Title: On The Other Side
Author: Minnie
Rating: PG
Category: Character piece - Chloe
Setting: After 'Cool'
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these
characters. No infringement intended.
Dedication: To MareJ who gave me such
valuable advice on another fic
Distribution: Please ask. E-mail: caitrynick@yahoo.com.
Feedback: Constructive feedback is
appreciated
She was on the other side of popular.
Most of the time, she accepted that, accepted the fact that she didn't
have a cherubic face, a hauntingly ethereal personality and the resident
in-crowd hanging about her.
What she did have was a smart, sarcastic mouth, a keen intellect and a ravenous
hunger for the truth behind every meteorite mystery that Smallville had to
offer. Teenage boys weren't exactly
known for trampling over the reigning homecoming queen to get to those
qualities.
But sometimes, in moments of pure girlishness, she wished she could trade
places, be as admired as the other girls in school. Because it was flattering.
She was on the other side of normal.
Instead of obsessing about her love life, her weight, her popularity,
she concentrated on her "wall of weird", a litany of every bizarre
incident that hit Smallville since the infamous meteor shower over a decade
before, be it from the two foot long carrot grown in someone's backyard or the
cell mutations that allowed a relatively normal jock to turn into a
heat-sucking monster.
She didn't want to fall prey to the "me, me, look at me"
mentality. What she wanted was to see
past the blinders that the whole town donned on regarding meteorite-induced
incidents. The residents, not to
mention local law enforcement, seemed unwilling to admit that something was
seriously wrong with the behavior of certain townsfolk, behavior that coincided
with close and unhealthy exposure to the meteor fragments.
But sometimes, in moments of pure selfishness, she wished she could close her
eyes, be as blind as those around her.
Because it was easier.
She was on the other side of everyone.
She put herself there, not by conscious thought or deliberate attempt,
but simply by being who she was: a city girl with contrary ideas transplanted
to a small town where blending in was key.
She wasn't meant to become Miss Smalltown USA.
Tailgate parties after local high school football games, horseback rides
or manual labor on farms weren't for her, even though she occasionally
participated in one or two of those events.
She carved her own niche, a small high school newspaper called The
Torch, dedicated to documenting the hard, unflinching truth of horrible events
happening in the supposedly bucolic community of Smallville.
But sometimes, in moments of pure solitude, she wished she could be on that
side, on everyone else's side. Because
then it was less lonely.
-End-