You Never Knew - Part 5

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Lunch time at the cafeteria was always busy being a center of high school mid-day social activities. Clark spotted Pete at a table as he left the lunch line. "Pete, have you seen Chloe?"

"Nope, not since yesterday's smooch-fest." Pete's jest was not well received. "You?"

Clark simply shook his head and took a drink of his soda.

A thought crossed Pete's mind and he decided to go with it. "How close do you think they were, you know - Trev and Chloe?"

Clark made a pained face. "Please, the guy was in my History class this morning. And I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." But Pete simply couldn't resist. "He bothers you, doesn't he?"

"Pete."

"Just making sure, Clark, 'coz the last time I checked, you had a big crush on Lana and Chloe was just your best friend."

Pete was right, Clark conceded as he thought about what his friend just said. Pete would almost always play the trio's clown but he could be brutally honest when he wanted to. He wasn't thinking of Lana now, was he? Even when she visited him last night it was easy for him to focus on what was important - his friendship with Chloe, who she was, and who she was in his life. Who WAS she? In HIS life? It freaked Clark when he noticed his train of thought. Yet, he had to admit, it was Chloe he dreamt of and her name was the first thing he uttered this morning. His head screamed "Wait! When did my world start to revolve around Chloe?" And somehow he already knew the answer.

They then saw Chloe leave the lunch line to make way to their table. She seemed to walk in slow-mo, her eyes again locked to something at the far corner of the room. Both Clark and Pete turned to what caught her attention and they rolled their eyes in indignation when they saw Trev mingling with the school artistic eccentrics.

Pete stood up to guide Chloe to sit beside him and across Clark before she could hurt herself from not looking where she was going. "You alright, Chloe?"

"Yeah, Pete, I'm fine." She said as she settled in, conscious that Clark was looking at her but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. She returned Pete's pleasantries, "You?"

"I'm cool. Clark's cool, too." Pete grinned at Clark; but Clark glared at Pete.

The group lapsed into an uncomfortable silence as they ate their lunch. Clark was about to say something to break the silence when a soft guitar melody floated in the air. The cafeteria hushed and the entire student body craned their necks to see where the beautiful music came from.

Chloe didn't need to look. Neither did Clark. Even with her back towards him, Chloe knew it was Trev playing his rendition of Tuck Andres' "Man in the Mirror" guitar solo. Clark needed to look at Chloe and it was good that she kept her eyes on her plate.

Pete was the first to react. "Darn, he is good."

Clark wanted to try something out. "Sully?"

Chloe's head snapped up in immediate reaction. Her mistake was when her eyes locked on to Clark's. It was then she realized that she missed looking into them and how she loved it when she drowned in them. To think they haven't seen each other for only a day. "Where did you…?"

"From my new classmate." Clark was glad that she was at least responding to him. He really regretted walking out on her. If this day was not going to his way, he thought he'd better do something about it. "Short for Sullivan, huh? Cute." He said with a smile.

Chloe couldn't believe it - Clark was nice and even flashed his Kent charm at her. The combination of being in his radius, his smile and gorgeous eyes was lethal. She wondered how long she could survive this emotional tug of war that waged inside her.

"Why'd you change it?" Pete thought 'Sully' was cute, too.

Chloe just shrugged. "My way of moving on, I guess. I mean, people change their nicknames all the time - some you outgrow."

"True." Pete agreed. He also decided it was truth time whether Chloe wanted or not. Besides, he bet Clark wanted to know the scoop but was just too shy or scared to ask. "Okay, so what's the deal with guitar dude?"

"Pete!" Clark glared at him yet again. But at the same time he was thankful that Pete saved him from the inconvenience of asking that uncomfortable question to Chloe. To Pete, it seemed so matter-of-fact.

"No, Clark, Pete's right. I owe you guys a backgrounder." Chloe let out a heavy sigh and steeled herself as she listened to a few bars of Trev's guitar playing. "Mr. Collins and Dad worked together in the same division of LutherCorp Metropolis for years. Actually, Mr. Collins was Dad's supervisor. Trev and I went to the same school, we saw each other on company picnics or whenever I hung-out in dad's office. Our families became close and we eventually grew to be very good friends as well. We also got into the same school orgs kinda thing. Then when nature took its course he realized I was a girl." Chloe let out a nervous smile as the distant memory amused her. "Our relationship somehow evolved from best friends to…" She just let it hang as she averted her eyes and bit her lower lip. "Anyway," she continued with a little shake of her head, "when Dad got assigned here in Smallville, we decided to break it off - long distance relationships never work; people change, have different experiences."

Best friends - the phrase rang in Clark's mind like a loud school bell. Trev and Chloe were best friends. THEY were best friends, too. Well, he hoped it was still so. The thought continued to swim in his mind.

Pete didn't know what to make of Chloe's story. It sounded too familiar… or not yet. He tried to imagine what Chloe was going through. Pete found it hard to control his tongue. "But now he's here." He said and got a shy nod in return. Poor girl - torn between her past and her present. Plus she looked like she badly needed coffee.

Pete decided to save the group from uncomfortable silence again. "Hey," he said to Chloe as he draped an arm on her shoulders to give her an assuring squeeze, "what do you say we hang out at the Talon after school? Good ol' buddy Clark here will buy you your favorite latte."

For once Pete suggested something Clark was in complete agreement with. He would gladly buy Chloe something to make her feel better. Somehow he knew that would make him feel better, too.

Trev ended his performance to the sound of applause from surrounding tables and looked at Chloe's direction for her reaction. Clark noticed it and conceded - Trev was great on the guitar. The guy had talent and was not afraid to share it to the world. Clark wished he had something to show off - but he had none - artistically nor athletically. Well, his grades were something but not the kind of thing to impress the ladies or a certain girl for that matter.

He wasn't stupid nor was he blind. Chloe was definitely all-girl even if they treated her as one of the boys. Her short blond hair would wisp outwards and she'd always tuck them behind her small ears. Her clothes were not your typical teenage fare - they were a creative mix of loud colors to reflect her vibrant personality. Her make-up was subtle, match what she wore, and would always draw his attention to her bright eyes and full lips. She had a sway in her gait, and sometimes a hop and a skip when she's on to something. Everything definitely feminine and Clark did notice more than once before. He just thought it was something you don't acknowledge about your best friend. But it mattered now.

Clark remembered that Chloe admonished him and Pete before to treat her better. Clark resolved to do so; he didn't want to lose a best friend.