The new English teacher

Hide or seek?

'Alex?'

'Yeah?' She is preparing dinner while I'm doing my homework at the kitchen table.

'Did you know Lex Luthor's sister teaches at my school.'

She turns around to look at me. 'Oh, I thought you knew that already. It's Lena Luthor, the English teacher right? She's nothing like her brother.'

'No, she really isn't.' I say with a smile. I snap out of my daydream. 'But did you know he's no longer in prison?'

'I did not know that.' Alex wringles her eyebrows. 'How do you know?'

Shit, now I have to tell her that I used my superhearing to listen to my teacher's phone call.

'Kara... Why are your cheek turning red?' She looks at me sternly.

'I kind of overheard a phone call...'

'You used your superhearing!'

'Okay, okay, yeah, but what's more important is that Lex Luthor is probably coming to our school.'

'What?! Why?'

'He sounded angry. He probably wants to do something to Ms. Luthor I don't know. It worries me though, she looked quite scared.'

'This is bad. Keep me updated.'

'Ha, so you want me to use superhearing anyway?'

'Shut up.' But she gave me a grin.

It's lunch break and I really need to pee so I tell Winn I'll be back within a few minutes. I walk through the corridors and then I hear Ms. Luthor's voice. But she is not talking to me. I don't even see her. Then I hear that familiar man's voice. I realise he's not on the phone this time. They are in the same room, a supply closet.

'I will never tell you who she is. Never!'

Then I hear the sound of a slap and a yelp from Ms. Luthor. My hand covers my mouth in shock. How dare he?

'I will break you physically and mentally if you don't tell what she looks like. I want a picture uploaded to this e-mail by the end of the week.'

Footsteps are approaching me so I quickly turn around to walk away, even though I don't want to. That poor woman, what has she ever done? She still needs to teach while going through this shit. I really want to comfort her.

'Alex!', I scream when I come home.

She runs from the stairs, a worried look on her face.

'Any news?'

'Yes, sit down.'

I tell her about that conversation between Ms. Luthor and Lex and Alex too clasps her mouth.

'But Kara, this is about you!'

'About me?'

'Of course it is! He wanted your cousin destroyed and now he's after you! Kara, please stay home, it isn't safe.'

I feel so stupid right now. I had just assumed that Ms. Luthor's business could never involve me.

'No! I won't stay home. I can protect myself.'

'Talk about it with mom. I really think it's not a good idea.'

My adoptive mom, Eliza, agreed with Alex. But I'm 18 years old so I can make my own decisions. I am going to school and I'm going to talk to Ms. Luthor about this. I know she isn't going to send Lex that picture and I wouldn't be able to bear the thought of her getting tortured because of me.

When I get to the English class, I am not met with her smile, but with eyes that are accompanied with dark purple circles underneath. I give her a smile of sympathy and hesistate whether to talk to her right now. I'll do it at the end of the lesson. The lesson was boring. You could tell that Ms. Luthor had no energy left in her body. When the bell rings, I see that she wants to leave the classroom quickly, packing her stuff immediatly, but I stop her.

'Ms., I heard you yesterday, I'm sorry, but you have to upload my picture.'

Her eyes widen in shock and she drops the books she was holding.

'Oh, sorry.' I say, as I duck to gather her things. Of course, our hands have to touch. Shit, now I'm turning red again. I look up at her, still in a crouching position. She has water in her eyes and her lips are slightly parted. She is so beautiful. But that's not what's important right now.

'Ms.'

'Kara...' We said it at the same time. I keep her a nod to tell her to keep talking.

'I-I can't betray you. Lex will kill you.' She almost starts to cry. I look around to see if anyone is nearby, even use my X-ray vision. No one. Hesistantly, I grab her shoulders as I pull her to a standing position. Then I close my arms around her back. She stiffens and I'm scared that she doesn't feel comfortable by this. But then she puts her arms around my waist, which feels so nice, and starts to sob. Her fingers start to carress my back, making my heart beat very fast. I use my superhearing and I realise that her heartbeat goes at around the same rate. I whisper something.

'I will beat him. I will train and then I will kick his ass. I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me.'

She laughs a little but shakes her head, making me smell her fresh shampoo.

'No, you shouldn't be involved in the first place. He just can't find out who you are. He won't stop looking for you as long as he's breathing and I don't want you to kill him. I don't want you to carry that burden.'

I break away from the hug but don't remove my hands from her shoulders.

'So what do I do then? Hide my whole life? I don't think so.'

'Kara, please, think about it at least.'

'Okay, I will.'

'We have until Friday. After that, it's too late.'

I nod briefly and start to walk away. But then I feel a cold hand on mine. Ms. Luthor holds my hand for a short time, looking at me with concern. I smile at her and then I get out. I release a shaky breath. I'm falling. I'm actually falling for her.