Kaleidoscope

by Lener

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville.

Chapter Ten

                   The minute she stepped into Smallville High, Chloe saw Clark's head turn in the direction of a beautiful tinkling laugh. Lana, she thought miserably. Clark's got it in for that girl. She watched as Clark's head swerved in the direction of that laugh, and as a smile lit up his entire features. Chloe wished that he would smile like that when he saw her, instead of mock-punching her on the arm. Not like she hated that, but- it would be nice to be treated as a girl for once.

                "Clark?" Pete called, making Clark whirl around to face them once more. Chloe was glad that Pete had interrupted his 'Lana moment'. She did not want to do it and sound like some jealous freak. Yes, she would admit it; she always got jealous when Clark looked at Lana like that.

                "Oh hey, yea, sorry. Do you mind?" Clark jerked his head in the direction of Lana whom, Chloe noticed, was alone. Alone meaning without Whitney in close range of knocking the teeth out of anyone who tried to insult his girlfriend. Oohh… feeling bitter so early in the day is not good, Sullivan.

                "Okay, I know you want to talk to Lana so badly," Pete said, making Clark blush, "but please, let's get this settled. There's a blood-sucking meteor freak out there who wants you real bad. I think we should meet up after school today to discuss this. It's definitely a Wall of Weird mystery."

                "Wow, Pete, you took the words right outta my mouth," Chloe said, and a hurt look came across Clark's features. For a moment Chloe felt bad. For a moment. Then she remembered the countless of times Clark had made her feel hurt (although he didn't know it), and she knew that this was only the smallest of paybacks.

                "Okay, after school today at the Wall of Weird room," Clark promised, then rushed off towards Lana without (miraculously) tripping. Chloe took Pete by the arm and dragged him into the building, "Come on, Pete, let's go." He let her pull him in.

The bell rang a few minutes later, but Chloe did not see Clark enter the school doors at all.

*

The final bell rang, and Clark was one of the first few to burst out of his English class, eager to get out in the hallway.

He spotted Lana's shiny brown head ahead of him, with no other student in between them. He decided to speed up so he could talk to her about… anything. Just then, however, the doors of another classroom opened up, and a flood of students streamed out, blocking his view of Lana.

Darn! Clark frowned, and tried to push his way through. When he finally managed to take a step forward, Lana's was nowhere in sight. In his haste to find her he almost tripped over a book, which he picked up and moved to one side of the crowded hallway to get a better look at. The book was a tattered copy of 'Physics Matters', and inside the cover was written the name 'Lana Lang' in perfect cursive.

Just his luck.

He pushed through the throng of Smallville High students with renewed vigour, and made his way to Lana's locker. She was there talking to Whitney, so he stopped just a few feet away and pretended to be leaning against the wall reading. Out of the corner of his eye he saw them kiss and then Whitney jogged away, leaving Lana with her nose in her school bag.

Clark seized his chance and walked over to her.

"Hey, Lana," he smiled.

She looked up and smiled, the way she always did when he came over to talk to her. For a moment Clark wondered whether he really made her smile of whether she was smiling just to be… polite. He shook the thought out of his head and pulled out her textbook instead.

"I think you dropped this in the hallway," he said.

Lana's eyes lit up at the sight of her book, and she gratefully took it from him. "Trust me to be so clumsy," she shrugged, "and I thought I'd get practice from that."

"Huh?" Clark was puzzled.

"I'm going to help my Nell at her flower shop today carrying those pots around. Lucky me," Lana rolled her eyes playfully.

Before Clark knew it, he had opened his mouth and said, "Do you want me to help you out?"

Lana slipped her book back into her backpack, silent. She closed her locker, then played with the lock for a little while. The silence was so uncomfortable that Clark decided to take back his offer. No point letting Lana make a fool out of him. Sure, he did like the girl but he did have his own pride. Wondering where that statement had come from, Clark opened his mouth to say something.

"Sure, Clark," Lana smiled, turning to him.

"Huh?" Clark asked, realizing that that was the second time he had said 'huh' in their conversation. He probably sounded like some idiot.

"I mean, I'd love to accept your offer for help. After all, Whitney has football practice today," Lana said. Clark had to keep from rolling his eyes. Trust her to add Whitney into the conversation any way she could.

"All right then. I'll meet you out front," Clark smiled, feeling very happy. He turned around, and all the happiness drained out of him in a split second.

Chloe was standing right behind him.

*

I knew it.

I knew he would blow off the meeting just like that to help Lana out with… something. I really don't know what they were talking about, all I heard was Lana saying she'd love to accept his offer for help. Ugh… I think I'm gonna be sick.

"Chloe! Hi!" Chloe flinched at Lana's perky voice. And I thought I was supposed to be the perky one.

"Hey Chlo," Clark said softly.

"Hello Lana. Hello Clark. Well, I feel I have to explain my intruding presence somehow. Pete sent me here to find out where Clark has been- we arranged to meet after school this morning," Chloe said evenly, watching Clark blush violently. It was so easy to make him blush. All she needed was the right tone of voice and her trademark icy Death Glare. That just about did the trick.

"Oh! Well, I'm sure Clark forgot all about it. If he has an appointment with you guys, I'm sure he…" Lana started to say, but Chloe held up her hand.

"No, I'd understand if he'd much rather help you," and with that Chloe turned around and stalked down the hallway.

"Chloe!" Clark called after her, but she kept walking.

"Chloe?" Lana echoed.

She kept walking.

*

The minute Chloe kept walking when he called her name, Clark knew that he'd gone too far. He somehow felt guilty about going off and talking to Lana. Why thought? There wasn't anything wrong with that. The minute this thought crossed his mind, Clark knew he was wrong. He had crossed the line between personal gain and friendship. Somehow he was guilty of these things a lot these days.

But somehow the look on Chloe's face had been too much for him.

*

"What?! He blew us off for Lana? Oh man that guy is nuts!" Pete exclaimed once she got back to the Wall of Weird room and filled him in on everything that had happened. Pete sighed, scratched his head, then paced the room.

"I know he's obsessed with Lana and everything but for my sake, we're his best friends!" he said.

"Your sake?" Chloe raised her eyebrows.

"Pete's sake…" Pete rolled his eyes like it was so obvious.

"That's lame, Pete!"

But they spent a whole minute laughing about it.

Finally after their laughter had worn off, Pete grabbed his backpack and stood up. He gave Chloe a pat on the shoulder and said, "Okay Chlo, let's do this another day when Clark's around. I gotta run, okay?" Chloe sighed, but nodded her head.

"Are you going?" Pete asked.

"Nah… I think I'll stay for a while and do some investigation on my own," she forced a cheerful smile, then pushed Pete out the door, "go! Before your Mom gets mad or something."

"She never gets mad, Sullivan," Pete said, but he went out all the same, leaving Chloe alone in the room. She went over to the Wall of Weird and fingered the articles that she had cut out and pasted there. Somehow the mystery of the meteor rocks had intrigued her so much that she had almost dedicated her life to finding out about them. Someday Chloe hoped to solve the mystery and write an article that would get published in the Daily Planet. Someday.

She sighed once more, then settled down at the table and began typing away at the computer. Soon, she was lost in the world of web pages, reading up so much articles and text on what could most likely be about the mysterious freak she had encountered.

Suddenly, the creak of the door opening was heard, and Chloe stood up from behind the computer as Clark came into the room.

"You came…" she said.

"I came…" he smiled.

Author's Note: Aww… how sweet. I'm so glad Clark came. Why did he come? Wasn't he helping Lana carry silly flower pots? Find out what exactly happened in the next chapter!! Please tell me what you think and review first, though, lol!  

Suz- Hey!! Thanks for reviewing! Oh yes, *sigh* the Chloe/Clark moments are the best, eh? Hmm… yea, you're pretty right. Lex is too old for either for them. He's like, 9 years older than them, right? But he would be a good distraction for Lana… so she wouldn't keep clinging to Clark. Hmpf! I thought the alarm clock part was the only humorous part in this story… hahaa! Well, hope you keep reading!

margroks- Hello, thanks for reviewing! Yea, I realized the point you made about the kryptonite thingy so, if readers will duly note, I think I have stopped using that term in the later chapters. But please, forgive me.

Starburst- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Action will come in the later chapters, my dear.

Calty- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! So, you kept the deal… *sneaky laughter* hehehe… Oh man! I should have thought about getting Lana slimed by that meteor freak and dying but the bad things are: 1. Clark would have to save her coz he's good. And if Lana died: 2. Every one would flame this story.  Oh well. We can only dream! Yes, I left a bouquet of roses for the deceased alarm clock! Keep reading, and no problem about the double review. I understand computer problems very, very well!

Genuine Goofball- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like this story, and yea, I've realized the mistake I've made about 'kryptonite' and 'meteor rocks' so, terribly sorry to everyone.

SpunkyAutumn- Hey! Thanks for reviewing. I don't know if you'll see this reply coz you only reviewed chapter 1 and this chapter is like, chapter 10 but anyways, I'm glad you like my story and you know, I was a kinda neutral couple person like you but then I turned absolutely Chlark… hahahahah and no regrets!!

…- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Well, I guess I forgot about Pete for a while… but I'm quite sad to say in later chapters there won't be any Pete at all. I got too excited with writing about Clark and Chloe. Well, keep reviewing!

Nexx- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Lol… I guess you're not a fan of Chlex stuff? Yes, well you review came just in time because there IS some Lana in this chapter! Of course I didn't forget her, and I know a love triangle has to be around three people. Of course, my Smallville stories are only written in the viewpoints of Clark, Chloe and some villains. Well, I hope you keep reading!

Brennan- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Yes, lots of people have pointed out the kryptonite fact, that's why I think I have stopped using that word in the chapters. Maybe one day when I'm free I'll edit the previous chapters so there'll be no more kryptonite word. Yes, I felt pretty redundant, typing 'meteor' and 'meteor rocks' all over again. But, I'm glad you liked the story, and sorry to everyone for the mistake.

SpunkyAutumn (again)- Hey! I understand your confusion, and I guess most of my readers are from the US? Well, I'm not, and over here they've only shown Season1 of Smallville, thus I had no idea that Chloe and Lana are cousins (DARN!) and about all the other stuff which I probably didn't mention in this fic. I might have gotten lots of facts wrong because in Season 2 things change, right? But please, I've only watched 'Jitters' in Season 1, and I'm just vying off the track of Season 1 to write my own kind of Smallville stories!


Fatfroggie- Haha! Now I know what you mean by writing 'spasly'. Thanks for the review!