Chapter One:
Lana Lang would have screamed if she thought that it would help. Instead the girl just settled for gritting her teeth and crossing her arms in frustration.
The seventeen year old Junior of Smallville High wondered about things that passed for gossip in this place. She supposed that it was an excellent change for everyone talking about who broke up with who, along with who was dating who, and who was cheating on who.
It was a change to hear about the mysterious savior at the bridge yesterday. A car was about ready to careen off the bridge, but someone stopped it from going off of the bridge. The driver and the passenger were both intoxicated out of their mind, so their words couldn't pass for anything.
Lana flipped her fiery red hair back and sighed. She was a beauty, red hair, brown eyes, creamy complexion, fairly curvy with long legs that currently were showcased with the skirt of her cheerleader uniform.
It sounded a bit pretentious to say that guys practically threw themselves at her. She was fairly popular though. These were the type of boys though that could make a person wonder about them.
Lana knew to gracefully step around these people. She was called a cold bitch, which was really mature. That was the kindest of the insults these butt hurt little boys said about her. Lana couldn't really care at all.
The fact was that Lana had her sights set on one young man in particular. She had her sights set on him for a very long time. The most frustrating thing was that he was intelligent in many areas, but he couldn't get the really obvious hint about what Lana was trying to tell him.
Clark Kent was the name of her pain. He was the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent, farmers in Smallville and Lana's neighbors from up the street. She saw Clark pretty much every single day of her life.
She saw him in the middle of the summer without a shirt on doing chores. Lana observed him doing hard labor, never breaking a sweat. That brought certain thoughts to mind regarding his stamina. Lana found herself observing Clark for a long time, until he caught her. She managed to recover and invite Clark in for a nice cool glass of lemonade.
The only thing that galled Lana was that for Clark Kent, lemonade really was lemonade.
'Why is it the ones that you want are the unattainable?' she thought. She didn't want to come across as too clingy.
Or for this to somehow some across as some kind of twisted gender flipped version of Twilight. Thankfully, Lana hadn't stooped to watching Clark sleeping. Even though if she had a telescope, she could in theory see into Clark's bedroom from her house.
Okay, that was kind of creepy.
Okay, that was very creepy. Lana wanted to take a shower for even thinking considering that.
Lana wondered when Clark would show up. He was the king of the near tardy as of late. He somehow made it into class before the final bell. Technically, if your butt touched the chair before that bell stopped ringing, you weren't late for class.
That was an interesting little loophole and Clark had been able to exploit it every time.
Lana made her way through the gossiping students and her way to first period. The first warning bell could be heard and she was able to get into class.
Clark Kent was not in class right yet. Lana frowned and hung her book bag from the side of the chair.
'Three, two, one,' Lana thought.
Clark was there, just after the final bell had rung. He was in his seat.
"Well, that's a new record," Lana said, looking over her shoulder towards him with a smile. "You're living dangerously, aren't you, Mr. Kent? Why are you so late anyway?"
"Chores, got caught up," Clark said.
"And you missed the bus, and I've never seen you drive anything more than a tractor," Lana said.
The teacher cleared her throat. Lana looked up at the old bag that should have retired about twelve years ago. Maybe that was being generous.
Twenty or twenty five seemed rather accurate.
"Hey, Clark, can I borrow a pen, please?" Lana asked. She turned around and bent down. The low cut top that she wore showed a nice amount of cleavage.
Any other guy in the world and his eyes would be superimposed down there. Clark managed to look her in the eyes.
"Sure thing, Lana," Clark said.
"Thanks, Clark, I owe you big time," Lana said. She smiled and turned around, sighing.
"No problem, I'm just doing what any guy would do," Clark said in his usual "aw shucks" Kansas City farm boy tone of voice.
'What planet are you from anyway, Clark Kent?' Lana asked. Her mental question was made in jest.
Clark Kent wondered what he was turning into. He had a pretty good idea because of the crystals that his biological parents left behind. He was not from around Earth. There was always some oddness. Odd incidents were actually far more common in Smallville, thanks to the meteor shower and he wondered if he had been empowered because of that.
He learned about a year ago that he came from a now doomed planet known as Krypton. His parents sent him off of the dying planet. As far as Clark knew, he was the very last. But he couldn't be for sure, whether or not others got off the planet. The crystals of his parents only captured their base personalities and were made shortly after he was born. They didn't know how the planet ended.
Clark felt his powers kick in a big way recently. He was stronger more durable, and had much more stamina than most his age. He could run faster, jump higher, and he could fly short distances.
That's how he was able to save that car just the other day. And now people were talking about. His father, his adopted one, did caution him that no one could find out about his unique abilities. The government would have liked to get their hands on someone like him.
Thankfully, he was able to control his own strength with under contact with humans. Otherwise he could crush someone's hand by shaking it.
"Clark?"
Lana's voice brought him out of his stupor.
"Um, Lana….." Clark said and Lana handed him his pen back.
"Just returning your pen back," Lana said. She looked at him.
"Don't you need it for next period?" Clark asked.
"No, I just get a new one in my locker, you weren't the only one that was running late," Lana said. "Although, I do wonder how you just barely make it in time. You're faster than a speeding bullet, I just hope that that doesn't translate into other areas."
Clark raised an eyebrow at what she said. Perhaps he was reading too much into it. He smiled at her.
"Well, let's hope that I can slow down when it counts," Clark said. He didn't want to get accused of having his mind in the gutter by his friend, so he decided not to say too much.
His mind had been wandering a bit more into that destination any more.
"Well, I'm sure that you'll adapt if given enough incentive," Lana said. She smiled and accidentally trapped him up against the lockers.
She looked like a predator and Clark wondered where this was going. He caught a whiff of something that caused his mind to be distracted.
"What?" Lana asked. She could see the frown going over Clark's face.
"It's just….smelled something," Clark said.
"Oh, wait, are you trying to say that I stink?" Lana asked. She was half teasing him, but she also half wanted his honest opinion about something.
"No, no, it doesn't smell bad….is that a new perfume?" Clark asked. His super senses were bombarded by what she had on her. It was an exotic scent and she smelled better than normal.
Not that he had a habit of sniffing girl's, but considered it was up close when she had him almost pinned against a locker, it was kind of hard not to.
"Yes, I imported it straight from France, it cost a pretty penny," Lana said. "But, if it smells like cow manure, I guess that I got screwed."
"No, it smells nice," Clark said.
"Are you trying to tell me that I smell nice, Clark Kent?" Lana asked, with a smile. "Or is the perfume that smells nice?"
Clark looked at her. "There really isn't any way I can get out of this, without getting in trouble, am I?"
Lana looked at him. 'Perhaps you're not as dim as you'd like everyone to think, Clark Kent.'
"So, Clark, do you think that I can ask you something else?" Lana asked, deciding to let him off of the hook for the entire perfume thing.
"What is it?" Clark asked. He was almost afraid to ask.
"Do you have a date for the Harvest Dance?" Lana asked him.
"A date, for the dance?" Clark asked.
"Yes, you know a female companion to enjoy the night with and to have a good time, something that I think that you're sorely lacking," Lana told him.
Bless his cotton socks, but he can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.
"I know how to have a good time," Clark protested.
"Eat, sleep, chores, school, repeat, eat, sleep, chores, school, repeat," Lana rattled off. "That is your life in general, and don't deny it."
Clark knew that Lana could not know about his other activities. His father, both of them, insisted that he keep his abilities under wraps. Even though Clark really wanted to tell his friend what he was up to. He had a feeling that Lana would understand if he told her soon, rather than if he kept it from her for something like six or seven years or something absurd like that.
"And you didn't answer my question, Clark Kent," Lana said.
"No, I don't have a date," Clark said.
"Well, I guess that I'll have to fix that," Lana replied in a chipper voice. "I said that I owe you one and the least I can do is be your date for the dance."
"That seems like a very uneven trade," Clark said.
"Well, consider it payment for all the times you helped me with my biology homework," Lana said. "And other things, but I'm sure that I'll have a much better time than you, than someone else."
"Surely a lot of people asked you already," Clark said.
"Yeah, they have, but I turned them down," Lana said. She didn't forget that half of these bastards bullied her when she was younger and hadn't blossomed as much. "But, I figure that it's a lot better if I go to the dance with someone that I know and trust. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes," Clark told her.
"So, are you taking me?" Lana asked. She gave him a pair of big puppy dog eyes.
Clark considered it for a minute. "Sure, if you really want to go with me."
"I do, or I wouldn't have even brought up the subject," Lana said with a smile.
She thought about kissing Clark, but pulled away. That might be a bit too much, at least now. A date to the dance was a foundation she could build on.
"Thanks, Clark," Lana said. "I'll see you….well I'm sure that I'll see you before then. We do live up the road from each other, don't we?"
Lana thought that wasn't too hard. She got a date with Clark Kent. She would have skipped down the hallway.
'To blatantly steal a phrase, face it Tigress, you just hit the Jackpot,' Lana thought to herself, moving towards the next class with a renewed vigor.
Clark reprimanded himself when his eyes diverted briefly to Lana's swaying backside. He couldn't really go there, because if that started, he wouldn't be able to get it down for hours.
Super stamina did have a downside to be honest.
He did have a date, with the lovely Lana Lang. His neighbor, his friend, who he saw was growing in a very beautiful young woman. Clark had about a dozen different kinds of visions, so he wasn't blind.
Did she ask him out to the dance to get the other guys off of her back or ask him out to the dance out of genuine interest of being with him?
Clark felt a certain primal urge rose within him, but he closed his eyes and counted to ten. It faded, just barely.
He needed to speak with his biological parents soon because they were getting stronger. Super powered Kryptonians underneath the yellow sun over the long term had many variables unknown.
Right now, it was off to the next class, and he would hopefully figure this out after school.
To Be Continued.