Chapter 4

"What do you mean by that?" Clark asked, instantly much more interested.

"I don't feel pain, and I can heal myself," Claire said as she braced herself for what he would say next.

"That's amazing!" Clark said to her surprise. "and you've never even been to Smallville before? I've only ever met one other person like that."

"Why did you say earlier that you knew what it was like? How hard it is to trust someone?" Claire ventured. He also seemed different. "It's just that, something tells me you know more about this stuff than most people here."

"Well, since you told me about yourself," Clark started with a look of doubt on his face, "I guess I owe you the same. I'm different too." Clark waited for a response from Claire, and all she did was smile. Clark took this as a sign to continue. "You remember yesterday after school, when you wondered how I got home so quickly?" Claire nodded, already putting some pieces together. "I got home so fast because I can run faster than a speeding bullet," Clark paused and they both laughed. "I know, it sounds cheesy, but I don't know what else to compare it to."

"That is so cool! Most of the people who have abilities that I know live in New York!" Claire laughed until she got a glimpse of Clark's confused facial expression. But just as Clark was about to ask how people in New York has powers, the bell rang and they parted ways.

Clark sat through his English class, not paying any attention to the lesson. He couldn't stop thinking about what Claire said, about the others like them. Could there be other Kryptonians he has never met? Maybe they we're all from different planets? Or maybe they were part of some scientific experiment? He had no idea what to think anymore, so instead of stressing himself, he thought about Claire. She had opened up to him, just like Alisha had once, and they had a great relationship. Until of course she became a psycho-killer, but that was because the Kryptonite. Claire couldn't be a meteor freak if she has never been to Smallville. He imagined how great it would be to have a girlfriend like Claire, someone he knew would understand what it was like to feel like an outsider among all the 'normal' teenagers. He couldn't wait to see her after school.

After the last bell rang, the one that let all the student out for the day, Clark caught up to Chloe.

"Hey, listen, I just want you to know that I told Claire about my super-speed," Clark said, nonchalantly. He started walking towards the Torch office as Chloe stood in the middle of the hall with her mouth open wide, completely paralyzed. She shook her head and ran after Clark.

"Hold it!" she yelled, "what are you talking about? I mean I like her and all, but you just met her! You haven't even told Lana about this!" she said as she caught her breath.

"Well, she shared something with me so I thought she would be allowed to know about one of my abilities," Clark reasoned.

"All right, but I really hope you're not making a huge mistake here Clark," Chloe warned.

"Don't worry, I'm not."

They walked into the Torch office and saw that Claire was already there, sitting at the desk that didn't say 'Chloe Sullivan' or 'Clark Kent'. As soon as Chloe saw her though, she but a big smile on her face and said, "Welcome to the 'We Know About Clark Kent Club!" she laughed.

Claire gave her a quizzical look. "You know too?" she asked, more to Clark than to Chloe.

Clark nodded. "Yes, she knows. She was actually surprised I told you," Clark said as Chloe elbowed him in the gut.

Chloe laughed nervously. "It's just that Clark never tells anybody of his own free will. I mean, his parents know obviously, but the first person he told was our friend Pete who moved away, and he only told him that because Pete found Clark's space shi-" Chloe stopped herself too late and wore a shocked expression. Eyes wide and stunned, she faltered for a way to recompose herself and find a plausible lie. "I mean, Pete this school prop and Clark had to use his speed to-"

"Wait," Claire said, trying to decide whether her ears were tricking her, "Did you say that Pete found Clark's space ship?"

"No, no no no… I just watched one too many sci-fi movies last night and didn't get much sleep because of it," Chloe rambled on.

Claire looked at Clark for a more reasonable explanation. Clark thought about how he and Chloe are much closer now that she knows about him, and how keeping this secret has made a huge distance in his relationship with Lana. He didn't want to lose Claire as a friend. Besides, she had shared a pretty big part of her life with him, is it her fault that his secret is a bit bigger? He was sure that if he told Claire, she would trust him more and they could be closer. This was nothing like how he felt with Lana. With Lana, he still felt as though she could never understand him even if he ever told her the truth. She just wouldn't know what it was like. Claire on the other hand, would know very much what it was like to be him. And if he shared this with her, she might be more open to sharing her life with him, like how she ever got powers, and how apparently people in New York have powers too.

"Chloe," Clark said calmly, "it's ok, I want to tell her everything."

Chloe glanced at Clark, scared that he was making a mistake, but then who was she to stop him? She always knew that his relationship with Lana would be better if he were honest, maybe he just wasn't honest with her because she wasn't the one. Hopefully Claire is the one then, Chloe thought. Claire looked at Clark expectantly. Clark inhaled loudly to prepare himself.

"Claire, Pete did find my space ship. I'm what you would call an alien."