That Day chp 1

by EightOfNine2

This story is set around season 2-3 with Clark and gang in high school. There is a new teacher and a new class, and a new student with a power that Clark must face. There is also a personal drama for Clark who still feels guilty about all the damage his arrival caused.

1. Chapter 1

High School was hard enough on Clark. He had to fit in his homework between doing chores, make friends without being able to join any sport teams or clubs, and he had to keep a very big secret. In a town where everyone seems to have a secret his had to be the biggest. As he entered the now familiar hallways, Clark looked for a familiar face in the crowd. Sophomore year promised to be the best year so far. He survived students that feed on other students' life force, and students that command armies of bugs just to name a few. And they didn't even keep those abilities secret, not for very long.

Pete and Chloe came in to school together. Pete waved to Clark who nodded back. Clark could hear them discussing how someone who often misses the bus always gets to school so quickly. Even a direct path through the field didn't appear to be that short. Since they had seen each other all summer (and had a few adventures then too), they only needed to reassure each other that the year would be a good one. And they barely had time to do more before the first bell rang.

Clark's first class was a Social Studies elective. It was called An Amazing State We Live In. Since he was in a good state of mind, he expected the class to be a gut course. He walked into the class so full of students that all the seats were taken and several stood along the window. While half got to sit down the rest blocked the AC and had the breeze to their back. Lana was seated in the front row sweating from the lack of ventilation. For an instant Clark thought that he made her sweat. He trembled as he walked by as her necklace weakened him. A few laughed but most of the students assumed that he tripped on her feet being the room was so crowded. One or two might have thought he tripped because he was just clumsy. Those students wore Jackets bearing the letter S on the back. Clark thought it way to funny that they wore those jackets on such a hot day. And it was only 8:35 in the morning.

The teacher entered the room, confident as ever, and brought the volume of the class down to a few whispers once the second bell rang. His name was Mr. K (a name usually reserved for substitutes) and he mentioned that he knew two weeks ago that the class would be this large. Apparently summer renovations on the auditorium were behind schedule and it would be a week before they would relocate to that facility for their class. It was perfect because they now had a week (as opposed to less time) to complete their first assignment. The assignment would make Clark sweat if he had the glands like everyone else.

The class could have been called The History of Kansas. Apparently we have an amazing history. The teacher, who moved to town over the summer decided to change his regular syllabus to reflect the uniqueness of Smallville as opposed to Metropolis, where he worked for fourteen years before filling the vacancy here. The assignment was to write a 3-10 page paper on where you were when the meteor shower hit the town and how it affected your life.

The teacher had raised the overhead projector screen to reveal the assignment written on the chalkboard. Then he started to take attendance. Just like a substitute teacher, he proceeded so slowly that the students manipulated him into ridicule. By the time attendance was completed the bell had rang. The teacher looked at the class and then dismissed them before they started to walk out on his class. Clark waited towards the end of the line for the door and welcomed the new teacher to Smallville. The teacher just smiled and sighed as he reached for his planner to jot down some notes.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Math was math, or Advanced Algebra to be precise. Science was Chemistry, and Gym was on the bench since the field was being treated and the AC wasn't working. Everything else was exactly as he expected. His mind was on the assignment from that first class. The rest of the day Clark thought more and more about how he was different from everyone else there. He was bigger than most of the students, taller too, and he could break the tiles on the floor if he stamped down too hard. At least he didn't have to address this problem alone.