Triangles
Chapter Three: Forming the Triangle - Chloe
"My pass," Chloe mumbled to herself, noticing that the small, white piece of paper had somehow vanished from her hand. She glanced at her watch. She only had about thirty seconds left. Deciding to chance it, she ran past the meager amount of people in the crowd and just made it into her history classroom just as the bell finished ringing.
"Where were you?" Clark asked as she sat down in front of Pete.
"I was getting my schedule changed and I lost my pass, which I didn't realize until I was halfway here, so I ran the rest of the way," she explained, out of breath. For crying out loud, couldn't Clark let her catch her breath before asking her a question? But, looking at his face, she saw that hidden emotion bottled up inside him: concern.
"A schedule change, huh?" Pete asked, interrupting her Clark-evaluation.
"Yeah, I had Mr. Stein for trigonometry second hour, so I switched to Mrs. Perkins," she said.
"Good choice," Pete said. "Me and Lana are in that class." Chloe put one finger up to her mouth, and with the other, pointed towards the front of the room where the teacher was going over class rules.
After the boring history class, Chloe suffered through a boring chemistry class, a surprisingly uneventful Torch research time, and was relieved to be taking her first year of Spanish next. And she had this class with her three closest friends.
Chloe sat down in the half-full class and waited for Clark, Pete, and Lana to arrive. Clark sat to her right, Lana in front of her, and Pete to the right of Lana. "Hola, and welcome to Spanish One," the teacher said once the bell rang. "My name is Señora White and I'll be your teacher this year. Today, being the first day, we'll go over some of the basics to see how much you already know. I'll say a word in Spanish, and if you know its English equivalent, please feel free to raise your hand." I've got this in the bag, Chloe thought.
"Hola," she said. Most everyone raised their hands, but Chloe was called on.
"It means 'hello,'" Chloe said.
"Correct," Sra. White answered. After a volley of back-and-forth questions, she decided to go into more detail. "You all seem to know the basics. Let's try some harder stuff. Does anyone know the meaning of parientes muertos?"
"Did you just say 'dead parents?'" Lana asked. Chloe noticed that she seemed especially on edge when it came to her parents recently.
"No, I said 'dead relatives.' 'Padres' means parents. The reason I said 'dead relatives' is because El Día de los Muertos is coming up in a little over a month. It's a Spanish holiday in which people have a fiesta for their dead relatives," the teacher explained.
"They celebrate their relatives being dead?" a girl asked. Chloe recognized her as Katie Rawlings, she always had to put her two cents in. She was also an extreme snob and one of Chloe's least favorite people. She shook the thoughts away.
She looked at Pete and his intent face. He was really interested in the Spanish language and culture, by the look on his face. Wait. first she had noticed Clark's concern, and now Pete's intentness. Why was she all of a sudden noticing her friends' facial expressions? She really needed a boyfriend before she got too into their faces and started noticing other things about them. She had already messed up with Clark anyway, by saying she just wanted to be friends.
The bell cleared Chloe's thoughts from her head. She became aware of herself falling into a lot of dazes lately. Luckily, though, she was going to a vocational class with Clark that was supposed to be really good for her career (and look good on her college applications next year).
"I wonder why we were the only two to sign up for this class," Clark observed when they were on the bus.
"Probably because it's a hard class. You do realize that this is about five times harder than any high school class, right?" Chloe asked him. Clark got a hard look on his face when he thought about stuff. Stop noticing, Chloe!
"Yeah," he said, a silence following after. Until he said: "How many other people are in this program?" Chloe felt awkward.
"There's four from Metropolis, four from Venice, four from Southern City, and four from Townsend, so there are sixteen other people," Chloe said. She pushed her hair out of her face and looked past Clark, out the window. She needed to get her mind off both Clark and Pete, so she said: "I think we're almost there."
"Do you know a Marty?" Clark asked.
"Marty Graw? Yeah, I've seen her around, why?" Chloe asked. She knew exactly why he asked, but she played along anyway.
"No reason," Clark answered.
"Ooh, we're here," Chloe said, pulling Clark out and off of the bus. "How exciting," she commented, the excitement showing in her face. She didn't look at Clark's to see if he was excited or not.
Soon, they reached the reception desk in the lobby of the building. "Are you here for the Voc. Class?" the woman behind the desk asked.
"Yes. Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan," Chloe said, watching as the woman peered at a list on a clipboard.
"Mmm. yep," she said, crossing off two names "Go down this hall, the room is the third one on the right," she instructed, pointing towards an ugly- carpeted hallway.
"Thank you," Clark said. Chloe walked fast to the room, causing Clark to struggle to keep up. She loved toying with him. "Slow down, Torch-girl," he said, pulling into stride with her.
"Thanks for the new nickname," Chloe said, opening a large glass door. Twelve people of about the same age and an older, balding mad were seated inside.
"You must be the Smallville High students," the tall, balding man said.
"Yes," Chloe said.
"We're still waiting on the Townsend kids, so just have a seat," he said. Chloe chose a table at the far end of the room, dragging Clark with her.
"No way," a voice from behind them said. "Chloe Sullivan?"
"Yeah?" Chloe said, puzzled. Who could that possibly be? She turned around to check. She recognized that face from somewhere. She studied his face for no longer then twenty seconds, and recognized him suddenly. "Cory?"
"Clark, this is Cory Adams. He was one of my best friends in Metropolis!" she introduced. Clark greeted the brown-haired guy, Cory, and shook his hand.
"Oh, wow, Cory, I haven't seen you since I moved," she said, ignoring Clark.
"I know. I've missed you so much," he said.
"I wrote to you, but your letters kept coming back saying there was no such address," she said.
"Oh, I know. LuthorCorp bought our property last year to keep until they needed to use it to build on. We moved to Venice," he told her.
"Oh," she said.
"Okay, the Townsend students are here, so I'm going to explain everything about this course now," the balding man said. "My name is Drake Cooper, you can call me Drake if you wish, and this is the Advertisement Vocational Class. We have four students each from Metropolis High, Townsend High, Southern City High, Venice High, and two from Smallville High. We're happy that you have chosen to spend this time here and get valuable information for a career in any type of advertisement. Even if you aren't planning on advertisement for a living, I'm sure you'll enjoy this course and find it very informative."
During Drake's speech, Chloe kept taking glimpses at Cory. She was so happy to be reunited with her old friend! "I don't like to waste time, so we're going to get right to work. I want everyone to get in groups of two, it doesn't matter if it's someone from your school or not, but just pair up with another person," Drake said.
"Are you partnering with Cory?" Clark asked her, poking her with his finger.
"Why would I? Sure, he's my friend, but I came here with you as my ally, not him. Plus, I wouldn't want you to be left out," she said. She hadn't seen Cory in so long, it would just be weird. Plus, Clark was one of her best friends, and she loved him. She couldn't just push him away for someone she hadn't seen in years.
"Your first assignment will be to make a commercial. You will spend the next week creating a product of your choice, planning everything out about it, and making an informational, video-taped commercial. It needs to be a product, like a clothing chain or new kind of candy or something along those lines. Your commercial is not limited to only your partner and yourself, but you can use friends, family, teachers, or anyone who's willing to help you out. Please get to work now, and just call me over if you need any help. Today, you'll be working in here, but you'll be moved to a new position tomorrow. Still, meet here. Okay, get to work," Drake said.
"What should our product be?" Chloe asked, drumming her fingers on the table. This was going to be so fun.
"How about a brand of soda?" Clark asked.
Chloe had a sudden impulse. "Triangle Soda!" she said, remembering what Pete had told her earlier that day, in the Torch office. He had a hunch that Clark was sort of stuck in a triangle between Chloe, Lana, and this other girl, Marty. She decided that she'd pull the strings on Clark.
"Where'd you come up with that?" Clark burst, almost instantly after she had said it.
"I just came up with it, I guess. Why?"
"Just wondering," he said. He was so afraid to release his feelings!
Just then, Chloe realized that she was, too. And, thinking about it, she had her own triangle. Clark and Pete, like Clark's Chloe and Lana, and Cory. like Clark's Marty. Cory was the perfect answer to her problems. Clark would go out with Marty, and she would go out with Cory.
"Will you go out with me?" a boy's voice asked. She knew that voice.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Who was it?! Find out in the next chapter.
Chapter Three: Forming the Triangle - Chloe
"My pass," Chloe mumbled to herself, noticing that the small, white piece of paper had somehow vanished from her hand. She glanced at her watch. She only had about thirty seconds left. Deciding to chance it, she ran past the meager amount of people in the crowd and just made it into her history classroom just as the bell finished ringing.
"Where were you?" Clark asked as she sat down in front of Pete.
"I was getting my schedule changed and I lost my pass, which I didn't realize until I was halfway here, so I ran the rest of the way," she explained, out of breath. For crying out loud, couldn't Clark let her catch her breath before asking her a question? But, looking at his face, she saw that hidden emotion bottled up inside him: concern.
"A schedule change, huh?" Pete asked, interrupting her Clark-evaluation.
"Yeah, I had Mr. Stein for trigonometry second hour, so I switched to Mrs. Perkins," she said.
"Good choice," Pete said. "Me and Lana are in that class." Chloe put one finger up to her mouth, and with the other, pointed towards the front of the room where the teacher was going over class rules.
After the boring history class, Chloe suffered through a boring chemistry class, a surprisingly uneventful Torch research time, and was relieved to be taking her first year of Spanish next. And she had this class with her three closest friends.
Chloe sat down in the half-full class and waited for Clark, Pete, and Lana to arrive. Clark sat to her right, Lana in front of her, and Pete to the right of Lana. "Hola, and welcome to Spanish One," the teacher said once the bell rang. "My name is Señora White and I'll be your teacher this year. Today, being the first day, we'll go over some of the basics to see how much you already know. I'll say a word in Spanish, and if you know its English equivalent, please feel free to raise your hand." I've got this in the bag, Chloe thought.
"Hola," she said. Most everyone raised their hands, but Chloe was called on.
"It means 'hello,'" Chloe said.
"Correct," Sra. White answered. After a volley of back-and-forth questions, she decided to go into more detail. "You all seem to know the basics. Let's try some harder stuff. Does anyone know the meaning of parientes muertos?"
"Did you just say 'dead parents?'" Lana asked. Chloe noticed that she seemed especially on edge when it came to her parents recently.
"No, I said 'dead relatives.' 'Padres' means parents. The reason I said 'dead relatives' is because El Día de los Muertos is coming up in a little over a month. It's a Spanish holiday in which people have a fiesta for their dead relatives," the teacher explained.
"They celebrate their relatives being dead?" a girl asked. Chloe recognized her as Katie Rawlings, she always had to put her two cents in. She was also an extreme snob and one of Chloe's least favorite people. She shook the thoughts away.
She looked at Pete and his intent face. He was really interested in the Spanish language and culture, by the look on his face. Wait. first she had noticed Clark's concern, and now Pete's intentness. Why was she all of a sudden noticing her friends' facial expressions? She really needed a boyfriend before she got too into their faces and started noticing other things about them. She had already messed up with Clark anyway, by saying she just wanted to be friends.
The bell cleared Chloe's thoughts from her head. She became aware of herself falling into a lot of dazes lately. Luckily, though, she was going to a vocational class with Clark that was supposed to be really good for her career (and look good on her college applications next year).
"I wonder why we were the only two to sign up for this class," Clark observed when they were on the bus.
"Probably because it's a hard class. You do realize that this is about five times harder than any high school class, right?" Chloe asked him. Clark got a hard look on his face when he thought about stuff. Stop noticing, Chloe!
"Yeah," he said, a silence following after. Until he said: "How many other people are in this program?" Chloe felt awkward.
"There's four from Metropolis, four from Venice, four from Southern City, and four from Townsend, so there are sixteen other people," Chloe said. She pushed her hair out of her face and looked past Clark, out the window. She needed to get her mind off both Clark and Pete, so she said: "I think we're almost there."
"Do you know a Marty?" Clark asked.
"Marty Graw? Yeah, I've seen her around, why?" Chloe asked. She knew exactly why he asked, but she played along anyway.
"No reason," Clark answered.
"Ooh, we're here," Chloe said, pulling Clark out and off of the bus. "How exciting," she commented, the excitement showing in her face. She didn't look at Clark's to see if he was excited or not.
Soon, they reached the reception desk in the lobby of the building. "Are you here for the Voc. Class?" the woman behind the desk asked.
"Yes. Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan," Chloe said, watching as the woman peered at a list on a clipboard.
"Mmm. yep," she said, crossing off two names "Go down this hall, the room is the third one on the right," she instructed, pointing towards an ugly- carpeted hallway.
"Thank you," Clark said. Chloe walked fast to the room, causing Clark to struggle to keep up. She loved toying with him. "Slow down, Torch-girl," he said, pulling into stride with her.
"Thanks for the new nickname," Chloe said, opening a large glass door. Twelve people of about the same age and an older, balding mad were seated inside.
"You must be the Smallville High students," the tall, balding man said.
"Yes," Chloe said.
"We're still waiting on the Townsend kids, so just have a seat," he said. Chloe chose a table at the far end of the room, dragging Clark with her.
"No way," a voice from behind them said. "Chloe Sullivan?"
"Yeah?" Chloe said, puzzled. Who could that possibly be? She turned around to check. She recognized that face from somewhere. She studied his face for no longer then twenty seconds, and recognized him suddenly. "Cory?"
"Clark, this is Cory Adams. He was one of my best friends in Metropolis!" she introduced. Clark greeted the brown-haired guy, Cory, and shook his hand.
"Oh, wow, Cory, I haven't seen you since I moved," she said, ignoring Clark.
"I know. I've missed you so much," he said.
"I wrote to you, but your letters kept coming back saying there was no such address," she said.
"Oh, I know. LuthorCorp bought our property last year to keep until they needed to use it to build on. We moved to Venice," he told her.
"Oh," she said.
"Okay, the Townsend students are here, so I'm going to explain everything about this course now," the balding man said. "My name is Drake Cooper, you can call me Drake if you wish, and this is the Advertisement Vocational Class. We have four students each from Metropolis High, Townsend High, Southern City High, Venice High, and two from Smallville High. We're happy that you have chosen to spend this time here and get valuable information for a career in any type of advertisement. Even if you aren't planning on advertisement for a living, I'm sure you'll enjoy this course and find it very informative."
During Drake's speech, Chloe kept taking glimpses at Cory. She was so happy to be reunited with her old friend! "I don't like to waste time, so we're going to get right to work. I want everyone to get in groups of two, it doesn't matter if it's someone from your school or not, but just pair up with another person," Drake said.
"Are you partnering with Cory?" Clark asked her, poking her with his finger.
"Why would I? Sure, he's my friend, but I came here with you as my ally, not him. Plus, I wouldn't want you to be left out," she said. She hadn't seen Cory in so long, it would just be weird. Plus, Clark was one of her best friends, and she loved him. She couldn't just push him away for someone she hadn't seen in years.
"Your first assignment will be to make a commercial. You will spend the next week creating a product of your choice, planning everything out about it, and making an informational, video-taped commercial. It needs to be a product, like a clothing chain or new kind of candy or something along those lines. Your commercial is not limited to only your partner and yourself, but you can use friends, family, teachers, or anyone who's willing to help you out. Please get to work now, and just call me over if you need any help. Today, you'll be working in here, but you'll be moved to a new position tomorrow. Still, meet here. Okay, get to work," Drake said.
"What should our product be?" Chloe asked, drumming her fingers on the table. This was going to be so fun.
"How about a brand of soda?" Clark asked.
Chloe had a sudden impulse. "Triangle Soda!" she said, remembering what Pete had told her earlier that day, in the Torch office. He had a hunch that Clark was sort of stuck in a triangle between Chloe, Lana, and this other girl, Marty. She decided that she'd pull the strings on Clark.
"Where'd you come up with that?" Clark burst, almost instantly after she had said it.
"I just came up with it, I guess. Why?"
"Just wondering," he said. He was so afraid to release his feelings!
Just then, Chloe realized that she was, too. And, thinking about it, she had her own triangle. Clark and Pete, like Clark's Chloe and Lana, and Cory. like Clark's Marty. Cory was the perfect answer to her problems. Clark would go out with Marty, and she would go out with Cory.
"Will you go out with me?" a boy's voice asked. She knew that voice.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Who was it?! Find out in the next chapter.