Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As soon as the sun rose in National City, Alex was awakened by the ring of her cell phone. The girl, by the sudden noise, launched her hand towards the nightstand that was next to her bed where she had placed her cell phone last night. Alex's careless act ended up dropping her phone on the floor instead of turning off the sound.  
Damn it.
Still in a state of sleep, the result of a bad night's sleep, she thought the ringing was her alarm clock, but when she picked up her phone from the floor and looked at the display with her vision still a little blurry, Alex noticed that it was a call. The position of her hand holding the phone covered the caller ID. The lack of knowledge about who was calling made sleep fall out of the girl's body and her heart beat faster.
Maggie.
Alex closed her eyes again and hoped it was the Latin calling to say that the previous night's time was enough to make her think and that the distance between their homes was enough.  
It needed to be Maggie.
Maggie.
“Maggie?” Alex answers the phone uncertainly.
Please.
“I'm sorry, Danvers. But it's not Maggie.” Sam's voice was muffled and unenthusiastic.
“Sam?” Alex lifts her body and sits on the bed. “Something happened?” She questions concerned.
“Lena found out about the bet.” Sam sniffs.
Oh…
“Oh...” Alex throws herself on the bed again. “Maggie too...”
“What?! How?” Sam asks in exasperation. 
“I don’t know. She was strange yesterday and when I saw her...” Alex sighs... “I should have called you yesterday, saying that probably Lena would already know, but I got home and couldn't think of anything...” The frustrated tone in the voice of the young girl was present.
“I imagine...” Sam's voice was low and weak. The young woman was disappointed in herself. If she hadn't accepted that stupid bet... “Alex, I...” Sam's speech was interrupted by Alex.
“Can we talk about it in person?” Asks Alex.
“Of course. Do you want me to go there?” Sam asks.
“No. I’ll go.” Alex sighs. “I need to vent this bad feeling in some way and that way will be to run to your house where we will be two emotionally sad girls for having done something stupid.” Alex laughs dryly.
“Only you to make me laugh at a time like this, Danvers. I am waiting.” Sam says before hanging up.
With the end of the call, Alex took the cover off her and sat on the bed with her feet on the floor. The young woman's hands went to her face in a way to try to stop the headache that had arisen shortly after she opened her eyes.
A bad night's sleep and all the crying meant that Alex's few hours of sleep wasn't enough to save her from a hellish headache after waking up. But she couldn't stay there, she needs to go talk to Sam and find a way to make Maggie and Lena excuse them both.
**
After running a good twenty minutes, Alex arrives at Sam's house. Her breathing was rapid and uneven and the sweat on her clothes and forehead and her reddened cheeks were indicative that the young woman had tried harder than usual in the race between her home and her friend's. 
Alex arrives in front of the door of the family home and rings the bell and soon Patricia came to open the door.
“Alex! Hello.” The woman smiles kindly at the young woman. “Before anything, go in and eat something. Sam is having breakfast.”
“Good morning, aunt.” Alex tries to return the woman's smile, but she is sure that smile was just a strange grimace. “I don’t…”
“I don't take no for an answer. Let's go.” The woman speaks already turning and walking towards the kitchen.
Upon reaching the other compartment, Alex spots a Samantha wearing running shorts and the school team's shirt. Yeah, I think we thought about the same thing...
“Sit down, Alex.” Patricia speaks already placing a plate and a mug of coffee on the chair next to Sam.
“Thanks.” She thanks and takes one of the pancakes from the small pile that were on the plate in the middle of the table.
“So, how's Kara?” Questions Patricia with a worried look. “I would visit her at the hospital, but I thought it best to leave it for when she is home...”
“She is fine.” Remembering that Kara was fine made Alex's heart momentarily relieved. “A sprained wrist and some scratches, but she is fine and being very spoiled.”
“I'm relieved to know that. Will she be home later? I'm thinking of going to visit her…” Questions Patricia.
“Oh yeah. And if we are going to rely on all the animations that she and Imra were agreeing to watch and on all the restrictions that my mothers, Zor and Imra put, I think she will be there for a long time…” Alex grimaces when remembering of her mothers, Kara's father and the future sister-in-law making a list with thousands of animations and things that Kara couldn't do anytime soon. There was no end!
“I suppose. It was a big scare, I can't say I wouldn't do the same.” Patricia moves her gaze towards her daughter. “And I would have Lena to help me.” Upon hearing Lena's name, Sam squeezes the cutouts tightly. I couldn't start crying again... How am I going to explain the bet to my mom?
“Aww… Sam?” Alex calls realizing that her friend had become strange. “I think we better go. I don't want to take the risk of reaching the field and it is being used...”
“Hm... Yes.” Sam answers to raise her head and gives a brief look and an almost non-existent smile in her mother's direction. “See you later, mom.” Sam says getting up and leaving the kitchen.
“Bye, aunt!” Alex says goodbye going after Sam. “The pancake was great.”
As they left the house after Sam had picked up her pair of soccer boots and soccer ball. The two girls followed in the direction of a soccer field that was located next to the park that was close to Sam's house, the two had thought of the same thing: cash all the frustration and anger of themselves while they spent energy to kick the ball.
All the way to the field neither Alex nor Sam spoke, the two remained silent throughout the way. When they arrived, still without speaking, the ball was positioned on the mark that delimited the middle of the field. It was going to be a one-on-one game, with minimal defense and maximum attack.
For the game to start, only a nod of the two was needed. That was the starting whistle for the two to start running. Sam had the ball and Alex would have to steal it.
Sam and Alex played in an equal match for minutes, until the two collided and fell.
Damn it!
Damn it!
“Let's go again!” Sam demands already getting up, but when she looks at Alex, she sees that the other hasn’t even moved. “Danvers?! Are you tired?” Sam asks, but Alex doesn't answer but sits with her head down and hugging her knees. “Alex? Sam approaches and sits next to her friend placing a hand on Alex's shoulder.
“Maggie asked me for some time...” Alex speaks with her head still down. “She said she needs space.” Alex raises her head just enough to catch a glimpse of Sam's face.
“I'm sorry...” Sam says sighing. She really did, after all, it was her fault, wasn't it? I was the one who accepted the bet...
“What? Your fault?” Alex frowns. “Well, your side with Lena, yes, it's your fault, but me and Maggie? That part is solely my fault.” Alex runs a hand through her hair, messing it up. “I knew what Maggie thought about the bet and yet I compacted with everything.”
“But...” Alex doesn't let Sam finish.
“Don’t even try. You know that what I'm talking about is the true.” Alex says when taking her arms from around her knees and crossing her legs. “How did Lena react?” Asks Alex.
“She was avoiding me when we were in the hospital, didn't answer my calls or answer my messages, so I went to the mansion yesterday and the balcony door was closed. I had to knock on the front door and Lillian said she was in the room...” Sam lowers her head and takes her hands to cover her face. “She was destroyed, Alex. She...” Sam sighs.
“She...” Encourages Sam to continue.
“We had... We had a...” Sam blushes. “Hm... A moment...” Sam scratches the side of her neck lightly. 
“A moment?” Alex's eyes widen. “You...”
“No... Well, almost, but nothing happened.” Sam explains and Alex nods indicating that she understood what she meant. “Yesterday, when I went to the mansion... She hinted that it was all just because of the bet...” Sam looks at Alex with watery eyes. “She felt dirty, Alex. Like an object that could be thrown away!” Sam sighs. “I messed up. I made her feel like trash, disposable and used...” 
“I don't know what to say, Sam.” Alex hugs Sam sideways. “I'm just sorry. For everything...” The two are silent for a few minutes until it is broken by Sam.
“And Maggie?” Sam asks through a sniff and Alex gives a sad smile.
“She was also strange, I asked what was happening and she gave me the opportunity to speak, as much as I didn't realize at the time, she gave me one last chance to speak if I had done something...” Alex starts to mess with the stitching of her running shorts. “She was disappointed... She asked me for an explanation, an excuse for me to have agreed to participate, but I didn't know what to say. I crashed.” Alex sighs and throws herself on the lawn. “You know something she said and that we somehow didn't take into consideration?”
“What would it be?” Sam asks frowning.
“Maggie said we didn't think about how Lena would feel and that I didn't think about her, but she asked me if we hadn't thought about you, Sam.” Alex looks at a Sam who was frowning. “And she is right, we didn’t consider the real consequences for you and Lena. And I ignored the consequences it would have for me when Maggie found out.” Sam lowers her head. “We were stupid and screwed up.”
“Do you think she will break up with you?” Sam asks after a few seconds of silence. “Because I'm sure Lena won't want my friendship again.”
“She said she didn't know...” Alex says in a low, weak tone. “When she asked me to leave, I asked if she would do it and she said she didn't know.” Alex looks sadly at Sam. “I betrayed her trust, Sam. I lied.”
“Come on, let's kick this ball a few more times.” Says Sam getting up and extending a hand to help Alex get up too.
And so, they started fighting for possession again. Some goals were scored, the sweat was running, the breaths were fast and uneven and their muscles were burning, but it still wasn't enough. Their chest was still full of frustration.
The ball was being dominated by Sam and Alex was trying to get it back when the image of a Maggie cheering for her came to mind. The sudden thought made the girl suddenly stop.
“What's it?” Sam asks when she sees her friend standing in the middle of the field looking at nothing. “Alex?” She calls when approaching and Alex seems to finally hear Sam talking to her, because the girl shook her head slightly as if she wanted to get rid of the thoughts.
“Maggie.” It was everything Alex said and everything she needed to say for Sam to understand.
“Come, let's sit for a while while you tell me about Maggie.” Sam says pulling Alex so she could sit on the lawn again. “You can start!” Sam says and Alex lets out a light laugh.
“I don't know what you want me to say...” Alex grimaces. “But I won't be here suffering alone.” Sam makes a face.
“Okay... but you start!” Sam exclaims.
“Okay...” Alex speaks uncertainly. “But I don’t guarantee that I won’t cry...” The two smile. “Okay... Hm... We had it all planned...” Alex gives a sad smile. “The house with two kitchens, because she said she won't be able to handle me cooking non- vegan things in her kitchen.” Sam lets out a short laugh. “The dog we were going to adopt... The children...”
2017
It was the Friday of the last week before school. Alex had planned to spend the night at Maggie's house, since the latina's aunt had a shift at police station that day. The girl didn’t plan to do anything extraordinary, she just wanted a moment alone with her girlfriend.  Or rather, it was what Maggie had been told...
Eliza and Alura, as well as Maggie's aunt, just made an exception to the rule that the two should always stay home when they had someone else, because Alex had begged them saying she wanted to surprise her girlfriend.
Alex's surprise consisted of her cooking a vegan brusquetta as a main plate and making a vegan ganache for dessert. Alex had spent the past two weeks training food preparation with Alura. Everything had to be perfect that night, even if there was no special time to celebrate.
All the young Danvers wanted was a moment with her girlfriend. Enjoy a moment just the two of them and who knows, celebrate them.
Alex had talked to Maggie's aunt and the two managed to create a distraction so that the Latina would come home later to make time for Alex to finish preparing food and set the table.
“Alex?!” Maggie calls while taking off the denim jacket she was wearing. “Aunt Jane said that you had already arrived...” The Latina speaks while walking into the house.
“Don't come to the kitchen!” Alex screams from the kitchen in exasperation when she appears in the division between the kitchen and the living room. “I mean, don't go into the kitchen!” Maggie smiles lovingly at the cute and clumsy way of her girlfriend.
“Okay...” Agrees Maggie. “But you didn't set my aunt's kitchen on fire, did you?” Alex grimaced at Maggie's comment and shook her head. 
“You will be able to enter the kitchen, but you will have to bathe first. Stay comfortable, okay?” Asks Alex when approaching the latina.
“What are you up to, Danvers?” Maggie hugs her girlfriend and hides her face in the curve of Alex's neck. “Your mothers let you sleep here when my aunt is not and Aunt Jane agreed with that...” Maggie raises her head and looks at Alex. “What did you promise them?”
“Nothing.” Alex lets out a light laugh. “Come on, go take a shower while I finish setting.” Alex takes Maggie away from the embrace and turns her back to her. “Chop chop , Sawyer.” Alex pats Maggie on the ass, which makes the latina laugh when walking up the stairs.
**
Almost twenty minutes after Alex asked Maggie to go shower and wear something comfortable, the Latina finally comes down to find an Alex Danvers wearing Aunt Jane's flowery apron and a dish towel over her shoulder, while taking something out of the oven. That image made Maggie think about the future. A future with Alex Danvers.
“Is that brusquetta?” Maggie is taken out of her thoughts when Alex turns around and reveals what she was holding. “I was expecting something less elaborate, like a mac n’ cheese!” Alex laughs because of Maggie's astonishment.
“You can sit.” Alex says pulling the chair from the end to Maggie. The Latina approaches and places a brief peck on the girlfriend's lips as a way of thanking her.
During dinner, the two girls had a light conversation and most of the time Maggie heard about all the tactics used by her girlfriend to convince her mothers and Maggie's aunt to make that dinner possible.
After they finished eating, Alex served a chocolate ganache with pieces of strawberry that left Maggie ecstatic with happiness, since it was her second favorite dessert. After a session of kisses distributed on Alex's face and lips, the young Danvers confessed that she would have liked to have prepared a tiramisu, which was her girlfriend's favorite dessert, but unfortunately none of the attempts were edible to anyone but Kara.
After dessert, the plates, cutlery, glasses and dessert cups were picked up from the table by Alex. When Maggie saw her girlfriend start doing the dishes on her own, she promptly offered to help. As there weren't so many dishes to wash, the two girls quickly finished washing and went to the living room so they could watch a movie.
“The Lion King, again?” Alex asks as she approaches the DVD shelf in Maggie's collection.
“Two, please!” Maggie responds excitedly when throwing herself on the couch.
Alex picked up the DVD indicated by Maggie and put it on the device before throwing herself on the couch next to her girlfriend. The two quickly found a comfortable position consisting of the two lying on their side on the couch with Alex behind Maggie hugging her.
Both were comfortable and happy. During the minutes of the movie, the two of them sang softly the songs from the movie and Maggie felt more enchanted by Alex. Maggie loved to hear Alex sing, as the girl had a soft, sweet voice.
During the scene in which Kovu and Kiara are reunited, Alex was focused on the scene and silently dictating the lines of the characters, when her attention is diverted to Maggie talking to her.
“Will we also find our way?” Maggie questions glancing at Alex who smiles kindly at her girlfriend.
“How so?” Alex asks, slightly lifting her torso so she can have a better view of Maggie's face. “What do you mean, Mags?”
“Our way together, Al...” Maggie speaks embarrassed. Alex's eyes widen slightly when she realizes what Maggie was referring to. “Sorry, I don't want to force you into anything. I just...” Maggie tries to explain herself when Alex remains silent, but when she sees her girlfriend's nervousness, Alex opens a reassuring smile.
“You are not forcing me to anything.” Says Alex settling on the couch and consequently making Maggie face up and her eyes are connected. “I want to follow a path with you, Mags.” Maggie takes her right hand towards Alex's face and caresses it lightly. “Sometimes I imagine us together in the future, you know?” Alex smiles slightly at Maggie who accompanies her on a display of her dimples. “Our house, a dog and maybe our children... Do you want children?” Alex asks hopefully.
“I will love having a mini version of you to have vegan ice cream with me.” Maggie responds laughing and Alex laughs through the nose.
“So I'm free to have a mini version of you eating hamburgers with me?” Alex raises her eyebrow.
“That was not the deal!” Maggie snorts and Alex laughs. “You will not cook these things in my kitchen!”
“Will I cook in the bedroom then?”
“We'll have two kitchens!” Alex laughs at the suggestion of her girlfriend. “Stop laughing, Alex!”
“Nah...” Alex denies and Maggie rolls her eyes, but then the smile returns to her lips. The latina then decides to make her girlfriend stop laughing...
Maggie pulls Alex's face towards hers and kisses her. A soft kiss and full of affection. All the affection with which they were found in their dreams about the future. From that moment on, the two girls promised themselves that they would follow a path together. They were young, but the commitment, respect and affection between them was a strong loving bond.
“I think we need to go up now...” Maggie says a little breathlessly as Alex kissed her neck. “Sleep... Alex.”
“So...” Alex starts boringly. “About this...”
“What?”
“We can't go up...”
“Why?” Maggie asks confused.
“Your aunt said that we could not go to the room when there was no one at home, but that we could stay in the living room, because here we would do nothing.” Upon hearing what Alex says, Maggie blushes slightly. 
“Hm... Okay. Should we open the sofa?”
“We should open the sofa.”
After opening the sofa, the two girls returned to the previous position, where Alex hugs Maggie from behind. The two turned off the TV and the DVD, wished each other good night and, after a few minutes of silence, before Maggie fell asleep, she could hear...
“I love you, Mags.” Alex whispers. The girl didn’t expect an answer, she just wanted to express her feelings out loud. But in response, Maggie turned to face her girlfriend and placed a light kiss on the lips.
“I love you too.”
The two fell asleep after their statements. They remained in that position all night, which resulted in Maggie's aunt arriving the next morning and finding the two girls sleeping peacefully hugging sharing the sofa.
currently
“I am not surprised that you are the type of couple that talks about the future...” Sam's speech was soft and made Alex smile a little and sad. “And two kitchens? Really?”
“If she asked, it would be even more.” Alex jokes. “But now it's your turn, tell me a story!”
“Hm... Do you remember when Lena and I told you that our first kiss was with each other?” Sam asks and Alex shakes her head in agreement. “Well, that was the only time we kissed until, you know, recently...” Alex agrees again. “But I wanted to kiss her in the meantime...”
“Naughty!” Alex exclaims. “You are very determined to take the innocence of the Luthor.” Sam slaps Alex's arm and mumbles an "idiot".
“Moving on... Lena asked me to go to an L-Corp event a couple of years ago and, that night, I think it was the first time I looked at her differently...” Sam blushes.
2018
The Luthor family ate their breakfast in silence. Lionel read the newspaper on his tablet , Lex tried to hide his sleep for the few hours he slept the night before, thanks to a new video game. Lillian and Lena, for their part, were just quiet enjoying the flavors of the food.
“Lena, the L-Corp charity event will take place on Saturday night and I want your dress to be chosen by Wednesday at the latest.” Says Lillian breaking the silence at the table and, consequently, drawing the attention of everyone present.
“Saturday? But Sam and I made plans to go to the movies on Saturday...” Lena speaks sadly. “I can not let go this year? Please, mother...”
“No way.” Denies Lillian as if she hadn't even thought about what her daughter had said. “The...”
“But I promised that we would celebrate her birthday on Saturday.” Lena starts to explain. “Because I have a robotics test on Friday and we won't be able to do anything in the week...”
“I already said no, Lena.” Lillian speaks with a tone that Lena knew the woman would not want to be contradicted. “And, as I was trying to say, new investors have a son your age and I would like you to meet him.” Lillian says looking into her daughter's eyes. “Besides, Samantha will understand when you cancel.
“But...” Lena’s attempt to argue is interrupted by Lex.
“Who is the boy who will torture Lena on Saturday?” Questions in an amusing tone.
“Lex...” Lionel scolds his son.
“Queen’s son.” Lillian answers simply.
“Oliver?” Lex asks laughing. “Good luck, sis. You’re gonna need it...”
“Lex!’ Lionel catches the son's attention once again, but the boy shrugs and goes back to eating.
When Lena leaves for school that morning, the girl still doesn't know how to tell Sam that she needs to clear their plans for Saturday. She didn't want to cancel it, but her mother hadn't given her any space to argue.
The girl had spent the entire first and second class trying to find a way to discuss the subject with her friend. Lena wanted to find a way to cancel her plans with Sam without the girl being upset. But at the end of the two periods, when Lena was walking towards Sam's closet, the girl received a message from her father.
The message sent by Lionel was simple and short, but it had enough words to open a huge smile on the girl's face.
                                “Invite Miss Arias.
                                                              - Daddy."
After reading the message, Lena ran to find Sam. When she saw the girl standing in front of her closet, Lena accelerated her step and, as she approached, hugged the girl tightly from behind, taking her by surprise.
“Hey!” Sam exclaims laughing. “I know I am irresistible and you can't be without me for a long time...” Upon hearing Sam, Lena murmurs an “idiot” who left her mouth muffled because of the girl's face pressed on her friend's back. “But where did all this animation come from?”
“So, I have two things to say...” As Lena moves her face away from Sam's back, she realizes that the girl was not alone and that Betty Grissom was also there. “Oh! Hi, Betty...” Greets Lena embarrassed.
“Hi, Luthor.” Betty says before getting closer to Sam and placing a kiss on the girl's cheek. “See you later, Sam.” Lena rolls her eyes at the stupid face Sam makes when she watches the girl leave.
“Aww... Sammy?” Lena calls, turning her friend's face towards her. “Now yes. Pay attention, okay?” Asks Lena still holding the Sam’s face who nods. “I have two things to say.”
“Good or bad?” Sam asks taking Lena's hands off her face and pulling the girl closer while leaning against the locker.
“Good and bad. I'm going to start with the bad one and you will listen to me until the end, will you?” Asks Lena and Sam nods in agreement. “The bad thing is that the L-Corp charity event is on Saturday and my mother doesn't want me to miss it.” Sam tries to speak, but Lena didn't let her. “The good thing is that my father said I could invite you...”
“He said you could invite me?” Sam asks in surprise.
Even though Sam and Lena had known each other for some time, the girl hadn't interacted much with her friend's father. Lillian was always the one who answered the door or went to school. Despite the fact that both Lena's parents worked at the company, Lionel seemed to be the one who stayed in the office the longest, and because of that, Lillian was more present for the children.
Because she did not have so many interactions with Lionel and many with Lillian and knew that the woman did not like her, the girl thought that Lena's father shared the same opinion as his wife and also did not go much with her face.
“Yes!” Lena replies excitedly. “He didn't say anything when my mom was talking about Saturday this morning, but I just got a message from him saying to invite you!”
“Are you sure?” Sam asks uncertainly.
-”My dad doesn't hate you, Sammy!” Lena rolls her eyes at her friend's drama.
“But your mother does! Who guarantees that it is not all their plan to get rid of me?”
“Don't be dramatic, Samantha.”
“Uh, it's weird to hear you say my name... don't do that anymore.” Lena laughs at Sam's nonsense.
“But then, Miss Dramatic, do you accept being my escort on Saturday night?” Lena blushes slightly.
“What is it that you ask me smiling, that I don't risk my life to do?” Sam pulls Lena into a hug and buries her face in the curve of the girl's neck.
“It'll be cool, Sammy. I promise!” Lena returns Sam's hug.
“Of course it will. I will be your date!” The two girls laugh.
On Saturday night, Lillian and Lionel went ahead with their driver. As hosts, the two had to arrive early to make sure the night went as planned.
As the parents took the lead, Lena and Lex had a few more minutes to get ready. Lena was relieved that her mother would only see Sam when the two arrived at the party.
After Sam accepted Lena's invitation, the girl said that Sam would need a dress, but the girl made a face and laughed. Because of Sam's reaction to the dress, Lena decided she wouldn't show what she was wearing on Saturday, either.
On the way to Sam's house, Lex didn't shut up about how badboy Oliver Queen was. Lex was a gossip sometimes and Lena, at that moment, didn't know if that was a good thing or not. The girl was already aware that two of Oliver's exes were dating each other! How did Lex find out about these things when he was locked up at school all the time?
“Mom will freak out when she sees you and Samantha together!” Lex comments after a brief silence.
Before Lena could respond to her brother's comment, the girl spotted Sam's home approaching. Within seconds their driver had parked in front of the Arias family home and Lena got out to call Sam.
It didn't take long for the door to be opened by a Sam wearing a chalk-streaked vest, inside the vest was a white shirt and, to complete the three pieces, a black tie was on Samantha's neck. Oh…
"You look beautiful, Lee," Sam says before Lena can say anything. Lena wore a dress green dark knee-length without sleeves, with details of flowers in lace at the bust.
Sam always knew that Lena was beautiful. She had eyes after all, but seeing Lena wearing that dress had moved her. For Sam Arias, no one could achieve such beauty.
“You too, Sammy. A suit!” Lena exclaims smiling.
“Is it still a suit when you don't have a jacket?” Questions laughing.
“I think so...” She replies with a frown.
“Let's go!’ Lex screams from the car. “Mom already called asking why we are taking too long.”
“I think we should go...” Sam says closing the door behind her. “Let's go?” Extend the arm so that Lena can support herself. And that's what the girl does. Lena intertwines Sam's arm with hers and the two walk to the car.
The drive to the party was a smooth one, just a joke or two by Lex about when the two of them are going to come out, but nothing they couldn't ignore.
“So, have you told your mother that I'm coming?” Sam asks the girl with her head resting on her shoulder.
“Nop…”
“You know she's going to kill me, don't you?”
“Don't be exaggerated, Sammy.” Lena says rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, Sammy, don't be exaggerated.” Lex imitates his sister's voice. “She'll just tear off her limbs.”
“Lex!” Lena scolds her brother.
“It's the truth, why.” The boy responds and Sam makes a face.
When they arrived in front of the hall where the party was taking place, the driver parked and Lex was the first to get out. Following the boy, Lena, who was between the boy and Sam, was the second and, when going down, she could see her parents from afar.
It would be now.
At the same time as Sam got out of the car, Lena could see her mother's eyes widening slightly. Lillian murmured something to Lionel when Lena linked her arm with Sam's and the two walked towards Lena and Lex's parents, who came next to the girls.
“I can feel Mom's happiness...” Lex says before hurrying and reaching the parents first than the two girls.
“What is she doing here, Lena?” Lillian asks as soon as Lena and Sam approach.
“I couldn't cancel it. You understand, don't you, mother?” In a false innocent tone.
“Yes, Miss Luthor. She couldn't cancel it. But you understand, don't you?” Adds Sam smiling shamelessly.
Lillian was speechless for the girls' audacity. The woman never had a problem getting Lena to accept the things she said, but since Samantha Arias appeared in her daughter's life, this was getting harder.
“I'm glad you accepted the invitation, Miss Arias.” Greets Lionel with a slight smile on his face. Yeah, maybe he didn't hate me... 
“Thank you, Mr. Luthor.” Thanks Sam looking at the man and then turns her eyes to Lena. “We're going to have fun, aren't we?” Lena nods and hugs Sam's arm as a way to confirm that they would have fun.
After the greetings, both the girls and Lex entered the hall where the party was taking place. Lionel and Lillian appeared in the hall a few minutes later and officially started activities. After the start, Lex caught Lena's attention and showed that the Queen’s had arrived.
After Lex's warning, Lena and Sam started to avoid bumping into Lena's mother and the girls succeeded for almost an hour when Lillian cornered Lena near the bar when she was getting another non-alcoholic cocktail. Sam had gone to the bathroom and could not interfere. Great…
“Lena!” Calls Lillian appearing behind the girl. When Lena turns to look at her mother, the girl sees that she is accompanied by a blonde boy. This must be the Queen’s son … “I’d like to introduce you to the Queen’s son. Oliver.” Bingo!
“Hi Mom.” Lena moves uncomfortably. “Nice to meet you, Oliver.” Lena looks both ways for any sign of Sam.
“The pleasure is mine, Miss Luthor.” The boy opens a flirtatious smile. “Looking for something?” The boy asks after noticing that Lena looked around again.
“Hm?” Lena looks at Oliver again. “Yes, my...”
“You should take the opportunity to get to know each other better.” Lillian suggests interrupting her daughter.
“Sure!” Oliver speaks excitedly. “Would you like to dance Lena?” The boy holds out his hand for Lena to take it.
“Of course she accepts.” Lillian says, not giving Lena the opportunity to deny the boy's invitation. Then Lena takes Oliver's hand and the boy pulls her onto the dance floor.
When Sam left the bathroom and went to the bar that was where Lena was going to wait for her, the girl didn't find her friend waiting. But she spotted Lex talking to the bartender. The boy was probably trying to convince the boy to give him something with alcohol.  
“Lex!” Calls Sam. “Did you see Lena around?” Asks when she stops next to Lex and loosens the tie she was wearing.
“On the dance floor with Oliver.” Lex answers turning to face Sam. “What were you doing that was not here to save my little sister?” The mocking tone in Lex's voice made Sam roll her eyes.
“Was it your mother or did he came to talk to her?” Sam asks watching Lena dance with the Queen’s son in the middle of the dance floor. The boy had his hands on Lena's waist while Lena had her hands on his shoulders.
“Both.” Says Lex looking at the direction where Sam was looking. “Jealous?”
“What?” Sam looks at him perplexed. “No!”
“I'll pretend to believe to make you happy, okay?” Says Lex amused. “But you know what?” Asks and Sam waves asking the boy to continue... “She doesn't want to be there. Or maybe so, but the point is, she wanted to be with you.” Lex says, giving Sam a gentle smile. “You should go save her.”
“You think?” Sam asks uncertainly.
“I do.” Says a voice behind Sam. When the girl looks back to find out who had answered, she finds Lionel Luthor looking at her daughter dancing with Oliver. “I think you should go save her.” The man says before waving to the bartender asking for a shot of whiskey. Sam was looking at the man in confusion, but Lex tapped her lightly on the shoulder to tell her to go to Lena right away and she did.
Upon approaching Lena and Oliver, the girl caught their attention and asked to dance with Lena. From that moment on, the two did not split for the rest of the night and neither Lillian or Oliver tried to get close again.
“You look beautiful, Lee.” Praises Sam when Lena puts her arms around her neck. Hearing the compliment for the countless times that night, Lena lets out a light laugh.
“I already lost count of how many times you said that...” Lena's voice was close to Sam's ear and in a low tone and, even through the music she played, Sam managed to hear.
“Good. Because I'm going to repeat this more often tonight.” Concluded Sam by placing her hands on Lena's waist and the two start to slowly rock their bodies.
“Happy birthday, Sammy.” Wishes Lena tightening her arms around Sam's neck.
“My birthday was on Wednesday…”
“But we're celebrating today.” Lena lets out a slight laugh next to Sam's ear.
After dancing for several minutes, the two girls went to the garden that was on the side of the ballroom. The garden was beautiful. It was possible to see how green and well-kept the grass was, the flowers adorned the environment and the illuminated fountain fits perfectly into the ensemble.
Upon reaching the garden, the girls who were holding hands, released their hands. Lena sat on the bench near the fountain while Sam continued to walk. Lena didn't understand why until Sam came back with a greenish flower and held it out to Lena.
“For you.” Sam says with one hand extended and the other inside her pocket. The girl's face was tilted slightly to the side and a soft smile graced her face.
“Thank you, Sammy...” Thanks embarassed. Sam sits next to Lena with her legs on either side of the bench. “Do I look good?” Lena asks after placing the flower behind her ear.
“You look beautiful, Lee...” Sam says placing a mess of Lena's hair behind the girl's ear. “So beautiful...” Sam slides her hand to Lena's cheek and caresses it lightly. “Beautiful.”
“Stop it, Sammy...” Lena blushes and pats Sam on the shoulder. Lena had a shy smile on her lips. Sam leans her forehead against the side of Lena's head laughing along with her friend.
“Nah… I want to make sure you know how beautiful you are.” Lena lets out a light laugh the way Sam talks and, not realizing the proximity between their faces, turns around so she can look at Sam. The two face each other. Sam's smile fades and Lena closes her eyes.
“Lena, I...” Unfortunately, or fortunately, the two were interrupted by Lionel's secretary, Jess.
“Miss Luthor!” The woman arrives calling for Lena. “Oh, I'm sorry...” Jess apologizes when she notices the mood among the girls.
“It’s okay, Jess...” Lena answers getting up.
“Your parents are calling you to be present at the time of the speech...” The secretary explains before turning and goes back into the hall.
“I think we should go...” Sam says already standing next to Lena.
“Yes, let's go.” It's the last thing Lena says before the two start walking towards the entrance to the hall.
After that moment, the two did not return to the garden, but remained side by side. The hands met in support, Sam's shoulder served as a pillow for Lena on the way home. But the moment in the garden was not mentioned again.
Sam's most vivid memories of that Saturday night were the smell of Lena's hair on her nose, the weight of her head on the girl leaning against her shoulders and the girl's hands around her neck.
currently
“I will miss having moments with her...” Confesses Sam.
“I'm also going to miss Maggie…” Alex glares at Sam. “I'm sorry.”
“Me too...” Sam lets out a dry laugh.
A silence fell between the two girls. Each thinking about what they did and the consequences that resulted from their actions. They knew that what they had done was wrong and, as much as it hurt, they could not demand or run after Lena and Maggie. Sam and Alex would have to accept the consequences without complaining.
**
The Luthor family had a routine of having breakfast together every morning. That were the way they found to have at least a few minutes in family to stay on top of each other's lives due to the busy life they led.
Before dinner was the meal for that, but after Lex went to college and Lena reached her teens, dinners started to happen less often because everyone always comes home on time.
Breakfast was simpler. Everyone was at home and woke up almost at the same time, so even when Lex came to visit, he attended family breakfasts. It was his second favorite moment. The first was to always piss off Lena with the subject of Samantha Arias.
That Monday, Lena was late for breakfast. Lillian already knew what this was about. Samantha left the mansion in tears on Saturday, Lena did not leave the room on Sunday, so there was no need to be a genius to know that Samantha had climbed the window of Lena's room, the two made up and spent the night together.
Lillian just hoped not to catch Sam in a towel again.
Lena's mother knocked on the bedroom door once.
No reply.
She knocked on the door again.
Nothing.
“Lena,” Calls for her daughter's name while knocking on the door the third and last time. “You're late. I'm going to go in and hope I don't find Samantha in a towel.”
The only thing Lillian found when entering the room was the lack of clarity. Lena's room had all the curtains drawn, a complete pitch.
“For God's sake, Lena!” Lillian walked to the window and opened the curtain. “Get up!” With the light that entered the room, Lillian could see her daughter or, better said, the comforter that covered her head. “You'll be late for school.”
“I’m not going!” Said in a hushed tone by the duvet.
“Lena, don't you think you're too big for that kind of thing, do you?” Lillian asked in a serious tone. “I had no patience when you were 6, I definitely have no patience now. Let's go!” She hit three palms. “Raise!”
"No." Murmured the teenager.
“No?” Lillian crossed her arms, shaking her head in negative and looking at the duvet in which her daughter hides with a defiant expression. “I will not say again, Lena.”
Lillian sees movement in the comforter. She smiles a winning smile that is almost imperceptible. At the same moment, the smile disappears when she realizes that Lena had only changed position on the bed.
“For the love of God!” Lillian rolls her eyes and pulls Lena's duvet.
“Mother!” She tries to pull the comforter from the older woman's hands, but Lillian remains still holding the blanket and looking at Lena.
“What happened?” Lillian asked with a tone of concern.
Lena's eyes were puffy and with huge dark circles and her face was listless. A sign of who had been crying all night. That, if not, the last two nights.
“Does this have to do with Samantha leaving here crying the other night?” She continued with the questions. “Was it that serious?”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” Lena pulled the comforter back and covered herself entirely. “And I'm not going to school while Samantha is still studying there.”
“What is this nonsense, Lena?”
Lena discovered herself and looked at her mother. Her daughter's dejected expression worried Lillian, but what would she do if Lena didn't want to talk?
“You were right!” She has been hearing this a lot lately coming out of Lena's mouth. “Samantha is a life delay. She distracts me, she doesn't let me reach my full potential. I am not going back to school while she is still there.
“Lena, you have a few months to graduate. Where will I find a school for you...”
“You didn't understand me, mom.” Lena cut Lillian's speech. “I don't want to change schools. I just don't want Samantha to study there anymore.” She covered herself up to her head again. “I want to have a future! I want to reach my full potential!”
Lillian stared in amazement at the duvet that hid her daughter for some time, taking in the last minutes of conversation.
It was just what was missing now.
**
Like any decent mother, Lillian Luthor had her children as a weakness. Although she treated Lex and Lena on a short leash, she was always there for them, even though her way of demonstrating this was not one of the most affectionate or that other mothers would understand.
That is why as soon as Lillian left Lena's room with the certainty that her daughter would not even get up to go to school, she tried to ask her driver to take her to school.
Lillian was willing to solve Lena's problem in one way or another.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mrs. Luthor.” Said Cat in a formal tone as soon as she entered her office. “Is everything okay with Lena? I noticed that she didn't come with you.”
"That's what I would like to talk to you about, Director Grant." Cat nodded, encouraging Lillian to continue. “I would like to ask Miss. Arias to be transferred from school.”
Cat, who was about to sit in her comfortable chair faltered for a single second. It couldn't be serious. She sat down and stared at Lillian for a few milliseconds, waiting for the woman to say she wasn't serious. Although Lillian was not someone who used to play games, her weekend had been so atypical with all the confusion between Kara and Mike that it was nothing to be surprised by.
“And for what reason I would transfer Miss. Arias from school? She is an excellent student, without any occurrence and it came to my attention that she set up a study group to help even the second year students in Geography.”
“She's a distraction for Lena.” Of course. “Because of Miss. Arias, Lena didn’t want to come to school today. My daughter has a bright future ahead of her, so I won't let a student get in the way of this.”
"Mrs. Luthor, with all due respect..." Cat folded her hands on the table. “I will not transfer a student from school because of a disagreement.”
“You expelled a student this weekend because of a disagreement.’ Lillian replied in a boastful tone. “I'm just asking you to transfer an inconvenient girl from school.”
“It wasn't because of a disagreement.” Corrected Cat struggling not to lose patience with Lillian. If there was something she couldn't stand, it was parents who thought they were the owners of reason. Her quota ran out over the weekend. “The student in question assaulted a student, she ended up in the hospital because of that. Don't compare your daughter's disagreement with a delicate situation like this.”
“I'm just saying...”
“Mrs. Luthor, I advise you to talk to Lena.” Cat interrupted the woman. “She and Samantha are friends as long as I can remember, so I'm not going to transfer Samantha from school because of a disagreement.”
Lillian looked at Cat for a few seconds. Noticing that the headmistress was not going to budge, she let out a long, impatient sigh and stood up.
“That's why I wanted her to study at a private school just like her brother, but Lionel always made her every wish.” Cat is held not to laugh at the irony ears. If Lionel did all Lena's wishes, Lillian coming to her school asking to transfer her best friend was what? “Now, look at this... She doesn't even want to come to school.
“Lillian...” Hearing her first name caught Lillian's attention. Cat didn't do that, but the little intimacy she had with her parents over the years as the headmistress of the school her kids went to, gave her that kind of openness on occasion . “You know that their friendship is... Let’s say, not so conventional.” Lillian nodded. She knew very well, so much that in time it really stopped bothering her. “Regardless of what happened, it is not a transfer that will resolve.”
“What do you know? What happened?”
“It is not for me to say.” Cat put on her glasses. “Talk to Lena.”
Lillian nodded in a dumb reply that she was going to talk to Lena and left Cat's office. The older Luthor just didn't know when she was going to have such a conversation. Lena didn't want to talk to her. I just wanted to know about staying in the room.
Eve passed Lillian in the middle of the hall. Regina George's 2020 version continued on its way to Cat's office with her neck turned back, following in Lillian's footsteps.
What had Lena's mother gone to do there?
Curiosity went out to the universe as soon as Eve stopped in front of Principal Grant's office door. She had a much more important subject to discuss than finding out why Lillian Luthor was at school.
Eve knocked on the door and entered as soon as Cat authorized entry.
“What can I do for you, Miss. Teschmacher?” Cat took off her glasses, put them on the table and folded her hands, staring at Eve.
“I want authorization to disqualify Lena and Samantha from the ball king/queen competition.” Eve was direct.
“I thought we already talked about it.” She said in a bored tone. It would be one of those days at school and the day had barely started. “Or do you think coming here without Miss. Danvers and Miss. Nal will make me change my decision?”
“I know you won't. That's why I brought the evidence you asked for.” Eve smiled proud of herself.
“I specifically said it was not necessary for you to go after evidence.” Cat recalled.
“I know. But what kind of person would I be if I didn't do justice to the crown's legal competitors? On here!” She handed the phone to Cat. “Can I use this to disqualify them?”
Cat let out a long breath and put her glasses back on. It was better to see such disqualifying content right away, otherwise Eve would not leave her alone for the entire week or, worse, she would act behind her back. The girl was audacious on that level.
The director needed to admit that, of everything she imagined, a video revealing a bet was one of the few things she didn't expect. At least not from Samantha. However, she was not surprised. Sam was friends with Lucy and Vasquez, so she was doomed to do something stupid during the academic year.
Teenagers and their immaturity...
“Uh.” It was the only reaction that Cat externalized. She would never give Eve more than that. “You can disqualify them.” Eve flashed a winning smile. Finally my moment has come. She reached out to take the phone back, but Cat pulled the phone out of reach. “But you are prohibited from using this video in any way. This is a matter for Lena and Samantha and must be dealt with between them. You got what you wanted, so in no way you are going to expose this video and humiliate Lena in front of the whole school. Am I clear?”
“Yes, Principal Grant.” Eve tried to make a serious expression to match her answer, but the smile on her face didn't want to go away.
"Now, please," Cat handed Eve the phone back. "Go do something useful in life. Stop trying to unmask fake couples.”
“I can't promise anything.” Eve replied excitedly heading for the exit of the room. “Thank you so much, Principal Grant.” And left the room.
"Generation Y." Cat shook her head in rebuke. “Our ruin and at the same time our salvation. Go figure.”
**
After leaving Cat's office with her demand unfulfilled and the principal's advice in her thoughts, Lillian went down the hall to the school's exit door.
While passing by the sea of students, the woman caught a glimpse of some of the friends Lena made over the years studying at that school.
Nia Nal, Querl Dox, Lucy Lane and Susan Vasquez.
As she passed the group, the woman managed to catch their frowning expressions in confusion. Well, it was not common to see her there without her daughter and even more in such a picturesque time like that. Lillian then continued on down the hall until she reached the school's main door.
When the Luthor matriarch was ready to enter through the door of her car, which had been opened by her driver, she heard her name being called by a voice well known to herself.
Samantha Arias.
“Mrs. Luthor!” She calls and Lillian stopped her movement to enter the car and look back at Sam’s direction.
“What could you possibly want after what you did, Miss. Arias?”
Sam's surprise at the question and the tone used by Lillian made the girl's eyes widen. Did Lena tell Lillian?
“I... Lena...” Lillian raises an eyebrow when Sam starts to stutter.
From the years that she knew the girl, the woman was aware that the girl was not shy. On the contrary, Samantha Arias was very articulate, so hearing the girl get lost in her words was, at the very least, strange.
“Look Samantha, I don't have all morning. So, speak up! Lillian speaks without patience.
“How... How's Lena doing?” The girl asks without looking at her friend's mother.
“What do you think?” The woman returns the question and Sam looks at her without knowing what to say. Lillian sighs. “I don’t know what answer you expect me to give you or if Lena wants you to know how she is.”
Seeing tears forming in Samantha's eyes, every second, made Lillian even more curious and confused about what had happened between her daughter and Samantha. As Cat had mentioned earlier, their friendship was unconventional and Lillian, as a mother, could never ignore this fact. And she had to admit that at first it was something that worried her.
As much as she did not show and maintain a “hard” image in front of everyone, when it came to her children, Lillian Luthor was a mother ready to protect her young as any other. So when Samantha Arias, despite her freer and more inconsequential personality than most of the children who lived around her daughter, demonstrated that she cared for Lena and that she was always looking to do things for Lena to smile, she felt her heart calm down.
On more than one occasion, the girl standing in front of her, with tearful eyes, had demonstrated that she would never be like the children who approached for advantage. On more than one occasion, Sam had demonstrated the loyal friend she was.
I'm sorry...” Says the girl suddenly interrupting Lillian's thoughts.
“I don't know what you did. Lena hasn't left the room since arriving from the hospital on Friday night and hasn't wanted to speak to anyone since.”
Hearing Lillian's statement about Lena's condition made Sam's already broken heart break definitively. A breathless sigh escaped her lips. Something about Sam was hurting and she hadn't anything to help herself.
“Won't she come today?” Sam asks in a low tone.
“No.” Lillian answers without hesitation. “She refused to get out of bed and... What did you do, Samantha?”
“I... I...” Sam closes her eyes. “I'm sorry.”
“It is good that you feel, Samantha. I never saw my daughter like that.” Lillian says before getting into the car and the door is closed by the driver.
Sam stayed there until the car was out of sight...
**
It was a relief for Kara to step into school knowing she wouldn't have to run into Mike in the halls or in the classroom.
The relief was mostly because of Imra. Now her friend was really free of the boy. Without fear and without relapse because of false promises. Imra could have a remainder of the light school year, as Kara always fought for her to have it.
Kara even forgot what she was saying to an almost dumb Alex when she saw her friend standing on the small staircase that led to the main entrance to the school. Alex whispered something in her ear that she didn't understand and walked towards the school's entrance, while Imra walked in the opposite direction to meet Kara.
“Leave it to me.” Imra offered to pick up the books that Kara held with her free hand.
“No way. Kara pressed the books in front of her body. “I still have one arm. You can let me take it.”
“Are you sure? Because I have both my hands free.” Imra held up both hands, smiling in amusement. Light.
“Privileged!” Kara teased, patting Imra on the shoulder. The British laughed. The two started walking towards the school entrance. “Are you alright?”
“I think I should ask you that.” Imra pointed to Kara's immobilized arm. “Still hurts?”
“A little.” Kara shrugged as if it was no big deal. “But you know what I'm asking...”
“I know.” Imra gave an embarrassed laugh and looked at the floor. “I think I am.” She turned her attention to Kara, who was watching her with complete attention. “It's kind of weird to know that I'm not going to run into him in the halls anymore.” Kara's eyes widened a little, worried about what that might mean. “A good stranger.” Imra tried to explain herself, reassuring Kara. “I'm...” She smiled. “I am fine.” She affirmed with the certainty that she did not have before.
“Great.” Kara smiled happily. “That's all that matters.”
Kara tried to put her arm around Imra's shoulders to squeeze her in a side hug, but ended up realizing that she had one less arm than usual.
Imra laughed.
“Can I now?” She held out her hands for Kara to give her the books.
“Okay.” The girl gave the books to her friend, making a disgusted face.
“Where were we?” Imra smiled sweetly getting very close to Kara.
Kara laughed and put her arm around Imra's shoulders. The British woman laid her head on Kara's shoulder, receiving a chaste kiss on the head and the two finally entered the school.
“Good morning, National City High School!” Eve's excitedly irritating voice from the school's speakers made all the students stop what they were doing to hear her. “As you all know, I care too much for the integrity of the ball king/queen vote.”
“Here it comes.” Murmured Lucy making a face.
“That's why I come to inform you that Lena Luthor and Samantha Arias are disqualified.” Eve informed without hiding the contentment in her tone of voice.
Many "what?" were heard, along with many complaints. Does it mean the couple who managed to win the entire school and were the favorites to win the crown were disqualified?
Sam wanted to run away. She had no head to deal with the shower of questions she would receive as soon as Eve's "speech" was over. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and wished it were Lena, even though Lillian had made it very clear that the girl she used to call her best friend would not go to school. Sam opened her eyes and turned her head to see who owned that hand. She found Alex smiling complacently. She smiled back and put her hand on top of her friend's. It was nice to know that, despite everything, she had Alex there to give her a little support.
“I know. It was a shock for me too.” She spoke with false disappointment. “Principal Grant forbade me to reveal the reason, but what I can tell you is that you were being cheated all along. Lena and Samantha were never girlfriends.” You could feel the satisfaction in Eve's tone of voice in finally being able to say that to the entire school to hear.
The students' perplexed, doubtful and non-compliant murmurs intensified. It was impossible for everything they saw to be only theater because of a crown.
Sam was hating all the looks of her schoolmates on her. She had gotten used to being looked at as Lena's girlfriend. The other half of the couple that everyone was cheering for. Having eyes full of doubts and disbelief on top of her caused her tremendous discomfort.
“I bet you can crown a real couple now.” It was almost visible like a hologram or a video message, Eve's satisfied cynical smile. She had succeeded.
“What was all this about?” Asked Lucy approaching. “What happened?”
“Lena knows.” Sam revealed in a tired voice. At the same moment she felt her heart ache and her throat close. Crying right in the middle of school was just what was missing.
“Knows what?” Lucy was still confused. In response, Lucy got an expression "isn't it obvious?". “Oh...” She understood and her expression of doubt changed to a puzzled one. “How?”
Sam just answered with a shrug. She didn't know and had already spent all her energy trying to find out. In fact, that whole situation had drained all of her energy. She doesn’t even know how she managed to get up and go to school. Maybe it was the hope that she could see Lena, try to talk to her, but after she received the news that Lena would not be going to school, plus Eve's “pronouncement”, all the emotional exhaustion and tiredness hit her very hard again.
“I'm so sorry.” Lucy said sincerely. “If I knew this would happen...”
Sam laughed, interrupting Lucy's speech.
“Do you know what's worse? We knew it could happen and yet...” She shook her head, still astonished at herself. How could she do that to Lena?
Sam felt her eyes water, unable to tell if it was due to sadness due to the situation, anger at herself for causing Lena so much suffering that she couldn't even go to school or a mixture of the two. All those feelings and the flashes she started to have from the fight with Lena were starting to choke her. She needed to get out of there. So she opened up a space between her friends and without saying a single word she walked away from all the noise that at all times made Sam remember how stupid she was.
The day would be long.
Sam ran to the robotics lab.
Lena.
Realizing where she was going, Sam felt her heart tighten again. In a failed attempt to ease the pain, her eyes were closed with force.
Of course she would run to the place that most resembled Lena in the whole school. It was to that room that Sam ran whenever she felt sad or overflowing happiness, because it was in that room where she would find Lena wearing glasses and protection gloves while building something. It was to that room that Sam ran when she knew she was going to join the soccer team, and it was to that room that she ran when she got a low biology grade and went to that room that Sam ran at that time. Sam ran to Lena.
Lena.
“Samantha?” Sam gets scared and turns at once and finds Jack with a confused expression. “Are you alright?” Questions the boy with a pinch of worry, but Sam does not respond and instead, Sam ran again.
Samantha ran until she reached the soccer field where she had thrown herself on the lawn and stayed there for what she thought was minutes, but she only realized how much time had passed when Betty Grissom's voice took her out of her thoughts.
“Sam?” Betty calls for Sam who had her eyes closed. The red-haired girl thought her colleague was sleeping, but that thought was taken from her head when Sam immediately opened her eyes. “Are you okay?”
Sam got up to sit on the grass. Her legs were crossed, her elbows were supported on her thighs and her head was buried in the palms of her hands.
“You are not” Betty puts a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Is it because of what Eve announced earlier?" Questions Betty demonstrating worry. Sam looks at her and smiles sadly.
“I don't want to talk about it, Betty.” Sam says getting up and cleaning the grass from her clothes. Betty nods in agreement, but Sam was already walking off the field.
From the movement in the corridors, Sam realized that she spent more time than she imagined on the field. Her face was reddened by the morning sun and no longer by crying. The cry that Sam had released when she reached the soccer field.
Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Sam caught sight of Lucy waving her over. Upon arriving at the table, Sam realized that everyone was at the table, except Lena and Maggie. It was also possible to see a difference. Imra. The girl was sitting next to Kara and seemed to be helping Alex's sister with her immobilized arm.
“Where were you, Arias?” Vasquez asks, but Sam knew that, at least they looked at her, she wasn't the only one who would like to know the answer.
“In the field.” Sam sat in the empty seat next to Alex. The older Danvers threw a sad smiled at her.
“Are you feeling better?” Alex asks Sam quietly.
“Not even close...” Sam answers in the same tone used by Alex.
“What happened to Maggie?” Nia asks suddenly.
“What do you mean, Nia?” Kara asks confused.
“She just walked by our table and didn't even look here. She went straight to the cafeteria exit.”
With Nia's explanation, all the attention of the members of the table was turned to Alex who sighed in defeat when remembering, for the thousandth time that morning, the fight with Maggie on Saturday.
“It’s true, Danvers. She also didn't sit with you during classes.” William observes. “What did you do to even us be suffering from could treatment?”
“I screwed up.” Alex says before getting up. “I'm going for a walk... Sam, could you come with me?” Sam nods with the head in agreement and the two leave the cafeteria.
“Okay... The day today is strange.” Nia comments.
“Lena didn't come today, Maggie doesn't even look at Alex's face and Sam and Alex look like two puppies that were kicked.” Comments William.
“We’ll go after the kicked puppies.” Lucy says getting up and pulling Vasquez by the arm so that she would get up too. “Come on, Vasquez!”
When Lucy and Vasquez are away from the table, Imra speaks up.
“Do you know what happened to your sister?” Questions Imra to Kara, but the blonde shakes the head in denial.
“Everything was fine. Maggie even went over to our house on Saturday when I got home from the hospital, remember?” Imra nods to Kara's question. After thinking a little, the blonde speaks again. “When Alex came back from Maggie's house, she went straight to her room and on Sunday morning she left early to find Sam and came back in the late afternoon and went into the room again. My mom tried to talk to her, but apparently, she was already asleep.”
The looks of confusion were present on the faces of almost everyone at the table, except Winn's. The boy did not speak or react at all for the rest of the break.
**
Sam and Alex went to the room where the next class would take place.
“Didn't Maggie speak to you today?” Asks Sam sitting at the table she would share with Alex in that class.
“No.” Alex answers while sitting in the chair next to Sam. “I thought about going to talk to her, but I think it would only make it worse...”
Before one of the two girls thought about saying anything else, the door to the room was opened by Lucy and Vasquez was right behind her being pulled by her friend.
“What happened over the weekend?” Lucy asks as soon as she enters the room.
“Didn't we already say that Lena found out?” Asks Alex seeing Lucy approach.
“And Maggie too?” Alex and Sam nod to Vasquez's question. “How?”
“We don’t know.” Says Sam. “All I know is that, on Friday when we were in the hospital, they already knew.”
“What did they say?” Asks Lucy. Sam and Alex look at each other considering how much they would be able to talk without crying again.
“She thinks it was all because of the bet.” Sam says resting her elbows on her knees and putting her face in her hands. “She said I used her...” Sam's hands clench their hair in frustration. “I tried to explain myself, but she didn't want to hear me and kicked me out of the mansion...” Sam raises her head and looks sadly at Lucy and Vasquez who were standing beside the table where she was sitting. “Lillian said she didn't want to come today and that she hasn't left the room for the past two days.”
“And Maggie?” Asks Vasquez uncertainly.
The girl had to admit that the feeling of guilt was invading her body. She was feeling bad about being part of what caused a friend to suffer.
“I betrayed her trust and lied.” Alex starts. “She just wasn't happy.” The girl makes a face. “She asked me for an excuse, an explanation for why I had accepted to participate in the bet, but I didn't have one... She throwed in my face that we didn't think what would be the consequences, both for Lena and Sam.”
“She broke up with you?” Lucy asks weakly.
Like Vasquez, the guilt of having hurt her friends was reaching her body. She had to admit that Maggie was right, they did not think the consequences that would be the result of the bet.
Before Alex could speak, Vasquez spoke:
“This means that you and Maggie are also out of competition for the crown?” Lucy elbowed her and looks of repression were directed at her. “I’m sorry! I don't know what to say when I'm nervous.”
“Oh... Okay...” Alex speaks confused. “But no. At least not definitely.” She says sighing. “She asked me for time and space to think, but I don't think she...” The girls nod in understanding.
Na ironic laugh is heard coming from Sam.
“What's it?” Asks Lucy.
“On Saturday, before Lena kicked me out of the mansion, she told me she was in love with me and then she threw a pair of boots at me...”
“If I laugh, will it be very mean?” Vasquez asks, but then Lucy nudges her. “It will. Understood. Sorry, Sam.”
“It's gonna be okay.” Lucy says in an attempt at a positive tone. “Vasquez and I could go to the mansion and then at Maggie's house to explain what happened and...”
“That! We could say that we oblige you!” Completes Vasquez.
“I don't think that will help...” Comments Sam.
“We screwed up and were immature and those are the consequences.” Alex says before the door is opened again and one of the students comes in interrupting a probable continuation for the conversation between the girls.
Alex and Sam sigh in frustration.
**
The bell indicating the end of another day of school rang.
Winn asked William to wait for him outside the school with the excuse that he had forgotten something in the locker and walked over to the newspaper. Because it was Monday, he knew that none of the friends would be working there, only Eve.
“What did you do?” Winn asked in a serious, firm tone.
“About what?” Eve pretended not to understand.
“Don't make noise!” Winn turned the chair that Eve sat so he could face her cynical face. “Lena didn't come to school today. Sam and Alex look like they spent the weekend at a funeral. Maggie doesn't even look at Alex's face. What did you do, Eve?”
“What you wanted so badly.” Eve got up from the chair and squeezed Winn's cheek. The boy patted the blonde's hand, just to get her hand off his face. "Or are you going to tell me that you didn't want Lena and Sam out of the vote?"
"I wanted to, but..." Winn blew out a long breath. If regret would kill... “What did you do with that video?”
“Which video?”
William's voice from the newspaper door froze Winn's spine. What was he doing there?
“What video, Winn?” He repeated the question.
“Oh...” Eve took some sheets from the printer. "I think this is my time to..." She nodded at the door. “Good luck, Winslow.” She sent Winn a wry smile and left the room.
“William, I...” Winn raised his hands in front of the body. The way his boyfriend looked at him was scaring him. William had never looked at him like that. “I can explain.”
“I am waiting.” William crossed his arms.
"I..." Winn cleared his throat, bewildered. “I kind of recorded Sam, Alex, Lucy and Vasquez talking about a bet.”
“Bet?”
“About Sam winning over Lena.” He answered in a small voice. “They bet that Sam wouldn't be able to win over Lena.”
“And you gave this video to Eve?” William asked, shocked.
“I didn't think she was going to show it to Lena!” Winn tried to justify himself. “I thought she would just show Principal Grant, but apparently...”
"You..." William gave a nervous laugh. “You are unbelievable, Winn!”
“I just wanted them to stop this fake dating!”
“At what cost?” William changed his voice tone. “Did you see what this obsession of yours did? Our friends are destroyed!”
“I didn't think...”
“Didn't think what? That Eve would set the playground on fire?” William laughed nervously. "You are either too naive or too stupid, Winn!" That one loves drama.
“I was angry, okay? No one was paying any attention to the fact that they were cheating the whole school...”
"Because no one cares, Winn!” William shouted. “It's just a fucking vote. They are plastic crowns. This was done for us to have fun, not to become a stupid competition. Now...” He shook his head. “I hope you're happy. Sam and Lena are no longer competing for the crown. And, if there was a vote of best friends, they wouldn't be running anymore, since you screwed up that too.
“That was not my fault!” Exclaimed Winn, offended by the accusation. “Sam really bet Lena.”
“And before that damn video of yours, Lena had no idea!” William clapped both hands at his sides, indignant. “It was not up to you to expose, much less share the video with Eve. It was something Sam should resolve with Lena. But it seems like you never see anything wrong with the things you do and say, don't you? You always try to justify yourself... It's done for me, Winn.”
“What... What does that mean?” Asked Winn, concerned with the direction of that conversation.
“That we are also disqualified.” William replied. Winn opened his mouth, speechless. “I just wanted to have fun at the dance with my boyfriend, but you had to turn this into a stupid competition. You had to hurt our friends. I can't go on dating someone so selfish.”
“Will...” Winn swallowed dryly. “No William, I...” He tried to touch William, but the boy dodged. “I’m sorry. I... I will try to resolve this. I...”
“You would have nothing to solve if you hadn't started all this.” Said William seriously. “It's over, Winn.”
**
Sam went home just wanting a shower and her bed. Every vein in her body hurts. Part of that was because she was hard at soccer training, the other part was because of her situation with Lena.
Soccer has always been one of her escape valves for anything that was going on. It worked to some extent. It worked for a good part of the training, but over the course of it memories of soccer and Lena surfaced. She remembered all the times that her friend went to watch a training session, the goals dedicated to her, the times the coach drew her attention for paying more attention in the stands than on the field or the celebrations for each victory.
Associating Lena with soccer was the same thing as associating crush with a favorite song. Bad idea at the moment.
Lena was her other escape valve.
At the end of training, Sam remained on the soccer field. Her friends offered to stay with her or get her out of there, but they realized that Sam needed to be alone to vent, so they respected her space.
Discounting all of her frustration and irritation on the balls didn't work the way Sam wanted. The anger continued and the suffocating feeling too.
It was getting dark when Sam decided to take the bike and ride home. The bicycle also felt some of her anger and frustration. Sam pedaled very hard and fast. The wind almost cut her face. Her legs asked for rest, her heart was beating fast, her chest was burning, her mouth was dry and her breathing was labored, but even so she continued at that pace until she got home.
“Sam, is that you?” Patricia's voice came from the kitchen.
Sam sighed tiredly and dropped the bag on the floor. She felt a wave of despair and more irritation run through her body. She just wanted to stay quiet in her corner without having to talk to anyone. Why did her mother have to have arrived early that day? Was it a punishment from the universe for everything her did? It could only be.
“Mom, I'm going...”
“You come here.” Patricia sent using a sweet tone while only her head appeared in the kitchen room. “I’m cooking, so...”
Sam waited for her mother to return to the kitchen and grunted in frustration. She loved Patricia, she loved spending time with her telling about her day, but her days hadn't been her favorite subject lately.
“I am here.” She said in an indifferent tone, trying to hide her lack of patience.
Patricia pointed with the wooden spoon at the chairs on the island, asking Sam to sit in one of them. Sam snorted, rolling her eyes and sat down with the hope that if she gave all the attention her mother wanted she could lock herself in her room as soon as possible.
“Can you explain to me why I got a call from your school informing me that someone asked for your expulsion today?” The tone Patricia used in her question was calm, almost humorous due to the disbelief of the call she had received.
“What?”
“Principal Grant called me to say that Lillian Luthor went there today to ask for your expulsion. Can you explain to me what this is about?”
“How will I know?” Sam got up from the chair. “She never looked like she liked me, so...” She lifted her shoulders. “Can I go up now?”
“Not until you tell me what really happened.” Patricia crossed her arms. “What happened between you and Lena? I know Lillian, she would never wake up one day oh today I'm going to school to ask for Samantha's expulsion”. She doesn't usually experience that kind of shame, so... What happened, Sam?”
Sam pressed her index finger on the kitchen island and kept moving it from side to side, pondering what she was going to do. She could lie to her mother and say it was okay, even though she knew the woman wouldn't believe it, but she would leave her alone or she could tell the truth and see if Patricia had any advice.
She hit her forefinger on the counter, bit the corner of her cheek, and turned, returning to the seat she was sitting on. Patricia continued to look at her, waiting for an explanation. The mother had no idea.
Instead of starting to explain what had happened, Sam brought both hands to her face and started to cry. That was not her plan. She wanted to tell everything she did to her mother, but as she was thinking about how to say it out loud, what suffocated her all day long broke free again.
Who knew that the weight of your chest would be partially resolved with more tears?
Patricia didn’t know how to act for a few seconds. She was taken aback by Sam's crying. Despite the ease of crying, Sam used to discount most of the things she felt in soccer, not in tears.
All pans were turned off and Patricia went to Sam, comforting her daughter with a hug. She squeezed Sam to her chest and let her daughter take everything she should have been holding all day. While she heard Sam's crying and felt her daughter shudder in her chest, Patricia stroked her hair and whispered several "everything will be fine". And it wasn't even lip service. Sam and Lena had a strong connection. Regardless of what had happened, they always managed to make it all right.
“I blew it, mom.” Sam managed to say. The voice was muffled and shaky because of the crying that had not yet stopped completely. “She hates me. I managed to get her to hate me.”
“Who?” Patricia pushed Sam away from her chest so she could look her daughter in the eye. “Lena?” The woman shook her head. “That girl loves you, Sam. What was so serious you could have done to make her hate you? Did you ask Betty to date you?” Patricia joked in an attempt to make the environment lighter.
“I bet her.” Sam revealed without showing any reaction to her mother's joke.
“Did you bet Lena? What?” Asked Patricia extremely confused.
Sam told her mother all about the bet. How it started because of a crisis of jealousy and how it came to an end because it completely dawned on you that what you were doing was very wrong.
"She found out before I had a chance to tell the truth..." Sam sniffed, holding herself back so she wouldn't start crying again.
“Sam, the bet was on winning over Lena...” Patricia paused, finishing assimilating the whole story. “If she found out and is angry about it...”
“We kissed.” Sam revealed without looking her mother in the eye. “Often times.” A glimpse of a smile appeared on Sam's face when she remembered the kisses, but immediately disappeared when she realized she would never kiss Lena again. “We started something. We took a step beyond friendship. We... We...” Sam let out a long breath. “We were going to talk about our situation, about what we were going to be, but she found out about the bet before and...” Her eyes started to water again and her throat started to close again. “I never meant to hurt her, Mom.” Her voice came out choked. “She's one of the most important people in my life. I like her...” Sam shook her head. That was no longer the right word. It had ceased to be a long time ago. “I'm in love with her, I think I always have been, but these last few weeks...”
And Sam started crying again.
Patricia comforted her daughter again with a hug. She realized from the previous day that Sam was not doing very well, but she believed it was concern because of what happened to Kara. She also thought that Sam and Lena might have argued, but she never imagined it was that serious - in the teen's view.
“After all this time I really started to believe that you would bury these feelings and just be good friends.” Patricia commented while stroking Sam's hair. “That bet was pretty stupid and insensitive” And Sam thinking she wouldn't get a sermon. “I'm tired of telling you to cool your head before making any decision, but sometimes it feels like a door listens to me more. I didn't raise you to play with other people's feelings like that, Samantha.”
“I know.” The girl murmured still tearful.
“But as karma is a bitch, you proved your own bet and realized how wrong it was to continue with it...”
“But what does it matter?” Sam interrupted her mother. “Lena doesn't want to hear me. I tried to explain myself, but she doesn't believe me. Everything I say Lena thinks is because of the bet. She thinks that what we had was because of the bet...”
“Honey, how would you feel if you knew Lena was playing with your feelings? What did you bet?”
"I..." Sam looked down, embarrassed. “I understand what you're getting at, mom, but...”
“Lena is hurt. She needs time to calm down. I advise you to give her that time and then try to explain yourself again.”
“You don't understand, mother. I lost her.” She sniffed, wiping her face with both hands. “I know I lost her.”
“I never saw you give up on a match. Last game you continued limping because it had finished substitutions and scored a goal. You won't even give up on Lena like that. Not after almost fulfilling my dream of having Lena as daughter-in-law.” Patricia ended the sentence in an amused tone, managing to get a small laugh from Sam.
“You can be more deluded than Lucy when she says she is single by choice.” Sam returned the playful tone. Despite everything still hurting, all the crying and talking to her mother helped to take much of the weight off her chest.
“Speaking of Lucy... Please, Samantha, stop thinking like these friends of yours.” Patricia returned with the rebukes. “Where have you seen your best friend bet for an autographed boot? If I were Lena I would never look at your face again. My feelings are worth so little...”
“I understand, mother.” Sam said making a face of discontent because she was still being scolded and got up from her chair.
“I think it is good to have understood, otherwise I will go to Principal Grant to have you expelled from school.”
“I got it.” Sam repeated without patience.
“Come here.” Patricia opened her arms, calling her daughter for a hug. Sam rolled her eyes. Every time it was scolding, bullying and hugging, as if that would make her forget about all the bullying. But who was she to refuse a hug from her mother? It was one of her favorite hugs. “You survived that phase of your dubious musical taste, you will survive that too.”
“Why does everyone remember that time? It wasn't my worst moment...”
“Yes, it was, dear.” Patricia kissed Sam's head. “Yes, it was.”