The next morning Linda walked down the main hall of the school. She knew she wouldn't have to worry about her new ability causing problems, but she still felt a little nervous by what had happened yesterday.

"Hey, there you are!" Linda turned around and saw Dick approaching her, smiling. "Was kind of wondering if you were going to make it."

"Well, I kinda had no choice," Linda said, smiling back as they walked down the hall. "Mom and Dad said I had to go, and here I am. Oh, and thanks again for bringing me my stuff last night."

"Did you get all your homework done?" Dick asked. Linda nodded, and Dick took a deep breath. "So, I didn't want to ask last night with your family around, and I hope you don't mind me asking, but why did you leave yesterday? The fire wasn't that bad."

Linda stiffened, totally caught off guard. "Uh," she said slowly, racking her brain for a plausible excuse, "a panic attack?"

Dick furrowed a little. "You didn't seem like you were having a panic attack," he said.

"Yeah," Linda replied, "it always starts quietly with me before I get into full-blown panic mode; Pete—Sheriff Ross—recognized it, so he took me home. I rested, and as you saw last night," she smiled, "I recovered."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Dick said, smiling. "Smallville High's a really nice school; we actually have days where there isn't a fire emergency." He grinned at his joke, and he was relieved that she chuckled. "So, you ready to try this again?"

"Definitely," Linda replied as they continued down the hall.


Linda stared at her tray in disbelief. She knew the contents were supposed to be her lunch—pizza with sausage, green beans, peaches in syrup, a brownie, and a carton of milk—but the young girl wasn't so sure: the pizza looked like a rectangular piece of cardboard with tomato sauce and fake cheese; the sausage looked and smelled like black licorice—one of the few candies she didn't like. After three months of homegrown green beans, the cafeteria's looked like wax replicas—same with the peaches—and the brownie looked like a slightly overcooked square of chocolate bread with no icing (her mother would always frost her brownies.) The milk looked harmless enough, but Linda was accustomed to milk from a glass bottle, so she wasn't sure what to make of the paper carton next to her plate.

"Hey, Linda!"

Linda looked up and saw Dick waving to her from a table across the cafeteria. Relieved to see a familiar face in the unfamiliar crowd. The young girl made her way over to Dick's table and noticed him sitting with five other people.

"Hi, Dick," Linda replied.

"Guys, this is Linda Kent," Dick said. "Linda," he used his fork to point to each of the five people with him, "Mattie Harcourt, Cutter Sharp, Wally Danvers, Andrea "Andy" Martinez, and Buzz."

Linda quickly studied each of the five individuals as Dick pointed to them. Mattie had cocoa-colored skin, dark hair, and dark eyes, and she wore a stylish green, short-sleeved t-shirt, tight jeans, and sneakers. Cutter had spiky brown hair and wore glasses over his hazel eyes; he was dressed in an olive button down shirt, jeans, and old tennis shoes. Wally had unkempt dark hair, blue eyes, and wore a red plaid shirt over a red t-shirt, tan slacks, and tennis shoes. Andy had dark hair styled away from her face, and her brown eyes looked up at Linda with curious interest; her attire was completely black: t-shirt, jeans, and boots. Buzz appeared as tall as Dick and well built, with spiky dark blond hair and blue eyes; he wore a faded blue t-shirt, faded jeans, and old tennis shoes.

"Hey, Linda," Mattie said smiling. "You wanna join us?"

"Sure," Linda answered, relieved. Dick scooted over and grabbed a chair from another table, putting it next to him; Linda sat down and glanced at Buzz curiously. "Is Buzz your real name?"

"Nickname," Buzz answered.

"So, what's your real name?" Linda asked.

"No one knows," Mattie smirked. "It's the mystery we've come to accept from our resident baseball player."

"So, Linda, Dick told us you're new here," Andy said. "Where are you from?"

"Midvale, Illinois," Linda answered.

"So, why'd you move here?" Cutter asked, smiling. "This isn't exactly the hub of fashion and fun."

"My parents were killed in a car accident earlier this year," Linda replied, "and the only family I have left is here."

"Oh," Cutter said slowly, uncomfortably.

"Nice one, Cutter," Andy said, smacking his arm. "This isn't an interview for the Torch, you know."

"It's okay," Linda said to Cutter; she smiled reassuringly at him. "Look, you didn't know, and I'm fine—really." Cutter appeared to relax a little, but Linda decided to change the subject anyway. "So, Cutter, you work for the Torch?"

"Wally and I run it," Cutter replied, brightening up more. "You interested in a position? We could always use some extra help."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass," Linda replied. "There's only room for one journalist in my family, and my cousin has already filled that position."

Wally had been drinking his milk, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he quickly swallowed. "Wait a second," he said as he put his carton down. "Kent? As in Clark Kent?"

Linda nodded. "That's him," she said. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Wally staring at her dreamily. "Um…are you okay?"

"Yeah," Andy replied, smirking, "he just has this kind of man crush thing going on with your cousin, that's all."

"I do not," Wally said, looking insulted. "I just think he's a good journalist, that's all."

"So is Lois Lane," Buzz spoke up, "and Chloe Sullivan; I don't see you drooling over them—and Chloe actually ran the Torch while she was here."

"Uh, guys, can we not try to scare away the new girl on her second day of school?" Dick spoke up, glancing over at Linda apologetically; he couldn't tell if she was frightened or amused by his friends, but he decided to change the subject. "So, Linda, what do you think of lunch?"

Linda glanced down at her tray and poked her pizza with her fork. "Please tell me that this isn't what passes for real food around here," she said, unsure.

"Believe it," Wally replied as he munched on his brownie. "One thing you gotta remember around here: they cram us with homework and fake food for five days, and we spend two days trying to get it out of our systems."

"Ah," Linda replied before she poked her pseudo food once more then shook her head and put her fork down. "On second thought, I'm not very hungry right now. I'll think skip lunch today and get an early start on my art project. Anybody want this?" She held out her tray, glancing around the group.

"That's not very healthy," Dick replied, looking a little concerned.

"I'll take it," Wally said quickly before grabbing the tray; he quickly started chowing down on the pizza.

"I'll be fine," Linda added, smiling as she stood up. "Thanks for letting me sit with you guys; I had fun." She turned to leave, paused for a second, and turned back. "Oh, and just in case you're interested, Clark, Chloe, and Lois are really nice people; maybe I'll introduce you sometime." She gave them a small wave, and they watched as she hurried past the tables, hurrying out of the cafeteria.

"So, what do you guys think of her?" Dick asked.

"Not bad," Andy replied.

"Pretty cool," Buzz said.

Mattie glanced Dick and grinned. "What do you think of her, Dick?"

"She's nice," Dick replied, his cheeks turning pink.

"Someone likes the new girl," Wally teased in a sing-song voice.

"Bite me," Dick grumbled, his cheeks red as he left the table. The five watched him leave, then they looked at each other and laughed as they got up to leave.

(End of Chapter 7)