Slowly, at least agonizingly slowly for Kara, she had been gradually introducing herself into Lena's social space, which was, as expected, consisted only of herself.
However, for the Luthor, she found the blonde's endearing insistence to be unbearably annoying.
Maybe frustrating was a better word.
Her relationships never even bordered on friendship, not even close. Everyone was an acquaintance or less, nothing more, and the fact that Kara was threatening that familiar trend with her bubbly personality and beautiful face and fluffy blonde hair and puppy-like attitude was absolutely...frustrating.
How dare she?
A week passed since their first encounter and Lena was unable to shrug her classmate off, not that she tried to, which was something that had shaken her to her core greatly; she never tolerated anyone to the point where she did not actively try to get rid of them.
I guess there's a first for everything.
The frustration was mutual for Kara; she usually coaxed out shy people easily, everyone for that matter, but Lena was...different.
Eventually it hit her.
She's afraid and broken, not shy.
And the blonde had never really dealt with that before.
Well, she had, but everyone's broken pieces were different and Kara was always able to put them back together with relative ease, like an effortless puzzle.
Lena though, she was shattered, several pieces a fine grain, simply impossible to put back together perfectly with so many parts strewn about.
Kara lost her entire planet to put it simply, and she remained positive and bright and optimistic that she could help others.
A kid by the name of Bruce Wayne lost his parents and preferred to brood and be edgy and mysterious like his teen angst would never ever go away.
Everyone heard about the incident with the Waynes, a tragic story shared among everyone at the time.
But the blonde remained in the dark about Lena's history, as it remained placid and unperturbed.
The Luthors enjoyed being in the dark, and it made their influence all that more catastrophic.
For Kara, she wanted to see what was underneath, she just wanted to pull off that stoic and cynical veil that masked something else inside - the potential, the capacity for love and kindness, uninhibited by the fear, the misfortune, and the tragedy.
For a moment Kara did not want to dig out the adversity buried within Lena's past - Lena's heart.
She did not force her classmate to sit with her at lunch, just opted for greetings and formalities.
The blonde did not think she was going anywhere with the new girl, their physical and emotional distance remained constant. If anything, by the Luthor's demands, it could have stretched even farther, and she was thankful that she was not being pushed away, at least actively so.
Lena was disturbed with how affectionate Kara was with everyone, words and actions and all.
But that was exactly the problem for her; well, the kind words were fine, bearable even, but the blonde's penchant for hugs was terrifying.
The Luthor realized that Kara stopped being so touchy with her, maybe because she could hear how loud her heart was erratically beating at the notion of someone making physical contact with her without it being heinous.
The only progression with their connection was the talking, the conversations that were elicited out from Lena by Kara besides pertaining to their classes. It was not easy to get out of her shell for speaking, but it was not awkward at least. It was more amusing if not anything else.
There was one time the blonde bolted late into class in the middle of a lecture, her hair unruly and messed, and she found herself obligated to explain to Lena about what happened to her, mostly regarding her appearance.
"I flew here..." her voice pitched higher, "On...on a bus..."
The Luthor tilted her head curiously, but ignored the statement and continued with her work.
Then there was a moment in chemistry class where she assumed the blonde had something that kids called a 'brain fart'.
"Chemistry's so difficult. I'm not familiar with these elements from Ear - here. I'm not familiar with the elements from here. Yes. Yes, that's right."
Lena quirked a brow, her voice not as small as when she was being bullied and hustled around, "Kara?"
She fixed her glasses in a nervous habitual movement, "Y-yeah?"
"Chemistry's a universal subject."
"R-Right. Yes. Of course. Heh."
But she was smart.
Almost genius in intellect.
And Lena was always baffled at why Kara acted like she struggled with science or math, like she was hiding something.
Maybe she just wanted to fit in.
But she was also just...strange, and she said weird things.
Then Lena realized that maybe the girl's first language was not English, which would explain that confused look she always had on her face whenever she read a paragraph that was a bit too long or whenever she asked the raven-haired girl what this word or that word meant.
Not to mention her absolutely horrid spelling at times.
Horrid in a funny way.
She was clearly fluent in English, but there were times where her phrases and sentences strayed from informal to formal, away from casual to more...professional in its structure.
Or maybe she just really struggled with English in general.
Eventually, Lena could really see why Kara was the most popular girl in school. She was shy, awkward, but kind, selfless, passionate, and just plain friendly and likable. Not to mention she was the human embodiment of a puppy.
She was not popular for her physical beauty, though of course her figure was gorgeous, but she was a the cheer captain and a part of the varsity soccer team.
Lena remembered Kara talking about Alex, her older sister, with high praise along with Maggie, the latter's girlfriend.
Alex entertained soccer freshman year, but found that her calling was towards basketball and lacrosse.
Maggie played baseball and softball, and dabbled with volleyball for a time.
The Luthor preferred to stay active with her brain, but joining any clubs was obviously out of the question, and she used to do track, but that was tossed out the window as well.
Kara was a curious girl, but typically did not look like she was one to be captivated by others, but left everyone else captivated by her.
Or maybe it was more accurate to apply that to Lena as well.
The captivators, the blonde for all the good reasons and the Luthor for all the bad ones.
Except, unbeknownst to everyone, Kara was mesmerized by the raven-haired girl for some Satanic reason.
It was obvious many boys, and girls, crushing on Kara did not take too kindly to being one-upped by a 'crazed' Luthor, since the blonde's attention was only paid to her, plus her close gang of friends.
That was what jeopardized Lena's safety, that she was seemingly being hovered over for protection by the puppy-like blonde, who did not realize what increased danger she was putting her in.
People were jealous, shocked.
The students admitted that, yes, Lena was certainly beautiful, foreignly ethereal in her features; but she was cold, indifferent, intimidating, completely unreachable...
She was someone to admire or want to be, minus her murderous family and her 'mean' personality.
She was not someone to know. Never that.
Kara, on the other hand, her beauty was not intimidating.
It was more on the comforting side; innocent, kind, sincere, clumsy...with a dorky personality, dorky glasses, and she was just dorky in general.
She was someone people wanted to go home to.
Someone people wanted to get to know, to understand, to help grow.
And Kara just could not understand as to why no one thought the same with Lena.
No, she could understand perfectly as to why, but she could not comprehend nor fathom it.
It made her angry that it was simply a surname holding everyone back like it was an epidemic.
Lena was no longer someone, she was something, dehumanized and demonized by others.
They were working as pairs on a lab project in chemistry, their sleeves rolled up and out of the way as they were carefully observing chemical reactions.
The Luthor stated that she would be back with another batch.
After a few moments Kara was startled from concocting a liquid when she heard a familiar cry of pain.
She quickly turned to the source, saw a stain on Lena's lab coat. And the liquid seemed to have poured over her left arm and hand as well, her burning skin bleeding slightly wherever the chemicals made contact.
Her super hearing picked up on a few chuckles and whispers berating her partner.
"What's going on here!" the teacher shouted, "What'd I say about lab safety?"
Kara glanced at the boy next to her friend with a suspiciously empty vial and the other boy next to him who was failing to hold in his laughter.
"What happened, Lena?" the teacher repeated, scowling.
The boys, Maxwell Lord and Devlin Davenport, glared daggers at the girl, as if to shut her up from saying something that would rat them out.
Lena was not paying any attention to them and for a moment Kara thought she would actually deliver justice to the jerks.
But she was horribly wrong and the answer Lena gave the teacher made Kara's stomach twist.
"I-I spilled some on myself, I should've been more careful. I'm sorry."
The shit eating grin plastered on Max's face widened and Kara wanted so badly to slap that smug look off of his mouth.
The teacher sighed, "Make sure it doesn't happen again, and go to the nurse."
"I'll accompany her," the other boy offered slyly.
"How kind of you, Devlin."
Lena stiffened significantly, eyes widening with fear.
The Kryptonian could hear her heart rate spike to coincide with her mini hyperventilating.
"No, I will," Kara countered while glowering at the two boys, seeing the girl relax slightly, "I think she'd be more comfortable if a friend was with her."
The teacher seemed to consider for a moment, "Very well, wash the chemicals off and then come back after you've made sure she's in the nurse's office."
The blonde nodded tersely and swiped a clean rag from the shelves and wetted half of it before leading Lena out of the room, her mood clearly ruined.
After they were out of earshot down the hall, Kara turned to face the Luthor, crossing her arms, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I did."
The blonde sighed exasperatedly, "I meant why didn't you tell the truth?"
"They're only going to come after me with more force. Besides," she smiled bitterly, whispering the next sentence to herself, "no one would've believed me, I'm a Luthor."
Kara frowned, ignoring the last statement, "But if you don't fight back this could keep going on, it could get worse either way, but at least you'd let someone know."
A moment of silence passed.
"How are you feeling?"
"That's none of your concern," Lena replied coldly.
"It is of my concern! You're my friend!" then she faltered when her 'friend' flinched away at her raised voice, "O-Or, at least, I consider you one, I mean...I-I don't know how you, ahem, feel about it, so-"
Lena cut off her adorable rambling, "I'm fine."
Kara growled at the phrase, "No, you're not! You have no idea how much it bothers me when you say that!"
"Sue me," came the cool response.
The blonde groaned, reaching out to grab Lena's arm, but she stopped midway, remembering that the girl was very not fond of physical contact.
Her voice softened, held less confidence, "Uh, um, may I..." she gestured awkwardly at her friend's bleeding hand.
Lena hesitated, "I...yeah, sure..."
She braced herself, but found strong hands gently placed on her upper arm, sliding just below her elbow to lift it up.
The touch was filled with care and affection, she wanted to stay and pull away at the same time.
When Kara dabbed at a particularly sensitive spot, she hissed, squirmed away from the raw tenderness.
The blonde retracted herself, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," she took a huge gulp of air and let a deep breath out, "Oh wow, that's...that's a lot of blood."
"Queasy much?"
"Very much. I'm a wimp actually."
"Then maybe playing hero isn't your thing."
The blonde smiled thoughtfully, a long stretch of silence filled the air around them as Kara continued to gently dab away the blood, soaking it into the rag.
After a moment, Lena sighed, she sounded irked and her eyes slanted angrily, "Why're you doing all this? I'm a Luthor."
"You're Lena, not Lex, not Lillian, not Lionel. Lena," the blonde smiled fondly.
Kara heard the girl's chest tighten as her heart pounded against her chest, and she thought that maybe, this time, it was because of something good, because Lena truly deserved it.
"I appreciate your sentiment, but we can't be friends," the girl pulled her arm away.
Kara froze, all of those days trying to get close to the Luthor shattered with a single sentence, "W-Why?"
"You have a reputation to uphold h-"
"I don't care."
Lena held a finger up and glared, "Let me finish."
The blonde chuckled nervously, made a gesture that she was zipping up her lips and throwing away the key.
The Luthor groaned internally at her cuteness, then cleared her throat, "You may say you don't care, but I'm sure you're at least a little bit concerned. However, that's not the majority of my worries."
She paused, continuing after Kara bobbed her head a bit too wildly for a nod.
"Since you've become...closer to me...in and between classes, before and after school, it's been more tedious to hide to put it simply."
The blonde frowned, which slowly morphed into a gaping mouth; she was appalled as what the sentence was implying dawned upon her.
"I-I'm so sorry. If I knew that befriending you would put your safety in more danger I..." she shrunk, "I was an idiot to think that..." she trailed off, "I would've tried to keep my distance."
Lena narrowed her eyes.
Tried?
Then she shook her head, "I think it'd be best if you stop whatever you're doing."
Kara nodded, trying to understand, "Then I guess...I guess I should leave you alone now?"
Lena returned the gesture and watched as the blonde reluctantly made her way back to the classroom, shoulders dropped.
The Luthor swore she could feel something inside her stir.
Little did she know it was the thawing of her heart.
Lena clamped her mouth shut as she was examining the dining table for her and Lillian.
"Don't mumble when you're confused or unsure, it shows your lack of intelligence."
The Luthor narrowed her eyes and ignored her migraine, struggling to remember the formal setting for a dining table.
Service plate on the bottom, salad plate stacked on top. Cake fork placed horizontally above facing right. Dessert spoon horizontally above that and facing left. To the left of the plates's the dinner fork placed vertically and facing up, same with the salad fork but shifted one over after. Far left's the folded napkin. The bread plate with the butter knife's in the top left corner. Dinner knife, teaspoon, and soup spoon to the right of the plate placed vertically facing up. Farther to the right's the cup and saucer. To the top right's the water, red wine, and white wine glasses in that order.
Lena was sure her cotillion etiquette made sure she was not forgetting anything and she double checked to see if her mother's set-up matched hers.
She nodded and sighed, relieved, but something nagged at her that she neglected a piece of vital information.
But everything looks perfect.
She racked through her brain to triple check every detail.
The fish's a part of the appetizer and that's complemented by white wine, and then there's steak for the entree and that main meal goes with red wine. Nothing's for dessert, but it's safer to leave the unused wares on the table than to omit them.
Still, Lena could not help but panic a little at the possibility she was forgetting something.
I should calm down and stop being so paranoid. Dinner looks fine and I haven't gotten anyone pissed at school since I transferred.
She straightened herself suddenly, not firm, but stiff, when she heard the bolt to the entrance unlock.
Lillian nodded towards her daughter, "Lena."
She returned the gesture, "Mother."
The woman sat across from her and examined the dining set-up with vexation and rearranged the silverware.
Lena looked on with mortification.
Fuck, I forgot she was left-handed. I'm so stupid!
"I-I apologize, Mother, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
Lillian clicked her tongue, "Stuttering is unbefitting of someone raised in a prim and proper upbringing. Elegance is of utmost importance," her eyes narrowed, "And no elbows. Disappointing."
In Lena's mortification, she forgot that she rested her arms on the table.
"Yes, Mother."
"You're almost eighteen. I expect more from you. My sweet Lex did everything perfectly. Perfectly."
The girl sighed internally, no excuses, not even valid reasons or else it would be thought of as talking back and turned into a lecture.
Or a beating.
"Yes, Mother."
And she was in no mood to for a belt to be whipped against her back.
They went through dinner in silence, and Lena found herself missing Lionel and Lex. Her father was just as cold as her mother, but since he passed, Lillian took up his mantle and the severity of punishments increased tenfold. Lex was always the one to diffuse when he sensed that something was amiss.
But he was in prison. Rotting in his cell along with his glorious xenophobia.
"How has school been?"
Lena glanced up from her plate, tilted her head slightly.
Her mother was never concerned about how she felt nor her well-being, so she deduced that Lillian was trying to scout out information on something.
Something.
"Fine," she answered cautiously.
"Good grades."
Stellar .
"Of course."
"Have you gotten into any trouble lately?"
"No."
A pause.
Lillian glared daggers at her daughter, "I don't tolerate lying."
Lena's eyes widened in surprise, and this time she could not stand idly by as she was accused of something she was sure did not happen, "Wh-I'm not-"
The woman slammed her fork on the table and the girl was immediately silenced by her fear.
Lena's hands were shaking and she put them on her lap to hide them from view, ignoring the stinging pain from the acid spilled on her earlier.
Her mother began calmly, "I received a call from Devlin Davenport's, Thomas Elliot's, and Maxwell Lord's folks."
Lena clenched her hands into fists, managing to make her voice as calm as possible to prevent an unwanted outburst, "What'd they say?"
"That you stirred up some trouble, multiple times. That was the gist of the brief conversation I had with them."
"I swear I didn't-"
"You could've potentially scared off my investors from the Davenport and Elliot families and severed my affiliation with Lord Technologies. You could've jeopardized the company. What do you have to say?"
"Mother, I didn't do anything. They're lying."
"You're prone to insolence, have an inclination for distractions, so why should I believe your excuses?"
Lena's expression was downcast, head hung low when she saw her mother's face flare with ferocity.
She was so deep in thought she did not notice the clacking stilettos nearing her, "Lex was perfect in every way, I understand that it's hard for you to do the same when you're...well, like this."
Lena muttered, "'Perfect'. Sure. Explains why he's in prison. Tell that to his wardens, to the people he's killed and the families he's destroyed. 'Perfect' my ass."
A hard backhand slammed against her left cheek, irritating her almost healed black eye.
The force was so powerful it sent her tumbling onto the floor.
Lena quickly slid away into the corner of the dining room, shaking and holding in her whimpers of fear.
"You will not get away with disrespecting me or your brother. Not only that, but you also disrespected the Davenports, the Elliots, and the Lords, maybe you should eat less so you don't have the energy to stir up trouble like that again."
The next day at school was probably the worst so far. She luckily got away with only a dislocated shoulder and elbow. No open wounds thankfully, so a few weeks could fix those up easily.
If she got professional medical attention.
Most of the time she haphazardly bandaged or stitched herself up, too afraid to seek out a hospital because her often temperamental mother might get the idea that Lena was turning her into the authorities for child abuse.
She calculated the time she would need to fully recover for all her injuries. The black eye and bruised ribs were no longer tender to the touch, but her left arm's joints needed several weeks. Then the same arm needed a few months to scar over and disappear, very likely a lot less since her skin was burned superficially.
Again, at least no horrid open wounds or broken bones.
Then Lena cursed inwardly.
They'll take advantage of my increased vulnerability.
She would have to be more crafty when it came to avoiding the bullies.
That went out the window when she stopped in the hallway and saw Kara forcing a smile at a rather bulky boy, who she deduced was trying, and failing, to flirt with her.
The blonde looked very eager to leave, but of course, she was much too nice and polite to leave or reject him harshly.
So, without second thoughts, Lena stalked over and placed herself between the two.
"Excuse me?" he grumbled.
"Sorry, Terrence was it?"
"Terry," he corrected.
"Well, I need to borrow Kara for a while to discuss our project, I hope you don't mind trying to find another time to converse?"
The large boy bristled, growling before moving off.
Lena sighed dejectedly.
So much for laying low. Mother's going to kill me, Terrence Cannon's family's another investor of the company.
And if rumors did him any justice, he was a brute and solved conflict with his fists instead of his words.
Lena broadened her shoulders, mentally prepping herself for another potential beating sooner or later.
"Thank you."
The Luthor jumped, turned to meet the beautiful, warm blue eyes that praised her.
"Don't mention it. It wasn't a problem, I owe you for all the times you've helped me out."
Kara frowned, "You don't owe me anything. You never did."
The blonde's demeanor slackened when she eyed Lena's arm hung in a cast and sling.
"I-I know you said we couldn't be friends, but I mean, as a peer, I can still be concerned, so..." she appraised the injured arm, "Is this from the incident yesterday?"
The Luthor glanced at her arm, "Y-Yeah."
When Kara noticed her heart spike again, she casually utilized her x-ray vision, and her concerns were made true.
New injuries.
The blonde tried her best to be as subtle about it as possible, since it looked as if her bones were still slightly out of place, "You...you didn't break or pop anything out, right? 'Cause that looks pretty serious."
Lena tensed at the notion of being caught in an actual lie, "No, no I didn't," her heart sped up again, "Just...extra safety precautions. I'm a clumsy person sometimes."
"You?" Kara giggled, "Lena Luthor? Clumsy? In the same sentence? That's unheard of."
The Luthor did not appreciate her teasing.
Or maybe she did judging from the heat and butterflies pooling in her stomach as she could only mumble a retort, "Don't test me."
"Are you threatening me?" the blonde smirked playfully.
Lena rolled her eyes and pivoted, "I need to get to class."
Kara's smile never faded as she watched her classmate walk away.
"So, you guys are friends?"
"Well," the blonde paused, "No, not really? Maybe? I don't know..."
Winn tilted his head, chomping a large bite from his sandwich and speaking through the mouthful, "How do you 'not know'?"
Kara rested her chin on her hands and squished her cheeks, letting out a muffled, "She's just...so confusing."
The boy gulped down his food, "I can imagine."
The blonde quirked a brow, waiting for him to elaborate.
"Well she is a part of the Luthors."
Kara nearly seethed at the comment before Winn interrupted her.
"Hold on, let me finish before you shred me into pieces," he took a sip of his juice box, "What I mean is that her family isn't...the best, which's definitely an understatement. She's being judged by their actions, not hers, I can imagine why she's being so confusing. I had that phase too, going about appeasing people...you know...with my dad and all," he cleared his throat, "Ahem, since Lex's crimes exploded on the news, my dad, Toyman, he's become the laughingstock of his cell block, or every criminal is compared to what Lex did."
The blonde nodded in understanding, "Yeah. I see."
"I understand her to some extent too, albeit a small one; I was judged based on my dad's actions. Now I'm not, all thanks to her brother, but I also feel bad that this kind of burden fell on her too."
"I wish everyone else was as understanding as you."
Winn smiled widely, reached out for Kara's hand to comfort her and patted it, "Maybe they'll come around."
"I'm not sure about Lucy and James though."
The boy frowned, "Yeah, I'm not either. Their parents have some serious beef with the Luthors, and not the sirloin kind."
"What's that supposed to even mean?"
"Their beef's the A5 kobe strip steak kind."
Kara rolled her eyes, "I'm not a meat connoisseur."
"It's a three-fifty per pound kind of beef."
The blonde's eyes bulged this time, "Now that is some serious beef they have with each other."
"Yeah, I don't recommend you bring Lena up with those two honestly."
"Bring who up?" Lucy inquired, plopping down next to her friends along with James.
"W-Uh, th-the new teacher," Winn sputtered, busying his mouth with his meal.
"There are a lot of new staff and faculty members this year though," James stated.
"It's just this one that Winn has had trouble with, nothing important," Kara laughed nervously, gulping down her milk.
Lucy chuckled, "You have a mustache."
"I-What?" the blonde hastily wiped it away with her sleeve.
"You missed a spot."
"Where?"
"There," she gestured.
Kara wiped the designated area away.
"No," Lucy shook her head again, containing her laughter with the boys, "There."
"Where?" she shouted.
"It's right there!" James chuckled.
The blonde removed her glasses and furiously wiped her entire face, "Did I get it?"
Winn had a fit of laughter, "You still missed a spot."
"I rubbed my entire face! How could I mi-" Kara narrowed her eyes and huffed, "I got it the first time, didn't I?"
Lucy shrugged and took a bite from her apple, speaking through the crunching, "Yeah, you did."
"You're all evil."
The group chuckled.
Kara's eyes somehow rested on a familiar figure in the back of the cafeteria, Lena, who glanced from her novel to watch the blonde and her friends mess around.
When her wintergreen eyes met the familiar blue, she quickly raised the book to hide her face.
The Kryptonian's heart skipped a beat.
Was that...a smile?
Though it was a very tiny one, and it was enough to inspire her to make it her life goal to at least get a genuine laugh out of the girl.