Krypton-Eyes (Toxic) 11-15-05
Note: I do not own Smallville or any of the characters from the TV show. No money is involved with the writing or posting of this.
Time: Somewhere in the first season before "Crush."
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Clark Kent made his way through the halls with Pete and Chloe (who was talking about the most recent strange occurrence in Smallville). He stopped just in time to avoid stepping on the calculator that slid into his path.
"Oh, no!" someone moaned. The three friends looked to the source of the scattered school supplies.
"Could you use some help?" Chloe asked the girl who had spilled her backpack. The blond handed her a couple of runaway textbooks while the boys gathered the smaller items.
"Thank you so much," the girl said shyly.
"I'm Chloe, this is Clark and Pete."
"It's very nice to meet you," the girl adjusted her glasses before awkwardly offering her hand. "I'm Alexis Rosenberg." The speaker was an average-looking girl; petite in size with olive skin, black hair, and gray eyes.
"It's nice to meet you, too," Chloe returned. "Welcome to Smallville."
"Thank you." Alexis silently watched as they began to walk away. "Um, could . . . Will one of you help me find my first class?"
"What's your schedule?" Pete inquired, taking the slip of paper when it was offered. The other two came to look over his shoulder.
"Hey, Clark is in your first class," Chloe pointed out. "You can just follow him."
"Yeah, I'll take you there," Clark added, offering a friendly smile. Pete handed the schedule back to Alexis.
"Okay," she agreed, managing a shy smile of her own. "Thanks."
"So, where are you from?" Clark asked, attempting to make conversation as he walked Alexis to class.
"Oregon," the girl responded. He waited for her to say something else, but she didn't.
"What brought you to Smallville?" he tried again.
"My dad's work," came the answer.
"Cool." He responded perplexedly, and then pointed with his hand. "Here's the room." Alexis entered the classroom with a certain amount of caution, as though she expected it to be a trap. Once inside the door she froze, her expression one of fear and trepidation.
"What's the matter?" Clark asked.
"I—I don't know where to sit." Alexis's voice was scarcely a whisper.
"Anywhere—you can sit by me," he offered.
"Okay," she mouthed the word more than she said it. They went and sat down. Throughout the rest of the day, Clark, Pete, and Chloe helped Alexis find her classes, three of which were with Clark. He was amazed at how shy she was. It almost seemed like the entire day was torment for her, as though the very atmosphere of the school frightened her.
"Here's our phone numbers," Chloe told her after school, handing her a scrap of paper, "If you need anything just call one of us." Alexis nodded.
"Do you have a ride home?" Pete asked. The girl opened her mouth to speak.
"Hey, Alexis!" a girl called as a car pulled up along the sidewalk. "Let's go, girl!"
"Is that your twin?" Chloe asked in surprise.
"She's my older sister, Jessica." Alexis answered. "Bye—thanks for everything." She got into the car and the two sisters drove away. The three friends waved until they were out of sight.
"Wow," Chloe said as they turned to walk homeward, "I've never saw two sisters that looked so alike. I mean, that aren't twins. They look identical."
"It happens sometimes," Pete shrugged. "It's not anything that belongs on the Wall of Weird."
"You know I didn't mean that," the girl rolled her eyes. "Are we still getting together at my place tonight to work on our project?"
"Of course," Pete responded automatically. The two of them turned to Clark.
"And what about you, Clark? You're still coming, right?"
"Well, actually, I forgot we were meeting tonight, so I kind of made other plans," he answered.
"Clark, man, we gotta get this project done," Pete protested. "It's due next week."
"I know. Sorry, guys," Clark apologized. "Maybe we can work on it tomorrow."
"You're doing something with Lana, aren't you?" Chloe accused. "Don't even try to hide it—I can tell by your expression."
"Look, it's nothing . . . we're just studying."
"Right," the blond said sarcastically, a playful smile on her face. "I guess we'll be seeing you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah, see you then."
"Bye, Clark." Pete and Chloe waved as Clark turned off the main road.
"Bye." He waved until they turned around. Super-speeding down the street, he stopped in front of his family's farm. "Now, time for chores."
---
The Next Morning . . . .
Clark paused as he made his way to his locker.
"Good morning, Alexis," he greeted the raven-haired girl as she passed.
"Oh! No, actually, Alexis wears glasses," the girl responded with a smile, her gentle green eyes sparkling. "And she dresses differently. I'm Jessica—Alexis's older sister. You can call me Jess, though."
"Clark Kent," he shook the hand that she offered. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too. Hey, aren't you one of the kids, I mean, people who helped Alexis get around and find all her classes?"
"Yeah, actually, I am," the boy answered.
"I just wanted to thank you and your friends. You have no idea how much that meant to Alexis and me. We've moved around a lot, so Alexis never had any real close friends. She's just always been so shy—in fact, this is her first year even attending a real school. She's always home-schooled before, so it's a big adjustment for her, especially moving right in the middle of the school year. I mean, I'm used to it, because I've always attended school, but it's really hard on my sister." She shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other. "Anyway, I better get my stuff put away so I can get to class. Thanks again for being friendly." With a smile, she hurried down the hall towards her locker.
"Wow," Clark uttered somewhat belatedly as he put his stuff away a moment later.
"Wow, what?" Chloe asked, coming up behind him.
"I just met Jessica."
"Jessica-who?"
"Alexis's older sister."
"Oh, right," Chloe remembered. "So?"
"Well, they're totally different. Jess is really talkative and friendly. She's not at all shy." Clark explained. "They're complete opposites."
"That's nothing too usual," his friend pointed out.
"No, it surprised me, though. I guess I expected them to have similar personalities. Jessica's so fun and . . . open." He concluded in a distant-like tone.
"Are you attracted to her?" Chloe asked. There was something in her expression—her eyes—that Clark couldn't identify.
"Are you jealous?" he returned incredulously. Chloe looked away and there was an odd moment of silence.
"Well . . . I," she stammered.
"Uh, hi Chloe . . . Clark," Alexis greeted softly as she approached. Sensing their awkwardness, she blushed. "I-I'm so sorry, I—wasn't trying to interrupt." She turned to leave.
"No, you're fine. Actually, you weren't interrupting a thing." Chloe responded, heading off the gray-eyed girl, a warm smile on her face.
"Right," Clark added, "we were just talking."
"Well, that's good," Alexis smiled in relief, "I'm glad I wasn't interrupting you."
"Not at all," the young man assured. "You ready for another day of classes?"
"I—I think so."
"Good," Chloe put an arm around Alexis's shoulder as the three of them headed down the hall. "We'll introduce you to some more of our friends today. We're getting together tonight at the Talon to study, you should join us. You've met Lana Lang, haven't you?"
"Yeah."
"Good. She owns the Talon with Lex . . . ." Clark listened as Chloe told Alexis about their friends and Smallville. Except for their eye-color, Alexis and Jessica were physically identical. However, Alexis dressed very conservatively while her sister was very fashionable. She didn't wear make-up like Jessica did and her simple hairstyle and glasses added to her "sheltered-child" appearance.
"It's like seeing two sides of the same person," Clark thought to himself.
"Alright, I'll see you later, okay?" Chloe said, pausing momentarily in front of Alexis and Clark's classroom. "You guys have a great class."
"You too, Chloe," Clark gave her a hug before she continued down the hall.
"Bye, Chloe," Alexis waved and smiled before turning to face Clark. "You . . . you guys really want to be my friends," she wore an expression of wonder mingled with unuttered gratitude.
"Of course," Clark assured with a smile. "You're very special." Alexis blushed as he gave her a side hug.
"Thank you."
---
Three weeks later . . .
"Are you guys looking forward to exploring the cave this afternoon?" Chloe asked Alexis and Lana as they walked down the hallway.
"Yeah, I think it'll be interesting," said Lana optimistically.
"I'm not," Alexis answered quietly. "I don't see why it has to be required for the entire Science class—I'm afraid of the dark. Besides, anything that would grow down there, I don't want to see." They laughed.
"I know what you mean," Chloe agreed, "but it won't be too creepy. We're in a large group and everyone has a flashlight."
"Besides, we'll be with you the whole time." Lana assured.
"Thanks, you guys," Alexis smiled. "I guess I'll see you on the bus."
"Yeah, we'll save a seat for you." Chloe replied.
"See ya." They went to their separate classes.
"I hate math," Chloe groaned as she sat next to Clark. He looked up at her.
"It's not that bad."
"Yeah? Well, that's because you're good at it." She pulled out her math paper and Clark leaned over to examine it.
"You know, I offered to study with you, but you said no," he reminded, noting that some of her answers were wrong, but he didn't mention it.
"Okay, genius," Chloe threw her hands in the air. "How does five sound?"
"Let's do it," he agreed.
"Alright." Their eyes met and they fell silent for a moment. As she began to feel lost in that warm, steady gaze, Chloe accidentally dropped her pencil. They both bent down to get it and bumped heads.
"Ouch," she laughed.
"I'll grab it." Clark leaned over again and retrieved the runaway writing implement. "Here." He held it out for her.
"Thanks." As she grabbed it, his hand momentarily closed around hers.
"Sorry," he apologized.
"No problem," she murmured. They turned back to their math books, a faint crimson hue tinting their cheeks.
---
TBC . . .