Chapter Text
Kara ran through the halls of Metropolis University, bumping into people and shouting sorry over her shoulder. Internally, she was cursing herself for sleeping through her four alarms and making her nearly late for class. She checked her watch and groaned. She had five minutes to make it to class on time and it was a ten-minute walk, hence her sprinting at full speed towards her classroom. She didn’t know what possessed her to take a 400 level math class at nine in the morning.
She bumped into another person, seeing papers flying as someone angrily yelled at her. “Sorry!” She yelled apologetically. She cringed at the angry ranting becoming fainter as she ran.
By the time she reached the classroom, she was breathing heavily but had managed to make it just in time. She sighed, sweat dripping from her forehead. She pulled the collar of her shirt up, wiping her brow before walking into the classroom.
There weren’t too many people in her class, most people didn’t take 400 level math classes and Kara, as a journalism student was the odd one out, most of the other students in the class being math or engineering majors. Kara had always excelled in math and somewhat enjoyed it, so she had decided to take it for fun. Her friends Winn and James always questioned what possessed her to do that and on mornings like this, she questioned it herself.
She went to the middle of the classroom where she normally sat, but before she had a chance to sit down, she noticed someone else sitting in her seat. Now, in college, most professors didn’t assign seats, but after the first week or so, people got in the habit of sitting in the same spot. She tilted her head to the side, taking the seat two down from her usual seat, trying to save herself from looking awkward, especially out of breath as she was.
She took out her textbook and laptop, booting up the computer. Much to her displeasure, their professor was not there yet, late as usual. Kara should have known, but in her half-asleep stupor, she hadn’t considered that. So she took the opportunity to sit back in the chair and recover from her Olympic level sprint she made from her dorm to her seat. Or well, not her seat, considering someone was sitting in it.
She curiously glanced to the side to see who it was. Two weeks into the semester, seating arrangements were usually unspokenly decided and she wondered who was breaching such a sacred protocol. A young woman was sitting two seats down from Kara. The out of breath student took a curious closer look. She had a regal sort of beauty to her, raven hair the reached past her shoulders, ending what looked like mid back. She was dressed in what Kara would have considered overly formal for just class, a nice dress that looked like she was going to a job interview, not a classroom lecture.
Suddenly, the girl looked in Kara’s direction and their eyes locked. Kara averted her gaze, blushing at being caught looking curiously at her. She buried her nose in her computer, pretending to be very interested in logging into and opening up a Word document. She glanced to the side, hoping that the girl wouldn’t notice and saw that the girl was still looking at her. And in fact, was looking her up and down, an appreciative look in her eyes.
‘Is she checking me out?’ Kara thought to herself, internally panicking a little. It wasn’t hard to admit that the girl, no woman, was easy on the eyes. She was a classic kind of beauty but what was more was the way she held herself. She was sitting straight up in her chair, exuding an air of authority and power, despite looking younger than Kara herself.
Before Kara could dwell on it any further, their professor walked into the class and Kara was distracted by the lecture about algebraic geometry.
“Ms. Luthor, what was your solution to question ten on the homework?” The professor asked. The woman sat near Kara started to explain the solution to the problem. Kara frowned. She had never seen this woman in class yet she was explaining the answer to the homework with impressive ability. She watched the woman explain, looking back to her own work every so often and following along. The two seemed to have had the same thought on the answer, while Kara glanced around the room and saw a lot of groaning and disappointed looks.
II.
After class, Kara packed up her laptop and textbook and slung her bag over her shoulder. She had only been called on once and had given her answer. The professor seemed rather impressed at Kara’s grasp of the concepts despite being a journalism major. Her next class wasn’t until the afternoon so she planned to go back to her dorm room, drop off her books and pick up an article she had written for one of her journalism classes.
“Excuse me.” She heard a familiar voice with a slight Irish accent to it behind her. She turned to see the woman that had sat in her seat standing next to her.
“Hi,” Kara said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “Can I help you?” She asked. The woman smiled.
“You’re Kara Danvers, right?” She asked Kara, nodded quickly.
“Sure am.” She said brightly.
“I’m Lena. I couldn’t help but be impressed by your answers in class today. You looked like the only one who grasped the concepts today.” She said, making small talk, her eyes flicking up and down Kara’s frame. The blonde’s neck flushed a little at the brazen way Lena was checking her out.
“I… Uh… yeah. Math has always been easy for me. I decided to take this class as an elective but my friends think I’m crazy for it, mainly because I’m not a math or engineering major.” Kaa rambled. Lena chuckled.
“I don’t have any other classes today. I don’t know if you have any plans, but do you want to go get coffee and get a head start on the homework?” Lena asked. Kara blinked a couple of times before nodding.
“I need to stop by my dorm room, but do you want to meet me at the campus cafe in a half hour?” She asked. Lena grinned, pulling a pen out of her purse, tearing a corner of a piece of paper off her notebook and scribbled a phone number of it, handing it to Kara.
“Sure, here’s my number, in case something happens,” Lena said, her hand brushing over Kara’s, whose skin erupted in goosebumps. Lena winked, clearly seeing the effect she had on Kara, walking past Kara and walking out of the classroom, leaving Kara rather dumbfounded. It was going to be a long year.