Chemistry

2

Saturday

Lena was packing her chemistry equipment into her backpack before walking to the bus stop. It was tipping with rain but Lena didn't have a coat with her so she just kept her gaze focussed on the pavement in front of her.

She arrived at the bus stop and stood patiently waiting, praying that her chem equipment wasn't getting soaked through in her bag. The bus arrived after what felt like hours and she went to board but the bus driver turned her away.

"Sorry ma'am, you're soaking wet i can't allow you on here." He stated coldly whilst Lena clenched her fists.

"Ok sir, sorry." She apologised quickly before starting the 80 minute walk to Kara Danvers' house.

She arrived at the large metal gates at around 11:35, upset because she was soaked through and very late. She rang the buzzer on the gate and was met by a soft voice.

"Hello, who is it?" The voice asked as Lena replied quickly.

"Oh uh, i'm Karas lab partner." To that she heard a shout for Karas name.

"She's not here at the moment sweetie, i suggest you come at another time. When were you supposed to meet her?" She asked sincerely, clearly quite confused.

"Uh, 11." Lenas replies were short and succinct, trying not to embarrass herself any more.

"Oh. It's nearly 40 minutes since then, how come you were late?" Her voice raised a little and Lena cowered back from the gate.

"Uh, they wouldn't let me on the bus." She replied honestly whilst she heard the voice scoff from inside the warmth of a home.

"Why was that?" She questioned, clearly very confused.

"Oh, i had to walk in the rain to the bus stop and they wouldn't let me on because i was dripping wet." Lena replied, her voice breaking slightly as she tried to fight the tears at the back of her throat.

"Oh darling, why didn't you say you were soaking, i'll open the gate. Come on in and dry yourself off!" The voice exclaimed as the large gates opened in front of Lena.

Lena began walking up the drive until she reached the front porch where she was met by an older woman with blonde hair sat below her shoulders and a warm smile plastered on her face.

"You must be Lena. Kara did mention you. Look at you, you're absolutely drenched. Come on in and i'll get you a towel and some new clothes." She greeted her guest warmly even though her daughter was nowhere to be seen.

Lena dried off and was given a pink sweater and some blue jeans. She tried to refuse and put her clothes back on but Eliza insisted. It was peculiar for Lena to be in clothes any other colour than black.

"How come your parents didn't give you a lift over, why did they expect you to walk?" Eliza asked warmly, trying not to trigger any nerves.

"Oh, my parents are quite important people and they run a big business. They don't have time for me." Lena muttered, almost inaudibly but Eliza caught every word.

"Lena, if you don't mind me asking?" Lena looked up at the woman who had been kinder to her in the first 20 minutes of meeting than her 'parents' had ever been and nodded.

"What's your last name lovely?" She asked with an eyebrow raised as Lenas gaze darted back to the floor.

"Luthor" she mumbled, this time in such a low whisper nobody without super hearing would have been able to hear it.

"Pardon? I didn't quite hear." Lena repeated her answer a little louder as she heard a subsequent gasp from Eliza.

"Your parents run LuthorCorp?! That's a multi-billion company!" Eliza almost fangirled over the family of the girl sat in front of her.

"I've heard terrible things about them though. And if i know my news correctly, you were adopted?" Eliza questioned once more as Lena flickered her gaze to meet Elizas eyes.

"Yes, i'm the adopted one. My brother goes to private school and is loved by everyone and i'm the one they wished never existed." Lena opened up about her home life for the first time in a long time. Last time she did such a thing it didn't end well for her.

Eliza opened her arms to Lena as the girl reluctantly shuffled over to her with her hair still dripping wet. As Elizas arms wrapped around the frail girls body, she caught a glimpse of the cuts bathing the teen's wrists and the light bruises on her neck.

Before Eliza could comment the door burst open. "Hey mom!" Kara called at no direction in particular, until she saw her mother sat on the sofa with her lab partner in arms.

"Mom? What are you doing?" Kara raised an eyebrow in almost humiliation as Lena scurried away from Elizas grip and stood up quickly.

"Why is she in my clothes?" Kara continued before Eliza could answer her previous question.

"Kara sweetie, your lab partner got her ages ago and was dripping wet. You weren't here so i couldn't ask if it was ok with you." Her voice became stern, trying to assert authority over the teen. Something Eliza had been struggling with recently.

"Oh. Well she wasn't here at 11 so i left to go to Adams house." Kara retorted as if that was the acceptable thing to do, rather than wait.

"I thought it was Jason or something this week?" Eliza scowled at her youngest daughter, unhappy with her new antics.

"Eh, i got fed up of him so i'm with Adam now instead. Every boy loves me you see." Kara gloated and flicked her hair proudly.

"Well if you were expecting company you should have waited, or at least texted the poor girl to ask where she was and if she needed a lift!" Elizas voice began to raise as Kara slowly backed down and turned to Lena with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry Lena, i just didn't think you were coming." Kara mumbled yet had a tone of sincerity.

Lena shook her head in dismissal. "It's fine Kara don't worry about it, i should have been here on time. Do you want me to come back another day or should we do some work now?" Lena asked, trying to be as flexible as possible, not wanting to intrude anymore than she already had.

"No we can do some work now, the sooner we get it out the way the better right?" Kara smiled as she kicked her heels off and began walking to what Lena assumed would be her bedroom.

Kara had walked off whilst Eliza caught up with her.

"She's not usually like this, i promise. Something happened last year and it all went to her head. She's a smart girl who has a love for science, like i do but she just doesn't utilise that love anymore." Eliza explained on her daughters behalf as the teenager smiled back.

"I understand Mrs Danvers, things can completely change a child's personality and you wonder if you'll ever get the child you raised back." The Luthor replied as Eliza tried to hide her face of shock.

She wasn't expecting the teen to have such wise words, she could see through the facade of a person the girl put up to the public and knew beneath that smile was a damaged girl who'd been through more than any teenager ever should.

"Yes sweetie, now i'm always here if you need me. Here's my number so if you ever need a mother to look out for you, you have one now. My house is always open, it would be a change to have another girl in the house instead of just varying dirty boys." Eliza giggled as she handed the girl a slip of paper which was received gratefully.

Eliza couldn't help but notice how frail Lenas fingers were, wondering when the girl was last fed. She decided to make some food for the pair as Lena walked away in attempt to find Kara.

Eliza smiled sadly, wondering how bad Lena must have it at home and how hard she must have to fight everyday to keep going.