Chapter 3: Negotiations
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After surveying the culinary delights of the cafeteria, Lex decided to skip the meal and just go with a vanilla coke. If he concentrated really hard, he could pretend it had alcohol in it. He glanced around the hall for an empty table and hoped that the giggling girls at the next table would start discussing nail polishing techniques and stop smiling at him. Blinding white teeth could be distracting at times.
"There he is!" Clark said, pointing at the unsuspecting Luthor. Chloe barely managed to keep up with Clark as he made his way over to the table.
Lex groaned and glanced sideways for an escape route, but he found himself trapped by the blinding flashes on white teeth from all sides.
Chloe halted when she realised that the new kid was the guy she'd run into earlier, "You." Chloe stated bluntly at Lex, settling in an opposite seat.
"You." Lex countered.
"You know Raymond?" Clark asked, taking a seat next to Chloe.
"We met. Now go do your job, Kent." Chloe ordered. She'd had a really bad day, failed a physics quiz, hadn't managed to find Kevin, and hadn't expose the drug ring either... and it was already noon.
"Right... so uh, why did you came to Smallville?" Clark asked, sticking a tape recorder into Lex's face.
"My... uh... dad got transferred here from Metropolis," Lex explained.
"That would be Mr Shoeland?" Clark asked.
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Well done Clark, now stick to the questions of the paper. Don't go creative on me."
"Well if you think you could do a better job, be my guest," Clark stated slowly. "Why are you in such a bad mood anyway? Nobody likes a critic, Chloe."
"Critics teach us about ourselves... they're supposed to be our friends. I would have to say that your reporter friend is an exception to the rule though." Lex added coolly. If he was forced to spend time in this hell, he might as well dispense a little good advice on the way.
Chloe paused for a moment, feeling the strangest sense of dejavu. Suddenly it dawned on her... that I'm-better-than-everyone-else tone, those affluent eyes...
"You!" Chloe said, slamming her palms on the table and leaning over to Lex.
Clark looked confused, between the surprised boy and angry girl, "We went there already, Chloe... It's him, Raymond Shoe-"
"Don't tell me you don't recognize him? Stop and look at him for a second!" Chloe's voice rose in pitch.
Clark wondered if his best friend had gone insane. "Well... he does kind of remind me of..." he paused in thought.
"A larger version of Seth Green?" Clark offered.
Chloe groaned, she was slightly embarrassed that she hadn't noticed it before. Nobody had.
"He's Lex Luth-" Chloe stopped mid-sentence as Lex kicked her foot beneath the table in hopes of silencing her.
"Er... I'm Lex Luthor's... cousin," the billionaire ended quickly. He sighed and took another gulp of his vanilla coke, partly ashamed that he'd underestimated the power of a reporter's mind, and partly mad at her for being so nosy. Another reason why he hated their kind. Reporters.
"Of course!" Clark exclaimed, "That was who you reminded me of... Lex Luthor. Of course, I think you're a little shorter than him... and you have different noses."
"Okay." Lex said slowly, unsure of how to respond to the statement. He cast a sideward glance at Chloe who seemed deep in thought.
"Clark, why don't you let me finish up the interview... you can go spend the rest of lunch hour with Lana and Pete." Chloe suggested to her friend.
"Sure, okay." Clark shrugged, getting up, "You know I never knew Lex had a cousin."
"Yeah... the Luthors and Shoelands are pretty close," Lex stated with a sardonic smile.
As soon as Clark left the table, Chloe moved in like a huntress to her prey.
"What on earth is Smallville's billionaire doing in high school? Is this some sort of a mid life crisis thing? Why did you tell me to stay away from the drug dealing story? Is that what this is about? Are you responsible for the drug ring? You know Kevin, don't you...? It's all part of an elaborate plan by your company to-"
Chloe was stopped mid sentence as she saw Lex yawn.
"Are you done yet?" Lex asked the girl who just glared at him.
"Good. Now, I have never, nor will I in the future begin a drug dealing ring. Especially not in Smallville high, it's just not good business sense when all your customers get stoned then die. I'm here undercover, trying to expose this ring, and from what I gather it's run by someone named Kevin." Lex gave her the story, despite his better judgement.
"So what's it got to do with you?" Chloe asked, thoroughly intrigued by the whole thing.
Lex saw the reporter's eyes flash with anticipation, she wanted to know the truth and nothing was going to get in her way. Then again, she didn't realise who she was dealing with.
"That's confidential information, Chloe." He cracked a smile as she glared at him.
"Now, I want you to be a good little reporter and drop this story. Forget about it. It much to dangerous for someone like you to follow, I'll be getting into Kevin's group and *I'll* be exposing the ring." Lex sealed his statement firmly and took another sip of his drink.
Chloe grew angrier by the second. She'd been working on this story for weeks now, who was he to go around telling her what to do?
"I guess we're going to have a little competition here, because I've been trying to get Kevin's attention for the past few weeks and nothing has worked. I doubt you could do better," she spat.
"Chloe... you have so much to learn..." Lex smiled at her and got up to walk away.
"Where are you going?" The blonde girl demanded, following him. "We're in the middle of a discussion, you can't just get up and leave."
"I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want." Lex stated, walking down the hallway. "Now do what I say and let me handle it from here."
"You won't be handling anything if I expose *you*" Chloe stated. She hadn't wanted to play that card, but she didn't have a choice here.
Lex stopped, "You wouldn't dare..."
"Try me." Chloe challenged facing opposite him. There was no way in hell she was going to back down now.
For the first time Lex realised that the small girl actually meant every word she said. He found himself rethinking the situation.
"Fine, investigate if you want. It's not like you'll get very far anyway." The young man countered.
"I've spent three weeks getting Kevin's attention, I'm much further than you are." Chloe folded her arms defensively.
"Three weeks? I'll be the guys best friend by the end of the day," Lex laughed, heading for the bathrooms.
"What makes you so confidant?" Chloe frowned suspiciously.
"I have debonair qualities, that few can match. Not to mention the fact that I have more experience than you in this field," Lex tossed Chloe a final grin.
"You're wasting your time, I'm completely in control here." with that he slipped into the bathroom, satisfied that he'd put the girl in her place.
Chloe sighed, Lex's words rang in her ears. A few seconds later she heard the high pitched screeches from girls.
"Completely in control huh?"
Lex Luthor's words might have had more of an impact on her had he *not* just walked into the Girls bathroom.
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After surveying the culinary delights of the cafeteria, Lex decided to skip the meal and just go with a vanilla coke. If he concentrated really hard, he could pretend it had alcohol in it. He glanced around the hall for an empty table and hoped that the giggling girls at the next table would start discussing nail polishing techniques and stop smiling at him. Blinding white teeth could be distracting at times.
"There he is!" Clark said, pointing at the unsuspecting Luthor. Chloe barely managed to keep up with Clark as he made his way over to the table.
Lex groaned and glanced sideways for an escape route, but he found himself trapped by the blinding flashes on white teeth from all sides.
Chloe halted when she realised that the new kid was the guy she'd run into earlier, "You." Chloe stated bluntly at Lex, settling in an opposite seat.
"You." Lex countered.
"You know Raymond?" Clark asked, taking a seat next to Chloe.
"We met. Now go do your job, Kent." Chloe ordered. She'd had a really bad day, failed a physics quiz, hadn't managed to find Kevin, and hadn't expose the drug ring either... and it was already noon.
"Right... so uh, why did you came to Smallville?" Clark asked, sticking a tape recorder into Lex's face.
"My... uh... dad got transferred here from Metropolis," Lex explained.
"That would be Mr Shoeland?" Clark asked.
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Well done Clark, now stick to the questions of the paper. Don't go creative on me."
"Well if you think you could do a better job, be my guest," Clark stated slowly. "Why are you in such a bad mood anyway? Nobody likes a critic, Chloe."
"Critics teach us about ourselves... they're supposed to be our friends. I would have to say that your reporter friend is an exception to the rule though." Lex added coolly. If he was forced to spend time in this hell, he might as well dispense a little good advice on the way.
Chloe paused for a moment, feeling the strangest sense of dejavu. Suddenly it dawned on her... that I'm-better-than-everyone-else tone, those affluent eyes...
"You!" Chloe said, slamming her palms on the table and leaning over to Lex.
Clark looked confused, between the surprised boy and angry girl, "We went there already, Chloe... It's him, Raymond Shoe-"
"Don't tell me you don't recognize him? Stop and look at him for a second!" Chloe's voice rose in pitch.
Clark wondered if his best friend had gone insane. "Well... he does kind of remind me of..." he paused in thought.
"A larger version of Seth Green?" Clark offered.
Chloe groaned, she was slightly embarrassed that she hadn't noticed it before. Nobody had.
"He's Lex Luth-" Chloe stopped mid-sentence as Lex kicked her foot beneath the table in hopes of silencing her.
"Er... I'm Lex Luthor's... cousin," the billionaire ended quickly. He sighed and took another gulp of his vanilla coke, partly ashamed that he'd underestimated the power of a reporter's mind, and partly mad at her for being so nosy. Another reason why he hated their kind. Reporters.
"Of course!" Clark exclaimed, "That was who you reminded me of... Lex Luthor. Of course, I think you're a little shorter than him... and you have different noses."
"Okay." Lex said slowly, unsure of how to respond to the statement. He cast a sideward glance at Chloe who seemed deep in thought.
"Clark, why don't you let me finish up the interview... you can go spend the rest of lunch hour with Lana and Pete." Chloe suggested to her friend.
"Sure, okay." Clark shrugged, getting up, "You know I never knew Lex had a cousin."
"Yeah... the Luthors and Shoelands are pretty close," Lex stated with a sardonic smile.
As soon as Clark left the table, Chloe moved in like a huntress to her prey.
"What on earth is Smallville's billionaire doing in high school? Is this some sort of a mid life crisis thing? Why did you tell me to stay away from the drug dealing story? Is that what this is about? Are you responsible for the drug ring? You know Kevin, don't you...? It's all part of an elaborate plan by your company to-"
Chloe was stopped mid sentence as she saw Lex yawn.
"Are you done yet?" Lex asked the girl who just glared at him.
"Good. Now, I have never, nor will I in the future begin a drug dealing ring. Especially not in Smallville high, it's just not good business sense when all your customers get stoned then die. I'm here undercover, trying to expose this ring, and from what I gather it's run by someone named Kevin." Lex gave her the story, despite his better judgement.
"So what's it got to do with you?" Chloe asked, thoroughly intrigued by the whole thing.
Lex saw the reporter's eyes flash with anticipation, she wanted to know the truth and nothing was going to get in her way. Then again, she didn't realise who she was dealing with.
"That's confidential information, Chloe." He cracked a smile as she glared at him.
"Now, I want you to be a good little reporter and drop this story. Forget about it. It much to dangerous for someone like you to follow, I'll be getting into Kevin's group and *I'll* be exposing the ring." Lex sealed his statement firmly and took another sip of his drink.
Chloe grew angrier by the second. She'd been working on this story for weeks now, who was he to go around telling her what to do?
"I guess we're going to have a little competition here, because I've been trying to get Kevin's attention for the past few weeks and nothing has worked. I doubt you could do better," she spat.
"Chloe... you have so much to learn..." Lex smiled at her and got up to walk away.
"Where are you going?" The blonde girl demanded, following him. "We're in the middle of a discussion, you can't just get up and leave."
"I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want." Lex stated, walking down the hallway. "Now do what I say and let me handle it from here."
"You won't be handling anything if I expose *you*" Chloe stated. She hadn't wanted to play that card, but she didn't have a choice here.
Lex stopped, "You wouldn't dare..."
"Try me." Chloe challenged facing opposite him. There was no way in hell she was going to back down now.
For the first time Lex realised that the small girl actually meant every word she said. He found himself rethinking the situation.
"Fine, investigate if you want. It's not like you'll get very far anyway." The young man countered.
"I've spent three weeks getting Kevin's attention, I'm much further than you are." Chloe folded her arms defensively.
"Three weeks? I'll be the guys best friend by the end of the day," Lex laughed, heading for the bathrooms.
"What makes you so confidant?" Chloe frowned suspiciously.
"I have debonair qualities, that few can match. Not to mention the fact that I have more experience than you in this field," Lex tossed Chloe a final grin.
"You're wasting your time, I'm completely in control here." with that he slipped into the bathroom, satisfied that he'd put the girl in her place.
Chloe sighed, Lex's words rang in her ears. A few seconds later she heard the high pitched screeches from girls.
"Completely in control huh?"
Lex Luthor's words might have had more of an impact on her had he *not* just walked into the Girls bathroom.
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