by Tracy (biancaheart@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: "Nicodemus"
Category: Ep. Tag, Chloe/Whitney
Summary: Everybody needs to cry. But how does it change things?
Chloe/Whitney, slightly.
Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville. Just borrowing. And the
lyrics are from the Mandy Moore song "Cry".
I'll always remember
It was late afternoon
It lasted forever
And ended too soon
You were all by yourself
Staring up at a dark gray sky
I was changed
In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
It was then that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry
The moment that I saw you cry
It was late in September
And I've seen you before (and you were)
You were always the cold one
But I was never that sure
You were all by yourself
Staring at a dark gray sky
I was changed
In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
It was then that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry
I wanted to hold you
i wanted to make it go away
I wanted to know you
I wanted to make your everything, all right....
I'll always remember...
It was late afternoon...
In places no one would find...
In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
It was then that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry
I know Smallville is the town of weird- practically the Graceland of weird, but this was too much.
Mr. Kent. Lana. And now Pete. Sick. Dying.
Dumb Nicodemus Flower.
Would it keep spreading? Would the whole town go nutzo? Not like it isn't already, but even reporters have to keep their illusions. And I feel like the world is crashing down around me.
Pete said I was beautiful…I never thought he….never would have guessed…why couldn't Clark?
I walk out of the hospital, wandering around town. Looking for suspicious flowers.
Quiet. I need quiet.
Everything will be okay.
I'm looking up at the sky. It should be dark and gray. It should be foreboding. Days spent in a hospital shouldn't be bright and sunny.
"OUCH!" A voice yells. "Watch where in the heck you're going, why don't ya?"
"It's a free country." I snap back. And then I look down to see who I tripped over.
It's Whitney, Lana's boyfriend. High-School jock, Homecoming King. The guy whose yearbook picture was up in more lockers than Leonardo in Titanic back in Junior High.
And he's crying.
He's sitting in the middle of a deserted field in Smallville, crying.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He grunts. "Or at least I was until somebody took a tumble and pratically knocked my head off."
"I…It was an accident. I'm sorry." I say. "I guess I was just thinking about other things."
He laughs. "What your next scathing editorial on the evils of organized sports? Or another article worthy of the X-files?"
"How self-centered can you be?" I can't believe his nerve. "You know, us, the populace of Smallville actually do have problems and trials, King Whitney."
"Oh yeah?" He mutters. "You don't know anything." Whitney gets up and starts to walk off.
"Neither do you! Life consists of more than football!"
He snaps around. "Like I don't know that? I don't remember when was the last time I had a happy, carefree moment! I lost my scholarship to Kansas State, which means I'll end up working at LuthorCorp for minimum wage for the rest of my natural born life." He paused. "And my Dad's sick. He….he's dying….and I can't save him…..I'm only 18, how in the hell am I supposed to handle this? I need my Dad….." His words are lost in a torrent of tears.
I've never really liked Whitney. Well, not since the second day I moved to Smallville. The first day, I like many of the other little prissy Lana wannabees in 6th grade, wanted to be his girlfriend. On my second day at Smallville Junior High, he hit me in the nose with a volleyball during gym. And to this day, he's never apologized. Clark and Pete helped me up and took me to the nurse's office- and a beautiful friendship was begun.
Regardless of my dislike for Fordman, I walk over to him. And
I put my arms around him.
And the little blond reporter comforts the tall football player.
I don't know how long we stood there in the middle of that corn field, silent. I began to cry too, as I softly patted Whitney's back. For Mr. Kent. For Mrs. Kent. For Clark. For Pete. For Lana. For Whitney. And for myself.
Whitney pulls back and smiles a shaky smile. "I don't…thanks….."
I take a deep breath of air. "My mom…she died, right before we moved here. Smallville was supposed to be a new start for my Dad and me, away from all the familiar places in Metropolis. And while I love my Dad…I miss my Mom. A lot."
"How did she die?"
"Cancer." I say, with a shaken breath. "It was fast moving…she was sick for only a little while, and then she died."
"I'm sorry."
I shrug, trying to lighten the mood. "Hey, life's just that way. Some people live, some people die. It's not like there's some magical superhero that can come and save us every time I get in trouble."
"It would be nice if a superhero could stop you from wrecking your car." Whitney laughs. "I know that would come in handy."
"Or one that could help you out with homework?"
"Or help you with relationship problems?" He says with a grimace. "Lana broke up with me today."
I feel the blood drain out of my face. Everything comes back into my mind- Mr. Kent, Pete, Lana.
"Whitney, she's in the hospital."
His eyes widen. "What?"
"It's another Smallville oddity…the Nicodemus flower…" I explain. "It brings out a person's wildest desires, makes them act them out, and then kills them."
His face whitens. "I've gotta see her." He takes off, towards the road, and presumably his car. And then he turns around. "Want a ride?"
I nod.
I don't think I'll look at Whitney Fordman the same way again.