Note: Just a fluffly standalone about clana's first day of kindergarten. And...for those of you who are wondering when my next lengthy fic will be out...I'm working on it. :)

"I don't want to go!"

"Sweetie, you have to go," Martha Kent said firmly as her five-year old son squirmed around her legs, his strong grip on her right leg nearly toppling her over. She sighed for the umpteenth time of the morning. This is what she got for adopting an estimated three-year old boy that she and her husband, Jonathon, had found next to a space ship that looked like it should be a prop for E.T.

Not that Martha wasn't grateful for the arrival of the sweet, innocent, wide-eyed boy now threatening to grab hold of both of her legs. It was a little over four years ago that the doctors had told her that she would never be able to have children. The shock of the declaration had nearly killed her, shattering her hopes and dreams of raising a family with Jonathon. A year later, just when she and Jonathon were finally ready to look to adoption for the answer of their prayers, Clark had fallen from the heavens, literally.

Two years later, after numerous attempts at training him to use the bathroom correctly and finding him someone that he could play with, Clark was ready to face kindergarten. At least, that's what Martha and Jonathon had thought.

"I don't want to go, Mommy!" Clark wailed again, flinging his small body against hers. Martha tried her best to soothe her son's fears, hoping that they weren't attracting too much attention to the other anxious parents whose children weren't nearly as loud as Clark.

"Clark, you have to go." Martha bent down to eye level with her teary eyed son. "Mommy doesn't want you to go either, but─"

"No!" Her son pouted and crossed his arms, a stance that he took when he was upset to the point of throwing a tantrum. Martha knew how destructive his tantrums could be sometimes, so she gently led him away from the entrance to the brightly-colored classroom.

"Sweetheart, you have to go. Or Daddy and I will get in trouble with the police," Martha tried her best to explain to the still pouting Clark.

"No."

At least he wasn't shouting anymore. Martha changed tactics, hopefully showing him the potential of how fun school could be. "Pete will be there. Don't you want to play with Pete?"

Clark's face brightened up instantly, but faded again as another thought occurred to his young mind. "But you won't be there to play with me."

"I'll be there when you get home."

Clark shook his head, arms still crossed.

Martha sighed, changing her strategy. "How about you go to school today and when you get home, I'll have milk and cookies for you? How does that sound?"

It took Clark a moment to process this newly formed deal of his mother's. "Milk and cookies?"

"Yes." Martha nodded her head, smiling. "But you only get them if you go to school."

Clark tilted his head, considering this proposal. "Will you be home when I get home?"

"Of course, sweetheart," Martha said, touched at how scared her son was at the thought of her disappearing. She brushed a dark lock of hair from his eyes, kissing him on the cheek. She then stood up from her crouching position and held out his hand for him to take.

The two approached the classroom entrance again, Clark's small hand in his mother's grasp.

"Hi there," a woman in a flowery dress greeted Martha and her son. "Are you Martha Kent? Clark's mother?"

"Yes, I am." Martha held out her free hand for the teacher to shake.

"I'm Ms. Perez; I'll be Clark's teacher," the brunette said, smiling. Ms. Perez turned her attention to a timid Clark who was hiding behind his mother's legs. "And this must be Clark."

Martha tried her best to get him out from behind her. "Yes, this is Clark…he's a little shy, though," Martha explained, knowing that 'a little shy' was the farthest from the truth. In fact, Clark hadn't spoken much after she and Jonathon had found him. It had taken a bit of coaxing to finally get him to say something once they realized that he could, indeed, speak the English language. The first word that he had uttered was "Lara." Martha still had no idea where he got that from, but she was just glad that he was willing to learn the new words that she continued to teach him daily.

"Well, that's okay. I'm sure he'll grow out of that phase soon," Ms. Perez assured Martha, smiling down at Clark. "A lot of the kids here were like him, but they managed to grow out of it quickly."

"You don't think that it's too late for him to join, do you?" Martha asked, concerned at Clark's late entrance into kindergarten.

"No, not at all. It's only been a week. Granted that some of the kids have already formed their own playgroups…" Ms. Perez stopped short at the worried expression playing on Martha's face. "But I'm sure that he'll fit right in. The kids are happy to play with anyone who's willing to play with them."

Martha relaxed, smiling again. "Well…I guess that I'd better say 'good-bye' to him." She gently pried Clark's hands from her legs and bent down so that she was eye level with him.

"Clark, Mommy has to go now."

Instead of throwing a tantrum or screaming, Clark simply pouted, his bottom lip trembling like he was about to cry. Martha hated to leave him like this, but hey, it wasn't called tough love for nothing, right?

"I'll be back for you at noon, okay?" She pulled him in, hugging him. Then, she straightened up and watched as Ms. Perez took Clark's hand, leading him into the classroom. Martha watched from the doorway, her hands clutched together as Clark looked back at her tentatively. There were tears swimming in his big green eyes of his and it took everything in her not to cry.

Finally, Clark turned away from his mother and followed Ms. Perez to the front of the room where she introduced him to the class.

The class peered at him curiously, trying to figure out if he liked to play with trucks or if he was more of a sandbox kind of guy.

"Go ahead and play with the other kids, Clark," Ms. Perez said quietly, prodding him to go on. Clark watched her with wide eyes as she gave him an encouraging smile. He took a step forward, but froze when he heard his name being called.

"Clark!"

Clark turned his head, looking for the source. Suddenly, a blur of pink raced to his side and clanged on to him, hugging him tightly.

"Hi, Clark! Auntie Nell didn't say that you would be here today!" Lana Lang, dressed in a frilly pink dress, courtesy of Nell Potter, exclaimed.

Clark swallowed, not sure how to respond. This was Lana Lang after all. The first time that he had met her was at the flower shop with his mother. She had been sitting at a small table in the back, waving a wand around. Clark had wanted to approach her badly, but his shyness had prohibited him to do so. That was, until his mother had ushered him to go play with Lana while she chatted with Nell for a bit.

He remembered walking toward her shyly, waiting for her to notice him. Once she had, she had given him a bright, dimpled smile. "Hi. I'm Lana. What's your name?" she had said.

Clark hadn't quite had the guts to fully converse with her yet, so he had simply replied, "Clark." Lana hadn't seemed to mind, though, for she had patted the seat next to her and asked if he wanted to make a wish.

Martha had noticed her son's fondness for the raven haired girl who had granted her the greatest wish of all a couple of years back, so she had Nell bring Lana over to the house when she could. Needless to say, Clark had made quick friends with Lana Lang.

Back to the present, Clark had finally thought of something to say to Lana. "Hi, Lana."

Lana giggled, finding his bashfulness amusing. "C'mon, let's go play!" She took hold of his hand, leading him to a corner where a tea set had been laid out on the circular table. Several kids pointed and giggled at the pair.

"Hey! Look at Lana and Clark!" a boy with blonde hair shouted.

"Clark's got cooties from Lana!" another chimed in. There was a murmur of laughter and giggles, particularly from the girls.

Clark felt himself stop, their words echoing in his head.

"Clark? C'mon, I thought we were gonna go play!" Lana said brightly, oblivious to the class' attention on them. She tugged on his hand to get him to move, but Clark wouldn't budge.

"Clark's got cooties!" the class chanted.

Clark felt his cheeks reddening while Lana was intent on getting to the tea table before the other girls did.

"Clark's got cooties!"

"Clark? Let's go!"

And so on it went.

Abruptly, Clark pried his hands from Lana's grasp, shoving her away from him. His actions shocked both him and her.

"I do not have cooties!" he shouted at the kids taunting him. Hastily, they stopped, not wanting him to snitch on them for fear of Ms. Perez revoking their snacks.

Once the crowd had shuffled away, Clark turned back to Lana. Her bottom lip was trembling and her eyes were watering.

After gazing at each other for a minute or so, Lana finally turned away. Clark watched helplessly as she ran out of sight. Her friend, Emily, having witnessed the whole thing, shot Clark a nasty look, and went after her.

Clark stood there, stunned. He wanted to cry…scream…hit something. But most of all, he wanted his mommy.

"…and next we can build Metropolis. Even that big, tall building with that ball on top of it."

Clark sat next to his best male friend, Pete Ross. Both were snacking on crackers and juice that Ms. Perez had served to the class. While Pete's mind was on building blocks and such, Clark's was on Lana.

He had a sinking sensation at the pit of his stomach and it kept getting worse the more he thought about what he did to Lana earlier that morning. He had yet to spot neither head nor tail of her since that incident and he was thoroughly convinced that she hated him and would never marry him.

Clark looked around the room, his hand holding up his head. Off to the side, he spotted Ms. Perez speaking with Emily Dinsmore.

"Ms. Perez, Lana won't come in."

Clark turned to the window where he saw Lana sitting on a swing outside. Suddenly, he stood up, making up his mind.

"Clark? Where are you going?" Pete called; obviously disappointed that he wouldn't get to build blocks with his friend.

Clark ran out the door before Ms. Perez had the chance to stop him. It took him a minute to navigate through the intimidating interior of the school before he finally found the playground.

Lana was still on the swing, her pigtails swaying back and forth from the momentum of her swings. Clark approached her cautiously.

"Lana?"

She stopped the swing with both feet, leaving a trail in the tanbark. Clark watched as she pouted and crossed her arms, looking away from him.

Clark stepped toward her until he was right in front of her.

"Go away, Clark. You're not my friend anymore," Lana said coldly. Clark had never heard her use that tone with him or anyone else before. It made the intensity of guilt that he felt even ten times worse.

"I'm sorry, Lana." He took a seat on the swing next to hers.

Lana still refused to look at him, preferring to stare at her white, shiny shoes that Nell had picked out for her.

Silently, Clark began to cry, his lip trembling. When Lana heard a small sob, she looked up quickly. Her heart sank at the sight of him crying.

"Aww…don't cry, Clark." Lana got off of the swing, hugging Clark. Clark hugged her back just as tightly, sniffing.

"It's okay, Clark. I forgive you," Lana said, smiling. Clark looked up, surprised.

"Really?"

"Yes." Lana nodded, the twinkle in her almond eyes coming back.

"So, you're still my friend?" Clark asked, standing up. He was at least a couple of inches taller than her.

"Of course, silly!" Lana exclaimed, laughing. She enveloped him in a hug again. "I'll always be your friend!"

Clark gave her a toothy grin. Maybe she would marry him someday.