Title: Invisible
Disclaimer: See Part One
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has left feedback for my story, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the next part, it's a long one...I probably could have broken it into two chapters, but I didn't. Oh well, live and learn.
Spoilers: Rogue
Part Three
As soon as Lex got back to his house, he grabbed a bottle of water and sat at his desk, turning on a television monitor and pressing play on his vcr.
Chloe grinned at him. She still couldn't believe her luck at being given the chance to snoop Lex Luthor's castle undetected. Reporters all over the country would kill to be in her place. She was about to begin her search of Lex's not-so-humble abode when she was struck with curiosity at the intensity with which Lex was watching the tv.
"What is so darn interesting? You watching your soaps or something?" she inquired.
Chloe laughed at the thought and came around behind Lex, peering over his shoulder at the image on the monitor.
"Security tapes?" Chloe asked incredulously, "Wow Lex, I gave you more credit than that. I thought you actually had a life."
Lex continued staring at the screen, a look of deep concentration on his handsome face.
"So what? Your cameras are broken or something? There's a blur on the lens, whoopdey do!" Chloe said, sitting on the edge of Lex's desk, tapping a pen on his bald head.
Lex continued to rewind the tapes and look closely at the image and Chloe could see that the wheels were definitely in motion.
"Well Lex, it's been a blast watching these oh-so-entertaining security tapes with you, but I think I'll start snooping around your private property," Chloe said with a grin.
As Chloe got up to leave, Lex's phone rang and he paused the tape. Almost immediately, Lex began yelling at the person on the other end of the phone. Chloe didn't quite follow what was going on, but it was something to do with a contract that wasn't ironclad or something. All Chloe knew was that she felt sorry for the person on the other end.
"Hmm, Lex is pretty sexy when he's angry," Chloe mused. "Aack, did I just call Lex Luthor sexy? Think unLexy thoughts, think unLexy thoughts...Clark is unLexy and just as sexy!"
Chloe laughed at her own silliness. "UnLexy? What the hell does that mean?" she asked herself aloud. "I'm starting to lose my mind with no one to talk to and it's only day two!"
Chloe decided to leave Lex chewing out the person on the phone and start snooping. Chloe decided to start in Lex's bedroom, figuring she'd get the most personal insight into Lex in there. She headed towards Lex's bedroom grinning brightly. She was quite enjoying the advantages being invisible were presenting her.
She searched through Lex's closet, shelves, and dresser finding nothing of interest. She was about to leave his room when she thought of the one place that she hid her stuff in her bedroom, under the bed. She got down on the floor and peeked under Lex's bed. Sure enough, there was a huge white box under it. She pulled out the box and opened it, her eyes growing wide in shock as she saw it's contents. After a few seconds of shock, Chloe began laughing uncontrollably.
In the box, Lex had every issue of 'Martha Stewart Living' magazine, with pages of interest marked off and everything.
"It's always the quiet ones," she said with a laugh. "I could so use this information to blackmail you Mr. Luthor."
After returning to her previous fit of laughter, Chloe finally managed to calm down and put the box back under the bed. She continued snooping through Lex's bedroom for another few minutes, but found nothing else of interest.
Leaving Lex's bedroom, Chloe began heading towards his library, but saw Lex leaving his office, and hurried towards it instead.
As she passed Lex in the hallway she snorted and chanted "Martha Stewart Living!" at him, wishing she could have seen a reaction from him as he realized that she knew of his strange little obsession.
She hurried into Lex's office and began snooping through his desk, her thoughts turning to the strange way Lex was talking to Clark earlier.
"He was acting like he had something on Clark," she mused aloud, "Having something on Clark...ha, that's like having something on Mother Teresa...it just ain't gonna happen. Clark is as good as they get..."
Chloe stopped as she found a file of interest.
"Hello," she said, with a grin as she read the name on the file. "Let's see what Lex thinks of you dad."
Chloe curiously flipped open the file with her father's name on it. "Plant manager, blah, blah, transferred from Metropolis, yada, yada, good worker...hey what's this about?"
Chloe was surprised and a little nervous at the fact that there was a whole section of the file devoted to her in her father's file, complete with photographs. What disturbed her was that it wasn't just general information like her age and school, but it listed her friends, her classes, and it even referred to her Wall of Weird. Chloe was particularly disturbed when she saw the notation that referred to her mother, which went into detail about her mother's cancer, her treatments, and when and where she died.
"That's a little in depth for an employee file isn't it Lex?" Chloe said aloud, although Lex was still out of the room.
Grabbing a couple other employee files and discovering similar extensive personal information did not put her at ease, however, it made her even more apprehensive.
"He makes sure he has enough information on each of his employees so he knows their weak spots and how to manipulate them," Chloe said angrily. "I knew Clark trusted this guy too easily."
"I just hope he doesn't actually have anything on you Clark," she said worriedly, "he's definitely not a guy you want to mess with."
Lex came back into the room just as Chloe had returned the files to their rightful drawers.
"I can't believe I ever thought you were sexy, you snake!" Chloe yelled at him, slapping him across the face. Lex, of course, did not feel a thing.
Lex sat down at his desk and turned on the television monitor again, staring at it intensely.
"Again with the security tapes!" Chloe exclaimed, exasperated that her snooping session had not led to answers about Lex Luthor, but more questions and bitter implications. "What is so damn interesting Lex?"
Chloe watched the tape with him for a few minutes, staring as intensely as Lex was, hoping to see what he saw.
"Your camera is just busted Lex!" she exclaimed, seeing nothing interesting whatsoever about the tape. "Get over it!"
"L-e-x-," a British voice purred, dragging Lex's name into a grating, three-syllable word. "Are you coming to bed?"
Lex barely acknowledged her, continuing to stare closely at the screen. "In a minute," he said quietly, as the chesty brunette ran her hands over Lex's chest.
"Yuck," Chloe said, rolling her eyes, "I guess that's my cue to leave."
"Well, I can't say it's been fun Lex," Chloe said, whacking the man hard on the back. "Don't keep sitting so close to the tv. You'll go blind."
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Chloe had been sitting for most of the morning watching Clark do his chores. She had returned from Lex's house quite late the night before, as Lex lived on the outskirts of town and she had to walk from his house to the Kent's farm, and promptly fell asleep on the Kent's couch. She awoke to find Martha tending to her flowers, Jonathon doing some work on his motorcycle, and Clark doing his chores in the barn. She was currently wondering how she had never noticed the just how amazingly muscular Clark was, when Pete's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Clark!" Pete shouted from outside the barn.
"In here Pete," Clark answered chuckling as Pete sped into the barn looking like the Energizer bunny on speed.
Pete hurried over to Clark, who was watching with amusement as Pete shifted excitedly, clutching something tightly in his hand.
"Did you pull a Chloe, Pete?" Clark asked with a grin.
"Huh?" Pete asked with confusion.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe exclaimed defensively.
"Did you have too much caffeine?" Clark explained gesturing to Pete's hand that was flailing around rapidly.
Pete shook his head. "No!" he yelled a little too loudly. "Well, okay, I may have had a few too many cups of coffee last night when I was doing some research. Come to think of it, I am starting to sound a lot like Chloe."
Both Pete and Clark laughed at this.
Chloe glared at them. "Like that's such a bad thing?" she huffed.
"What were you researching Pete?" Clark asked curiously.
"Well, I came across this article in yesterday's newspaper and it caught my interest," Pete said, smacking a newspaper against Clark's chest. Clark regarded Pete strangely and then began to read the article.
Clark began to read the article aloud:
"Strange Happenings at the Smallville Fair
"Adolescence is a time of irrational insecurities and awkwardness. For three teenage girls from Smallville, however, these insecurities have become a startling reality. A trip to the Smallville carnival resulted in the dramatic transformation of three Smallville High students, Sandy McCrae, Lydia Johnson, and Beth Timmins, all of whom, at different times, returned from the fortune teller's booth virtually unrecognizable. All three girls blame their current state on a shady individual posing as a fortune teller, the man is still unidentified. The Smallville Police Department is currently investigating the strange occurrence, and although no official explanation has been given, unnamed sources have suggested that some sort of hallucinogens may be involved."
"Well?" Pete asked, eager for Clark's reaction.
"It sounds a little hard to believe Pete," Clark replied skeptically.
Both Chloe and Pete shook their heads in disgust.
"What are you talking about Clark?" Pete exclaimed. "After all we've seen here in Smallville you can't even accept the possibility that these girls are telling the truth?"
"I'm not saying that it's not possible..."Clark trailed off. "It's just, the article hinted that drugs might have been involved."
"Yeah, if the drugs are the little green glowing kind," Chloe snorted.
"Drugs?" Pete echoed incredulously. "Sandy McCrae always felt fat, now she is. I mean, come on Clark, the girl gained over two hundred pounds over night! How do you explain that?"
"Growth spurt?" Clark offered weakly.
Pete rolled his eyes. "Lydia Johnson, you know the red head on the cheerleading squad? She was saving up for a nose job because she felt her nose was too big, and now the girl's got a nose that rivals Pinocchio's!" Pete recounted.
Clark shrugged uneasily.
"Beth Timmins, the girl from our science class, you know the shy one with the nervous laugh. I always thought she was kind of cute, I mean sure she's a little spazzy, but..." Pete rambled.
"Pete!" Clark exclaimed with exasperation.
"Sorry Clark," he replied with a sheepish grin. "I guess I really did have too much coffee. Anyway, so Beth always felt too short, and now she's FIVE INCHES TALL! I mean come on Clark, what kind of drug could do all that?"
Clark sighed, a troubled look on his face.
"Come on Clark!" Pete exclaimed. "This is so Wall of Weird material! I'm betting that what happened to those girls can be linked somehow to the meteor fragments."
"I always knew I liked you for a reason!" Chloe said, grinning at Pete.
"You can't be sure this has anything to do with the meteors," Clark argued stubbornly.
"Geez Clark! What's with you today?" Pete asked with annoyance. "Anyway, I didn't just come up with this theory half-heartedly, like I said, I did extensive research."
"What else did you find out?" Clark asked.
"Well, this isn't the first time this has happened," Pete told him, reaching into his bag and handing Clark a file filled with old newspaper clippings.
Clark's eyes widened as he flipped through the articles.
"Every year since the meteor shower a few teenagers leave county fairs with their biggest insecurities coming true. Originally it was just the Smallville fair, then these occurrences spread to fairs in the surrounding counties as well," Pete explained as Clark looked up at him in surprise. "The funny thing is that I found half of those articles on Chloe's Wall of Weird. There's just too much stuff up there to keep track of it all."
Chloe groaned. "I've really got to do a semi-annual inventory on that thing."
"So anyway, I think we should go talk to Beth, Lydia, and Sandy, and find out what happened with that fortune teller," Pete said.
"You know this is really Chloe's territory," Clark said uneasily.
"Wuss," Chloe said, shooting Clark an annoyed look.
"Well Chloe's not here is she?" Pete countered.
Clark looked even more crestfallen upon Pete's words.
"What's wrong Clark? Why are you so eager to dismiss this?" Pete asked in frustration.
Clark sighed again, looking at the ground. "I don't know," Clark said truthfully, "I guess I'm just tired of all the damage the meteors have done."
Pete nodded. "I hear you Clark," he agreed, "but we really should consider looking into this. I mean, Chloe went to the fortune teller at the fair."
"What are you saying Pete? Do you think the same thing could have happened to Chloe?" Clark asked with worry, his face showing that he himself thought that might be the case.
"Gee, you think?" Chloe said sarcastically, although she was more than a little happy that Clark seemed worried about her. "That's a step up from being non-existent."
"The thought crossed my mind," Pete said with a nod. "I mean, I thought it was weird when she upped and left the carnival without saying goodbye and decided on the spur of the moment to go with her dad on a business trip, but then we got the note and the phone message and I figured I was just overreacting."
Clark nodded. "But it's not like this happened to everyone who went to the fortune teller, right?" Clark said. "I mean, according to those articles, it is just a handful of people at each fair that are affected."
"Right," Pete agreed. "But Clark man, if something did happen to Chloe, something embarrassing or freaky, then that would explain her sudden decision to go to Metropolis with her dad...you know, to hide away out of sight."
"You got the 'out of sight' part right, Pete my boy," Chloe remarked.
"Okay Pete," Clark said with conviction. "Let's go talk to those girls and see what we can find out. Do you know how to get a hold of them?"
Pete grinned. "I already called and set up an appointment with them," Pete admitted. "We're supposed to be at Lydia's house in half an hour."
Clark gave Pete a small smile. "Way to stay on top of things Pete," he said.
Pete smiled and then packed the newspaper articles into his bag. "You know," Pete mused," Chloe may have her headline after all."
"Her headline?" Clark asked in confusion.
"Yeah, what was it? Oh yeah: 'Beyond the Cotton Candy: The Dirty Underbelly of the American Fairground'." Pete quoted Chloe.
Chloe sighed looking at Pete. "Yeah, it's not so funny now is it?"
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After getting over the initial shock of seeing Lydia, Sandy and Beth with their strange new appearances, Pete and Clark began to question them about their experiences with the fortune teller.
Chloe sat quietly listening to the stories of the three girls that closely echoed her own. They had gone into see the fortune teller with their biggest insecurities or worries on their minds, and a strange man with glowing green eyes had told them "you are what you feel" and they left the tent in their new found state.
"You are what you feel?" Clark echoed. "That's all he said?"
The three girls nodded.
"Then he pointed a wand with a green stone in it at us," Sandy said.
Clark and Pete looked at each other. The meteor fragments were definitely involved.
"Tell them about the pendant Lydia," a small voice spoke into the microphone that was bigger than she was from her place on the coffee table.
Clark looked at Beth, a mere five inches tall, in amazement. Even though he had been there for over half an hour, Beth's small stature still freaked him out.
"What pendant?" Pete asked.
Lydia reached into her pocket, pulled out a pewter pendant with a strange looking symbol on it, and handed it to Pete.
"After the guy did this to me," she said, pointing to her extremely long nose, "I grabbed at his throat and demanded he turn me back. This came off in the struggle."
Chloe grinned. "Aren't you the feisty one," she remarked, impressed at Lydia's guts.
Pete studied the strange pendant and then handed it to Clark. "What do you think it is?" he asked him.
Clark looked at it and shrugged. "I don't know," he replied, "but hopefully it will give us some answers."
"Not that I don't appreciate your help, but why are you guys so interested in this?" Sandy McCrae asked, almost recognizable to Clark, Chloe and Pete with the two hundred pounds added to her previously average frame.
Pete sighed. "Our friend may also be a victim of this fortune teller guy," he replied.
"We're not positive or anything," Clark quickly added, as if trying to convince himself. "She may have just decided to go out of town with her dad, not necessarily because of something this guy did to her."
"Who was it?" Beth asked quietly from her place on the coffee table.
"Chloe Sullivan," Clark said quietly.
"The editor of the Torch?" Lydia asked with surprise.
Pete and Clark nodded.
"Hmm," Lydia mused, "she doesn't seem like the type to run away."
Sandy nodded. "Yeah," she agreed, "I would think if that guy did something to her she'd be here getting to the bottom of it. She probably just needed a vacation."
"Maybe," Clark replied hopefully.
Pete shook his head. "I don't know," he argued. "I don't have such a good feeling about this."
"Do you know if anything was bothering her. Like any insecurities or hurt feelings that were on her mind that night?" Beth's small voice echoed from the microphone.
Clark shook his head. "I have no idea," he replied.
Pete, on the other hand, was suddenly very interested in his hands.
Chloe blushed and was suddenly extremely glad she was invisible.
"Pete?" Clark asked his friend in surprise. "Do you know what was bothering Chloe that night?"
Pete wouldn't meet Clark's gaze. "I mean, I don't know if this has any bearing on the situation, or whatever, um," Pete stammered.
"Pete?" Clark said more sternly. "If you know something, it's important that you tell me."
"I just don't think she'd want me to tell anybody," Pete said, pulling at a thread on his t-shirt.
"Damn straight," Chloe agreed.
"Pete, come on," Clark prompted, "if something did happen to Chloe, we need to know all the details we can."
Pete nodded. "Well, she was feeling kind of hurt that you weren't paying any attention to her," Pete admitted. "She was hurt that you were too preoccupied with Lana to even know she was there."
"Ohhh," all three of the girls said knowingly.
"What does that mean?" Clark asked looking at each of the girls.
Chloe groaned and buried her face in her hands.
"Chloe has a thing for you," Sandy said simply.
"What?" Clark exclaimed. "No, we're just friends. Come on Pete, tell them."
Pete looked around the room frantically for something to keep him from answering Clark.
"Pete?" Clark asked with confusion.
"Yeah," Pete replied quietly, avoiding Clark's questioning gaze.
"Does Chloe have a crush on me?" Clark asked.
"Um, maybe a little one," Pete replied hesitantly.
"Okay, that settles it," Chloe declared with embarrassment. "I have no problem remaining invisible forever."
Clark sat quietly with a look of shock on his face. "I can't believe I never knew," he said, more to himself than to anyone in the room.
"I know man. She was pretty obvious, I thought for sure you'd figure it out but nope you were clueless," Pete rambled, happy to share the secret that he had been burdened with for years.
"Shut up Pete!" Chloe said, punching him on the arm.
Clark showed little sign of hearing Pete though. He was deep in thought. "So what could the guy have done to Chloe?" he asked.
Lydia shrugged. "That's a hard one," she replied. "With an unrequited crush a girl could feel anything from ugly to worthless to invisible."
Chloe's eyes widened. "Yes, invisible!" she yelled. "Guys, I'm invisible!"
Pete sighed. "I guess we should go do some more research to try and figure out how to reverse things," he said. "I'm gonna try calling Chloe's cell again and see if she'll tell me what's wrong."
Clark nodded and turned to Lydia. "Is it okay if we take the pendant?" he asked. "You know, to see what we can find out."
Lydia nodded. "Definitely," she replied. "I hope you guys can help return us to normal and I hope that Chloe is okay."
Pete and Clark mumbled thank you and promised the girls that they would keep them informed of whatever they found out.
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Clark and Pete walked silently down the path towards their homes, with Chloe slumping behind them.
"It's not like we even found out anything useful," Chloe said aloud. "Except that I have a huge crush on Clark."
Chloe blushed again at the fact that Clark now knew of her feelings for him. When, or if, she was returned to normal, she was going to have a hard time facing her gorgeous best friend anytime soon.
Clark's head shot up, a look of deep concentration on his face.
"Maybe we've got it all wrong about what Chloe was feeling," he said. "I mean, she kept saying how she felt too old for the carnival, maybe that's what happened to her, she turned really old."
Pete gave Clark a skeptic look. "Maybe, but Clark, don't you think her dad would have noticed if she got really old?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Clark conceded, "but wouldn't he notice anything else that could have happened?"
Pete nodded. "You're right Clark," he agreed. "So whatever happened to Chloe, must be something you can't see."
Chloe chuckled. "Um, yeah," she replied. "And when you can't see something it's..." she prodded.
"I wonder what it could be," Clark pondered.
"Argh," Chloe groaned. "Invisible! I'm invisible. Come on guys, follow the trail of logic!"
"I don't know man," Pete replied. "But at least now we have some idea of what was on Chloe's mind."
Clark blushed, then looked guilty.
"Clark," Pete said sternly. "Whatever happen to Chloe, it's not your fault."
"He's right Clark," Chloe said, knowing Clark couldn't hear her. "It's that stupid fortune teller's fault. And those damn meteors!"
"It was because of me," Clark said quietly.
"We don't even know for sure if anything happened to Chloe," Pete argued, "and even if something did happen, and even if it was because of her, uh, feelings for you, that still doesn't make it your fault."
Clark nodded some of the weight obviously lifted from his shoulders.
"You know," Pete continued, "all of this would never have happened if it wasn't for those blasted meteor fragments! I mean, the girls said there was a piece in the wand and the whole tent was lined with the glowing green things. The creepy fortune teller guy probably wouldn't have even been able to do this if it hadn't been for those damn rocks!"
At Pete's comment, the look of guilt returned to Clark's face.
"Geez Clark," Chloe commented, noticing the effect of Pete's statement, "you got to stop feeling responsible for everything. It's not like you had nothing to do with the meteor shower."
Pete, however, didn't notice Clark's reaction to his meteor comment. He was too busy digging in his bag for something.
"Okay Clark," he said as they reached Pete's driveway, "I'm gonna try go in and try getting Chloe on her cell phone again and I'll see if I can find out anything about the mysterious fortune teller from the description the girls gave us. You see what you can find out about the pendant," he said, handing the round, pewter object over to Clark.
Clark nodded. "Let me know if you get in touch with Chloe," he said.
"Will do," Pete said. "I'll call you later man. Bye Clark."
Clark gave Pete a distracted wave and continued along the path that led to his home, while Chloe trailed behind him, dejected. She was upset that the meeting with Lydia, Beth and Sandy hadn't been more fruitful and she was downright mortified that Clark now knew about her crush on him.
"Oh well," she said, "nothing I can do about it now. I hope that pendant will give you some answers about my current predicament.
Clark was tossing the strange pendant in his hand nervously, a look of deep worry and concentration on his face. As he headed up his driveway, Clark tripped on a stone and dropped the pendant underneath his dad's pickup truck.
"Oh great Clark," Chloe said, rolling her eyes. "Lose the one thing that may actually give us answers on how to turn me back to normal."
Clark put his hand underneath the truck and patted around for the pendant. When he couldn't find it right away, he shot a quick look in all directions to see if anyone was around. He then stared intensely at the truck and after a moment, smiled slightly.
"Just pick it up already," Chloe chided.
What happened next struck Chloe dumbfounded. Right before her very eyes, Clark had bent down and picked up his dad's pickup truck, and was now holding it over his head like it was a feather. Still holding the truck in one hand, Clark reached down and picked up the pendant. Then, with a relieved grin, Clark gently placed the truck down and trotted towards his house, with the pendant firmly in his hand.
Chloe stood staring after him in complete shock. After a few minutes of trying to figure out a logical explanation for Clark's actions, Chloe just let out an anxious breath that she hadn't known she was holding. Her light eyes widened in shock as her mind finally registered what had just happened.
"Clark just single-handedly picked up a truck," Chloe gasped in disbelief. "Oh my God."
Disclaimer: See Part One
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has left feedback for my story, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the next part, it's a long one...I probably could have broken it into two chapters, but I didn't. Oh well, live and learn.
Spoilers: Rogue
Part Three
As soon as Lex got back to his house, he grabbed a bottle of water and sat at his desk, turning on a television monitor and pressing play on his vcr.
Chloe grinned at him. She still couldn't believe her luck at being given the chance to snoop Lex Luthor's castle undetected. Reporters all over the country would kill to be in her place. She was about to begin her search of Lex's not-so-humble abode when she was struck with curiosity at the intensity with which Lex was watching the tv.
"What is so darn interesting? You watching your soaps or something?" she inquired.
Chloe laughed at the thought and came around behind Lex, peering over his shoulder at the image on the monitor.
"Security tapes?" Chloe asked incredulously, "Wow Lex, I gave you more credit than that. I thought you actually had a life."
Lex continued staring at the screen, a look of deep concentration on his handsome face.
"So what? Your cameras are broken or something? There's a blur on the lens, whoopdey do!" Chloe said, sitting on the edge of Lex's desk, tapping a pen on his bald head.
Lex continued to rewind the tapes and look closely at the image and Chloe could see that the wheels were definitely in motion.
"Well Lex, it's been a blast watching these oh-so-entertaining security tapes with you, but I think I'll start snooping around your private property," Chloe said with a grin.
As Chloe got up to leave, Lex's phone rang and he paused the tape. Almost immediately, Lex began yelling at the person on the other end of the phone. Chloe didn't quite follow what was going on, but it was something to do with a contract that wasn't ironclad or something. All Chloe knew was that she felt sorry for the person on the other end.
"Hmm, Lex is pretty sexy when he's angry," Chloe mused. "Aack, did I just call Lex Luthor sexy? Think unLexy thoughts, think unLexy thoughts...Clark is unLexy and just as sexy!"
Chloe laughed at her own silliness. "UnLexy? What the hell does that mean?" she asked herself aloud. "I'm starting to lose my mind with no one to talk to and it's only day two!"
Chloe decided to leave Lex chewing out the person on the phone and start snooping. Chloe decided to start in Lex's bedroom, figuring she'd get the most personal insight into Lex in there. She headed towards Lex's bedroom grinning brightly. She was quite enjoying the advantages being invisible were presenting her.
She searched through Lex's closet, shelves, and dresser finding nothing of interest. She was about to leave his room when she thought of the one place that she hid her stuff in her bedroom, under the bed. She got down on the floor and peeked under Lex's bed. Sure enough, there was a huge white box under it. She pulled out the box and opened it, her eyes growing wide in shock as she saw it's contents. After a few seconds of shock, Chloe began laughing uncontrollably.
In the box, Lex had every issue of 'Martha Stewart Living' magazine, with pages of interest marked off and everything.
"It's always the quiet ones," she said with a laugh. "I could so use this information to blackmail you Mr. Luthor."
After returning to her previous fit of laughter, Chloe finally managed to calm down and put the box back under the bed. She continued snooping through Lex's bedroom for another few minutes, but found nothing else of interest.
Leaving Lex's bedroom, Chloe began heading towards his library, but saw Lex leaving his office, and hurried towards it instead.
As she passed Lex in the hallway she snorted and chanted "Martha Stewart Living!" at him, wishing she could have seen a reaction from him as he realized that she knew of his strange little obsession.
She hurried into Lex's office and began snooping through his desk, her thoughts turning to the strange way Lex was talking to Clark earlier.
"He was acting like he had something on Clark," she mused aloud, "Having something on Clark...ha, that's like having something on Mother Teresa...it just ain't gonna happen. Clark is as good as they get..."
Chloe stopped as she found a file of interest.
"Hello," she said, with a grin as she read the name on the file. "Let's see what Lex thinks of you dad."
Chloe curiously flipped open the file with her father's name on it. "Plant manager, blah, blah, transferred from Metropolis, yada, yada, good worker...hey what's this about?"
Chloe was surprised and a little nervous at the fact that there was a whole section of the file devoted to her in her father's file, complete with photographs. What disturbed her was that it wasn't just general information like her age and school, but it listed her friends, her classes, and it even referred to her Wall of Weird. Chloe was particularly disturbed when she saw the notation that referred to her mother, which went into detail about her mother's cancer, her treatments, and when and where she died.
"That's a little in depth for an employee file isn't it Lex?" Chloe said aloud, although Lex was still out of the room.
Grabbing a couple other employee files and discovering similar extensive personal information did not put her at ease, however, it made her even more apprehensive.
"He makes sure he has enough information on each of his employees so he knows their weak spots and how to manipulate them," Chloe said angrily. "I knew Clark trusted this guy too easily."
"I just hope he doesn't actually have anything on you Clark," she said worriedly, "he's definitely not a guy you want to mess with."
Lex came back into the room just as Chloe had returned the files to their rightful drawers.
"I can't believe I ever thought you were sexy, you snake!" Chloe yelled at him, slapping him across the face. Lex, of course, did not feel a thing.
Lex sat down at his desk and turned on the television monitor again, staring at it intensely.
"Again with the security tapes!" Chloe exclaimed, exasperated that her snooping session had not led to answers about Lex Luthor, but more questions and bitter implications. "What is so damn interesting Lex?"
Chloe watched the tape with him for a few minutes, staring as intensely as Lex was, hoping to see what he saw.
"Your camera is just busted Lex!" she exclaimed, seeing nothing interesting whatsoever about the tape. "Get over it!"
"L-e-x-," a British voice purred, dragging Lex's name into a grating, three-syllable word. "Are you coming to bed?"
Lex barely acknowledged her, continuing to stare closely at the screen. "In a minute," he said quietly, as the chesty brunette ran her hands over Lex's chest.
"Yuck," Chloe said, rolling her eyes, "I guess that's my cue to leave."
"Well, I can't say it's been fun Lex," Chloe said, whacking the man hard on the back. "Don't keep sitting so close to the tv. You'll go blind."
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Chloe had been sitting for most of the morning watching Clark do his chores. She had returned from Lex's house quite late the night before, as Lex lived on the outskirts of town and she had to walk from his house to the Kent's farm, and promptly fell asleep on the Kent's couch. She awoke to find Martha tending to her flowers, Jonathon doing some work on his motorcycle, and Clark doing his chores in the barn. She was currently wondering how she had never noticed the just how amazingly muscular Clark was, when Pete's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Clark!" Pete shouted from outside the barn.
"In here Pete," Clark answered chuckling as Pete sped into the barn looking like the Energizer bunny on speed.
Pete hurried over to Clark, who was watching with amusement as Pete shifted excitedly, clutching something tightly in his hand.
"Did you pull a Chloe, Pete?" Clark asked with a grin.
"Huh?" Pete asked with confusion.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe exclaimed defensively.
"Did you have too much caffeine?" Clark explained gesturing to Pete's hand that was flailing around rapidly.
Pete shook his head. "No!" he yelled a little too loudly. "Well, okay, I may have had a few too many cups of coffee last night when I was doing some research. Come to think of it, I am starting to sound a lot like Chloe."
Both Pete and Clark laughed at this.
Chloe glared at them. "Like that's such a bad thing?" she huffed.
"What were you researching Pete?" Clark asked curiously.
"Well, I came across this article in yesterday's newspaper and it caught my interest," Pete said, smacking a newspaper against Clark's chest. Clark regarded Pete strangely and then began to read the article.
Clark began to read the article aloud:
"Strange Happenings at the Smallville Fair
"Adolescence is a time of irrational insecurities and awkwardness. For three teenage girls from Smallville, however, these insecurities have become a startling reality. A trip to the Smallville carnival resulted in the dramatic transformation of three Smallville High students, Sandy McCrae, Lydia Johnson, and Beth Timmins, all of whom, at different times, returned from the fortune teller's booth virtually unrecognizable. All three girls blame their current state on a shady individual posing as a fortune teller, the man is still unidentified. The Smallville Police Department is currently investigating the strange occurrence, and although no official explanation has been given, unnamed sources have suggested that some sort of hallucinogens may be involved."
"Well?" Pete asked, eager for Clark's reaction.
"It sounds a little hard to believe Pete," Clark replied skeptically.
Both Chloe and Pete shook their heads in disgust.
"What are you talking about Clark?" Pete exclaimed. "After all we've seen here in Smallville you can't even accept the possibility that these girls are telling the truth?"
"I'm not saying that it's not possible..."Clark trailed off. "It's just, the article hinted that drugs might have been involved."
"Yeah, if the drugs are the little green glowing kind," Chloe snorted.
"Drugs?" Pete echoed incredulously. "Sandy McCrae always felt fat, now she is. I mean, come on Clark, the girl gained over two hundred pounds over night! How do you explain that?"
"Growth spurt?" Clark offered weakly.
Pete rolled his eyes. "Lydia Johnson, you know the red head on the cheerleading squad? She was saving up for a nose job because she felt her nose was too big, and now the girl's got a nose that rivals Pinocchio's!" Pete recounted.
Clark shrugged uneasily.
"Beth Timmins, the girl from our science class, you know the shy one with the nervous laugh. I always thought she was kind of cute, I mean sure she's a little spazzy, but..." Pete rambled.
"Pete!" Clark exclaimed with exasperation.
"Sorry Clark," he replied with a sheepish grin. "I guess I really did have too much coffee. Anyway, so Beth always felt too short, and now she's FIVE INCHES TALL! I mean come on Clark, what kind of drug could do all that?"
Clark sighed, a troubled look on his face.
"Come on Clark!" Pete exclaimed. "This is so Wall of Weird material! I'm betting that what happened to those girls can be linked somehow to the meteor fragments."
"I always knew I liked you for a reason!" Chloe said, grinning at Pete.
"You can't be sure this has anything to do with the meteors," Clark argued stubbornly.
"Geez Clark! What's with you today?" Pete asked with annoyance. "Anyway, I didn't just come up with this theory half-heartedly, like I said, I did extensive research."
"What else did you find out?" Clark asked.
"Well, this isn't the first time this has happened," Pete told him, reaching into his bag and handing Clark a file filled with old newspaper clippings.
Clark's eyes widened as he flipped through the articles.
"Every year since the meteor shower a few teenagers leave county fairs with their biggest insecurities coming true. Originally it was just the Smallville fair, then these occurrences spread to fairs in the surrounding counties as well," Pete explained as Clark looked up at him in surprise. "The funny thing is that I found half of those articles on Chloe's Wall of Weird. There's just too much stuff up there to keep track of it all."
Chloe groaned. "I've really got to do a semi-annual inventory on that thing."
"So anyway, I think we should go talk to Beth, Lydia, and Sandy, and find out what happened with that fortune teller," Pete said.
"You know this is really Chloe's territory," Clark said uneasily.
"Wuss," Chloe said, shooting Clark an annoyed look.
"Well Chloe's not here is she?" Pete countered.
Clark looked even more crestfallen upon Pete's words.
"What's wrong Clark? Why are you so eager to dismiss this?" Pete asked in frustration.
Clark sighed again, looking at the ground. "I don't know," Clark said truthfully, "I guess I'm just tired of all the damage the meteors have done."
Pete nodded. "I hear you Clark," he agreed, "but we really should consider looking into this. I mean, Chloe went to the fortune teller at the fair."
"What are you saying Pete? Do you think the same thing could have happened to Chloe?" Clark asked with worry, his face showing that he himself thought that might be the case.
"Gee, you think?" Chloe said sarcastically, although she was more than a little happy that Clark seemed worried about her. "That's a step up from being non-existent."
"The thought crossed my mind," Pete said with a nod. "I mean, I thought it was weird when she upped and left the carnival without saying goodbye and decided on the spur of the moment to go with her dad on a business trip, but then we got the note and the phone message and I figured I was just overreacting."
Clark nodded. "But it's not like this happened to everyone who went to the fortune teller, right?" Clark said. "I mean, according to those articles, it is just a handful of people at each fair that are affected."
"Right," Pete agreed. "But Clark man, if something did happen to Chloe, something embarrassing or freaky, then that would explain her sudden decision to go to Metropolis with her dad...you know, to hide away out of sight."
"You got the 'out of sight' part right, Pete my boy," Chloe remarked.
"Okay Pete," Clark said with conviction. "Let's go talk to those girls and see what we can find out. Do you know how to get a hold of them?"
Pete grinned. "I already called and set up an appointment with them," Pete admitted. "We're supposed to be at Lydia's house in half an hour."
Clark gave Pete a small smile. "Way to stay on top of things Pete," he said.
Pete smiled and then packed the newspaper articles into his bag. "You know," Pete mused," Chloe may have her headline after all."
"Her headline?" Clark asked in confusion.
"Yeah, what was it? Oh yeah: 'Beyond the Cotton Candy: The Dirty Underbelly of the American Fairground'." Pete quoted Chloe.
Chloe sighed looking at Pete. "Yeah, it's not so funny now is it?"
********************************************************************************
After getting over the initial shock of seeing Lydia, Sandy and Beth with their strange new appearances, Pete and Clark began to question them about their experiences with the fortune teller.
Chloe sat quietly listening to the stories of the three girls that closely echoed her own. They had gone into see the fortune teller with their biggest insecurities or worries on their minds, and a strange man with glowing green eyes had told them "you are what you feel" and they left the tent in their new found state.
"You are what you feel?" Clark echoed. "That's all he said?"
The three girls nodded.
"Then he pointed a wand with a green stone in it at us," Sandy said.
Clark and Pete looked at each other. The meteor fragments were definitely involved.
"Tell them about the pendant Lydia," a small voice spoke into the microphone that was bigger than she was from her place on the coffee table.
Clark looked at Beth, a mere five inches tall, in amazement. Even though he had been there for over half an hour, Beth's small stature still freaked him out.
"What pendant?" Pete asked.
Lydia reached into her pocket, pulled out a pewter pendant with a strange looking symbol on it, and handed it to Pete.
"After the guy did this to me," she said, pointing to her extremely long nose, "I grabbed at his throat and demanded he turn me back. This came off in the struggle."
Chloe grinned. "Aren't you the feisty one," she remarked, impressed at Lydia's guts.
Pete studied the strange pendant and then handed it to Clark. "What do you think it is?" he asked him.
Clark looked at it and shrugged. "I don't know," he replied, "but hopefully it will give us some answers."
"Not that I don't appreciate your help, but why are you guys so interested in this?" Sandy McCrae asked, almost recognizable to Clark, Chloe and Pete with the two hundred pounds added to her previously average frame.
Pete sighed. "Our friend may also be a victim of this fortune teller guy," he replied.
"We're not positive or anything," Clark quickly added, as if trying to convince himself. "She may have just decided to go out of town with her dad, not necessarily because of something this guy did to her."
"Who was it?" Beth asked quietly from her place on the coffee table.
"Chloe Sullivan," Clark said quietly.
"The editor of the Torch?" Lydia asked with surprise.
Pete and Clark nodded.
"Hmm," Lydia mused, "she doesn't seem like the type to run away."
Sandy nodded. "Yeah," she agreed, "I would think if that guy did something to her she'd be here getting to the bottom of it. She probably just needed a vacation."
"Maybe," Clark replied hopefully.
Pete shook his head. "I don't know," he argued. "I don't have such a good feeling about this."
"Do you know if anything was bothering her. Like any insecurities or hurt feelings that were on her mind that night?" Beth's small voice echoed from the microphone.
Clark shook his head. "I have no idea," he replied.
Pete, on the other hand, was suddenly very interested in his hands.
Chloe blushed and was suddenly extremely glad she was invisible.
"Pete?" Clark asked his friend in surprise. "Do you know what was bothering Chloe that night?"
Pete wouldn't meet Clark's gaze. "I mean, I don't know if this has any bearing on the situation, or whatever, um," Pete stammered.
"Pete?" Clark said more sternly. "If you know something, it's important that you tell me."
"I just don't think she'd want me to tell anybody," Pete said, pulling at a thread on his t-shirt.
"Damn straight," Chloe agreed.
"Pete, come on," Clark prompted, "if something did happen to Chloe, we need to know all the details we can."
Pete nodded. "Well, she was feeling kind of hurt that you weren't paying any attention to her," Pete admitted. "She was hurt that you were too preoccupied with Lana to even know she was there."
"Ohhh," all three of the girls said knowingly.
"What does that mean?" Clark asked looking at each of the girls.
Chloe groaned and buried her face in her hands.
"Chloe has a thing for you," Sandy said simply.
"What?" Clark exclaimed. "No, we're just friends. Come on Pete, tell them."
Pete looked around the room frantically for something to keep him from answering Clark.
"Pete?" Clark asked with confusion.
"Yeah," Pete replied quietly, avoiding Clark's questioning gaze.
"Does Chloe have a crush on me?" Clark asked.
"Um, maybe a little one," Pete replied hesitantly.
"Okay, that settles it," Chloe declared with embarrassment. "I have no problem remaining invisible forever."
Clark sat quietly with a look of shock on his face. "I can't believe I never knew," he said, more to himself than to anyone in the room.
"I know man. She was pretty obvious, I thought for sure you'd figure it out but nope you were clueless," Pete rambled, happy to share the secret that he had been burdened with for years.
"Shut up Pete!" Chloe said, punching him on the arm.
Clark showed little sign of hearing Pete though. He was deep in thought. "So what could the guy have done to Chloe?" he asked.
Lydia shrugged. "That's a hard one," she replied. "With an unrequited crush a girl could feel anything from ugly to worthless to invisible."
Chloe's eyes widened. "Yes, invisible!" she yelled. "Guys, I'm invisible!"
Pete sighed. "I guess we should go do some more research to try and figure out how to reverse things," he said. "I'm gonna try calling Chloe's cell again and see if she'll tell me what's wrong."
Clark nodded and turned to Lydia. "Is it okay if we take the pendant?" he asked. "You know, to see what we can find out."
Lydia nodded. "Definitely," she replied. "I hope you guys can help return us to normal and I hope that Chloe is okay."
Pete and Clark mumbled thank you and promised the girls that they would keep them informed of whatever they found out.
********************************************************************************
Clark and Pete walked silently down the path towards their homes, with Chloe slumping behind them.
"It's not like we even found out anything useful," Chloe said aloud. "Except that I have a huge crush on Clark."
Chloe blushed again at the fact that Clark now knew of her feelings for him. When, or if, she was returned to normal, she was going to have a hard time facing her gorgeous best friend anytime soon.
Clark's head shot up, a look of deep concentration on his face.
"Maybe we've got it all wrong about what Chloe was feeling," he said. "I mean, she kept saying how she felt too old for the carnival, maybe that's what happened to her, she turned really old."
Pete gave Clark a skeptic look. "Maybe, but Clark, don't you think her dad would have noticed if she got really old?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Clark conceded, "but wouldn't he notice anything else that could have happened?"
Pete nodded. "You're right Clark," he agreed. "So whatever happened to Chloe, must be something you can't see."
Chloe chuckled. "Um, yeah," she replied. "And when you can't see something it's..." she prodded.
"I wonder what it could be," Clark pondered.
"Argh," Chloe groaned. "Invisible! I'm invisible. Come on guys, follow the trail of logic!"
"I don't know man," Pete replied. "But at least now we have some idea of what was on Chloe's mind."
Clark blushed, then looked guilty.
"Clark," Pete said sternly. "Whatever happen to Chloe, it's not your fault."
"He's right Clark," Chloe said, knowing Clark couldn't hear her. "It's that stupid fortune teller's fault. And those damn meteors!"
"It was because of me," Clark said quietly.
"We don't even know for sure if anything happened to Chloe," Pete argued, "and even if something did happen, and even if it was because of her, uh, feelings for you, that still doesn't make it your fault."
Clark nodded some of the weight obviously lifted from his shoulders.
"You know," Pete continued, "all of this would never have happened if it wasn't for those blasted meteor fragments! I mean, the girls said there was a piece in the wand and the whole tent was lined with the glowing green things. The creepy fortune teller guy probably wouldn't have even been able to do this if it hadn't been for those damn rocks!"
At Pete's comment, the look of guilt returned to Clark's face.
"Geez Clark," Chloe commented, noticing the effect of Pete's statement, "you got to stop feeling responsible for everything. It's not like you had nothing to do with the meteor shower."
Pete, however, didn't notice Clark's reaction to his meteor comment. He was too busy digging in his bag for something.
"Okay Clark," he said as they reached Pete's driveway, "I'm gonna try go in and try getting Chloe on her cell phone again and I'll see if I can find out anything about the mysterious fortune teller from the description the girls gave us. You see what you can find out about the pendant," he said, handing the round, pewter object over to Clark.
Clark nodded. "Let me know if you get in touch with Chloe," he said.
"Will do," Pete said. "I'll call you later man. Bye Clark."
Clark gave Pete a distracted wave and continued along the path that led to his home, while Chloe trailed behind him, dejected. She was upset that the meeting with Lydia, Beth and Sandy hadn't been more fruitful and she was downright mortified that Clark now knew about her crush on him.
"Oh well," she said, "nothing I can do about it now. I hope that pendant will give you some answers about my current predicament.
Clark was tossing the strange pendant in his hand nervously, a look of deep worry and concentration on his face. As he headed up his driveway, Clark tripped on a stone and dropped the pendant underneath his dad's pickup truck.
"Oh great Clark," Chloe said, rolling her eyes. "Lose the one thing that may actually give us answers on how to turn me back to normal."
Clark put his hand underneath the truck and patted around for the pendant. When he couldn't find it right away, he shot a quick look in all directions to see if anyone was around. He then stared intensely at the truck and after a moment, smiled slightly.
"Just pick it up already," Chloe chided.
What happened next struck Chloe dumbfounded. Right before her very eyes, Clark had bent down and picked up his dad's pickup truck, and was now holding it over his head like it was a feather. Still holding the truck in one hand, Clark reached down and picked up the pendant. Then, with a relieved grin, Clark gently placed the truck down and trotted towards his house, with the pendant firmly in his hand.
Chloe stood staring after him in complete shock. After a few minutes of trying to figure out a logical explanation for Clark's actions, Chloe just let out an anxious breath that she hadn't known she was holding. Her light eyes widened in shock as her mind finally registered what had just happened.
"Clark just single-handedly picked up a truck," Chloe gasped in disbelief. "Oh my God."