heyy i really miss karolsen and i guess...my way of coping is writing shitty high school AUs? i'll forever be a bitter karolsen shipper no matter what new love interests they try to introduce lmao. anyway forgive me, i said i'd give up high school AUs and look at what happened...

note: in this AU, kara came to the planet when she was 16 and is a little naive alien teen. she's 17 now. everyone else except her and winn are 18! i really don't write superpowered!kara often so any inaccuracies are a result of my total lack of canon knowledge. also this is just a oneshot but i have a planned multichapter of these two in the works so sadly (or thankfully idk) i won't continue this beyond this meet-cute

Kara thinks she's fitting into this planet just fine.

It's been a little jarring, she must admit though, these new social circumstances. She's been on this new planet for just over a year and she still doesn't understand everything—like why Alex needs new clothes so often when her old ones still fit, why people dying their hair is a thing, why people don't do their homework, why people like to throw little paper balls into her hair when she rides home on the bus with Alex. The school part of high school is easy. It's everything else that's hard.

"Mom," Alex begs, brushing her bangs off of her forehead, "please don't make me take her."

Eliza starts up the car and patiently ignores her daughter's question, instead looking in the rearview mirror at Kara in the backseat. "Kara, dear, how was school?" she asks.

"Oh, it was fun," Kara says, beaming back at her foster mother. "I got to dissect a frog! It was kind of gross, though. And cruel to the frogs."

Alex groans. "She tried to resuscitate her frog, Mom. She gave it CPR!"

"I saw that in a movie once," Kara says. "It didn't work."

Alex groans louder, sinking in her seat as they pull away out of the school parking lot. Kara waves goodbye to her friend, Winn, before she remembers that she's going to see him again tonight. Apparently he's going to be at a senior party—whatever that is. The same one Alex is going to, funnily enough. Alex is much less thrilled about this than Kara is.

"Do you girls need to go home to change?" Eliza asks. "Or we can go get burgers. Your choice."

"Of course we need to go change," Alex huffs. "Kara's wearing khakis."

Kara looks down at her pants. "I know," she says, confused. "What's wrong? Are they dirty?"

Alex refuses to answer her question. Eliza wordlessly turns on the radio, and the only background noise to the ride home is the top 40's channel on which every song seems to blend in on each other. (Alex doesn't even complain about it.)

When they get home, Kara doesn't even get a chance to eat anything before Alex drags her upstairs and begins unceremoniously shoving clothes at her. Kara is hit in the face with jeans even her super reflexes don't see coming; she wonders if all teenage girls on this planet are as strange as Alex is.

"Get dressed," Alex orders, when Kara doesn't move an inch (not even to take the jeans hanging on her head off).

This time, Kara cautiously removes the pants off her head and folds them in her arms. "But Alex," she says, "these are your clothes."

"You're not going in your clothes," Alex says, already turning away to rifle through her things for an outfit of her own. "So you can wear mine for tonight. But don't spill anything on them, you hear?"

Kara nods. "I have super hearing," she says.

Clearly it's the wrong answer, because Alex sighs and thumps her head against her closet door. "Can't you just tell Mom you don't want to go?" she asks. "Then I won't have to worry about taking you."

Kara hesitantly moves forward, unsure why Alex wants her to stay home so much but trying to comfort her in any way she can. "But Winn's expecting me there."

(Alex's response is to disappear in her closet and slam the door before Kara can get too close.)

.

.

.

"Winn's already inside," Kara informs Alex when she pulls up to the curb; as a sign of good faith, Eliza has entrusted her the car (only because Kara is there too, but still).

"You go in before me," Alex says. "And don't come talk to me when we're inside. Deal?"

"What if I want to go home?" Kara asks.

"Then you text me, or wait until I come find you," Alex says. "Just hang out with Winn, okay?"

"Okay," Kara agrees. "Do I go now?"

"...yes, Kara, go now."

The front door is ajar when Kara walks over to it, and she turns around a gives Alex a thumbs-up that Alex rolls her eyes at. She does that a lot, Kara notes, but she ignores it for now and pushes her way inside the unfamiliar house.

It's loud inside, packed to the brim with strange sounds and odd smells and so, so many people that Kara has to squeeze by at least five before she is able to breathe again. She lowers her glasses a little and scans for Winn only to locate him outside, sandwiched in between two large, beefy football players. His heartbeat is beating too quickly to be normal, so she makes a beeline for the backyard, nearly toppling over a couple that are kissing much too indecently for a public space.

"Winn!" Kara shouts as she steps outdoors, waving at him frantically. "Hi, Winn!"

Winn sags in relief when he sees her. "Kara! Sorry guys," he tells the football players, "as you can see, my friend is here so I'll just, uh, take my leave—"

"Schott, c'mon, where's the rush?" one of them—Maxwell Lord, Kara recognizes—says, clamping a hand onto Winn's shoulder so tightly he yelps. "We're all having a little fun. Right, Mike?"

The other football player, Mike Daxam, nods drunkenly. "Yup, we're havin' fun," he slurs. "And we're gonna—we're gonna go get some more drinks too, right?"

Winn mouths help me. Kara immediately does.

"Sorry, but, I need him!" Kara says brightly, sweeping Maxwell's hand off Winn's shoulder and tugging him up. "We're gonna go dance. Come on, Winn."

"What the fuck?" Maxwell swears, shaking his hand. Oops, Kara must've pushed it a little too hard. "Hey, we're not even bothering your little boyfriend, so why don't you—"

"He's your boyfriend?" Mike bursts out into laughter at Kara, even if it was Maxwell who said it. "Max. Buddy. We need 'em. Can you imagine the look on Veronica's face…" He keeps laughing so hard he topples over, and apparently his gibberish satisfies Max because he starts laughing so hard too that Kara and Winn are able to escape.

"Thank you, for that," Winn sighs once they're back into the crowded living room. "I should've waited for you. These people can smell fresh blood in the water every time."

"Did they do anything to you?" Kara asks, prepared to do a full body scan on him, but Winn stops her hand before she can lower her glasses.

"No, no, it's okay," he says. "They were just trying to get me to drink something gross. It was probably drugged."

Kara crinkles her nose. "I'm sorry," she says. "I should've come sooner."

"Well, it's not your fault," Winn says, and he nods over in the direction of Alex, who is just entering the party. "I'm guessing it was Alex's?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to her," says Kara in lieu of an answer, and Winn purses his lips like that's all the answer he needs.

"Come on," he says instead of asking what happened, "I bet there's some chips somewhere. Free food is always a plus."

"Yes! I'm starving."

The kitchen is just as packed as the living room, but only because there are hordes of girls preparing drinks at the counter. Kara manages to slip past them and raid the cupboards, bringing back two bags of Doritos and a liter of soda over to the couch Winn is draped over so he can save it for the both of them.

"I don't think parties are my thing," Winn admits when they're halfway through the first bag. "I sort of want to call my mom and ask her to come pick me up."

"You can't do that! I'm still here." Kara pouts, licking cheese residue off her fingertips. "We didn't even get a chance to dance yet."

"This isn't like high school dances, Kara," Winn says, gesturing to the people around them that seem to be mostly drinking, kissing, or sleeping. "No one dances."

"We could dance."

"We'd be laughed at," Winn says, and he doesn't look at her when he says it.

Kara notices his discomfort and drops the subject. "Okay," she says, "so no dancing. What do people do at these parties, then?"

"Drink," Winn scoffs. "Get high."

"That's illegal," Kara says, and Winn shrugs.

"Pretty much," he says. "Also, don't tell your mom about that. Alex will kill me if you spill. And then find a way to kill you, even if you're pretty much indestructible."

"Bulletproof is not the same thing as indestructible," Kara says. "And that's supposed to be a secret. Shh."

Winn mimes locking his mouth and throwing out the key. "Right, no alien talk," he says. "Except fictional alien talk, of course—"

"We're not going to discuss the inaccuracies of Star Trek again, Winn."

"What? Why not?"

.

.

.

The party starts to die quick, mostly because it's Maxwell Lord's house and he kicks out a bunch of people when they get too drunk. Except for Mike, his right hand man, who finds Winn and Kara sitting on their couch and grins dopily when he sees them.

"Hey lovebirds," he says, nearly falling over as he leans against Kara's side of the couch, "want to play a game?"

"No thanks," Kara says. "We're talking."

"Well don't you want to do more than talk?" Mike raises his eyebrows suggestively, but Kara doesn't get it.

"Not really," she says. "We already played charades on Winn's phone."

Winn clears his throat. "Uh, what she means is, we're good. Thanks."

"C'mon, you're not scared, are you? It's just a little game of spin the bottle," Mike persists. "We've got a good group going. All we need is another couple to throw in."

"Um, you know what, Kara and I were actually about to leave. So sorry, maybe next time—"

"Wait, I've never played this game before," Kara says. "Is it fun?"

Winn's eyes nearly bug out of his head. "No! No, it's not!"

"Winn, we haven't done anything," Kara pleads. "Let's go play a game!"

Winn looks like he's about to have a stroke. Kara grabs his hand and takes him away to where Mike leads them, prepared to give CPR if necessary. They end up sitting in a circle on the living room floor with some people Kara vaguely recognizes as Alex's classmates; she and Winn seem to be the only juniors there.

Winn recognizes someone instantly, a boy with a camera in hand who is taking pictures of the party, and immediately goes to sit with him; Kara hears him excitedly whisper James in greeting. She sits cross legged on his other side, too close to Mike for comfort, but doesn't say anything about how gross Mike's beer breath is.

"Alright, you all know the rules," a girl—Siobhan, if Kara remembers her name correctly—announces. "Spin the bottle, land on someone, and no you can't refuse. James, you're videotaping the funny ones, right?"

"No," James says, rolling his eyes, but not like Alex does. He looks more annoyed than exasperated, and he even lowers his camera.

Siobhan ignores him. "Then let's get started. Max, you have the bottle?"

Kara looks over at Winn but he's saying something to James, so she leans over to Mike and whispers, "What happens when the bottle lands on someone?"

"You punch them," he snorts, and dissolves into drunken laughter.

Kara is stricken at the thought. Unless this game is so violent, surely that can't be right. No one would really play a game just to hurt each other, would they? Before she can double-check with Winn, Maxwell produces an empty beer bottle and unceremoniously drops it in the middle of their circle.

"Who's going first?" he asks loudly, and when no one speaks, he zeroes in on Kara with a mischievous smirk. "Hey, new girl, why don't you take a shot at it?"

"Okay," Kara says slowly, and she gives the bottle a light tap, so light that it barely even moves; it only shifts two spaces over, pointing right at James.

The people in the circle jeer and say his name repeatedly, the girl on James's right even shoving at his shoulder, but Kara feels nothing but worry sinking to the bottom of her stomach. When she looks at James she finds him staring right back, looking apologetic as he rubs at the back of his neck shyly.

Kara feels an odd flush come to her cheeks. She's never felt like this, like there are goosebumps on her skin, her stomach's worry giving away to a fluttery feeling that must be anxiety, if the way it quickens her heartbeat is any indication. It's a weird feeling, and it only happens when she meets James's eyes, which is weird enough. But they're also really pretty eyes; they're a very nice shade of brown.

Suddenly he is shifting close, half-leaning over Winn towards her, and Kara panics and remembers the game. She doesn't stop to think about it, just closes her eyes and swings; she's never hurt anyone intentionally before, and she hopes she doesn't put too much power into it.

But,

"Ow!" James cries, hands going to cover his face, while everyone jerks back in stunned silence. Blood is beginning to drip down from his hands and onto his shirt, and his eyes are wide when he says, "You punched me!"

"Mike told me to!" Kara says. "Is that—is that not what you do in this game?"

"No, not really," James says, voice muffled. "I need to…" He trails off, getting up and wandering off into the direction of a bathroom.

"Wait!" Kara jumps up after him, even when Winn tries to drag her back down. She doesn't want Alex to know about this; she'll just find some new reason to call Kara an embarrassment to their name, and that's the last thing she wants. "James!"

He's sitting on the bathroom sink when Kara finds him, a wad of tissue paper in hand. He's so tall that he towers over her even more when elevated, but he doesn't flinch away when he sees her enter.

"Didn't come to finish the job, did you?" he jokes, and Kara's face falls.

"I'm so sorry," she says. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live," James says, and he smiles, corners of his mouth crinkling. "You didn't break my nose."

"But it was so rude," Kara says guiltily. "I didn't know how that game worked, and Mike told me I had to punch whoever it landed on, and—"

"Yeah, he's drunk off his ass." James shrugs. "It's okay, really. I'm fine."

"You're bleeding," Kara says. "You're not fine!"

"It looks worse than it is, I promise," James says. "You should go back out there, check on Winn. I know those guys can be jerks sometimes."

"So you know Winn?" Kara perks up. "I saw him talking to you."

"Yeah, we're lab partners," James says. "He's a good guy. I hope he forgives me for trying to kiss you."

Kara's heart skips a beat. "What? Why did you try to kiss me?"

James points at his nose and says, "That's what you're supposed to do when the bottle lands on someone. Not, you know, punch them."

"Oh." Kara winces. "Oh. That..would have hurt less, I'm sure."

"That's the general idea, yeah." James doesn't look upset about it though, still smiling through his amusement. "Seriously. I'm good here, go and check on your boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Kara crinkles her nose. "Winn's not my boyfriend."

James is visibly surprised at this information. "Oh. My bad, I shouldn't have assumed, it's—"

"That's okay," Kara interrupts. "Um. But you're right, I should go. If you're sure you're alright?"

"Positive," James affirms.

"Can I...get you ice? Or anything? Afterwards?" Kara asks, hesitantly, not sure why she doesn't want to leave yet.

James takes a moment to ponder it. "Okay," he says, "ice. One on condition—you tell me who you are."

Kara pauses at the doorway. "Huh?" she says, awkwardly pushing up her glasses, but James only smiles wider and clarifies,

"I didn't get your name."

"Oh! It's Kara. Danvers," Kara says, and she nervously thrusts out her hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Kara Danvers," James says, and this time Kara has to leave, or else her beating heart just might jump out of her chest.

She finds Winn alone in the living room; apparently the circle dispersed because Mike threw up shortly after James and Kara left.

"You didn't break James's nose, did you?" Winn says with a wry grin, and Kara shoves him.

"No," she says. "And he's fine, okay?"

Winn pats her shoulder. "Well, that's enough excitement for one night for me," he says. "I'm going to go call my mom. Be right back."

Kara steps around the puddle of Mike's vomit to go get James some ice, but then notices that the camera James was holding earlier is on the floor. She picks it up and runs her fingertips over it; it's old, weathered, but clearly loved, and it brings a small smile to her face.

She brings both the camera and an ice pack into the bathroom, where James still is. This time he's not sitting on the sink, but even standing he's much taller than Kara.

"You left your camera," Kara says, because she has no other lead-in. "And, um, Winn's okay. For the record."

"Oh, thanks," James says, looping it around his neck. His jacket is off and he seems to have been trying to dab at the blood on his button-up shirt, but it seems all for naught; it's already started to dry. "Is everyone still hanging around?"

"I don't know, I think a lot of people left," Kara says.

"Well, it is pretty late." James grins crookedly. "Do you and Winn need a ride home?"

"No, I came here with my sister," Kara says. "I should...go find her actually."

"Right." James nods, but before Kara can leave for good this time, he says, "Kara?" And when she turns around, he's sheepishly holding out his jacket. "It's, uh, pretty cold outside and you don't have a jacket...um, do you want to borrow mine?"

Kara doesn't get cold and almost says as much, but it's such a nice gesture that all she can do is nod, cheeks flushing, and let him drape it over her shoulders. His shy smile is even nicer than any of his others, and he tells her goodbye just as shyly, the look in his eyes enough to make her stomach flutter again.

Alex is waiting in the car when Kara does a quick scan of her surroundings, and she tugs James's jacket on more fully and runs over to where her sister is. Alex is frowning when Kara gets in, thankfully not drunk but also in no better mood than when they first arrived.

"Do you ever check your phone? I've been texting you."

"Sorry," Kara says, subconsciously checking in one of the jacket pockets for her phone only to find a small piece of paper instead. She looks at it, at the ten digits and the sloppy writing that James has even initialed, and smiles to herself. "I was busy."