"What a lame assignment," Chloe griped as everyone walked out of history class. "Family trees are so 20th century."
"Just look at it as a mystery, Chloe," Pete smiled. "You never know what you're gonna uncover."
"Why are you so excited about this?" Clark asked him.
"Because it's gonna be a piece of cake."
"Yeah, because your family's been in Smallville since the Jurassic era," Chloe said to him sarcastically.
"What are you so worked up about?"
"There's just so many variables to take into account," she answered as they entered the Torch office. "Like what if your mother abandoned you? Is that branch of your family tree technically cut off?"
"Yeah, and what if your biological father comes back into the picture?" Lana put in. "Which family do you claim?"
"What if you're adopted?" Clark added, looking at Emmeline to indicate her situation as well.
"Hey, okay, I get the point," Pete laughed. "But is it my fault that I'm part of a nuclear family? Is it? Later." He waved as he left the office.
"Unfortunately for the rest of us, the nuclear family was nuked years ago," Chloe said.
"We should probably get together at the Talon tomorrow and figure out a game plan," Lana suggested.
Clark suddenly bent over and cried out in pain as he put his fingers to his temples.
"Clark doesn't like that idea."
Lana laughed, but Emmeline just looked at her friend with concern.
"Did you guys hear that?" Clark asked.
"Hear what?" Lana said with her brow furrowed.
Clark bent over again in pain. "That."
"Apparently, you're part canine because we don't hear anything," Chloe told him.
Clark groaned as he once more put his hands to his head.
Emmeline quickly went over to him. "Clark, are you alright?"
Clark stood up, his hands still on his head. "I gotta go."
"Clark!" Emmeline called as he stumbled out of the office. She turned back to her friends. "One of these days, maybe we'll understand why he does what he does."
"That'll be the day," Chloe muttered.
Later that evening, Chloe and Emmeline were just wrapping up when Lana walked into the office.
"Hey, Chloe, my hard drive just crashed for the 50th time. I was wondering if I could borrow your computer. I need to get a head start on this genealogy assignment."
"Yeah, sure," Chloe smiled. "We were just turning everything off." She stood up and started to put her jacket on. "So what are you, a Lang or a Small?"
"Right now, I'm committing to my mother's side of the family."
"Well, knock yourself out. I'll see you at home?"
"Yeah. Chloe, you're a lifesaver."
"Of course."
"Bye, Em!"
"Bye, Lana!" Emmeline called.
She and Chloe began walking down the halls towards the parking lot. Suddenly, Chloe froze. "Oh, crap. I left my keys in the office. You can go on ahead."
"No, it's fine. Besides, I don't really want to be alone in the parking lot at this time, and I don't think you should be either."
"Suit yourself. This won't take long."
The two girls went back to the office and Chloe paused in the doorway. When Emmeline looked at the computer, she saw that Lana was looking at the pictures of Chloe and Clark from the Spring Formal.
"Did you give up on genealogy or is my personal life more interesting?" Chloe asked icily.
"I-I was just looking," Lana said quietly, embarrassed at having been caught.
"So you decided to snoop around."
Lana stood up from the computer. "Chloe, I'm sorry."
"Don't look at me like that."
"Like…what way?"
"Like I'm some lovesick loser who's trying to hang onto something that she's never even had."
"Well, if you have feelings for Clark, maybe you should just tell him."
"This isn't about me and Clark, Lana. This is about you violating my privacy. This office and everything in it is now off limits."
Lana awkwardly stepped out of the office with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Oh, and by the way," Chloe called, "I did tell Clark how I felt. I poured my heart out to him when he was sick. And in his delirium, the one name he called out was 'Lana'."
Chloe shut the door the Torch office. Emmeline looked at her friend sadly. When it came to her relationship with Clark, things were so complicated.
"I'm sorry you always have to be right in the center of these awkward conversations," Chloe told her.
"Relax, it's not a big deal. If anything, it's practice for the ones I have to have. I'm so sorry things have been so rough lately."
"Looks like the both of us have guy troubles. Ever work things out with Pete?"
"No, things are still pretty bad. We barely talk to each other anymore except in passing."
"I know I'm the last person to be giving this kind of advice, but don't you think you should talk things out with him? It's only going to get worse if you don't."
"I just hate those kinds of conversations. And…I just don't know if I'm ready."
"I understand. I'm just saying that I think things would really help if you talked with him."
The next day, Chloe came running into the Torch office talking about some kind of symbol burned onto Clark's barn. Martha insisted that it was just a prank, but Chloe was skeptical.
She had taken pictures and was uploading them onto her computer before Emmeline could say, "Hey, I think that's really weird."
Clark came into the Torch office looking pretty ticked off. "I'd like to thank you for turning our farm into Area 51," he said to Chloe. "We needed a couple of sheriff deputies to keep all the wackos away."
"Sorry, Clark," Chloe apologized. "You have to admit, it is really intriguing."
"It's probably just a K.U. frat prank."
"Or could it be that aliens think crop circles are passé so they've moved onto barn scorching?" Clark sighed and turned around. "Come on, Clark, this is Smallville. I mean, you have to consider the possibility."
Clark turned back around as Chloe looked at him expectantly. "I'll let it go if you forgive Lana for what she did."
Emmeline rolled her eyes. Clark was once again defending Lana. Shocker.
Chloe sighed. "Why didn't I see this coming? Did she tell you what she was doing on my computer?"
"No, but she did tell me she was very sorry for what she did. I can't believe—"
"You know what, Clark? This is one time you don't need to come to Lana's rescue."
"I have to side with Chloe on this one, Clark," Emmeline said as she leaned on her desk. "No matter how Lana feels, it was a serious invasion of privacy. She didn't have the right."
"Yeah, but she apologized and she feels bad about it."
"Maybe so, but you have seriously got to stop fighting her battles for her."
"Hello," Chloe mumbled as she opened her email. "What's this?"
"Someone spammed your email account," Clark said, looking over her shoulder.
"Yeah, but they're all for you. From someone called Swann?"
"Never heard of him."
Clark looked at the computer as a picture of the symbol burned onto his barn opened up. Things were really starting to get confusing.
Clark came into the Torch office with an address from a card he had a received from the Dr. Swann who had been so eager to contact him.
Chloe quickly dove into her research and came up with all sorts of facts. She handed Clark an old TIME magazine.
"Dr. Virgil Swann. You're being stalked by a legend, Clark," she said.
"I've never heard of him."
She then handed him a piece of paper with more information on it. "He was a high-tech Howard Hughes 30 years ago. He graduated from M.I.T. when he was 19. He had his doctorate in Math and Applied Physics. Then he started his own company, Swann Communications, which quickly rose to international acclaim in the 1970s as the world's largest producer of satellites. I mean, this guy has so much hardware in space that 'Scientific American' dubbed him the 'Man of Tomorrow'."
"'Only through communication will people live in peace'," Clark read. "Sounds like a remarkable guy."
"He was until he pulled a J.D. Salinger. He sold his company and put his millions toward charitable foundations. Rumor has it he devoted himself to searching for signs of intelligent life in the universe."
"And what about the address on the card? How does that fit in?"
"It's the New York Planetarium. What better place to look for little green men?" After a pause, she asked, "Why is this guy so interested in you, Clark?"
"He's not interested in me. He's just, uh, interested in my barn."
"Virgil Swann hasn't made a phone call in 13 years and now all of a sudden he wants to be your best friend? He must think that symbol is pretty important."
"It was just a hoax."
"Yeah, well, one of the most brilliant men in the world disagrees. If I were you, I'd find out why."
Emmeline looked at a picture of Dr. Swann. "You know, I don't know if you noticed this, but the two of you kind of have similar facial features. That's a freaky coincidence."
"Hey, Em, stop by my house real quick," Chloe said as they packed up everything in the Torch office. "I want to show you something."
"Is the tension still extremely thick between you and Lana?"
Chloe sighed heavily. "Yes, but…I am going to fix that."
"If you say so."
The two girls went to Chloe's house, and when they walked into Lana's room, they found her packing up her clothes.
"You know, if you're planning on running away from home, you might want to pack a little lighter," Chloe laughed lightly.
Lana turned and gave her a remorseful smile. "This isn't my home, Chloe. As great as you and your dad have been, I don't think this was such a great idea."
"You know, Lana, if this is about the whole computer incident, I'm sorry. I overreacted, I know. But when it comes to Clark and my feelings, I, uh, I don't know, I'm never really rational."
"I can't help the way Clark feels about me."
"I know." The three girls sat down on the bed. "Before you go, I just wanted you and Em to see something." She handed Emmeline and Lana a piece of paper. "It's my family tree."
To both girls' shock, Emmeline Brooks and Lana Lang were listed in the block meant for sisters.
"You put us under sister," Lana said touched. "Why?"
"Because I decided that my family wasn't about the people that didn't love me. It's about the people who do love me. No matter what. My friends."
Emmeline smiled broadly at her best friend. Tears touched all six eyes and they joined in a group hug, all tension between them gone.
The jab of Swann and Clark looking similar is a small joke. If you didn't know, Christopher Reeve, the man who plays the role of Virgil Swann, played the original Superman :)
