Author's note: I hope you guys are really enjoying reading this. I'm doing the best I can... but I don't exactly have the best writing skills in the world. (If you can tell.) So ummmmmm, kudos and coffee to everyone who is reviewing this fic, I appreciate it. You guys are really great! Oh and I don't own those little hamsters that sing and dance when you press their paws, I just really like 'em. I actually have a few, I dunno why though... hey, they were CUTE! This chapter actually does have a point! I think? *hehe*



**This indicates a thought**





Chapter 14



"That? No way, it's not me." Jean threw down the plaid print skirt Lana handed to her.

"Hey, I like it." Lana said picking the skirt back up.

"Lana, none of this stuff really says, 'Buy Me'."

"How about this?"

Lana and Jean had spent most of the day in the mall. Whitney had gotten bored and left them to go on their shopping craze alone.

"Ummmm, let's see." Jean took the pair of khaki flares from Lana. "This'll do. Now I have to find a shirt." She selected a yellow and burgundy striped polo.

As odd as it seemed, Jean and Lana had become fast friends. Jean found out that they both had a lot in common; so starting a conversation had been relatively easy.

"Great, so are you done here? I saw a store I wanted to stop in on the way here."

"Yeah." Jean handed the cashier her money, retrieved her items and both girls walked out of the store.

"So, how's life with the Kents?" Lana said while glancing at the illuminated lights that hung above the shops.

"Great, Mr. and Mrs. Kent are really nice, and Clark's just so..." she paused, "... Clark. I seriously don't know how you stay sane, knowing that someone that gorgeous lives within five miles of your house. That's enough to drive me crazy! "

"Me neither." Lana muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh please," Jean laughed, "it's so obvious that you like him."

"What?" Her cheeks flushed a bright red.

"You can't deny it, you're even blushing." She smiled.

"Great, a food court. I'm starving." Lana said, trying to change the conversation to a topic other than Clark. **How does she do that? ** Lana thought to herself, **Am I that obvious? **

"Lana, don't worry about it. I know what you mean, he's really HOT! But be careful, you may have a rival." Jean grinned evilly, and walked in front of her.

"Thanks for not promising not to say anything, but since we're adversaries now. I don't think I'm going to tell you where you can get those shoes you keep babbling on about." Lana joked.

"Okay, not rivals... good friends. Now what were you saying about a pair of black platform boots."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Well, I'd better be getting home." Pete said picking up his now empty coffee mug, "We all know how my mom is when I come home late."

They all laughed. Pete got up from the booth, said his goodbyes and walked out.

"Me too unfortunately." Chloe said gathering her belongs. "It's Salisbury steak night, wouldn't wanna miss that." She smiled.

"Yeah, I gotta go too." Clark said getting up as well.

"Okay, I'll see you at school?" She said before finishing off the last of her coffee.

"Hopefully... walk you to your car?"

"Sure." She smiled. **Definitely the gentleman. **

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a little past eight when Clark arrived at the Luthor Mansion. Normally he wouldn't have stopped by so late, but technically, this was important.

Walking up to the castle door he knocked hesitantly. After a few seconds, Winifred the butler, answered the door.

"Here to see Mr. Luthor I presume?" He said with an accent that only someone who was a butler could have.

Clark nodded and followed Winifred up the stairs like he had done so many times before. When he reached the door to the office Winifred stopped and stood aside, indicating that Clark could enter.

"Clark." Lex said once he realized that he had walked in, "What brings you here at this time of night?"

"Ya know," he shrugged, "I was... just passing through and decided to drop in for a visit."

"You know most people visit during the day."

"I...uh, kinda needed to ask for your opinion on something." Clark was running out of excuses.

Lex stood near the desk waiting.

"There's this girl..." He paused, "and I kinda want to tell her how... I feel about her."

"So you're finally going to confess your undying love to Lana?" Lex said sarcastically.

"Uh..." He walked around nervously, "Jean? Ever since she came to Smallville, I sort of lost interest in Lana.

It didn't take Lex to respond with an answer. "Quote Shakespeare, women love that."

"I'm not that great with poetry."

"You could always find out what she likes and go from there."

"Too risky." Clark shook his head.

"There's always the traditional flowers and chocolates." Lex suggested.

"That sounds easy enough. Thanks for the advice, Lex."

"No problem."

"I'd better get going. My parents are probably worried sick."

"Good Luck." Lex called after him.

But what neither of them knew was that someone else had been listening to their conversation.

**Jean, eh? ** Staci thought to herself, **Hummmmm... if I remove her from the picture, Clark will be all mine. **

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A white truck pulled up to the Kent Driveway and a redheaded girl got out.

"Thanks," Jean waved, "I had a great time."

The white truck backed up and sped down the road.

Jean picked up her shopping bags and walked towards the door.

Hanging the denim jacket on the coat rack she continued into the house.

Mrs. Kent was peeling apples for a pie when she entered into the kitchen, "Have fun?"

Jean smiled, She really loved the way Mr. and Mrs. Kent treated her like their own daughter, and not some stranger who was living in their household temporarily.

"It was great! I had a lot of fun." She held up the five large shopping bags.

"Someone did a lot of shopping."

Jean laughed, "Number one thing everyone should know about me, I'm a shop- aholic. I actually list shopping as one of my hobbies, on resumes and applications."

Martha put down the apple she had finished peeling and picked up another one, " I remember those days, my friends and I would spend hours in the mall. Going from store to store, spending money on stuff we didn't even use..."

"Sounds like me," Jean held up a small hamster like toy, clad in a classic karate uniform, "you press his paw and he sings 'Kung Fu Fighting.' She squeezed his paw.

" My mom always said I had a knack for 'wasting money'. But I never figured out what she was talking about."

Martha had finished peeling all of the apples and was now taking the piecrust out of the oven. "Singing hamsters? What will they think of next?" She smiled.

Jean put the singing, Karate hamster back in the bag and continued, "Well, maybe we can go shopping sometime." It had been ages since Jean had been shopping with her mother, since she lived over one thousand miles away from her parents. She figured that Mrs. Kent would appreciate a 'daughter figure' to go shopping with. Men often had a tendency to get bored if you spent too much time in one place for a really long period of time.

"That sounds great, Clark normally isn't one to volunteer to go on a trip to the mall."

"Well I better go and put these away." She said, picking up the bags once more.

"Oh, almost forgot, someone called for you while you were out... Kitty Pride?"

"Thanks, I better go call her." Jean climbed the stairs up to her room, threw the shopping bags on her bed and picked up the cordless phone.

******************************************************************** TBC