Super: Origins by Palladian Page B

might have. She added a few books detailing martial arts forms and a couple of her favorite novels to the bags. She also packed a blank notebook, some pens, and a small case for DVDs. Kurt would always laugh at her when he caught her watching them, but she loved a number of Japanese animated series and so she packed some of her favorites that she thought might help in case she had a bad day.
    She left the bags open near the closet in case she thought of anything else to pack before she left the next day. Lex felt excited again, as if packing for camp or some other great adventure. She grinned at herself in the mirror as she heard the front door opening, ran to greet Kurt, and grabbed him to give him a kiss and hug.
    “Whoa, what’s all this?” he asked, smiling.
    “I’m just glad to see you…and I told them I’d take the job,” Lex replied, consciously trying not to bite her lip. Despite Kurt’s support earlier, she suddenly felt worried that he might be upset anyway.
    “That’s great!” he said, returning her hug. “I actually made reservations at our favorite restaurant in case you did, so that we could celebrate.”
    Lex smiled cautiously. “Thanks, Kurt, for being such a good sport about this.”
    She felt relieved that he seemed happy about her new job, but she didn’t look forward to going to that place. Lex had been there with Kurt once before, and she’d felt like a strange animal on display the entire time. Since Kurt had chosen it to celebrate her new position, however, Lex resolved to go and try to enjoy it. The whole thing seemed odd to her, though, as if she’d stepped into someone else’s life.
    “Hey, we should celebrate! Soon, you’re going to be making a lot more bank than I am. I’ll have to brag to everyone about my rich fiancée,” Kurt replied, grinning at her.
    She tried to smile again, but worried that it probably came out small and sad looking, since she wasn’t crazy about his celebration pick. “I should get ready if we’re going over there. I remember the last time we went that everyone was pretty dressed up.”
    “That sounds good. Why don’t you wear the dress I got you last Christmas?”
    “Sure,” Lex replied, with a smile that probably looked more like a grimace and turned back to the bedroom to change clothes.
    The dress he’d mentioned was an expensive, short pink one with a big bow on the back. Lex would never have picked out an item of clothing like that for herself, and wearing it made her feel like a complete ass. It also made her feel uncomfortable, since she worried that due to the length people could see some of the scars on her upper thighs. But since Kurt was being so good about her new job, Lex figured she could put up with it. She also applied makeup, something she only ever did for Kurt, and brushed her hair out until it was shiny. When she came back to the living room, she modeled it all for him. “How do I look?” she asked.
    “Like a million bucks. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
    Lex sighed quietly as she perched on the couch without sitting back so that the bow would remain unwrinkled, at least for a little while. She found herself wishing she’d had some warning about what he’d planned so that she could have mentally prepared.
    The evening passed by in a blur, Lex thought later. She remembered working hard to smile and mostly just listening to Kurt’s stories about work. The people at the restaurant had looked at her like they had last time, the same way Kurt’s parents did. Somehow they had known she didn’t belong, and they had stared at her like an oddity. Some had looked pitying and some looked curious, but none of them had really seemed to see her at all. She’d felt so uncomfortable she’d hardly eaten anything, and what she had eaten seemed to taste both flavorless and disgusting. The restaurant was in a drafty old house with the air conditioning on too high, so the short dress had left Lex shivering at