Chapter Eight
Clark rolled over and slammed his hand down on his alarm clock. The beeping died with the crushing of plastic. He cursed as he looked over to see that he had pounded his alarm clock to pieces. Morning always came to early but it was defiantly the case this morning.
Oliver and Lex had left after midnight. Clark's question about Oliver's parents had killed some spirits but Lex made it his mission to get them laughing again with all the juice that Chloe had spilled. Apparently she was trying to get them to do the newspaper interview and thought that if she answered Lex's questions he'd answer hers. She was in for a rude awakening. It just wasn't going to happen.
He pulled himself out of bed and stretched, a groan escaping from him. It was going to be a long day. He wasn't looking forward to dealing with Whitney, Pete, or Chloe. But at least he had Oliver and Lex there to keep him company, and sane.
He tossed open his closet and starred at his choices. He didn't have much that wasn't upscale and he didn't really want to dress like Lex or Oliver and have attention drawn to him. That plan had been blown yesterday and he figured if Lex and Oliver were going to be around then he wasn't going to avoid attention. Might as well wear what he wanted.
He picked a pair of his designer dark jeans, his favorite pair of dark brown boots, a green t-shirt with a graffiti graphic on the front, and his leather jacket. At least he would be comfortable for the day but he didn't think it would help much.
He grabbed his backpack and headed downstairs into the kitchen. His dad wasn't in the house and the cereal was on the kitchen table. He figured dad was outside doing some chores. He grabbed a bowl of lucky charms, filled it with milk and headed out back.
"Dad!"
"In the barn son," Jonathan called.
He headed inside, taking a spoonful of his breakfast. "What ya doing?" Clark asked.
"Just fixing the tractor. You boys do anything to it last night?" Jonathan asked peeking out from underneath the tractor.
"Aside from the 500 bench presses I did?" His attempt at a joke.
"Don't break the equipment by showing off to your friends," Jonathan lectured.
"Sorry dad, it was a joke," Clark said looking down into his bowl. It was no use trying to lighten up his dad. He shouldn't have even made the joke, it was pointless.
"No I'm sorry," Jonathan said. He pulled himself out from under the tractor and wiped off the grease on his hands. "Things have been rough lately and I haven't been the best father in the world. I want to make it up to you. Perhaps, this weekend we can go to a Met U game. I got tickets from work."
"Um, sure. The game Saturday?" He asked.
"Yeah, why?" Jonathan asked.
"Lex and Oliver have a party Friday night at Lex's. It's our goodbye thing their doing," Clark explained.
Jonathan nodded, "Think you'll be to tired to go?"
"Nah, we can go," He answered.
"Alright, sounds good," Jonathan said. He turned back to the tractor and started to pick at a part. Clark downed the rest of his lucky charms and was about to take the bowl inside before running to school.
Jonathan reached into his pockets, and pulled something out. "Oh, by the way. I filled up the bike. You should drive it to school," His dad said, tossing him the keys.
Clark snatched them out of the air with a smile. "You sure dad?" He asked.
"It's not like if you crashed it'll kill you. Just be careful," Jonathan answered.
"Wow, thanks dad," He exclaimed. He hurried back inside and dumped his bowl in the sink next to his dad's and grabbed his backpack. Once outside again he headed for the bike parked next to his dads truck. It was a Harley Davidson Baildon. His dad had bought it last year during a phase he'd gone through. Something about feeling alive again when he was going over a 100 miles an hour with the wind in his hair. He didn't know what happened to snap his dad out of that one but Jonathan had hardly touched the bike since.
He ran his hand over the bike and smiled at the cool metal beneath his hands. Even knowing he couldn't be hurt, he was excited to ride it. Riding this beauty was so much more fun then running. To feel the purr of the engine between his thighs.
"Hey Clark!," Jonathan called, stepping out from the barn.
"Yeah dad?" Clark asked.
"Don't crash," Jonathan said with a smile.
"I'll try not to," He called back. He made sure his backpack was on tightly and tossed one leg over the side. He put the key into the ignition and fired the bike to life. It roared and he smiled as he kicked it off. Gravel spun into the air from the tires and he took off.
The wind pulled through his hair as fields passed him by in a blur. He was at the school within minutes and found a silver Porsche with a tag that read "Lex". He pulled up to the spot beside it and killed the bike.
As he got off he noticed a crowd of girls and a few guys starring his way. He sighed in defeat. Seemed that it was going to be a repeat of yesterday but he'd prepared himself earlier. No need trying to disappear into the halls. Besides, it wasn't like Lex and Oliver were going to let him do that anyway.
He loosened his backpack to where it hung off his shoulders and felt more natural. With a quick fix to his jacket, and running his hand through his hair, he headed up the sidewalk and into the halls of hell. It only took seconds for him to pick out where Oliver and Lex were hanging out. A mass of giggles and gawking were straight down the hall towards their first class.
He weaved his way through the students and found the guys hanging out by his locker. Clark walked up and spun the combination, trying his best to ignore the situation.
"Ah, the man of the hour!" Lex called.
Clark rolled his eyes, "What story are you telling now?"
"None. Just wanted to say that phrase," Lex defended while trying to look innocent.
"Oh don't even, Lex here was telling about how you saved the kitten from the tree," Oliver ratted Lex out with a smirk.
Clark felt like bashing his head into the wall, "Might as well take up that tutoring thing. Couldn't kill me anymore than you two."
