'"Election of Prom royalty is an archaic and elitist ritual whose time has come and gone'," Lana read from the latest Torch issue. "Chloe Sullivan strikes again."
"What?" Chloe smirked. "Oh, please don't tell me I lost you to tiara fever too."
"No. But balloons and taffeta seem a little harmless compared to your usual targets."
"Well, this is how I see it. Homecoming is for jocks, graduation is for parents, and prom is the rite of passage that's for all of us. It's supposed to be a culmination of four years of memories. Why do we have to ruin it with the pinnacle of a popularity contest?"
"So, does that mean I order more pizza for the Brad Pitt marathon?"
"What? You're not going? What happened with Jason?"
"Showing up with the coach that got fired for dating a student? That is an entrance I could live without."
"Right."
"Besides, after imagining something for four years, I just don't think it could live up to expectations."
"Well, not if you're part of the 'half-empty' persuasion. And the Lana I know wouldn't cop out like that. Come on, Lana, it's gonna be so much fun! Lex even got Lifehouse to play for the seniors. You can help Em and I bring stag back in style."
Lana laughed.
"Excuse me. Coming through."
Lana, Chloe, and Emmeline looked down the hall to find one of the worst girls in school walking their way followed by her loyal followers: Dawn Stiles.
"Smells like school spirit," Chloe muttered to the two of them.
Dawn marched up to Chloe. "Chloe, you may think bashing a sacred school tradition in your tabloid rag is cool, but I think it's disgusting."
"Lighten up, Dawn," Chloe smiled back. "You'll get your throne because the entire school is terrified of you and your vicious rumor mill."
Dawn pushed her hair behind her ear. "Kill me now! You are such a 'hypocrat'."
"Hypo—"
The three friends quickly tried to suppress their laughter at the high school senior's poor word choice.
"I'm sorry," Chloe mustered out. "Whatever it is that you're saying to me, it's getting lost in translation."
"Don't play stupid. The only reason your picture is on that wall is because of your lame article."
"What picture? What wall?"
Dawn looked at the wall behind them. The three of them turned, and Chloe's smile fell flat onto the floor.
There for all to see was a poster of the prom nominees. Along with Dawn and Paige Dejong, Chloe's face was right next to them.
Lana and Emmeline looked at each other and smiled broadly.
"I would say 'May the best girl win'," Dawn continued smugly. "But I think we both know who that is. Hm? Laters!"
She waved at them and took off down the hallway with her followers.
Lana smiled again. "So, apparently, I'm not the only one who enjoyed your article." She curtseyed for her. "Your Highness." Lana laughed and patted her on the shoulder. "Good luck."
Their raven-haired friend left for class.
Emmeline smiled. "Why the frown? Do you know how many people would kill to be in your position?"
"That's just it!" Chloe lamented. "The whole point of that article was my stance against this stupid thing! Why would they vote for me?"
"Maybe because you don't let people like Dawn stand in your way and you aren't afraid to say what you believe in."
"It's still a popularity contest."
"Then I guess you're more popular than you thought!"
Chloe stormed off to the Torch office and found Clark sitting at his desk looking at the latest issue.
"Now, should I bow to you when I see you, or…" he teased.
"Cute," Chloe shot back. "Very cute. What about boycotting the vote didn't anyone understand?"
"Oh, they understand it perfectly. You see, you are the boycott. I mean, think about it. The last four years, everyone has been trying to break out of the stereotype they've been stuck in. You're the battle cry."
"Oh. The great Smallville High Prom coup, huh?"
Clark smiled up at her.
"Clark, you didn't happen to have anything to do with this, did you?"
"I may have spoken to a few people."
Chloe threw her pencil at him and Clark quickly held up the newspaper to block it from hitting him. Emmeline thought the whole thing was extremely cute. Clark convincing people to vote for Chloe from prom queen? It was adorable! She couldn't understand why Clark didn't feel the same way about her she did for him.
"Now, I know you're not gonna let me storm this Bastille alone," Chloe smiled. "So who is Smallville's most eligible bachelor taking to prom?"
Clark lost his smile. "I was actually thinking of sitting this one out."
"What? Oh, not you too. Wait, let me guess. You spent four years imagining what it would be like, and you just don't think it's gonna live up to your expectations."
"Something like that."
"So you're gonna let me break out of my rut onstage wearing a sash while you're at home playing the 'what-if' game for the nine hundredth time."
"I never said you were in a rut."
"Yeah, but I am. And I'm not alone. You know, Clark, in a couple of weeks, we're gonna graduate from this adolescent fantasy and we're not gonna have a rut to fall back into. The thing about expectations, Clark, is they're supposed to drive you to do more with your life, not stop you from living it. Personally, I think the future holds a lot more promise for you than you give it credit."
Clark raised his eyebrows a little, impressed with her words.
Emmeline smiled. "And that is why everyone voted for you."
That night, Chloe and Emmeline were working late at the Torch when they ran into Clark.
"Hey, have either of you seen Lana?" he asked urgently.
"The only people here are the school spirit club spreading their 'promaganda'," Chloe answered. "Why?"
"There's something going on. My mom started to act strange. It's like she's channeling some inner teenager, and now Lana's not acting like herself."
"Well, if you think Lana's here decorating for the prom, that definitely falls under altered states."
Suddenly, the lights began to flicker and dim several times. When they came back on, Clark was gone.
"Clark?" Chloe called.
"What the heck is going on?" Emmeline asked.
Chloe put down the phone in the Torch office and turned to an anxious Lana. "That was Clark. He's at the hospital. Billy's gonna make a full recovery."
"Good," Lana breathed from the couch. "Clark said he saw me come out of that locker room. Do you think I could've done anything when I was blacked out?"
Chloe opened her mouth to answer, but she couldn't think of the words.
"Why would I ever hurt Billy Durden?"
"You wouldn't. But Dawn Stiles would."
"Dawn? The girl most likely to be Prom Queen?"
"People were saying that you were acting freakishly like her, and Clark's mom was acting very Dawn-ish before she came back online at the Talon."
Lana stood up. "That's the last thing I remember before blacking out, talking to Martha Kent in the Talon."
"And Mrs. Kent says the last thing she remembers is driving along route 54. That's where they found Dawn's body at the bottom of Carlton Gorge. The mother lode of all meteor rock."
Lana's eyes widened in understanding.
"They have her in the emergency room. She's in a deep coma."
"So you think that her spirit was somehow able to take over Martha and then transfer into me?"
"Well, we are in Smallville. And I mean, what would the Senior Prom be without a body-snatching Prom Queen?"
"I thought at least once we could just catch a break," Emmeline sighed.
The three of them headed to the hospital to touch base with Clark.
"Lana, are you okay?" Clark asked when he saw them.
"Yeah, I just feel really horrible," she told him. "I have no idea what I did."
"Well, you didn't do anything. You were inhabited by Dawn Stiles."
Lana nodded, but the words didn't change how she felt.
"And the question is, now that we have the old Lana back, where's the new Dawn?" Chloe posed.
One of Dawn's followers, Harmony, quickly walked up to them. "How is she?"
"Well, she's barely hanging on," Clark explained. "She's got massive head injuries. She's severely disfigured."
"Disfigured?" She walked up to the window of Dawn's room. "No, it couldn't be. That face was so perfect."
The four friends looked at one another, confused by the strange wording. Even for a friend, that was going a bit too far.
Harmony disappeared into Dawn's room.
"I'm going to grab something from the vending machine," Chloe announced. "Anybody want anything?"
"I'm good," Lana answered.
"No, thanks," Clark added.
Emmeline smiled a little. "I'll come with you."
The two of them went to the vending machines and just stared at the contents.
"Hopefully, Dawn doesn't completely wreck prom tomorrow," Emmeline said. "But with her out of commission, you're a shoe-in for Prom Queen."
"Oh, boy," Chloe said sarcastically. "Just what I wanted."
"I'm happy for you. I can honestly say I never thought I would get to be friends with the Prom Queen."
"I never thought I'd be the Prom Queen. I never really wanted it either."
"I still think it's cool. You deserve something like this after pushing through these four complicated years at Smallville."
"You deserve it too."
"Thanks, but I could never get up on that stage in front of all those people."
"I bet you could."
"Just thinking about it is enough to make me say no way in heaven."
Their conversation was cut off when the speaker announced, "Code Blue, room 256. Code Blue, room 256."
Chloe and Emmeline rejoined Clark and Lana, and they rushed down the hallway to figure out what was going on.
A nurse with curly red hair approached them. "Excuse me, are you friends of Dawn's?"
"Yes, what happened?" Clark asked.
"There's nothing they can do. I'm afraid she passed on. I'm sure she didn't suffer. I'm sorry."
The nurse left them, and they all quieted.
"So…" Emmeline started to break the silence. "If Dawn's dead, does that mean her spirit is gone too?"
"I don't know," Chloe replied. "And we have no way of knowing unless she makes a sudden reappearance."
Prom night.
A night every senior at Smallville had been looking forward to for four years.
Chloe and Emmeline were no exception. The girls had spent all day getting ready and going all out on their looks.
Chloe's hair had been completely pinned up and she was wearing a slimming black dress with pink straps.
Emmeline had decided to have her long hair all curled and pinned to the side so it hung over her shoulder and wore a white and light blue dress.
It was decided that Chloe was going to pick Emmeline up and drive the both of them to the school so they could walk in together.
"What do you think?" Emmeline asked her mother as she came down the steps.
Her mother slowly got up from the couch, sicker and paler than ever, and smiled. "You look so beautiful."
"Thank you."
"I'm just sorry you don't have a date to pick you up."
"Chloe's my date."
"You know that's not what I meant. Why didn't you get Clark to go with you?"
"Mom!"
"I'm serious! You two would've been great together."
"He's not even going to the prom."
"Why, because he can't go with Lana?"
"…Maybe."
"That boy is going to have to get over her sooner or later."
Emmeline laughed. "You're so nosy! You shouldn't be so concerned about his love life."
"I am when he should be with you."
"Mom!"
"What?"
The doorbell rang, signaling Chloe had arrived.
"Oh, Chloe's here. I gotta get going."
Audrey hugged her daughter and kissed her cheek. "Have fun tonight."
"I will."
Emmeline left the house, and she and Chloe drove down to the prom.
"Come on, Chloe, you can do this," Chloe whispered to herself as she walked in.
"Yes, you can," Emmeline smiled. "This is going to be a wonderful night. Besides, we look fantastic."
Chloe laughed lightly. "We do."
The two girls walked into the room, searching for anyone they knew. It wasn't too long before they saw Clark.
Chloe eagerly waved to him. "Hey. Haven't I seen you here before?"
"Well, maybe this time we won't have any natural disasters," Clark smiled.
"I'm really surprised that you made it."
"Yeah, well, remember all those regrets we were talking about? I think not seeing you with a crown on your head would be at the top of the list."
Chloe rolled her eyes as Clark smiled at her.
Emmeline internally groaned. The two of them really had chemistry, and she didn't understand why she seemed to be the only one who saw it.
"I'm glad you're here," Chloe said.
"Clark! Clark!"
Chloe and Emmeline furrowed their eyebrows as Lois ran up next to Clark in an extremely bright pink prom dress, something neither of them ever thought they would see in a million years.
"It's called an escort for a reason," Lois said bouncily.
"And you're here. In pink. Why?"
"I came to, uh, cheer you on, of course."
A teacher walked onstage to the microphone. "Excuse me, everybody! Excuse me!" She turned to the band who had stopped playing. "Thanks, guys." She then turned back to the audience. "If I could just get your attention for a moment. Thank you. It is time for the big announcement!"
Chloe sighed heavily. "Okay, if by some weird reason I win, the tiara-burning party is at my house."
"Will you lighten up?" Emmeline laughed. "I want you to win!"
Lois smiled ecstatically. "Let's get closer. Come on."
Chloe, Lois, Clark, and Emmeline weaved their way through the crowd to get closer to the stage.
"You voted and the results are in," the teacher announced. "This year's Smallville High Prom Queen is…" She opened up the envelope and smiled. "Chloe Sullivan!"
Emmeline laughed excitedly as she looked over at Chloe. "You won!" She tightly hugged her best friend, beyond thrilled she had actually been voted Prom Queen.
"Come on up here, Chloe!"
Lois gave her a thin smile. "Congratulations!"
The two girls hugged, and when Chloe broke away, a large smile spread across her face. She practically ran up onto the stage.
Lois looked at Clark pointedly. "What am I doing in a dress, and what am I doing at your prom?"
Clark and Emmeline looked at each other and then up on the stage where Chloe was happily accepting her crown and flowers and practically yanked the scepter away from the teacher who was giving it to her.
"Oh, no," they said together.
"Did you pin that on me?" Lois asked, referring to the corsage on her chest.
"I'll explain later, Lois."
"A little close to the boob, don't you think?"
Chloe went up to the microphone. "Oh, my gosh, you guys, thank you so much! This is so totally awesome! I guess I could say I've looked to the stars and wished for this moment ever since I was a little girl."
Lois looked at her cousin in confusion while Clark and Emmeline shared another look as they listened to the speech that never should've been coming out of Chloe's mouth.
"You can dream of standing here your whole life, but right now, looking down on all of you, I just…This is just so totally genius! Thank you so much! Although, I just have to say…that the person who really deserves this honor is Dawn Stiles."
Several students in the audience laughed, assuming she was joking.
"No, seriously, you guys! Seriously! She gave so much of herself, way more than Chloe Sullivan."
The audience began chanting her name.
Chloe/Dawn wiped away a small tear, clearly hurt by what was happening. "Anyway, I promise this will be one night that I will always remember…and you will never forget."
She quickly darted off the stage and out of the room.
"Okay, Smallville," Lois said icily. "I clicked my heels together three times and nothing happened. Better tell me what's going on."
Emmeline looked at him. "Go fix this."
Clark took off after the heartbroken Dawn.
"What is going on here?" Lois asked.
Emmeline sighed. "You're never going to believe this."
When Chloe and Clark returned to the gym, Emmeline quickly went over to her best friend.
"It is you, right?" she asked.
"Yep, I'm Dawn-free."
"How?"
"I'm not sure. I got knocked out, so I didn't see what happened, but Clark did it. Like he always does."
"You realize you got possessed twice in one year? First a 17th century witch and then a crazy high school teenager."
"Not just me. Lana too. At least you escaped it."
"Dawn would never want to be me."
"She would be anyone to get what she wanted. It has nothing to do with you."
Lana ended up coming to the prom as well and shared a dance with Clark. They both looked like the prom had fulfilled their expectations after all.
Later into the night, Clark came over to Emmeline who was sitting alone near the wall.
"You okay?" he asked her.
Emmeline smiled sadly. "I'm fine."
"Really?"
She looked down and avoided eye contact with him. "It's just…Pete and I talked about coming to this together. I know it's been a year since he left, but it's times like these when…I really miss him."
"I miss him too. But he wouldn't want you to be by yourself on a night like this."
Clark extended his hand towards her which made Emmeline finally look up.
"Care to dance?"
Emmeline smiled broadly and took his hand. He led her out to the dance floor and put his hands to her waist as she encircled his neck.
Lifehouse started another song on the stage, one perfect for them to dance to.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"You deserve this. You look great, by the way."
"You clean up nice yourself. I'm glad you decided to come."
"Me too."
Clark smiled at her, and she recalled just how much she liked that smile.
The two of them danced together for the entire duration of the song, sharing a comfortable silence.
The same feeling Emmeline had had when they were dealing with the double Lex came back to her. She couldn't describe the feeling and wasn't sure she wanted to. If her feelings for Clark came back, things would get more complicated than they already were.
She chose to ignore the mysterious feeling and simply enjoy the dance she got to have with her best friend.
"Hey, Clark?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't forget to share a dance with the Prom Queen."
Clark looked over at Chloe. "I won't."
Once the song ended, Clark extended the same invitation to Chloe. She happily agreed, and Emmeline watched as her best friend got to have one of the best nights of her life, dancing in the arms of the boy she cared about more than anything.
