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Lena Luthor was not having a good day. She had woken up late, received an A- on a lab report that easily should’ve been an A (something she will contest, of course), changed her clothes midday due to some imbecile bumping into her in the café and causing her to spill her precious coffee all over her blouse, and to top it all off her mother had called to list off the many ways she had been a disappointment.
“Damn, what crawled up your ass today?” Andrea asked as her friend plopped down next to her in their English Literature seminar.
Lena glanced around the room before answering; she was, predictably, early, and with the exception of the blonde girl, Kate? or maybe, Kiera? standing opposite her and chatting with the younger Lane sister, the room was empty.
“Lillian, of course,” came Lena’s terse reply as she fumbled around in her bag. She pulled out her Yeti water bottle that she had refilled on her rush to class. Lena went to twist off the cap, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Of course, it’s Thursday, her weekly check-in,” Andrea said sympathetically. Lena sighed and nodded. She liked having a friend who not only understood the pressure she faced from her family, but who had also met Lillian and knew the terror she could wreck.
“It was hardly anything new, - I just did not want to hear from her today of all days. It’s been a mess,” Lena said with a huff as she continued to struggle with the cap of her water bottle. The edges of her mouth were dry and she licked her lips in an attempt to alleviate her cracked lips. Lena gripped the cap tighter and attempted to twist it off to no avail. She huffed and tried again but the cap wouldn’t budge.
“Jesus, Lena, what did you do? Weld the cap on?” Andrea asked with a chuckle.
“Seems that way.” Lena rolled her eyes and sighed, resigned to not hydrating before her class. Just another item on the laundry list of events making her wish the day would end.
She blinked as a shadow appeared over her. Lena looked up at the blonde (Kiera? Seriously, what was her name?) standing before her.
“Let me help you with that, baby,” the blonde said with a wink. Lena blanched and in her moment of disbelief the blonde took that as an opportunity to take the water bottle out of Lena’s hands.
Admittedly, up close, the girl was beautiful – with her wavy golden hair and lean, toned physique. Lena couldn’t even roll her eyes when faced with the girl’s biceps visible from the muscle tee she was wearing. She stopped herself from licking her lips again, and averted her eyes back to the girl’s electrifying blue ones, realizing she had been caught ogling. The girl in front of her smirked as she went to turn the cap of the water bottle, to no avail.
“Hmm,” the blonde muttered as Lena’s mouth went drier watching her arms flex on her second attempt to open the Nalgene. The blonde blushed as Andrea chuckled softly and Lena’s brow went up watching her struggle.
“Just... one more... second,” she said, clenching her jaw as she struggled. Lena watched the girl in front of her struggle before catching her eyes. Lena couldn’t help but offer an encouraging smile, blinded by the girl’s blue eyes.
Lena had to hand it to her, at this point, to keep trying after being so cocky was surprisingly endearing. Lena rolled her eyes in an attempt to keep the corners of her mouth from turning up. She turned to Andrea, who looked charmed by the girl in front of them.
“Okay Hot Stuff, don’t hurt yourself,” came another voice as Lucy Lane up behind her friend. Lucy grabbed the water bottle out of the blonde’s hand and made quick work of opening the top before handing it back to Lena.
“How –,“ the blonde stammered, blushing and not looking at Lena.
“I mean, honestly, Kara – you play basketball and can bench 125. Wait until Alex hears about this,” Lucy said laughing while the blonde, Kara , sputtered. Lena had no idea who Alex was but her eyebrows went up at the mention of the jock in front of her benching 125.
“Wait, Luce, – you cannot mention this to Alex,” Kara said as Lucy walked away chuckling. Her eyes darted back to Lena again as she flushed. She turned around to walk back across the room.
“Thank you for trying,” Lena said as Kara turned to look back at her and nodded. Lena paused before adding, “baby.”