The Girl on the Bus

Chapter 1 - Seeing is Believing

With black hair pulled back into a ponytail, green eyes hidden behind black-framed glasses, and full red lips, she was the most beautiful girl Kara had ever seen. It had been months since Kara had first laid eyes on the dark-haired beauty sitting in the back of the bus, and each day, Kara fell in love with this mystery woman a little bit more.

"Was she on the bus today?" Alex greeted as Kara entered their shared apartment.

"Yeah." Kara sighed, wistfully. The girl had been reading Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment in the original Russian. At least according to Google, that's what Prestupléniye I Nakazániye meant. The girl was obviously brilliant, reading books in several languages and a new one each day.

"And did you speak to her?"

"Alex, you don't just walk up to a goddess and introduce yourself."

"So you chickened out... again."

That was the long and short of it. Each morning, Kara promised herself this would be it, the day she'd sit down next to the mystery woman and strike up a conversation. Then when Kara entered the bus and her gaze fell on that beautiful girl, her legs would lock up, refusing to carry her the thirty-five feet to the back of the vehicle. So Kara sat in the front every day, perfecting the practice of yearning. By now, she could give a TED Talk on the subject.

"No," Kara snapped, collapsing back into the couch with a sigh. "It just isn't that easy, Alex."

"Why not?"

"Because she's so beautiful." Kara rolled onto her side, staring up at her sister. "I wouldn't even know what to say to her."

"You could start with hello." Kara grumbled and rolled away, but when her sister tugged on her shoulder, she allowed herself to be rolled back over. "Kara, if you were on the bus and some girl thought you were beautiful, because you are, and wanted to talk to you, what would you want her to do?"

"I guess... I mean..." Kara sighed. "You're right."

"I usually am. It's kind of annoying, huh?"

"Very. So just talk to her? What do I say?"

"Compliment her." Alex shooed Kara's feet out of the way, taking a seat at the end of the couch. "Tell her you like her shoes or her hair or something."

"She has great glasses. Could I tell her I like those?"

"Yes." Alex gripped her sister's lower leg and squeezed. "Do exactly what you'd want someone to do if they came up and talked to you. Just be kind."

"You make it sound so easy."

"Because it is, Kara. Just do it. You won't regret it."

"Okay, I'll try."

But Kara did not. Weeks passed with their routine remaining the same. The dark-haired girl was on the bus when Kara boarded. Engrossed in her book and barely looking up to check the stops, she never made eye contact with Kara. By the time they reached Kara's stop, another day had passed, and another opportunity was lost.

The seasons had changed before Kara finally got up the guts to make her move. The dark-haired girl was in the same seat, reading Children of the Atom. It was in English and a book with which Kara had more than passing knowledge. It was now or never, and as much as now scared her, never was even more terrifying.

Kara made her way to the back of the bus, took a cleansing breath, and asked, "Mind if I sit here?" She received no response, and Alex always said silence was acceptance - not in like a consent way but in a funny way - so Kara cautiously lowered herself to a seat. "That's a great book. My dad read it to me when I was a kid. Did you know it was originally published as a series of stories in Astounding Science Fiction?"

For the first time, the dark-haired girl lifted her head up and met Kara's gaze. She glanced to the other side, then looked back at Kara again. She slid her glasses off her face and folded them in her lap. Golly but her eyes were green.

Heartened, Kara continued. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be special like one of the characters in the book, super smart or good at something. It was a childish dream, and the price they paid, losing their parents, wasn't worth it."

Several moments of silence stretched between them before the girl asked, "Are... are you talking to me?"

"Um... yes?"

Shock was the word Kara would have used to describe the expression that crossed the mystery girl's face: shock that Kara would cross that invisible boundary provided by the anonymity of the bus, shock that Kara would so crassly take the seat next to her, shock that Kara would expect someone like her to give Kara the time of day let alone engage in a conversation.

Swallowing hard and wishing she could rewind the clock and take this mistake back, Kara turned away and rose. "Sorry to have bothered you."

"Wait!" She jumped to her feet, book and glasses falling to the floor and disappearing from sight. Several times, the girl's mouth opened and closed before she managed to say, "You can see me?"

She was a whole person and a pretty darn attractive one at that. She was kind of hard to miss.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be able to?"

A single tear rolled down the girl's cheek, and she collapsed back into her seat. "I didn't... It's been so long since... Please, don't go. Stay and talk to me, please?" She gestured to the seat next to her.

No matter how many fantasies Kara had allowed to herself, this was never the conversation she imagined. Still, now that she'd finally gotten the nerve to talk to this mystery woman, Kara wasn't about to allow this little peculiar exchange to stop her.

Lowering herself back into the seat, she said, "I'm Kara, Kara Danvers."

"Lena Luthor." A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. "How is it that you can see me when no one else does?"

"Oh, we all feel like that sometimes." Kara offered up a gentle smile. "I'm sure there are people in your life who see you."

"No, I don't mean it in an emotional, wanting to be seen kind of way. I mean that literally. Watch." Lena rose again, cleared her throat, and then screamed, "Fire! Help! He has a gun! There's a bomb! Stop the bus!"

No one reacted.

As Lena sat back down, Kara lowered her hands from her ears. How absorbed in themselves must everyone else be to ignore that uproar? Testing out a theory, Kara released a loud, "Hey!" Immediately, all passengers' heads turned in her direction. The bus driver even met her gaze in the mirror. Kara shrank down, muttering quiet apologies.

"See? You're the only one."

The notion that Lena was some sort of apparition that only Kara could see was ridiculous, but evidence seemed to prove otherwise. Kara licked her lips as a wild concept came to her. It was almost, but not quite, too crazy to voice.

"What are you? Are you," Kara's voice was hushed, "a ghost?"

Lena winced. "I don't think so. I think something happened to me, and I'm lost. I just need some help finding my way back home. Can you help me?"

Kara wasn't sure how yet, but somehow she would.