Author note: THANK YOUS to the Reviewers....and the readers who don't review, I guess...... Okay this is up faster than Ch 3 now isn't it. *looks off into the corner at some invisible puppet* Yes it is........

The Seeds of Evil

by S. Ann Smith

Chapter four: Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous(sorry don't have a creative title today)

Chloe didn't hear him come into the Torch office.

"What is this?" Clark held out the latest copy of a newspaper.

Chloe looked at the title,"Daily Planet" she replied and went back to her article on the latest freak of the week.

"No, this" Clark held up the full front page.

Above a very unflattering picture of Lex and Chloe, was the headline, 'Who is the mysterious new girlfriend of Luthor Heir?' In the picture, Lex was holding her hand to his mouth.

"Oh my God!" Chloe turned several shades of red, as she brought her hand to the gaping hole that used to be her mouth.

"Do you dare to explain why Lex is..." His eyes reminded Chloe of those of a hurt puppy. ".....why Lex is kissing your.. your hand?"

"Do you dare to explain why you kissed Lana.."Chloe marched over to the spot that she had tried to avoided yesterday. "...right here?" She ferociously shot back.

Clark looked away avoiding Chloe's eyes. "So... you were trying to pay me back for kissing Lana?"

"No.. Lex was there... and.. he wasn't you..... and he actually sees that my heart is real." Chloe yelled at him. She didn't mean to yell at her best friend, it just came out that way.

Clark turned to leave. "I see that your heart is real, Chloe, but..."

"But I'm not Lana." She finnished. It was something that she had been meaning to say to him for the longest time. When she saw the look of hurt in her Clark's eyes when he turned, she wished she had kept it inside for alot longer.

"You're my friend Chloe.. or at least I thought you were." Clark said as he walked out.

Chloe fell to her knees. Tears streaming down her face. "So did I." She whispered to herself.

She didn't know how much time had elapsed,or how long she had sayed in that spot, but she did know that she felt completely alone, and like somebody had died.

Chloe lay down underneath her desk, and culed herself into the fetal position, She had done this when her father had told her that her mother was gone, and never coming back. She closed her eyes.

It was lunchitme when Pete came to see her. He found her like this and crawled underneath teh desk with her.

"Hey movie star, how're you doing?"

Chloe looked away angrily. "I feel like a monster.I'm evil you don't want to be near me. I think it's contagious."

Pete laughed. " You can't be that evil. And besides, I don't care. You're still Chloe." He smiled. "Though I do think you have strange taste in men." She turned towards him, and looked into his dark Chocolate eyes. "And besides," He reached above them onto the table, "it is a very flattering article." he said, bringing down the said newspaper, that brought Chloe's world to a pitiful down point.

"I'm thinking about garbaging it if you want it." She said bitterly.

"I've already got my own copy. I've decided to start a collection." He continued with a silly smile. " Daily Planet, Iquisitor, the Globe, oh and of course, the Torch."

Chloe felt speachless. It was an angry speachless. Was she really in all those newspapers? She felt like an exploited child.

I wonder if she's seen; what I can do; who I can have love me if she won't. Her mind thought against her will not to remember.

She then got a brilliant idea. Which, upon reflection, didn't seem too brilliant.

"Pete can you pass me the phone?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"It'll cost you..." He smiled devillishly "..a hug."

She relented and gave Pete a hug.

Pete was glad that Chloe was ambitious again, even though he had no clue what had brought on the sudden change in attitude. None the less he groped the tabel top for the phone, then, he handed it to her.

"Hey Lex?" Pete was amazed at the sudden chipperness in Chloe's voice. "I need to ask you for a favour."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"And what would that be?" came the responce in Chloe's ear.

"I need you to help me find someone." She replied. She knew where she was, but that was two years ago, she needed to know where she was now.

She heard the door close, the squeak of a leather chair, and the stop of feet on the other end. Lex was obviously getting comfortable."

"And who is this?" He seemed very intrigued.

"Her name is Charlotte Sullivan*"

"A relation I assume."

"No. She's just my mother." She looked at Pete who was looking at her with slight shock.

There was a pause on the other end.

"Are you sure you'll find her the way she was when you last remember her?"

"I can't remember her." She said ,tears springing to her hazel eyes. Pete, almost instantaneously, grabbed her a Kleenex from the table and handed it to her.

"I'll see what I can find." He said uncertain if he should help her or not. "Is there a maiden name I can use??"

"Henning*"

"I'll meet you at the Talon at three-thirty if I find anything, okay?"

"Alright, but I'll see you then anyways right?"

"Of course, Chloe." He said her name like it was that of a delicate flower. "I have a meeting with my father now, alright? I'll see you then. Now go back to class." His voice smiled over the phone.

"Bye Lex." Chloe hung up.

"He's not going to help you is he?"

She nodded, "he is."

Pete got up from uner the desk and held out a kind hand. Chloe took it and was back on her feet.

She placed the newspaper in the desk drawer, so she could read the other articles.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"As-a-matter-of-fact Peter Ross.... I'm not." She looked down.

"But I'm willing to pretend to be sure about it."She looked up at him and smiled, wiping away her tears. "And really that's all that matters in the world now-a-days right?"

"Right," Pete smiled, "How about I treat you to a coffee in our spare?" Chloe smiled. Her spare was for the Torch, and Pete's spare was study hall, he was willing to miss his much needed study block to buy her coffee. What a good best friend. Clark should take lessons from him. She smiled.

"Sounds good," she looked at her watch, 1:30, she had two hours until she would meet up with Lex, and an hour until her spare, she hoped she would survive the rest of the day.

Author's Note: Okay is it actually known who Chloe's mother is? Please let me know, but for now, I will use * Charlotte Henning-Sullivan. I thought it was a fitting name, (If you take away the A,R, and the T's you get Chloe.) I was happy when I found that out, as a matter of fact it amused me for about ten minnutes. BUt hey! It's better than doing homework right? :)