"You need to tell him."
Pete had been trying all day to track Chloe down and had finally cornered her in the Torch office. He knew he needed to make amends and explain himself, but it wasn't going very well.
"I don't have to tell him anything, and you better not go running your mouth to him either, mister."
"Chloe, you know Clark. As smart as he is, he still sometimes can't see what's right in front of him. If you're waiting for him to wake up and realize what's been going on between you two, you're wasting your time. He won't know how you feel unless you tell him."
"Pete, he sort of let Lana, the love of his pubescent life, go because he valued their friendship more. He was right. I would hate for things to get weird with Clark, cause I know it would wreck our friendship."
"That's a risk you take, Chloe. If you don't take it, you'll wonder for a long time what might have been. Seriously-"
Pete heard the door open and instantly hushed up for fear that Clark may be coming through it. Weird wouldn't have described the situation had Clark walked in on their conversation. Pete and Chloe started to breathe a collective sigh of relief when they saw it wasn't Clark, but both became nervous all over again when they realized who their guest was.
"Sorry to interrupt. I'm looking for Chloe Sullivan."
Bruce gave Pete a sidelong glance. It was all the hint Pete needed. He grabbed his backpack, mumbled something about seeing Chloe later and left as quickly as he could.
"I'm Chloe. What can I do for you?"
"I assume you know who I am?"
"Oh, sure. You're the Easter Bunny. No, no, wait! I've got it! You're the Tooth Fairy! No, that's wrong too. Santa Claus maybe?"
"Ha-ha. Very Funny. Do you think you could possibly be serious for just a minute? I came to ask you about the meteor rocks. I hear you take them pretty seriously."
"Yeah, but why, of all people, are you here asking me about the meteor rocks? No one believes my theories."
"Don't worry about why I'm here. Just tell me what you think about the meteor rocks."
"Okay…. Basically, Smallville is the capital of weird. Most people think it has something to do with possible pollution by the Luthorcorp Plant. I, however think the meteor rocks are to blame."
"What makes you think that?"
"Let me show you…."
Chloe took Bruce a back corner of the Torch office and showed him her "Wall of Weird". He looked at the countless articles tacked up on the wall with a sense of amazement. He saw pictures of the town water tower exploding, people covered in soot, and emergency vehicles. There was a cover from Time featuring a young girl in tears. There were many more articles about the strange happenings in and around Smallville. Some were from the Daily Planet, others from the local paper, and some even written by Chloe herself. For Bruce, to see this kind of dedication from a career scientist was expected. But a high school freshman? That was unexpected. And impressive.
"God. I had no idea. This town is a cross between the Twilight Zone and X-Files."
"Yeah, except no approves of my theory, and even if the truth really is out there, I have a feeling the good citizens of Smallville won't want to listen."
"Um, your friend—the one who was with you yesterday at the coffee house…"
"Oh, God! You saw that?"
"Don't worry about me. Worry about Lex Luthor. He was there watching, too."
"Great. Excuse me while I die from embarrassment."
"Right. You think maybe before that you could tell me how to get in touch with your friend?"
"Why do you want to talk to Clark?"
"Seeing your wall reminded me of a question I'd like to ask him…."