The new English teacher

The first act

Kara's POV

I've been smiling all day. Ever since I came to this school, six years ago, I have been keeping my eye on a certain teacher. Her name is Ms. Luthor. I sometimes pass her on the stairs or corridors and every single time she smiles to me even though she's never had me in her class. Until this day.

For some reason, Ms. Luthor gives me such a weird feeling. It is getting stronger and stronger. Maybe it is because she was the first woman I ever found attractive. I was still so young when I first got here so I never really realised how beautiful women were. She just made my jaw drop.

So, here I am, finally getting to speak to Ms. Luthor. Finally getting to hear her talk. I know this all sounds scary, but I am still a teenager and, you know, hormones. Shit, I realise Winn has been trying to say something to me for a while now.

'Woah, where the hell were you?'

'Oh just', I make a hand gesture to tell him I'm a little tired.

'Well, I still need to go to my locker. Are you coming? Please? I don't want to be the only one to be late.'

Shit, that sure doesn't give me a good first impression on my new English teacher who is the raven-haired Goddess I just talked about. But I have caused Winn to be late so many times, so I guess I owe him a debt.

'Fine, move your ass.'

And so we arrive at the classroom, five minutes too late. Ms. Luthor's back is pointed towards the classroom because she is trying to get the digital board get to work. Winn and I look at each others, guessing she won't notice us coming in late. Ms. Luthor is wearing skinny jeans with a blouse and high heels. Her hair is loose and moves freely as she is pulling on all kinds of wires.

My cheeks are already hot. I quickly move to the back of the classroom, glad she hasn't noticed us being late. But then a sharp, surprisingly low but warm voice rings out.

'Kara and Winn, I want you to get up and report yourself at the reception for being late.'

She turns around slowly and her stern features are being exagerated by her angry expression. Her arms are crossed.

'H-how do you know our names already?' Winn stutters.

'Because, unlike you, I want to respect others, so I studied your faces to be able to treat you as persons and not just students.'

'We're so sorry, Ms-' I start but she has already turned around.

When Winn and I come back, she had already started explaining the first assignment.

'... so that I can get to know you.'

I look at Winn, puzzled. Both of us are too scared to ask what the assignment is.

'For those two in the back: I want you to write something that characterises you linguistically and stylistically. How you want to interpret that, is up to you. Clear?'

Winn and I quickly nod. The school bell rings and I quickly clean my desk so I can leave before we could potentially be held back by her. Winn does the same and we walk towards the door with our eyes averted from the teacher. Then I feel a hand wrap around my wrist firmly, making my heart skip a beat. The hand is cold. She wears a lot of rings.

I swallow and slowly look up to see her staring me in the eye. Woah, her eyes are actually green. I almost open my mouth to tell her how beautiful they are, but realise that is totally weird. Her hands let go of the arms of Winn and me to place them on her side.

'Look, I'm sorry.'

Woah, I didn't expect her to say that.

'But it's just very important for a teacher to create the impression that students cannot mess with them. Else the class will become a chaos and that is something I really want to avoid. Be on time the next lesson and impress me with the assignment if you want to be on my right page.'

She gives us a last smile and pats us on the shoulder. Shook, Winn and I leave. I'm a little flustered from standing so close to her. My heart skips a beat at the memory of her perfume. It smelled bold but sweet.

'This lesson was a rollercoaster, woah. Such an odd woman. But she's hot. Oh man she's hot.'

I look at Winn with big eyes, feeling my cheek redden. He thinks the same? Oh my God.

'S-she is beautiful, isn't she?' He is definitely reading through me right now.

'No way. Kara Danvers has a crush on a teacher.' Winn bursts out in laughter.

'Keep your voice down!' I punch his shoulder, but laugh along.

I am already having a thousand ideas for the assignment. I am going to make a poem. I won't be using perfect rhyme though because I don't like having my life structured either. I will be using the theme of suppression, revealing my struggles of hiding my superpowers but also the insecurities I felt about my sexuality the past years.

I will be revealing a great deal about myself by this, so I'm not entirely sure yet if this is a good idea. What if she reads it out loud to the class? What if she thinks my poetry is bad and finds my theme cliché? Maybe I could write on the back of the paper that I don't want her to tell anyone else. Yes, I'll do that.

This day was weird. First, I felt angry with myself and bad for Ms. Luthor that we were late but also a little disappointed by her because she came across as very stern. But then she was sweet afterwards. I guess teachers just put on certain acts most of the time. Maybe I haven't even met the real Ms. Luthor yet. But I still can't wait for her second act.