Kaleidoscope
by Lener
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville.
A PREMATURE AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hello to all readers. I'm uploading this chapter at night (for me) because I always update chapters at night… Okay now I don't know what I'm talking about but anyway, just a little note to say I won't be around to upload any chapters until the 23 of Dec, which means you will have to read this chapter very, very slowly so that it will last you for the few days which I will be away. Well, not to stop you from further reading, do read!! And review! I wanna get at least 65 reviews before I upload the next chapter.
Chapter Eleven
~flashback~
Lana flashed Clark an apologetic look, even though he knew she had nothing to apologise for. "If you need to go after her, it's all right, you know…" she started, but Clark stuffed his free hand into his pants and cut Lana off, "No, I'm sure Chloe will cool down. Eventually…"
She looked at him, a little uncertain, but nodded and walked past him out the doors of Smallville High and into the bright sunshine. Clark followed her, but he still could not get the image of how Chloe had looked out of his mind. He knew he was wrong, and that he should go apologise to her… but somehow he could not bring himself to blow off a promise he'd made to Lana, right?
Lana. He looked at her back as she descended the front steps of the school. Her silky brown hair, that bright smile she reserved for everybody, all the pastel colours (mostly pink) that she wore, her sweetness. What had drawn him to her in the first place?
Was it her looks?
No, he knew it was not Lana's beauty. Many other girls in Smallville High were as pretty as her, including Chloe. Okay scratch that, next reason…
Was it her… sweetness?
No, personally he was not attracted to girls with sweet attitudes. Sure, they were kind and gentle and loving (if you were their boyfriend and sometimes even if you weren't they still were) but somehow it got boring after a while. You could only be one kind of… sweet. But being with someone who had more spunk was more interesting. You never knew what that person was capable of doing, and that intrigued Clark. Someone like… Chloe. Next!
Was it… Lana's… he'd run out of good things about her.
And somehow his thoughts kept coming back to his best friend.
So what had attracted him to the brunette in the first place? Maybe it was all the attention around her and the fact that it would have been cool to have such a popular girlfriend like Lana Lang. Or maybe it was because he could not have her… that made him want to have her in the first place. Everything seemed so confusing, but he knew only one thing now. He had to get back to Chloe.
"Lana," he made her stop halfway down the stairs. She turned around to look at him, and suddenly he no longer felt his heart jump just like it did whenever she looked at him.
Something was happening…
"I… I… gotta…" he found it hard to get the words out.
"I understand, Clark," Lana jerked her head in the direction in which Chloe had walked off, and then gave Clark a sad smile. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she was gone. Clark did not wait a second later. He whirled around and dashed through the doors of Smallville High.
~end flashback~
"You came…"
He almost laughed at Chloe's shocked face. The room was empty- there was no Pete in sight, but the questions could be asked later. Now he needed to convince her that he was still her best friend.
"I came," Clark agreed, smiling. But instead of returning his smile, Chloe gave a snort of laughter and clicked the mouse a few times. Clark heard the whirr of the computer, which meant that it was being shut down. Then Chloe gathered her school things and turned back to Clark.
"You're a little too late, Clark," she said, then brushed past him. Before he knew it, she had swept right out of the room. Clark stared dumbly at the shut door, blinked a few times, then smiled to himself. Chloe had completely forgotten that he was staying at her house for the time being.
Well, he'd just have to remind her… at home.
*
Chloe stalked out of the Smallville High school doors, feeling the anger seep out of her like sand through open fingers. She wondered why she was feeling so angry at Clark. Usually she would not let little things like these stand in the way of their friendship. But this time Clark had blown off both Pete and her, and it was not the first time he'd done it.
So Clark had decided to go hang out with his crush instead of his best friends. She could usually deal with that (after all, Clark always seemed to blow her off) but suddenly she just felt angry and… Chloe did not want to admit it, but she felt jealous too.
Chloe realized that she would have to get her feelings for Clark out of the way of their relationship as best friends, because it would get too complicating eventually. Besides, Clark would never fall for her, so what was the use of liking him?
It was time for her to set her sights on someone else.
*
Clark decided against super-speeding back to Chloe's place. Instead, he decided to take a long route back to her house to give her enough time to settle down and probably forget about everything that had happened. But knowing Chloe, the last thing she would have done was forget that he blew off his best friends.
Finally when Clark reached the Sullivan home, it was about sundown, and he had not yet finished his 'deep thinking'. Nevertheless he pushed open the door to find Mr. Sullivan sitting on a chair in the living room, reading under the lamp light. The rest of the house was dark and quiet.
"Mr. Sullivan… you're home early," Clark said as Chloe's father glanced up to give him a smile.
"Plant problems," he said simply, and Clark understood.
"Um… where's my mother?" Clark asked.
"Oh, she went down to Nell Potter's flower shop to help with some kind of big operation of flower pots," Mr. Sullivan said. How ironic, Clark thought to himself, and Mr. Sullivan laughed, which most probably meant that he had a surprised look on his face.
"Is Chloe in her room?" Clark asked.
"Now's my turn to be surprised, Kent. The minute Chloe came back from school she told me you were outside the door waiting for her and that you two were going back to your place to get some things you forgot to bring to school," Gabe raised his eyebrows.
"My place?" Clark echoed.
"Yeah, didn't you…"
Clark did not stop to listen to Chloe's father, though, he was out of the door immediately. A funny feeling was welling up inside his chest… a feeling he got whenever he knew someone was in trouble, or something bad was about to happen. Now he knew that something terrible would occur, and to Chloe.
*
Chloe dumped her bag down by the Kent's mail box, but unzipped it to fish out her camera. She knew that whoever the meteor freak was, he (or she) could still be lurking around. Chloe deduced that some sort of blood transfusion had been conducted on this freak, and the blood had most probably been contaminated with the meteor rocks. How it had happened she had no idea, but somehow some liquid form of the rocks must have been in his blood. That made this creature lust for human blood, which was not resistant to the meteor rocks.
She grabbed a long stick that lay on the ground, just in case. Chloe knew she had to be extra alert so that she could catch a picture of this villain and also stay away from it so that she would not get her blood sucked out. Then perhaps she could write the perfect article for The Torch…
A slight rustle in the bushes attracted her attention, and she perked her ears up for any other unusual sound. The bush that had quaked a second ago stood still, but she stepped slowly towards it, holding the stick in front of her in a defensive position.
On the count of three, Sullivan…
One…
Two…
THREE!
Chloe sprang forward and thrust her stick into the bush, only to come into contact with some branches and leaves. She quickly and hastily withdrew the stick, then made her into the driveway of the Kent Farm Estate.
*
At long last Clark finally made it to the cornfield. From there he could super-speed back to his house without anyone noticing… he hoped. Anyway, it was too late for regrets now. He had gone this far and he would not stop, because his best friend's life was in danger and he was, perhaps, the only one who could save her.
The cold night wind rushed against his face, cooling his limbs and making his flannel shirt whip in the wind. Clark hardly registered this, though. The only thought on his mind was of getting to Chloe before the meteor freak got to her.
Clark knew that he was probably the only one who could take on this meteor freak, but personally he was worried about the effects that the meteor would have on him. Whatever it was, he knew it would not be too good.
*
Chloe spotted her car up in the driveway of Clark's house. On the previous visit to the Kent Farm Estate, they'd forgotten to call a tow truck to tow it to the repair shop so Chloe could get the tyres fixed, and now her car was still parked there.
Chloe bent down to examine the punctured tyres. It looked as though someone had used a sharp point of an object to pierce the thick rubber, and all the air had gone out. She spotted some of the same green marks that Pete and Clark had described, and she knew that the meteor freak must have done this nasty deed.
There was a faint musky smell lingering in the air, and suddenly the sound of the barn doors creaking open got her attention.
The meteor freak was here.
Author's Note: Ahh! The meteor freak! Yea, yea, all right, I'm only pretending to be scared of this FOTW. (Yay, now I know what it stands for) Well, this story's almost ending! Tell me what you think in a review! Please? Replies are below!
Suz- Hey! Thanks for reviewing and leaving such a nice long one! Haha! I made it just like that, because it would be too unrealistic if Clark didn't still thought he felt that attraction between him and Lana. Hmm… yea I could try to write about that in one of my next stories (Lana liking Lex) but you see, I'd probably puke if I wrote that name too much. Sigh… in S2, do Clark and Chloe get together? Phew! I'm so glad they aren't cousins! Yea, Lana moved in with Chloe, right? ARGH! Why did Chloe let that happen?? Haha! Well, tell me! And thanks again! Keep reading!
Starburst- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you think Chloe's good now. Okay, the action stuff will come! Next chapter! I hope you'll keep reading!
…- I know now that you like Pete Ross. *shudders* No offence or anything. Haha! Yes, the villain's tied in with the kryptonite oops… correction, meteor rocks like that. YAY! Please, Chlark is very good. Okay, I'll make Lana not so clueless. But she's still… icky.
SpunkyAutumn- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! You left a lot of reviews! Lol! Well, there's nothing really special about writing what both people think in the same situation… I bet lots of other writers do that! I just wanted my readers to know how Clark and Chloe were feeling then! I'm glad you like it. Nope, I don't live in Canada. Actually, I don't live in any of the Western countries. I live in Singapore. I'm not sure if you know where it is… most people in the West don't. They're still showing Season 1 here, but they've stopped for the moment, which is sucky. The episode I've seen up to is Jitters. That makes it the 6th or 7th?
Nexx- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked chap 1 and its ending. Well, you always seem to be getting what you want in reviews, huh? First you wanted more Lana, and you did get it! And now you wanted more of the meteor villain and here he is! Well, some of him…. The next few chapters will have more because it'll be the spectacular showdown! I hope you were satisfied with this chapter!
Calty- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! I've been wondering where you were! I think the part about Pete's sake also cracked me up… But what cracked me up most was your review! Especially about the Lana part! Haha… boy would I love to dunk her in the tank filled with mud!!! But first I'd pull her stupid long hair. Muaahahaha. Oops… *runs away before Lana fans run after her with sticks* Keep reading!!!