It started out as a normal day for eight year old Darcy Reid. Little did she know that it would end with her gaining a best friend for life.

Her mother had woken her up this morning and helped her get ready for the day, then took her downstairs where they ate dinner with her father, before making sure Darcy's backpack was ready to go and driving her to school.

Darcy now sat at her desk, her left elbow on her desk, her chin in the palm of her hand and she was doodling random hearts and butterflies on her paper with her right.

"...when Kansas became a territory..." Ms. Rampling went on, though Darcy paid little attention. She was too focused on the butterfly she was currently trying to draw. She had just finished the wings when Ms. Rampling spoke up again.

"Clark."

Darcy looked up from her drawing and looked at Ms. Rampling, before her eyes moved to her classmate, Clark Kent. He saw directly across from her, on her right side, and he didn't seem to be paying any attention to Ms. Rampling either. Instead, he was looking all around the class room, an odd look in his face.

"Are you listening Clark?" Ms. Rampling asked, slowly approaching him. "I asked if you could tell me who first settled Kansas?"

All the student's turned in their seats to look at the boy now. Clark looked at their teacher, a gasp escaping his lips. Darcy frowned as he began looking around frantically, his eyes going wide as they looked over some students. It looked like he had seen a ghost.

Ms. Rampling noticed the change in his behavior as well, a frown coming to her face. "Are you alright Clark?"

Clark looked around frantically once more before throwing his hands over his ears and flying up from his seat, running from the room. Darcy's eyes widened and she dropped her pencil, standing up just as the other students did. Ms. Rampling walked out into the hallway, calling for Clark.

All the children followed their teacher as she made her was down the hall, Darcy keeping to the back of the group. Ms. Rampling stopped at the janitors closet where Clark had locked himself in. She smacked the door a few times.

"Clark, come out of there!"

"Leave me alone." Was heard from the other side. Darcy bit her lip as other student's from different classrooms came out to see what was going on. She was shoved a few times but managed to keep her place. She couldn't get the look that had passed over Clark's face out of her mind. He was completely panicked, just like she got sometimes. Darcy didn't know why she got so scared sometimes and didn't want people around her. She thought she was just a weird freak, since she seemed to be the only one like that. But maybe Clark was like that too? Darcy had always wanted to be friends with the boy, but she was too shy to try. Clark was shy too, but he always kept to himself.

A few minutes passed and Ms. Rampling tried knocking on the door again. "Clark, I have called your mother."

It was quiet, so Ms. Rampling tried shaking the door knob. She yelped and flew back though, like she had been burned. Just then, Martha Kent came running down the hallway.

"I'm here," She called out, making her way through the students. "Clark honey, it's mom. Can you open the door?"

A few student's began to whisper, saying nasty things about Clark. Ms. Rampling nor Mrs. Kent heard, but Darcy did. She sent all the kids a dirty look, though it didn't stop their whispering.

"Knock it off." Darcy huffed at the boy next to her. He only glared down at her, making Darcy flinch back.

"Sweetie," Mrs. Kent said. "How can I help you if you won't let me in?"

"The worlds too big mom." Came Clark's voice from inside. Darcy felt bad for listening in on this, but she was stuck in the crowd of kids.

"Then make it smaller." Mrs. Kent said gently through the door. "Just um, focus on my voice. Pretend it's an island, out in the ocean. Can you see it?"

"I see it."

"Then swim towards it honey."

Seconds later, the door opened and Clark appeared, immediately stepping into his mothers embrace. "What's wrong with me mom?"

Mrs. Kent pulled back and set her hands on his face. "Clark..."

Ms. Rampling began herding the student's away then, obviously giving the mother and son some space. Darcy glanced back at the Kent's one last time before disappearing back into the classroom with the other children.


Darcy hiked her backpack up on her small shoulders as she walked up her long driveway to her house, the school bus driving away behind her. The eight year old huffed, finally letting the backpack slip off and then just dragging it behind her.

The front door of her farm house opened with a squeak and her mother stepped out onto the porch. "Hi honey!"

The frown disappeared from Darcy's face and she smiled, picking up speed. "Hi mommy!"

Teresa Reid snorted as Darcy drug her backpack up the stairs behind her, the books inside thumping against each stair. "You're going to ruin your backpack if you keep doing that."

Darcy smiled sheepishly, releasing the backpack strap and hugging her mother's legs. "Sorry."

"Uh huh." Teresa rolled her eyes playfully, squeezing her daughter back. "Come on inside, I made cookies."

Darcy's face lit up and she flew inside while calling over her shoulder. "THANK YOU!"

Teresa chuckled, grabbing the backpack off the porch and stepping inside, following after the eight year old. She set the backpack on an empty chair and watched her daughter grab a cookie, jamming it into her mouth.

"Be careful or you'll choke." She warned, opening her daughters backpack and pulling out her folder that contained any homework she needed to do.

Darcy nodded, already shoving another cookie into her mouth. She wiped her mouth with a napkin afterwords, plopping down at the table and taking the pencil her mother handed her. She opened her folder and pulled out her homework, getting started so that she could play later.

Teresa got herself a drink and sat down next to her daughter in case she needed help. Darcy did pretty good, only need help on a few math problems.

"Hey Darce, I need to run out in a while to return those tools to the Kent's. You wanna come with me?"

Darcy looked up in confusion. "The Kent's?"

Her mother nodded. "Yeah, Mr. Kent was nice enough to let your father barrow some of his tools last weekend. It's time to give them back."

Darcy furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't know that. Her father probably went over while she was in school. The Kent's only lived a few miles down the road. Shrugging, Darcy nodded. Maybe she could talk to Clark if she went. "Yeah, I wanna come."

"Alright, but you need to finish your homework first."

Darcy nodded, turning back to the math problems in front of her.


Darcy watched the land go by from the back seat of her mothers car. After Darcy finished her homework, her mother called Martha Kent and now they were on their way to the Kent's house.

It wasn't a long ride and soon enough Darcy saw the house come into view. She looked around as her mother pulled up the long driveway, just like theirs. The Kent's house didn't look much different than theirs, nor did their property.

"Here we are." Teresa smiled, parking the car and getting out. She opened the door for Darcy, who unbuckled herself and hopped out, her mother grabbing the tools from the other seat and shutting the door.

Darcy grabbed her mothers hand as they walked up to the house, making Teresa laugh lightly. Just as they were climbing the stairs, the front door opened and Martha Kent appeared.

"Teresa, good to see you!" Martha grinned, opening the screen door and stepping onto the porch. Teresa released Darcy's hand so that she could accept the hug Martha gave her.

"Good to see you too, Martha." Teresa smiled, hugging her back. "I've got Jonathan's tools right here."

"Why thank you. You didn't have to bring them back though, Jonathan should have come and picked them up."

"It's no problem." Teresa assured her. "I hope you don't mind that I brought the little one with me."

"Of course not!" Martha smiled, looking down at Darcy. Darcy was holding onto her mothers jean clad legs with one hand, the other hanging at her side. Martha smiled gently, squatting down to her height. "Hi there Darcy. I can't believe how big you are now. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Martha."

Martha held her hand out to the little girl, and Darcy slowly reached out to grip it.

"Hi," Darcy said shyly, shaking the woman's hand. "I remember you, you're Clark's mom."

Martha grinned at her. "Yes I am."

Teresa smiled, watching Darcy smile at the woman, her shyness slowly evaporating. Teresa and Martha had been good friends in high school, but they didn't get to see each other as much as they would have liked when they started collage and working, though they did keep in contact. They saw each other around town too, which is mostly how Darcy know's the Kent's, beside's at school with Clark.

"Well," Teresa spoke up. "Thank you so much for letting Greg barrow the tools again. I swear, that man lose's his every other day."

Martha chuckled, standing back up to her full height. "It's no problem. Would you two like to come in for a while? I just made some lemonade."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! Jonathan's not home yet, but he'll be along soon and Clark's around here somewhere." Martha smiled, opening the door for them.

"Well, we'd love to." Teresa smiled, stepping inside the house. Darcy followed after, thanking Martha shyly as she went by. Martha smiled at the little girl, making sure to shut the door behind them before leading them to the kitchen.


Darcy finished the glass of lemonade that Martha offered her, politely wiping her mouth with her napkin.

Martha smiled, taking the glass from her. "That good, huh?"

"Yes ma'am." Darcy smiled back at her. "Thank you."

Martha laughed lightly, patting her on the arm. "You're welcome."

Teresa tucked some of Darcy's blonde hair behind her ear and looked back up at Martha, continuing their conversation. Darcy began kicking her legs lightly, looking around the kitchen. Martha noticed the look on her face and figured this was pretty boring for an eight year old.

"You know Darcy," Martha spoke up, gaining her attention. "We have a swing just on the side of the house and Clark should be out there if you want to go play?"

Darcy looked to her mother for permission and Teresa nodded. Darcy smiled, hopping off her chair. "Thank you Martha."

After her mother told her to be careful and polite, Darcy headed out onto the front porch, leaving the adults to their conversation. Darcy made her way down the steps and started around the house, but stopped when she saw the figure on the swing. Clark was hunched over, not really swinging, just moving back and forth lightly.

Darcy's shyness began taking over and she almost turned and ran right back inside, but she managed to stop herself. She really wanted to talk to Clark and see if he was alright, since his mother took him out of school early after he ran from the classroom earlier, and maybe they could be friends.

Gulping, Darcy slowly made her way towards the swing and the boy. As she got closer, she stepped on a twig and it snapped, causing her to wince. Clark looked up slowly, his eyes landing on her.

Darcy blushed, raising her hand in a small wave and muttering shyly, "Hi."

Clark looked at her, taking in her jeans, pink t-shirt and sneakers, before muttering back. "Hi."

Darcy closed the large gap, stopping a few feet away from him. Little did she know that Clark had heard her coming before she even walked outside. Darcy cleared her throat. "I-I'm Darcy. My mom's talking to your mom inside."

Clark, who had looked back down at the ground, gave a slight nod of his head. "I know, we're in the same class. I'm Clark."

"I know." Darcy giggled lightly, and Clark glanced up at her. She then blushed and quieted herself. "Um...I was wondering if...did you...are you alright?"

Clark looked all the way up in confusion. "What?"

Darcy cleared her throat. "Are you alright? You looked really scared when you ran out of class earlier."

"Oh." Clark mumbled, looking back down. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Darcy nodded, holding her arms behind her back and lightly rocking on the balls of her feet. She watched him closely before breaking the silence. "I get scared like that real easy sometimes."

Clark, who was honestly confused as to why she asked if he was alright, once again looked back up. "What?"

"I got this weird problem where I get scared really easily for no reason." Darcy said, digging the toe of her shoe into the dirt. "My mom say's it's a "medical condition" called panic attack or something." Darcy shrugged. "You just looked real scared and I know the other kids were being mean about it and saying bad things about you, but you're not a freak like they said."

Clark was surprised by her words. No one had ever talked to him so nicely before, or even attempted to talk to him except to call him a freak. She was the first one to tell him that he wasn't a freak and she seemed genuinely concerned about him.

"You mean that?" He asked quietly. Darcy looked back at him.

"Yeah." She nodded, tucking some hair behind her ear as the wind blew it across her face. "You aren't a freak Clark. Don't listen to those kids, it's not true. They're just big meanies." Darcy blushed shyly, though she smiled at him.

"You don't think I'm a freak?" Clark asked, completely shocked. He felt a warmth spreading through him as he talked to this girl. This girl who was being nice to him.

"Nope," Darcy grinned, her shyness once again fading away. She surprisingly felt completely comfortable talking to Clark. "I think you're really cool and smart, though you don't talk much."

Clark blushed, his lips twitching up slightly. "Th-thanks."

Darcy smiled happily, glad that she was finally talking to him. She continued to rock on her feet and Clark noticed, standing up slowly.

"You wanna swing?" He asked shyly. Darcy's eyes lit up.

"Sure!" She grinned. Clark stepped out of the way and Darcy took his place, beginning to push herself. Clark suddenly felt really happy as he watched the girl in front of him swing back and forth, small giggles escaping her mouth.

"Hey, you dare me to jump?" Darcy grinned, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Uh, sure." Clark said, unsure.

Darcy nodded and pumped her legs harder so that the swing went higher. She looked to Clark. "Count to three."

"One, two, three..." Clark counted. Darcy pumped one last time before releasing the ropes of the swing, pushing forward a bit and jumping off. Her stomach dropped as she went through the air, landing on her butt a few feet away.

"Ouch!" She yelped.

Clark rushed to her side, concern clear on his face. "Are you okay?!"

Darcy wrinkled her nose as she looked up at him. "Yeah, but I landed on a stick!" She rolled to the side a bit and grabbed the stick, tossing it away a few feet and rubbing her butt. "Now my butt hurts."

Clark couldn't help it as he burst out laughing. He hunched over, his laughter floating through the air. Martha and Teresa had been watching the two through the window the whole time and Martha's face lit up when her son began laughing. She hadn't seen him like that in a long time, which was horrible since he was so sad at only eight years old.

"S-sorry." Clark got out as he calmed down. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Darcy smiled, pushing herself up to her feet. "I'm fine."

She didn't realize that she had scrapped her elbow until Clark's eyes landed on the blood slowly trickling down. His eyes widened and he grabbed her arm, startling Darcy. "You're bleeding!"

Darcy twisted her arm to look at her elbow. "Oh, I didn't even notice." She giggled. "Oops."

Clark grabbed her hand, causing her to blush, and led her inside. Martha and Teresa sat down quickly so it didn't look like they had been watching, Clark entering the kitchen moments later, dragging Darcy behind him.

"Mom, Darcy's bleeding."

"She is?" Martha said, standing up. "What happened?"

"I scrapped my elbow jumping off the swing." Darcy told the adults sheepishly. "I'm okay though."

Martha and Teresa went to work on cleaning her small wound, Martha getting a band aid out for her. Teresa put the band aid over the wound and Darcy winced a bit. Martha had to hide her smile behind her hand when Clark grabbed Darcy's hand, concern clear on his face.

Once Darcy was taken care of, Clark looked at her worriedly. "Are you sure..."

"I'm okay." Darcy cut him off with a smile, moving her arm in and out. "See? It doesn't even hurt that much."

Clark nodded. "Okay."

Darcy bit her lip before she spoke up. "You wanna play tag?"

"Um, okay..."

That mischievous twinkle appeared in Darcy's eyes again. She grinned and tapped his shoulder. "TAG, YOU'RE IT!"

With that, she flew out of the kitchen. Clark's eyes widened and he shot after her, an actual smile on his face.

"I'm gonna get you!"

And from that moment on, Clark Kent and Darcy Reid would become inseparable.