cloud she'd released.
"And nuts to you, too," Selena said royally.
The cloud, at first no more than a wisp of black smoke, gathered thickly below the ceiling, filled the corners of the room, and curled around the mirror. Bit by bit, it enveloped and overwhelmed the room with its shapeless, stinking, invisible presence.
"Oh, Selena," Bianca whimpered, and Selena paled, unsure of what she had unleashed.
The room grew dark . . . darker. . . still darker. The monstrous shadow enveloped everything. It gathered itself into one huge, looming shape, smashed through the wall, and swarmed out into the world, seeking Linda Lee.
Chapter Fifteen
What had happened back there? Linda Lee asked herself as she hurried away from Ethan in confusion. It was absurd that something as trivial as a kiss (and from a Total Stranger) had messed up her mind. After all, what was a kiss? Just two pairs of lips meeting. Why was that any more significant than two hands meeting? She knew there was a flaw in this reasoning, but it didn't reveal itself to her. The kiss had shaken her up.
All right, start again, she told herself, go over it logically. One—Supergirl had rescued a helpless human being. (No surprises there.) Two—the helpless human being had turned out to be a Gorgeous Male. (Wow!) Three—the helpless human being had said, " I love you " (to Linda Lee!). Four—not helpless anymore, he had then kissed her. And here, Linda Lee found that logic had its limits. He had kissed her . . . Her mind stuck right there. No five in the sequence appeared, and she was unable to figure out how and why one and two led to three and four. . . . But did she really care? And so what if she was confused? Better confused than refused.
On this happy thought, she arrived back at the Midvale School and signed in. Only a Linda Lee, at such a moment, still thinking of Ethan and, furthermore, the only student on a deserted campus—only a Linda Lee was capable of such a gesture. Who cared if she signed in, out, up, or down? Certainly not Mrs. M., who, snug in her little den with her TV and her beer, was in her usual well-buzzed state. But Linda Lee, alone on this alien planet, was still cautiously figuring out how to act like a regular kid, one of the girls, someone worthy of being Lucy Lane's friend. There were rules and there were rules, and what she noticed was that Lucy broke some and observed others. The trick was to figure out which rules Linda Lee could break, which boundaries she could cross, and which fences she could leap . . . though Linda Lee didn't tend to leap, so much as soberly walk around anything in her way.
She walked down the long corridor. Every room was empty, and she was acutely conscious of her aloneness. The sound of her echoing footsteps followed her, and it seemed to her one of the loneliest sounds she'd ever heard. Her mood shifted, thoughts of Ethan faded. It was her family she was thinking of, her mother, Alura, with her steady, wise eyes; her father, Zor-El, boyish-looking, loving, warmhearted. And Zaltar, long and graceful, Zaltar her mentor with his clever hands and fertile brain. Where was there anyone on Planet Earth like him?
In the room she shared with Lucy, she began to regret acutely coming back to the dormitory. Nothing to do, no one to talk to, and impossible to escape her thoughts. Never before in her life had she been lonely. Growing up privileged in Argo, she had always been surrounded by people, her parents first, then Zaltar, and all the friends and relatives she had known since she was a tiny girl. All of them had cared for her; she could hardly walk a block in Argo City without meeting someone who knew her and her parents. A terrible yearning for the beautiful city of Argo overcame her. Was it still there? What had happened to it with only one Power Source? Did they have water, food, air? Were they suffering? Her thoughts tormented her. She touched Zaltar's bracelet. Was it possible that she might not find the
"And nuts to you, too," Selena said royally.
The cloud, at first no more than a wisp of black smoke, gathered thickly below the ceiling, filled the corners of the room, and curled around the mirror. Bit by bit, it enveloped and overwhelmed the room with its shapeless, stinking, invisible presence.
"Oh, Selena," Bianca whimpered, and Selena paled, unsure of what she had unleashed.
The room grew dark . . . darker. . . still darker. The monstrous shadow enveloped everything. It gathered itself into one huge, looming shape, smashed through the wall, and swarmed out into the world, seeking Linda Lee.
Chapter Fifteen
What had happened back there? Linda Lee asked herself as she hurried away from Ethan in confusion. It was absurd that something as trivial as a kiss (and from a Total Stranger) had messed up her mind. After all, what was a kiss? Just two pairs of lips meeting. Why was that any more significant than two hands meeting? She knew there was a flaw in this reasoning, but it didn't reveal itself to her. The kiss had shaken her up.
All right, start again, she told herself, go over it logically. One—Supergirl had rescued a helpless human being. (No surprises there.) Two—the helpless human being had turned out to be a Gorgeous Male. (Wow!) Three—the helpless human being had said, " I love you " (to Linda Lee!). Four—not helpless anymore, he had then kissed her. And here, Linda Lee found that logic had its limits. He had kissed her . . . Her mind stuck right there. No five in the sequence appeared, and she was unable to figure out how and why one and two led to three and four. . . . But did she really care? And so what if she was confused? Better confused than refused.
On this happy thought, she arrived back at the Midvale School and signed in. Only a Linda Lee, at such a moment, still thinking of Ethan and, furthermore, the only student on a deserted campus—only a Linda Lee was capable of such a gesture. Who cared if she signed in, out, up, or down? Certainly not Mrs. M., who, snug in her little den with her TV and her beer, was in her usual well-buzzed state. But Linda Lee, alone on this alien planet, was still cautiously figuring out how to act like a regular kid, one of the girls, someone worthy of being Lucy Lane's friend. There were rules and there were rules, and what she noticed was that Lucy broke some and observed others. The trick was to figure out which rules Linda Lee could break, which boundaries she could cross, and which fences she could leap . . . though Linda Lee didn't tend to leap, so much as soberly walk around anything in her way.
She walked down the long corridor. Every room was empty, and she was acutely conscious of her aloneness. The sound of her echoing footsteps followed her, and it seemed to her one of the loneliest sounds she'd ever heard. Her mood shifted, thoughts of Ethan faded. It was her family she was thinking of, her mother, Alura, with her steady, wise eyes; her father, Zor-El, boyish-looking, loving, warmhearted. And Zaltar, long and graceful, Zaltar her mentor with his clever hands and fertile brain. Where was there anyone on Planet Earth like him?
In the room she shared with Lucy, she began to regret acutely coming back to the dormitory. Nothing to do, no one to talk to, and impossible to escape her thoughts. Never before in her life had she been lonely. Growing up privileged in Argo, she had always been surrounded by people, her parents first, then Zaltar, and all the friends and relatives she had known since she was a tiny girl. All of them had cared for her; she could hardly walk a block in Argo City without meeting someone who knew her and her parents. A terrible yearning for the beautiful city of Argo overcame her. Was it still there? What had happened to it with only one Power Source? Did they have water, food, air? Were they suffering? Her thoughts tormented her. She touched Zaltar's bracelet. Was it possible that she might not find the
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