"I'll go talk to her," Clark said.

"No, I will," Lois said. "She's mad at me, not you, and seeing the both of us won't help her any."

"Okay. I guess I'll be in here really looking for clues. Lois, whatever you do, don't tell her the truth. Her mind believes she's in high school and if you dash that illusion, there's no telling what damage it might do."

Lois nodded and then left to find Chloe.

If she were Chloe in high school, where would she go? That normally would have been easy, the Torch, but they had been in the Torch. She hadn't gone back to class. It sounded like she had gone toward the right. She probably went to the library. It was secluded and she could sit in front of a computer.

Lois had guessed right. Only Chloe wasn't surfing the web, but that's probably because it wasn't working. She was just sitting there, quietly crying.

She turned her chair away from Lois, when she saw her and said coldly, "Go away. I don't want to talk to you. Ever!"

"I'm so sorry," she said, sitting in a chair next to her. "I didn't think about how it might affect you if you saw us. I didn't want to hurt you. I hope you'll forgive me and not let a man come between us."

"How long?"

"Excuse me?"

"How long have you been with him behind my back?"

"Not long and I wouldn't go behind your back on purpose."

She turned around to face Lois and asked, "Have you slept with him?"

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"So the answer's yes. All those times you kept telling me, 'Don't give those baby blue eyes another thought,' and 'How could you fall for a farm boy?' All those times you just wanted me out of the way, so you could have him for yourself."

"What? No! When I said those things, I meant them. I was concerned about your welfare, not mine."

"I can't trust anything you say. You're a liar. I just can't believe you. You're smarter, prettier, older, and you've got such a carefree attitude. Your life is perfect, but I was better at one thing and that was journalism—"

"But—"

"Let me finish. You write your first article unwillingly and it's amazing. I worked hard to get that good and you walk in with a God-given talent that you don't even want. If that doesn't make me feel bad enough, you prove that the guy I've pined after for years, who will never see me as more than a friend, you can have with a snap of your fingers. It's not fair."

"First of all, smarter, Miss Genius with a Computer? I'm lucky that I know what one is. You're the one that's prettier and you're a wonderfully caring person and since when is older better? I'll be over the hill first. You are just as good in journalism and if it's more because of hard work than talent, that's an even greater accomplishment, and I think you know you have a hidden talent that I don't. As for Clark, you will meet someone that you'll love more than Clark. You'll certainly end up wealthier than me, and you're crazy, if you think I have a perfect life. There's no such thing."

"He doesn't love you. He'll only ever love Lana."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, I do. You're just filling in for Lana. I'm sure when he kisses you, he pictures Lana. You know what that makes you, a tramp."

"How dare you!" Lois said, standing up. "I'm trying to be patient with you. I know you're not yourself and have the mind of an adolescent. Right now you're a starring role in a teen soap opera, but I'm warning you, I have had a bad day and it's not going to take much more to make me blow up."

"You blow up on a daily basis with your temper. Besides, it looked like you were really suffering against Clark's lips. Poor Lois. I came to find out why you kept missing class. Now I know it's because you're a hooker."

"SHUT UP!"

"What else do you call a woman that sleeps with somebody who doesn't love her?"

"I'm leaving before you make me say something really awful and I hurt you even more," Lois said with tears in her eyes.

Chloe instantly regretted what she had said. She could handle an angry Lois, in fact, that's what she had been going for. To see Lois cry was scary. Lois didn't believe in crying in front of people. She thought it made her weak. Something must have really been bothering her.

She stood up and took the fleeing Lois by the wrist. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Perhaps my cousin calling me a hooker might have something to do with it."

"I'm sorry. You know I didn't really mean any of it. I was upset and not thinking straight. That's not why you're crying though. What happened?"

"School happened."

"Come on. You can tell me. I'll keep it a secret. No matter what happens between us, I'll always love and care about you."

Lois looked at her. She couldn't tell her about the future, but maybe she could tell her this one thing. She had to talk about it with someone. "Chloe, I was pregnant…but I think I might have lost the baby."

"Clark's baby?"

"Keep your voice down. Yes. Only I didn't get a chance to tell him and now I definitely can't. He would have been so happy, but I can't give him unnecessary pain by telling him about it, not until I'm sure one way or the other."

Chloe hugged her. "I had no idea. You should see a doctor and tell Clark."

"I will as soon as I can. Remember you promised not to tell anyone."

"I know. This may be hard to hear, but if you have lost it, it's probably for the best."

"What?"

"You can't take care of a baby. You and Clark have a future ahead of you and your income is nonexistent."

"We could handle a baby. We want a baby."

"You're not married. Why would you guys want a baby?"

"What I mean is, if we became young parents, we're ready."

"I hope you haven't lost it for your sake and it would be fun to be called Aunt Chloe."

"Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes."

"Clark would never be with anyone he didn't love as much or more than Lana, and after seeing the way he was around Lana at lunch, I'd say more."

Lois smiled and dried her eyes with her shirt. Clark was waiting on her. "Will you be okay, Chloe?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need some time to gather myself together," she said, smiling. "Hey, that boy you sat with at lunch was pretty cute. Now that I know there's no hope for Clark and me, I may talk to him."

"Good for you," Lois said.

As Lois was walking along the hall, a hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her into the janitor's closet, and she could tell it wasn't Clark.