Second Chances: Stargirl

Chapter 1

Courtney Whitmore sighed as she headed down to the kitchen of her aunt Eliza's house in Midvale, which was where she'd spent the past summer since her mom had married her new stepdad Pat Dugan, something she was not thrilled about, but anyways, she was on her way down when she heard her aunt arguing with her mom, reminding her that today was the day she was picking up both her and her friend Yolanda, who Courtney had invited to come out to Midvale with her, since she had a feeling that Yolanda could use a break from their hometown of Blue Valley Nebraska, since neither of them had it very easy there, especially since Yolanda's life had taken a very negative turn towards the end of the previous school year, but that was not what Courtney was focusing on. Right now she was trying to listen in on what her mom and aunt were saying.

"You know you're going to have to tell Courtney the truth soon, especially considering who you married." she heard her aunt Eliza say.

"She's safer not knowing." her mom Barbara insisted.

"You keep telling yourself that, but I think that Courtney is old enough now to understand the truth about what happened to her father. And besides, I don't think you're going to have a choice about it." Eliza said, much to Courtney's confusion, since as far as she knew, her father, Sylvester Pemberton, had been a no good deadbeat who'd abandoned her and her mother when she was three years old, but for some reason, that story had never sat right with her. The few memories she did have of her father were of him being kind and loving to her, not to mention the very large house he'd had built for them on the outskirts of Blue Valley, since she knew he was rich and she was set to inherit his fortune when she turned 18, though she was planning on convincing her mom and Pat to let her use some of those funds when she turned 16 to buy her own car.

Anyways, Courtney continued listening in on their argument.

"What are you talking about?" Barbara asked her sister.

"From what I can gather, Courtney has been having the same kind of dreams her father had. She's been having them ever since you married Pat and there's only one reason why she'd be having those dreams in the first place. You can't protect her from this anymore. I know you were hoping someone else would be chosen, but it's clear that isn't the case." Eliza said.

"I can protect her from this as long as I can and you won't say anything to her about it." Barbara said and Eliza was getting tired of having this same argument with her sister, since she knew she was right, but Barb wouldn't accept it until she had no other choice. Something that she could relate too, but since she knew that they were being listened to, she decided to change the topic.

"How do you feel about the fact that I let Courtney and Yolanda share Kara and Alex's old room?" Eliza asked her sister, who smiled, while Courtney, who quickly realized where this was going and headed back upstairs so she could make sure Yolanda, who'd still been asleep when she'd left the room, didn't hear any of this.

"Honestly, I'm totally fine with it, if only because Yolanda has no idea how Courtney feels about her or how she feels about Courtney yet. But her time here helped?" Barbara asked her sister, who nodded.

"You made the right call having her come here with Courtney. I swear, she's a completely different person than she was when she got here." Eliza said and Barb smiled.

"I'm glad. When Courtney suggested that we let her invite Yolanda to come with her, I was skeptical, but now I understand why. Getting her away from her parents definitely helped, which is why she's not going back to them when we get back to Blue Valley." Barb said.

"Good. I'd hate to see her lose all the progress Courtney and I made in building her back up after everything her parents did to tear her down. I still can't believe that her parents would essentially disown over a teenage mistake. I mean, Alex and Kara never did that, but even if they did, while I'd be upset, I wouldn't make them feel like a disgrace to the family." Eliza said, since she was genuinely horrified at how Yolanda's parents were treating the young girl over her mistake.

"I agree. But anyways, I'm glad that she and Courtney both had fun this summer. Thank you again for taking care of them while Pat and I were on our honeymoon." Barbara said and Eliza smiled.

"I had no problem doing it. Ever since the girls moved to National City, I have felt a bit lonely. It was nice to have kids here again." Eliza said and Barbara smiled at her sister.

"You know you're always welcome to visit us in Blue Valley. Also, do you have any suggestions on how I can find a place in Mike's life?" Barb asked, since she figured that Eliza would have some experience in that field, considering she'd been in a similar position when she'd taken Kara in.

"All I can recommend is show him that you're not trying to take his mom's place in his life but you still want to have a role in it. At least that's what worked best with Kara." Eliza said.

"Honestly, Mike never really got to know his mom, so that shouldn't be too hard." Barbara said.

"Still." Eliza said as Courtney and Yolanda entered the kitchen.

"Hey Mrs. Whitmore." Yolanda said as Courtney nodded at her mom silently, indicating that she still wasn't thrilled about having to go home.

"Hey girls, I hear you had fun this summer." Barbara said.

"Yeah, thank you again for letting me tag along Mrs. Danvers. I really needed a break from Blue Valley." Yolanda said.

"It was my pleasure Yolanda and please, call me Eliza." Eliza insisted.

"Okay." Yolanda agreed.

"Do we really have to go back to Blue Valley? Can't we just stay here and go to Midvale High?" Courtney complained and Yolanda looked curious about whether that was an option.

"No Courtney, remember our deal. You're coming home for the school year and you're also helping us get Pat and MIke unpacked into the house." Barbara said.

"Who was Mike staying with while you and Pat were on your honeymoon?" Yolanda asked, since Courtney had assured her before they left that Mike would not be joining them.

"He stayed with Pat's mom. We picked him up on our way back to Blue Valley. They're starting to unpack now, though Mike is asking if he can have your room." Barbara said and Courtney rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, if he tries to take my room, well, I won't be held responsible for my actions." Courtney said.

"Hey, in his defense, you have the best bedroom in the house, considering you took over the entire attic." Yolanda pointed and Courtney shrugged.

"Whatever. Come on, let's go make sure we're all packed." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded as they headed up to the room they'd been sharing all summer.

"Smart move using the sibling thing to get Courtney to leave. Alex was not happy when Jeremiah and I told her that she'd have to share her room with Kara." Eliza said.

"Fortunately, one good thing about Sylvester is that before he disappeared, he built us a house that was big enough for that to not be a problem. Especially with the other surprise that will be waiting back in Blue Valley." Barbara said and Eliza nodded, since she knew what that surprise was and she fully supported it.

Since I know a lot of people will have questions regarding this chapter, I figure I'll just clarify it now. Yes, in this reality, Barbara is Eliza Danvers little sister, which makes Courtney Eliza's niece and also Alex and Kara's cousin and I also feel that I should inform you now that Eliza and Barbara are both daughters of the first Starman, Ted Knight, the man who created the cosmic staff, before passing it on to Sylvester. I know this all seems kind of random, but hopefully, it will make sense in the future, since I do have an actual plan for it in the future. Also, I'm just gonna nip this in the bud now, yes, this a StarCat story, since I tried other pairings for it, but honestly, the Courtney/Yolanda pairing is my OTP for Stargirl and it's the only one I can see myself writing. At least at this time.