After ten minutes of searching, we finally find a vacant room.
I always thought couples' taking over bedrooms at parties in order to hook
up was only a myth seen in teen movies…but after interrupting 5 very "busy"
couples, I know it's actually true.
Clark slowly leads me into
the dark room, as he pats down the wall next to the door. Finally he hits a
light switch, showing to us what seems to be the upstairs den. There is a plush
L-shaped couch with a similarily shaped table running along it. Of course a big
screen TV and stereo system is placed in front of the couch.
Now call me crazy, but if I had all this there is no way in hell I'd have
300 kids from my school over.
"Wow." Clark says as his eyes widen and he looks at me. I smile back
as a sudden sickening feeling comes over me.
I can't do this…I can't do this.
"Um you know what Clark…forget it. You don't have to tell me." I turn
and head for the hallway, but I feel Clark gently pull me back.
"No…" He looks at me sincerely. "…I want to. I want to tell….you". He lightly
closes the door and walks over to the couch. I watch him stand before it,
clearly waiting for me to take a seat.
Alright Lana…you can do this…deep breath.
I inhale slowly and finally walk over to meet him at the couch. He takes a seat
down on the table.
I have no clue why you would choose that hard wood table over this
comforting couch, but I'm not going to ask...
I sit down on the couch so we are facing each other. I let all of my weight
fall back on it, whereas Clark is leaning forward on
the table, with his hands tied on top of his knees.
I sit there in silence, waiting for him to begin. I keep my focus off of him.
For some reason I'm scared to make eye contact with him. It seems like 15
minutes has passed and he still hasn't started. I look over at him and he's
looking down at the ground, hands still entwined.
Alright this is starting to get ridiculous…will you please start talking?
"I don't know where to begin. There's so many things…" He pauses and starts to
shake his head slightly, "….so much to say."
I take it back…you can sit there all you want. Just don't start talking.
He finally looks up to me. "Well I guess there's really no place to start, so
I'll just dive in. Lana, I'm not exactly like other guys. Actually other people
in general."
After earlier, I figured that out…well sort of
He's starting to look nervous as he turns his head away from me. Suddenly I
just want him to tell me so I take his hand, letting him know I want him to
continue. A small smile forms on his face, which makes me feel somewhat less
scared.
"I'm sorry…I just…" he stops and it looks like his eyes are tearing up. He rubs
his eyes with his other hand, "…I've never talked about this with anyone."
He's gay……God what is wrong with you? Just stop thinking…just stop thinking
and let him talk.
"It's ok…just tell me." I look at him seriously.
"Ok…" He nods his head as if he's gaining confidence. His eyes are rid of that
teary look.
Thank God…just by looking at him I thought I might lose it.
His voice is now serious and direct as he begins, "Lana…I wasn't born here."
Huh?
"Like not in Smallville?"
What's the big deal…
He laughs slightly and widens his eyes. "Um not exactly."
"Ok…" My eyes move back and forth "…so where were you born?"
What does this have to do with anything?
He holds his breathe before saying, "I'm not sure of exactly where I was born,
but I know it was in a place called Krypton."
Where the hell is Krypton?
"Krypton? Is that like in Africa or something?" I look
at him confused. He laughs as he says, "I wish…" He stops as he stands and
starts walking away from me. Finally he gets to where the tv is and rests his
arm on it. "I wasn't born on Earth…I was born on the planet Krypton."
I'm sorry what?
"I'm sorry what?" I say as my body freezes.
"Lana…I'm not…." He looks at me nervously, "…human."
"Oh so...you're what...an alien?" Suddenly I start to laugh
Is this guy kidding me?
He looks at me surprised "Well…yeah I guess."
"Oh and let me guess, you have like superpowers." I stand up as my laughing
becomes harder.
His face is confused "Actually…um…yeah."
Now I'm downright cracking up as he continues, "Lana I didn't think you take it
this…well like this." He puts his hands on his hips as I suddenly stop laughing
and look at him seriously.
He's…I mean he is joking right?
"Wait you're being serious?" For some reason my voice comes out a whisper.
Clark widens his eyes,
"Yes…completely."
Oh now this is just completely ridiculous.
I roll my eyes and turn around to start walking to the door. "Alright Clark, that was very funny
... I'm leaving-"
I stop as I find Clark standing in front of the door. "
How the hell…
"How'd you…" I trail off while my eyes become puzzled as suddenly the memory of
him flashing through the kitchen comes back to me once again. I can't believe I
didn't' even think of it before when he was talking.
He can't be an…I mean there's no way he's…that's just impossible.
"Lana…maybe you should sit down." Clark starts walking
towards me as I slowly nod my head and reply, "Yeah I think that would be a
good idea."
We both take a seat now on the couch, but I put a little distance between us. I
can tell Clark notices this, but he seems to understand.
"Look Lana…I'm…I am not human, and I do have certain abilities."
I look at him and then look down as I nod. While looking forward, I softly
reply, "Abilities?"
"Um yeah…There are things I can do that normal humans…can't."
Suddenly I'm not nervous. I'm actually…curious. I look at him confidently and
ask "Like what?" He quickly turns to face me and I can see his face fall in
relief.
"You're not going to freak out?" His voice shows disbelief.
Yes…why aren't you freaking out?
"Um…no." I look down in shock towards myself, "I guess not."
"Wow…I didn't anticipate this." Clark says as he looks
forward.
"Well…tell me…what can you do?" I ask while I move closer to him.
Ok why aren't you running out of there…he's an alien. Ok A L I E N.
He looks at me, still shocked, but slowly begins, "Well I can run
extremely fast as you've seen."
Oh well that explains that.
I nod, urging him to continue. Suddenly I want to know everything. "And…"
He starts laughing, "…and it's impossible to hurt me."
"Impossible? Come on…there has to be something that hurts you!" I feel myself
smiling.
He's still laughing and he shakes his head, "Well actually there is…green
meteor rocks are the only thing that weakens me." He turns to me, "Are you sure
you're not going to flip out? I mean why are you being so…like normal about
this?"
Yes…please fill me in
I put my hands up in the air slightly, and shrug as I look at him. " I…don't
know. I mean this is crazy…and I should be flipping out. Right?"
"Well that's what I thought was going to happen…"
I look ahead and nod my head. "I know…I should be flipping out. I should be
freaked out." I turn to look at him. "But I'm not…and I have no clue why."
Or maybe in the back of my mind I sort of already knew. Maybe I knew he was
different and that's why I was so upset before. But now, I'm finally admitting
it to myself.
Suddenly Clark puts a hand up to his chest and exhales heavily, "You
have no idea what a relief it is that you're being so understanding. I was like
giving myself a hernia; I couldn't concentrate all day."
"Why…why were you so stressed?" I say confused.
"Lana…I've never told anyone about this. My parents and I both think it's too
risky for people to know. So when you saw me today using my abilities…I didn't
know what I was going to do. I mean it's not the first time someone's been
suspicious about how I've done something before, but this time was different. I
don't know, it was like I couldn't tell you the truth, but at the same time, I
couldn't lie….or something." He looks down.
"So why did you?" I move slightly closer to him.
"Why did I what?" He looks at me confused.
"Tell me…why did you tell me the truth?"
His face becomes sincere, but serious. "I don't know. It just felt right and…"
He pauses for a moment, "…I have this overwhelming feeling that I can trust
you. For some reason, I wanted to tell you. It was like I had to."
"Wow." I look forward as I laugh slightly.
"I know that's really strange considering we don't know each other all that
well…but that's just the thing…I feel like I've known all my life, you know?"
He quickly looks away. I can see he's embarrassed.
"Yeah…I do." He turns back at me and smiles, "Yeah?" His voice sounds almost like
a little boy.
I laugh, "Yeah…" We both look at each other for a moment. Suddenly a thought
pops in my mind.
"So if you were born on Korpinton or Konstan –"
"Krypton." He laughs as I do too. "Krypton, thank you. Anyway if you were…"
I can't believe I'm actually talking about this as if it were normal.
"born there…how'd you get here. Did you take like a spaceship here…or" I become
extremely excited just by the thought of it, "Can you fly?" I'm laughing, but I
stop as soon as I see his face become serious.
"What?" I ask as he stands up and puts his hands in his back pockets.
"Um…Lana…I arrived here 11 years ago." He turns and faces me. His face is
pained.
I stand up as well, "Ok…"
He shakes his head, "No you don't understand…I arrived here 11 years ago during
the meteor shower. The meteor shower was because of…" He stops and I can see
sadness in his eyes "…me."
Oh…
"What?" My voice is low, but my words come out loud.
"Look Lana…I'm sorry, but…" He starts walking towards me.
"But nothing Clark…What you're saying is it's your fault my parents died...
because of you?" My voice is now ringing, and I'm not even thinking about what
I'm saying. The words are coming out instinctively.
Clark fumbles for words,
"Well…I mean… it's not like that-"
"Oh ok Clark…if it's not like that then explain it to me. Tell me what
part I got wrong."
Clark doesn't say anything
but only looks at me.
"Yeah that's what I thought." I say it through my teeth and turn to leave.
"Lana…wait" Clark runs after me and gently places his hand on my arm.
I throw his hand off of me "Look Clark…I really don't want
to talk about this anymore.."
"Ok I understand…" Clark nods, and continues, "you want to leave."
"Leave?" I widen my eyes, "Who said anything about leaving?"
"Oh..ok, I know you probably don't want to be around me right now. Here you can
take my car."
The last place I want to be is home…
"Thanks Clark…but I think I'm going to hang out for awhile. But feel more then
free to go, actually I'd prefer it if you did." I say it bitterly.
Clark suddenly looks
nervous, "Lana…look you're upset and probably in shock. The last thing you
should do is drink."
"I thought that was the reason people drink? To forget?"
He looks at me, "I thought you didn't like to drink?"
"Yeah well I changed my mind." I say as I open the door and quickly walk down
the hall.
"Lana…wait!" I can hear Clark following me as I
squeeze through the thick crowd of people on the stairs.
I reach the bottem of the stairs, but because of Clark's considerable size
he is not able to walk down them with the same success.
As I walk and search for the closest liquor available, I hear a voice other
than Clark's.
"Lana, right?"
I turn to face Conor. "Yeah…"
"Well Lana…I think you and I have a date with Mr. Jose Cuervo here?" He says as
he holds up a clear bottle containing a golden liquid. I look at the bottle,
contemplating.
"So…whaddya say?" His face forms into a wide smile.
"Lana!" I turn and see Clark, who's made it down the stairs, but is still
trying to file through the enormous crowd of people.
I look back at Conor, "I say…you're on." Conor's smile grows as he hands me a
full shot glass and a lime. I look at him confused.
"It's a chaser…here hold out your arm." Conor says as he starts sprinkling salt
on my wrist. My face is still confused, "Wait…have you never done a tequila
shot before." He starts laughing, but it doesn't seem to be in a mocking
manner.
"Refresh my memory." I say it without even caring how it sounds.
"Here watch me…" Suddenly Conor licks his wrist and smiles up at me before
downing his shot, and proceeding to suck on the lime.
And this is supposed to be fun…You know what, I don't care anymore…
"Think you can do it?" He says as he wipes his upper lip.
"Yeah…I can do it."
"That's my girl…" He crosses his arms, bottle and shot glass still in hands.
I nod and suddenly focus on the tiny square glass in my hand.
You know what…maybe you shouldn't do this.
"Lana…" Suddenly Clark has appeared before me and Conor. I look at
him and want that shot now more than ever. I quickly lick the salt off my
wrist. My face contorts into disgust, and I hold the glass before my lips for a
second.
"Please…let's talk about this." Clark begs as I look at him
before throwing my head back and emptying the glass's contents into my mouth. I
swallow as I put my head back forward. But I didn't swallow it all, and the
remains of the cool liquid is resting at the back of my mouth. Stinging each
area it touches. I tightly shut my eyes as I swallow hard and the painful tears
slowly stream down my cheeks.
