Supergirl by Norma Fox Mazer Read Free Book Online

door closed behind him.
    Instantly, Linda Lee went into action. At Super Speed, she snatched a piece of blank paper from Danver's desk, rolled it into the typewriter, banged out her letter of recommendation, ripped it out of the machine, pulled open the drawer in the file cabinet, and slammed the letter home under K. She had barely shut the drawer and taken her seat when Mr. Danvers returned.
    "Hello, sir." Linda Lee's hands were primly folded in her lap.
    Mr. Danvers stared at her. Dear God, why was she still here? Another student? Did he have to take her in? Why, oh, why, was this burden put on him? Hadn't he been tested enough already? He collapsed at his desk. "All right, all right, what did you say your name was? Yes, yes, Glenda Glee?"
    "Linda Lee, sir. My cousin wrote you. I hope you got his letter."
    "Name?"
    Poor man. He'd forgotten already. " LINDA LEE, SIR ."
    "No, no, no, NO . His name. The cousin!"
    "Kent. Maybe it's in your files under K ."
    "Kent? Kent?" He opened the file drawer. "Doesn't ring a bell . . ." He pulled out the letter she'd typed. "Hmmm. Here it is . . . now where . . .?"
    "Thank goodness you got it," Linda Lee said with girlish enthusiasm. "I know how terrible the mails are, sometimes, and if you didn't get it, I don't know what I would have—"
    "Yes, yes," Mr. Danvers said, waving his hand impatiently. "'My dear Mr. Danvers,'" he read, ':'I am writing to you on behalf . . . a very special young lady . . . an orphan . . .'" He frowned and looked at her over the sheet of paper. The old feel-sorry-for-me-because-I'm-an-orphan bit. "Don't expect any special treatment on that account, Miss Lee."
    "I won't, sir."
    "Because one day or another, one way or another, sure as the moon rises and the sun sets, we all lose our parents. Yes, Miss Lee, we're all alone on this miserable little planet."
    Unexpectedly, a lump rose in Linda Lee's throat. "Yes, sir," she said, "I know . . ."
    Linda Lee hurried to keep up with Mr. Danvers as he strode purposefully across the campus. "Since your school records were lost in the mail," he said, "you'll have to start out at the bottom. Only fair to the other girls. You'll take English, Latin, French, history, art, math, biology, and computing."
    "All at once?" Linda Lee said, a trifle faintly.
    "And chemistry." Mr. Danvers right-turned and marched into a dormitory, Linda Lee behind him. "Idle hands are the devil's playground."
    Linda Lee nodded sadly, wondering if it was too soon to transfer to another school.
    Mr. Danvers marched down the corridor. The two toads—er, girls—whom Linda Lee had met on the staircase, popped out of their room. "Man on the floor," one of them bellowed hoarsely. Up and down the corridor, doors slammed.
    Mr. Danvers knocked on a closed door. "Open up, Lane. I know you're in there."
    The door opened a crack and Lucy Lane peered out. "I'm not decent, Mr. Danvers, sir"
    "And you never will be, you little liar." He pushed the door open. Still wearing her green sweats, Lucy folded her arms across her chest resignedly. "Come on, come on," Mr. Danvers said to Linda Lee. "Inside! I haven't got all year."
    Under Lucy's curious, cool, stare Linda Lee fiddled with the straps of her knapsack and took quick peeks around the room. Two beds, one buried under a ton of junk, a big stereo on the floor, magazines and books heaped everywhere, and the walls covered with rock posters—plus, one large blowup of Superman. That she liked, and it made her feel at least a little bit more at home.
    "Meet your new roommate, Lane," Mr. Danvers said.
    "Oh, no," Lucy muttered. "Mr. Danvers, I'm supposed to have a single this term."
    "Miss Lane, we don't always get what we want," Mr. Danvers said, thinking of his recent, deep disappointment in heaven's failure to zap Nigel. "Disappointment thickens our skin."
    "Who wants thick skin?" Lucy said, popping her gum, but her heart just wasn't in this snappy repartee. Who was this new girl? There was nothing about her that Lucy