out, the mention of her favourite basic, average, girl-superhero dispelling her anger. That wasn't fair at all!
"He's going to get punished, definitely. But I'm fine and you're fine." Alex suddenly slung an arm around Kara's shoulders and pulled her close in a one-armed hug. "I know you're as strong as Superman, but I don't need you to protect me. I'm here to protect you, okay? So let me take care of you, Kara."
Kara nodded, leaning into the heat of Alex's body, feeling warm all over and full of a feeling of wonder. She looked up at Alex again, who smirked at her with bloody teeth. Kara leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Alex's chin, not caring about the blood that was staining her forehead now. This world was strange and new, but Alex would take care of her. She knew that Kal-El cared about her, Jeremiah and Eliza cared about her, but for Alex to say it and demonstrate it so violently... for some reason, it made her blood sing. It was barbaric, definitely, almost straight out of those novels Eliza Danvers keeps hidden around the house… Kara wondered if she should swoon like some of the female characters in the books but decided against it. Alex didn't seem like she would appreciate swooning.
"Okay, Alex." Kara nodded. Something suddenly occurred to her and she beamed up at Alex. "You called me your sister."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "I did, didn't I?"