"Football: Sport or Abuse… Wow, so did Chloe strike a nerve today?" I as Clark handed me the school newspaper. Lately he's been bringing a copy home for me so I can read it too.
"She's already getting hate mail."
"Awesome…" I said, flipping to the next page in the paper.
"That's what Chloe said. Apparently it's good." He said, raising an eyebrow in a silent question.
"Oh, Clark, you don't get reporting do you?" I asked with a shake of my head. He laughed a little.
"Are you following in Chloe's footsteps?" He asked.
"Hopefully… I like her. She's cool." I told him, smiling. Then dad came in from the barn and Clark turned to him. In under a minute, he had spit out some story about how the football coach wanted him to play and Clark had said yes. Oh gosh, not another one of these arguments, I pleaded.
"Uh, wait a minute. What do you mean you had to say yes?" Dad asked.
"Coach Walt sort of didn't give me a choice." Clark replied, head down, eyes staring at his feet.
"Let me guess. Did he give you the "be your own man" speech, right? Well, Walt's been giving that speech for 25 years- same one. Believe me, I know. What you gotta do is go there tomorrow and tell him you can't play."
"Dad, please don't make me do that." Clark pleaded, his head snapping up to meet dad's eyes.
"Son, I'm sorry. We've already had this conversation." Dad told him. Like a million times, I thought.
"It's never been a conversation. I can be careful, and you don't trust me!"
"Of course I trust you, Clark, but, uh-."
"But what? I'm old enough to make my own decisions!"
"When you're out on the field, and million things can happen that can affect your judgment. I mean, if you get angry, even for just a second, or you, uh, you try to impress some girl with a fancy move, somebody could get seriously hurt out there. You were meant for much more important things than winning football games."
"I'm sick of being punished because I have these gifts. Most parents would be happy if their son could be star of the football team!" Clark argued.
"Son... I'm happy when you wake up in the morning. I don't need to live vicariously through your achievements."
"Why would you? You got to play."
"I'm not signing a permission slip, Clark."
"You don't have to. I'm playing football, and you can't stop me!" With that, Clark stormed off. I ducked my head, pretending to be studying something that was on one of the Torch's pages.
Clark had his first practice the next day. Dad watched about half of it and came home early, looking disappointed. Clark came home a little while later, already talking about some explosion with the principal's car the second he walked in the door. Mom got on the phone at once.
"Okay, thanks. Bye-bye. Principal Kwan's gonna be in the hospital till over the weekend." Mom reported.
"Is he gonna be all right?" Clark asked.
"He's got some burns and suffered smoke inhalation, but he's gonna be okay." Mom said with a nod.
"Anybody see you, son?" Dad asked.
"Nobody saw me, Dad! I told the paramedics that I wrapped my hands in my jacket when I pulled him out." He said, sounding annoyed.
"Lucky you were there." I noted.
"Well, I kind of missed my ride." Clark admitted.
"Look, I saw you play, all right? Now, you could have easily hurt any one of those boys." Dad said.
"But the point is, I didn't. Look, why are we even having this conversation? He's never gonna believe me. By the way, Coach gave me your old position. You're looking at the starting tailback for this Friday's game." He said, smiling. No one said anything. I would have, but I honestly didn't know what a tailback once and for another thing, I felt that mom and dad should probably speak first.
"Don't everyone congratulate me at once." Clark said sarcastically. He stormed off. Mom and dad gave me that 'we need to talk alone' look. I grabbed my backpack off the counter and headed upstairs. I stopped just around the corner to listen in.
"How did he get to be so stubborn?" Dad asked.
"Gee, I don't know." Mom said, obviously hinting at something.
"Hey, wait a minute-I was not like that when I was his age."
"No, you were the obedient son who always obeyed his father and didn't run away one summer and try out for the Metropolis Sharks." Mom said. Why don't we ever hear about this? It's like they act like they were never kids! I thought.
"Since when did you go and join the other side?" Dad asked.
"Jonathan, Clark hasn't been able to do anything normal his whole life-no playgroups, no little league-all because we were afraid he might hurt somebody. He's a teenager now. Let's give him a shot."
"His gifts come with responsibilities."
"This isn't about his gifts, it's about his judgment. You're telling Clark that you don't believe in him."
"Of course, I believe in him. W-what if he makes a mistake... and somebody suspects the truth? I do not want anyone coming on this farm and taking our son away from us."
"Well, if we don't start trusting him, nobody's gonna have to take him away. He's gonna leave all by himself."
"You guys, it doesn't make sense. Cars don't just spontaneously combust." Chloe was saying as we walked into the Beanery. Normally I wouldn't hang out with Pete, Clark and Chloe, but on occasion, mom and dad are doing something and they make me tag along because they don't trust me at home by myself. One accident with a match and suddenly I'm not trusted anymore…
"The cops said it was faulty wiring." Clark said as we sat down at a table.
"I've already got my headline: "Jockstrap Save Principal From Burning Car." I laughed and Chloe gave me a wink.
"Will you lay off the "jockstraps" thing?" Pete asked.
"I still can't believe Clark's been blinded by the Friday night lights." Chloe said as if Clark wasn't sitting right next to her.
"I joined the football team, not a cult." Clark told her.
"Yeah, next I'm gonna be joining the pompom brigade." Chloe said.
"I hear there's a spot open." Lana said, walking up to our table.
"Lana, what are you doing here?" Clark asked in surprise.
"Taking your order, I hope." She told us.
"W-what is this? Some sort of cheerleading charity, like "be a waitress for a night" sort of thing?" Chloe asked.
"Yes, it is, except for the cheerleading and charity parts, and tips are always appreciated." Lana told her.
"So you're a waitress for real?" Clark asked.
"Even got the perky name tag to prove it." She said, pointing to her chest.
"First day?" Pete asked.
"Ever." Lana said with a nod.
"Where's your necklace?" Clark asked.
"Strict dress code-no jewelry and no open-toes shoes." Lana replied.
"You look very...waitress-like…" Clark told her. Smooth, big brother, smooth… I thought.
"Now, if I could only tell the difference between a half-caf, decaf and a non-fat latte." Lana said.
"In that case, I'll have a regular coffee." Chloe told her.
"Hey, times three." Pete said.
"Four!" I corrected him, pointing to myself. He laughed.
"Yeah, times four. Sorry, Cynthia!" He told me, still laughing. Lana started to walk away from our table.
"Uh, Lana, you forgot this." Clark said, holding up her little notepad. Lana hurried back over.
"Thanks, that's been happening a lot today." She said, blushing.
"First days are always rough. So, you just quit cheerleading?" Clark asked.
"You sound surprised." Lana replied.
"Well, it's not like you broke any state laws or anything, but I am. You always seemed so happy doing it." Clark told her.
"My mom was a cheerleader, so was my aunt. I figured it was time to break the vicious cycle." She told him.
"What did, uh, Whitney say?" Clark asked. Chloe leaned in to whisper to me. No one else noticed.
"For future reference, Cynthia, when talking to your crush, avoid the topic of their current dates." She told me.
"You're his team-mate now. Why don't you ask him?" Lana suggested.
"You know, it's amazing. The same day I make the team you quit the squad. I was just hoping we'd see more of each other." Clark said.
"I have four shifts a week. You can stop by anytime you like." Lana told him. And so we just found Clark's new hangout… I exchanged a look that told my thought with Chloe and she smiled at me.
"Lana...table 3 has been waiting for their drinks for 5 minutes. If they go cold, it's coming out of your tips." The head waitress called.
"Right, Sorry." Lana called.
"Don't be sorry, just be faster." The head waitress yelled back. Lana ran off.
"Clark Kent is a football player and Lana Lang is a waitress." Chloe said.
"What's the matter with that?" Pete asked.
"Nothing. I just wanna click my heels and get back to reality." Chloe told him with a smile. The football players sitting at the table next to us suddenly fell silent as another player ran in. Some part of my brain reminded me his name was Trevor, though I had no clue how I knew that.
"Coach needs to see us on the field right now." Trevor said. They all hurried out of the Beanery.
"What's up with your fallen brethren?" Chloe asked.
"I don't know." Pete mumbled. Chloe still looked suspicious. She jumped out of her chair and grabbed her bag.
"I'll see you tomorrow." She hurried after the players.
"Chloe?"
"Heading out to the pep rally?" Mom asked, climbing into Clark's loft. I was sitting on the couch behind Clark as he straightened out his jersey.
"How do I look?" Clark asked.
"As handsome as your father." Mom assured him.
"You don't have to do this, Mom." Clark told her.
"Do what?"
"Play Kent family peacekeeper." He told her. Well, actually she does, because I am not getting between you and dad, I thought.
"Well, if the Kent men weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have to." Mom told him.
"So you're taking Dad's side?"
"No, Clark, I'm not. I told him he's being unreasonable."
"Thanks…"
"Well, I'm not saying you're entirely innocent here, either. If you want to make your own decision, you need to be prepared to live with your mistakes."
"You trust me, don't you?" He asked.
"I want to, Clark. So does your dad. Just...give him a chance…"
"The torch got torched." Clark said as he came home that night. We all looked up at him for an explanation.
"The torch office almost burned down. Chloe is sure that Coach Walt tried to kill her because she learned that he helped the players cheat on tests…" He explained.
"Is she okay?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yeah… But I'm positive that the coach is behind it too! I distracted him and suddenly the fire in the office is gone! It's that weird?" He asked.
"You think he has powers?" Mom asked.
"Maybe…" With that said, Clark slowly walked off to his room.
We went to Clark's big football game the next day. Dad was still upset about it, but he was here all the same. Chloe hurried to sit down next to us as we got settled into the bleachers.
"Chloe!" I greeted her.
"Hi, Mrs. Kent! Hi, Mr. Kent! Hey, Cynthia." She said, sounding a lot less formal when greeting me.
"Smallville's resident cynic have a change of heart?" Mom asked.
"Well, I decided to put my personal politics aside to support my friends." Chloe admitted with a nod.
"Yes, we're trying the same philosophy." Mom said, looking over at dad knowing.
"Where's Clark?" Dad asked.
"I don't know. I was supposed to meet him before the game, but he didn't show. I thought he was with you guys." Chloe said.
"I'll go see if he's with Pete." Dad said, standing up. He hurried off towards the sidelines to look for him. Chloe stood up and went to follow him.
"I think there's something going on with the coach…" Chloe said. She hurried to follow dad. I hurried after her, ignoring my mom's protests and yells about how there was nothing to worry about it. We hurried over to dad as he came off the sidelines.
"Nobody's seen him." He told us.
"I think the coach is lying." Chloe blurted out.
"What's going on here, Chloe? All right, I'll check the locker room you girls go check the school." He told us. Chloe and I hurried back into the school to search for him. We searched the whole school, in every classroom and bathroom, before we agreed he wasn't there.
"Let's head back to the field. Maybe dad found him." I suggested. Chloe nodded, biting her lip. We hurried back out. The football game was already over by the time we got back and it was dark. Dad and Clark were just coming out of the locker rooms.
"Hey, what happened?" Chloe asked.
"Oh…uh, I got held up in the locker rooms. And a conversation between me and coach got a little heated…" Clark said. Chloe gave him a weird look but said nothing else about it.
"Sorry you didn't get to play…" Dad said to Clark as we prepared to leave the now empty field later that night.
"Were you here to make sure I didn't hurt anyone?" He asked.
"I was here to support my son." Dad told him.
"Some of the things I said...were out of line." Clark said, looking down.
"Look, I-I do trust you, Clark. I do. I guess there's always gonna be a part of me that's a little bit afraid. But that's just being a parent."
"Thanks, Dad…"
"Let's head home." Mom suggested, taking my hand and walking back towards the parking lot.
"Um… go ahead. I'm going to stay here for a minute. I'll run home." Clark told us. We all shrugged and headed home.
A/N Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I do have the whole first season written it out, though, it's just a matter of remembering to update. Thanks to the readers who are hanging in there and waiting! Please Read and Review! ~RoniCullen