November 2006
Lena turned out to be a very interesting friend to Kara. The brunette was funny, witty and always had all sorts of ideas and theories about scientific improvements, experiments and outer space (her favorite subject). Every time Lena went on a passionate monologue about what fauna and flora may exist on other planets, Kara would laugh at her friend craziest suppositions but sometimes, she was amazed by their unexpected accuracy. Like that time Lena suggested that some planets would have two or more moons and others a red sun. Or that time she thought of an extraterrestrial animal whose description matched in every aspect a H'Rakas, a four-legged and four-winded creature Kryptonians used for transportation. The two girls have grown really close in the past few months, especially since Kara learned that Lena was adopted like her. Of course Kara couldn't talk about her alien origins to her friend but at least, she could tell someone, who wasn't a Danvers, about her life being turned upside down when she lost her birth parents at thirteen years old. It made the Kryptonian feel good, more normal.
-"How's my favorite human on this planet ?" Lena greeted Kara from behind as she reached their lockers.
-"Me ?" Kara replied surprised. "I..."
-"Of course you !" Lena said, rolling her eyes. "You're so easy to mess with sometimes, it's unbelievable !" she added laughing.
Of course it was easy. Kara had just landed on Earth a little over a year ago. She wasn't totally used to be referred as human yet. Plus, the amount of effort she put in controlling her strength every day drained too much of her energy to be quick on figurative meaning at the end of the day. She had to make sure not to brake any bones when she hugged a Danvers' family member, remember not to push too hard when closing a door. She had to be careful every day, every hour, every damn time. It was exhausting.
-"Hey Lena !" a blond girl with a ponytail shouted, waving at Kara's friend across the hallway.
-"Yes... ?" Lena asked, clearly confused about the girl's identity. She glanced at Kara quickly, silently asking her if she knew of the girl but Kara shrugged and shook her head no. Noticing Lena's confused face, the girl with the ponytail added, putting her manicured hand on her chest :
-"I'm Nancy !" But Lena kept starring at her with her brow furrowed, trying very hard to replace the girl in her memory.
-"From life science class ?" the girl tried once more.
-"Ah yes !" Lena exclaimed loudly. "Well, what do you want Nancy ?" she continued, smiling brightly. Too brightly. Kara knew what her friend was doing. Lena didn't recognized the girl at all, she pretended to have just so that this interruption would be over as soon as possible.
-"Well, tomorrow it's my birthday so I decided to throw a party at my house this Saturday and..." the girl handed Lena a bright pink invitation card with rhinestones and glitter everywhere, "you're invited !" she finished yelling in her very high pitched voice. Lena took the horrendous card with the tips of her fingers, clearly disgusted by it or not wanting to get glitter on her hands, or maybe both.
-"She would love to come" Kara said before Lena could stop her. This was her chance to go to her first party and she wouldn't miss this perfect opportunity.
-"Great !" the girl squealed again. "See you on Saturday !" and with that, she was gone.
-"Why did you say yes ?" Lena asked, facing Kara like she was the one with the super speed. "I didn't even remember the girl from my life science class for God's sake !" she added still stunned at what Kara did.
The Kryptonian knew why her friend was so shocked. This wasn't the first time that people Lena didn't know asked her to attend parties, games, or to simply hang out with them after school. The thing was that the Luthor family was well known for its wealth and influence locally. And on top of that, Lex, Lena's older brother, was very popular in Smalville High when he was studying there. So, naturally, everyone expected Lena to be as popular as the rest of her family, the life of the party. They couldn't have been more wrong and apparently, after three month into her freshman year, some people like "ponytail girl" as Lena called her, didn't get the memo yet. The Luthor girl would rather draw spaceships of her invention on her sketchbook than conversing with people of futile concerns. She wanted to be the first person to send a spaceship on a habitable planet. That meant, one : finding an habitable planet and two : building a spaceship powerful enough to reach it and like Lena often said, that project would took too much time to waste it with people who valuated popularity more than the future of mankind.
-"Please" Kara answered, making her best puppy eyes at Lena. She really wanted to experience human life at her fullest and right now, this meant going to a pyjama party. She was eager to know what human parties looked like and what were the main activities. Of course she couldn't tell Lena about all that, so instead she said :
-"Come on ! I never went to an high school party yet" she tried to convince her friend. "Plus, it would be nice for once not to be the two weirdos who never go to parties". Judging by Lena's still pouting face, she had not find the right argument yet.
-"Look, we'll just go, take a look around and if it's lame, we leave" Kara tried again. "Promise".
-"OK" Lena finally said, sighting. "Let's do this". She never resisted those puppy eyes.
It hadn't be so hard for Kara to convince Eliza to let her go to the party. It wasn't like she was going to get drunk or would have trouble getting home safely. Plus, she wasn't going alone and Lena's driver was there to take the girls at the party then bring them back. The perk of having a rich friend Kara thought, even if Lena actually never used Travis' services. She took the bus everyday for school to the great displeasure of her mother.
Saturday finally came and the two girls had just been dropped off in front of Nancy's house.
-"Call me when you need me to bring you and Miss Kara back home, Miss Lena" Travis said.
-"Yeah I will. Thank you Travis".
-"You're welcome Miss. Have fun". Lena's driver said before getting back in the big black sedan, leaving the two girls standing on the small paved alley that led to the house.
-"Ready ?" Lena asked Kara, smiling.
-"Yes ! You have the gift ?"
-"Yep" the brunette answered, showing Kara the small wrapped package in her hand. Lena couldn't have cared less about this Nancy and her party but she still had manners. You don't show at a birthday party without a present. That was the rule. So she bought the girl a bright pink diary, with "my little diary" written on it in blue sequined ink. Girls of her age loved to write about their life in full length, that was a well known fact and, judging by the horrendous invitation card, this one had every chance of pleasing her hostess.
-"Great. Let's go !" a very enthusiastically Kara said, heading for the entrance and dragging a still reluctant Lena with her.
After five rounds of "Never Have I Ever", ten of "Twister" and countless beauty and gossip talk, Kara was starting to get really bored. So she said that she was getting more snacks and got up. Lena immediately got the message and stood up too, saying that she was accompanying her. They figured out that signal quickly before entering the house in case the party got too lame for them. The two girls excited Nancy's room and got down the stairs quietly.
-"Thank God !" Lena exclaimed once they were in the kitchen. "I was really having a hard time staying awake" she added, rubbing her face with her hands to wake up from her lethargy.
-"Why didn't you use the signal ?" Kara asked, grabbing a bag of marshmallows.
-"I wasn't sure if you're were having fun or not, so I waited for you to use it" Lena answered, shrugging. "Wait, you're really going to eat that ?" she continued, pointing at the bag of marshmallows.
-"Well, I said that I was going to get more snack, no ? Kara replied innocently, opening the bag. "It might as well give us an alibi, you know, just in case" she added, smiling.
-"You're unbelievable" the brunette said, smiling despite herself.
-"You know I love food !"
-"Yeah, I know that. The question is : where all this food goes ?" Lena wondered, amazed. "Well, since we're taking supplies with us, I better take this" she continued, opening a closet and pulling out a bottle of whiskey.
-"What..." Kara started but found herself too stunned to finish her sentence. Lena just smiled devilishly and took two plastic cup from the kitchen table.
-"Oh ! Now I get why you took so many bathroom breaks !"
-"How do you think I managed to survive this party so far ? Lena said laughing at Kara's shocked face. "Come on, let's get some fresh air. It will help me awaken a little more" she finished, putting an arm around the blonde shoulders and leading her outside.
The two girls seated in Nancy's backyard, leaning against an apple tree. They shared a few minutes of comfortable silence, just drinking whiskey and eating marshmallows. Lena put down her cup on the grass and broke the peace of the night.
-"Do you wonder sometimes what's up there ?" she asked Kara, looking at the starry sky.
-"Up there where ?"
-"Beyond the stars".
-"Like what ? Planets ? Kara asked, not seeing what her friend was getting at.
-"No, we already know that there are other planets, stars and constellations" Lena replied. "I mean, are there things out there that we know nothing about ? Like, other life forms or even entire civilisations ? Superman did came from somewhere after all, no ?
Yes. He came from Krypton, just like me. That was Kara wanted to respond but didn't. She would love to talk to Lena about Krypton, its beautiful red sun Rao, its rocky soil, its inhabitants...
-"Earth to Kara ?" the brunette asked, shoving her friend lightly. Apparently, the Kryptonian had lost herself in the memories of her home planet. "Where are you?" Lena continued, laughing. "I knew Whisky might be too strong for you".
-"I'm here" Kara answered finally. Yes, she was here now, Krypton was gone and she was on Earth. Forever. This truth never really hit Kara until this very moment and, as her friend was calling Travis on her cell phone to pick them up, she took one last look to the night sky and whispered "goodbye", a single tear running down her cheek.