iSuperwoman
Chapter Four: Supergirl Rising I
June 29th, 2008: Sitting alone in her bedroom, Carly watched the tall buildings and immense skyline sitting still in the night. Everything about Seattle seemed so alien; so busy, crowded, and impersonal. Nothing resembled farm life in Smallville. Her room was warm, though the young woman felt cold. There was no comfort among the busy city, its traffic, or the bulk of its population. Her young eyes fixated, Carly took in a deep breath to brace herself for her changed life. I wanna go home, the fourteen-year-old girl thought. Right now, Carly could feel herself longing for her old friends at PCA. That was where she belonged. She was an outsider here. At the same time, her body seemed to be changing. Her first period had already come, and it was terrifying. Now, the young woman felt that terror reentering her life in a much higher dosage.
Down the hall, Spencer stood in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to prepare himself for law school. It all felt so wrong; the suit, the tie, the glasses; all of it was a lie. Spencer Shay, the fun-loving, intricate, passionate artist could never become a quiet, studious lawyer like his father wanted. However, that wasn't up to him anymore. Swallowing hard, Spencer looked at himself through the barrier of his glasses, and walked out of the bathroom. Miranda stood by the door, gazing at her sorrowful son. Giving a weak smile, the woman took a step closer, and reassured Spencer, from the bottom of her slowly breaking heart, that everything would be okay. Her embrace was so calm, so warm, so loving, and so real. Closing his eyes, the young man swallowed his pain and fear, and caught himself praying for something to make everything better for him and Carly.
Ridgeway High began its classes on the date of August twenty first. Walking down the warmly-colored brick hallway, which was topped with orange walls and blue stripes, holding her books over her chest in a desperate attempt to guard herself, Carly looked for her next class. "Hi," two voices harmonically greeted the stranger. Looking away from her schedule, the bunette saw two identical blond girls; one dressed mostly in pink and the other in a black and red striped shirt.
"I hate it when we do that," the one sister declared, her voice somewhat deep.
"Welcome to Ridgeway," the other girl greeted, her voice higher pitched and filled with a happy spirit. "My name's Melanie and this is my sister, Samantha."
"But call me that and you die," Samantha replied. "Name's Sam. Nice to meet you." Sam stuck out her hand, leaving Carly to fumble her right hand free, and finally shake the girl's hand.
"I'm Carly," the brunette said. "My family just moved to Seattle over the summer."
"Oh, where're you from?" Melanie asked, taking interest.
"Smallville, California," Carly answered, a smile starting to form on her face. "Kind of the middle of nowhere."
"We've been in Seattle our whole lives," Melanie replied, giving Carly a handshake. "I've always wanted to see the country. Oh, do you need help with getting to your classes?"
"Sure," the girl happily answered, handing the upbeat twin her schedule. "I'm a freshman, by the way."
"Same here," Sam replied, putting her hands in her pockets.
"Hey, guys," a young brunette boy greeted, walking over to the three.
"Hi, Freddie," Sam replied, showing little ambition.
"Hello," Carly greeted. "Are you friends with Sam and Melanie?" Sam scoffed. For a brief second, the young man was silent. "Uh, yeah," he finally managed to say. "You must be new here...my names Freddie Benson."
"Carly Shay," the young woman happily answered. "You're a freshman, too?"
"Yep," Freddie answered, trying to keep a smile off of his face. "If you wanted, um, I could maybe show you around the school. What do you have first hour?"
"Social Studies," Carly answered.
"I can show you where the room is," the boy happily volunteered. Melanie smiled at Carly, who smiled back.
"He's crushing on you so bad," Sam whispered to the brunette girl.
From that moment on, a friendship grew between the three girls and the puppy dog lover. Carly and Melanie took to one another immediately. Sam, on the other hand, took more time to warm up. By the end of freshman year, though, they were the best of friends. Carly accepted Freddie's crush, but chose to stay friends. Sam and the young man, however, had several falling outs, and wound up in a love-hate relationship. Melanie seemed to take Freddie in as a younger brother.
May 14th, 2009: Standing at her locker, Carly looked at herself. Something wasn't right; it was like she was getting stronger. She hadn't been seriously sick, or had an asthma attack for years. Unlike the last couple of years, the young woman now excelled in P.E. Her body had changed; becoming more mature and developed. Maybe her new abilities were just a part of growing up. Still, an uneasiness ate away at the young woman.
"Hey, Carls," Sam called out, walking over to her friend. "Hey, that Nevel kid wanted me to give you this note."
"Thanks," Carly replied, snapping out of her daze.
"Are you and him, like...serious?" the blond girl asked.
"No," Carly corrected her friend. "We're just friends. He doesn't get along with his dad, so he comes to me whenever they fight." Reading over the note, the girl bit her lip, then set the piece of paper in her book bag. "Hey, you and Melanie wanna hang out after school?"
"Sure," Sam happily accepted. "Groovy Smoothie?"
"You know it," Carly answered. "On me."
"Thanks, Carly," the blond warmly smiled.
"No problem," the brunette girl replied, acting like the situation wasn't at all a good work on her part. "Thanks for giving me the note. I'll see you after school."
"Later, Carls," Sam said as the two departed from one another.
Taking a seat in the school's A.V. room, Carly watched her old friend, Nevel Papperman bury his face in his hands, lean away from her, and bitterly cry. "Sssh," Carly whispered, gently rubbing her friend's back. "It's okay." Nevel didn't answer; too restricted by the massive lump growing in his throat. "I know you and your father fight alot...but you know he loves you." His eyes tightly clenched, the young man shook his head back and forth, not daring to look up at his friend. Feeling her friend's pain, Carly held the boy closer.
"Was he okay?" Sam asked, taking a sip of her smoothie.
"Just upset," the brunette girl answered. "Him and his dad, you know."
"He can trade his dad for our mom," the blond replied.
"Sam," Melanie snapped. Realizing her rude comment, Sam nodded, and attempted to change the subject. "Hey, thanks for paying for the smoothies, Carly."
"No problem, guys," Carly happily answered. "Sorry you guys didn't get your alowance."
"No big deal," Melanie said, avoiding eye contact with her friend.
"Pam's just been on this rampage," Sam added. "I think she's drinking again." Carly breathed a sympathetic sigh for her friends.
"Some things just don't change," Melanie summarized.
"Yeah," Carly answered, her voice starting to crack up. "Some things."
January 9th, 2011: "What do you mean you're going?" Sam cried out, making sure to keep her long sleeves in place.
"Sam, I really want this," Melanie tried to settle her twin. "It's my dream. And I'll come back."
"You're going to Europe while I sit here and get the crap kicked out of me by her?" the blond girl shouted. "How can you even afford to go"
"They said they're giving me a free scholarship," Melanie answered. "Sam, I'm sorry." Then, without another word, Sam stormed out of the room, leaving Melanie alone and feeling her eyes burning with thick tears. "I'm sorry, Sam," she whispered. Please don't hate me when it's time for me to leave.
Carly gave the young woman a hug on her last day at Ridgeway. Melanie held her friend close, knowing she would soon be leaving behind the only family she ever knew. In what felt like seconds, the girl was gone; with Sam nowhere in sight. Carly held the hurting sister that night; swearing she'd never leave her, and that Melanie didn't try to hurt her. Sam, however, refused to listen, and merely stayed in the embrace, clenching at her wrist. "It's not too late to say goodbye, Sam," she whispered, knowing how painful it would be for Melanie to leave all this behind.
"I'm running faster...I mean, way faster. And I feel stronger," Carly declared, trying to keep her voice down in the dimly-lit room. "But I haven't been feeling right." Miranda stared lovingly at her daughter, sharing in her fears. "Mom...I'm really scared. I don't know what's happening to me. People are starting to notice." Holding her tears inside, the poor girl's mother realized it was time.
"Dew Drop," Miranda warmly replied, slowly stroking her daughter's bangs out of her face. "Your father and I have something to tell you..." That same night, Sheldon and Miranda gave their daughter that which they feared most; the truth behind everything; the music box. "We found it when you were a baby...along with this blanket." The woman handed her daughter the aqua-colored blanket her and Sheldon found her wrapped in. "Angel...I'm so sorry, I swore we'd never have to tell you this, and I'm sorry we lied to you for so long, but...you're not our biological daughter."
"What?" Carly replied, growing upset. Feeling her eyes well up with hot, burning tears, the girl looked at her mother, and collapsed herself into her arms. "Mom," she cried out, unable to speak. Miranda gently stroked her daughter's back, holding her so close.
"I'm so sorry, angel," the woman whispered, feeling tears of her own forming in her eyes.
"I'm afraid there's more," Sheldon confessed, trying to snuff out his feelings. Spencer and Carly held their breath for what felt like an eternity. "...Your mother and I have been stationed overseas." Her heart shattering, Carly dropped her jaw, and cried out. This was all too much; too horrible to accept; too horrible to be real. Miranda held onto her baby, never wanting to let her go. "I'm so sorry...but never doubt that you are, in every way, our daughter, and we love you so much."
"I love you, too," Carly mumbled out.
"Spencer, we need you to watch Carly," Miranda told her son later that night. "Not like a big brother...but as her legal guardian."
"But what about law school?" the twenty-year-old asked, praying for a way out of the career his father chose for him.
"You only have class while Carly does," the woman answered, knowing how hard this was on her baby boy. "I know it's alot to ask, but we really need you to do this, honey." Swallowing hard, Spencer nodded, then turned away and walked out of the apartment.
Sam stood alongside Carly and Spencer the day they were waved off with the other men and women of the Navy. Pressing her face into her friend's shoulder, Carly allowed herself to cry in front of everyone. Melanie stayed close to her sister and best friend. "It'll be okay," she promised.