Chapter 2
"Another scathing editorial?" Clark asked, with a smile. He pulled a chair up to Chloe and straddled it.
"You ask me the same thing every week," Chloe replied, her smile bright.
"And you answer it every week," Pete pointed out, straddling a chair on her other side. "Come on, play along anyway."
Chloe shook her head in amusement, and rolled her eyes. "Is there any other kind?" she asked, playing along.
"Nope," Pete answered. "What's this week's scathing editorial about?"
Chloe opened her mouth to answer as the door opened. Lana walked in, a disk in her hand. When she saw Chloe, Lana visibly tensed.
"I just wanted to hand in my article for this week," Lana said, handing the disk to Chloe. "I have to go."
"Where are you going?" Clark asked. "You just got here."
Lana gestured to the door. "I have…stuff to do."
"You can stay, Lana," Chloe told her, nudging Clark to pull up a chair.
"Are you sure?" Lana asked warily. "You're not mad?"
Chloe smiled. "I'm not mad at you, Lana. I don't know what happened, but I'm not mad. You have to give me more credit than that."
"What are you talking about?" Clark asked, his face showing his complete and utter confusion. "Why would you be mad at Lana? Why would Chloe be mad at you?"
"Uh, I…" Lana trailed off.
"Girl stuff, Clark. You wouldn't be interested," Chloe said quickly, taking the pressure off of Lana.
"Stop now, man. You don't want to get involved in girl stuff. I know from experience," Pete told Clark, wincing dramatically.
Lana laughed. "Alright. What are you guys doing?" she asked, sitting in the chair next to Clark.
"This week's article-"
Pete cut her off. "Scathing editorial."
'This week's scathing editorial," Chloe amended. "Is about…"
"About what?" Clark asked, looking to Chloe.
It was Chloe's turn to wince. "I promised Principal Reynolds that I'd print up the lunch menu for this week."
"So, you're most scathingest of scathing editorials this week is the cafeteria menu?" Pete asked, giving Chloe a skeptical look.
Chloe shrugged. "First of all, scathingest is not a word. Second, we could always bombard Lex and force him to give us an interview. Although, if I have to hear him say 'that's classified information' one more time I might scream."
Clark laughed. "Maybe you ask the wrong questions."
"Maybe he's hiding something," Chloe shot back, giving Clark a daring look.
"I'll ask him," Clark said innocently, picking up the phone.
Chloe went back to her computer, typing up the lunch menu that sat by her monitor as Clark dialed.
"I'm dialing," Clark told her. "It's ringing."
Chloe kept her eyes on her computer.
Clark huffed and put the phone down. "I hate it when you do that, you know?"
Chloe laughed. "I knew you wouldn't do it. You say he's your friend, but you can't even ask him a simple question," Chloe beamed.
Clark pushed himself out of his chair. "I promised Dad I'd come straight home after school to help with the chores. I have to go."
"Want me to help?" Pete asked, standing with Clark.
"Sure. If you girls want to, we can rent movies tonight after Pete and I get done working," Clark offered. "I'm sure Mom will fix some cookies or pie or something."
"That sounds great. I'll finish up here in an hour or two, then call you when I'm done," Chloe agreed.
Clark smiled. "Lana?"
"Yeah, sounds like fun," Lana said after a second of hesitation.
"Bye," Pete replied, pushing Clark toward the door.
Lana stood to go too, but Chloe called her back.
"Lana, explain what happened last night. One minute you're on the floor on your own mattress, then you're in my bed? How did that happen?" Chloe asked, standing to show more authority.
"I thought you weren't mad," Lana said, slowly easing toward the door.
Chloe immediately softened. "I'm not mad, I just want to know how you ended up in my bed. My small bed. My small bed with me."
"I can explain," Lana said, moving a step forward.
"Please do," Chloe told her, waiting for an explanation.
"See, I had another nightmare. It was worst that the first one. I just got scared," Lana explained.
"So you decided to get in my bed?" Chloe asked in confusion.
"When I was little I would have nightmares about my parents. I'd wake up screaming and Nell would come in and carry me to her bed and let me sleep with her. I got used to having someone close," Lana continued. "I guess I didn't even really think about it. Like I said, I'm really sorry, Chloe."
Chloe nodded, a slow smile forming. "It's okay, Lana. It just surprised me, is all. It's not everyday I wake up with someone in bed with me."
Lana laughed lightly. "So, we're okay?"
"Yeah, now help me with this article," Chloe said, sitting back at her computer. "How do I make a French dip sandwich with sauce, French fries, and orange punch sound good?"