Part Nine: Who Killed
Mac
"What´s the deal with you and Sullivan?"
Jarod looked up to see Whitney enter the locker room and frowned.
"What do you mean?" The rest of the team was already outside, playing
on the field.
His friend just shot him an ´Oh please!' look and sat down beside him.
"You know d@mn well what I mean, Russell."
"We´re just friends."
Whitney just stared at him rather creepily, not blinking. After a while,
Jarod couldn´t take it anymore. "I like her, okay!"
With a sigh, the blonde shook his head in frustration. "We all like
her. But you like her. Look, I've known you since we were kids-"
The other cut him off, thoroughly confused. "I just moved here."
Whitney just dismissed the fact with a wave of his hand. "Details. What
matters is that if you want there to be more between you and Sullivan, you have
to take action, man. Even if it means putting your friendship on the line." He
halted, seeing the indecision shining in his friend's eyes. "You know she's
worth it."
Jarod seemed to ponder his words for a while, until he looked up again, a
small smile adorning his handsome face. "When did you become so smart?"
The serious expression Whitney wore before was broken by a huge grin. "I
guess a certain reporter rubbed off on me. And the fact that any idiot can see
what a catch Sullivan is helped too."
Jarod chuckled, "Thanx, man."
"No prob."
The silence that had descended on them was broken as a booming voice came
from outside the locker room. "Russell! Fordman! Get your sorry asses on the field!
Now!"
"Shit," Whitney whispered. "Coach is really pissed." At this point, he was
already sprinting towards the exit with Jarod close behind. "I guess he didn't
like how the interview went."
"Chlo probably started asking about grade alterations again."
* * * * *
"AHHH!!!"
A high-pitched scream echoed through the empty halls of Smallville High,
followed by a small explosion. Inside the Torch office, a computer had just
blown up. The cause seemed to be a mystery, until........
A blonde head peeked out from behind the desk and green eyes darted
around, trying to see through the smoke that had filled the office. Chloe
Sullivan slowly climbed to her feet, and hesitantly approached her still
sizzling ex-iMac.
'Maybe the Principle won't notice,' she thought hopefully, then jumped
back as a spark came her way, and the computer gave a defeated sound.
Carefully inspecting the damage from a safe distant, she finally came to
the conclusion that it had died.
"Oh-oh."
*RING*
Chloe shrieked and dove behind her desk again as another sound pierced the
air. It took her a while to realize that it was her mobile phone, and not a
dying printer. Scrambling to her purse to get a hold of her cell, she answered
with a shaky: "Hello?"
There was a pause on the other line, before a worried voice asked her,
"What's wrong?" Although she wasn't familiar with the obvious concern in his
tone, she could recognize that voice anywhere.
"Mr Luthor," she stumbled, silently cursing herself for sounding like a
bumbling idiot. "No, no, nothing's wrong! It's just...." She poked at her
iMac with a pencil, making a face. "I think I killed Mac."
There was some rustling on the other side, and Lex was already halfway
towards his car, when he spoke again. "Listen, Chloe, just stay where you are.
I'm on my way. Don't worry about it, I'll take care of everything."
Chloe frowned as he hung up and stared at the cell for a while. 'Strange
man,' she thought, then shrugged it off and turned her attention back to the
computer, sighing loudly.
"Not only do I have to start all over again, I also need to beg the school
for another computer," she mumbled, remembering how it had crashed, before she
had the chance to save her nearly finished article on the Smallville Crows. It
was hard enough to write enthousiastically about some stupid ballgame once, but
twice? And the principle already had a dislike against the Torch; he'd never
give her a new pc. "I am so screwed," she muttered, letting herself sink into a
nearby chair and placing her head in her hands.
This was how Lex found her a little while later as he barged into the
office. He coughed a little, waving away the remainder of smoke and scanning
the room. In a few quick strides, he was by her side, kneeling next to her
chair.
Chloe, who had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed
his arrival, looked up in surprise as she felt a warm hand on her knee, rubbing
it slightly in a comforting manner. Her eyes widened when she saw the man at
her feet, looking back at her with those beautiful, gray eyes. "What-" she
began, but was cut off as he put a finger to her lips, effectively silencing
her.
"You don't have to say anything. Just tell me where the body is," he told
her calmly, his gaze traveling through the office. As he saw the computer on
the floor, he immediately came to the conclusion that there had been a struggle
and clenched his jaw, his formerly gentle grip on her knee tightening
considerably. "Are you okay?"
Chloe did her best not to shiver as his eyes ran over her body, silently
wishing he'd done it for reasons other than checking her for any injuries, but
the feel of his warm hand on her leg wasn't really helping. She frowned,
'Body?' Assuming he meant the pc, she pointed in that direction. "Over there,
and I'm okay."
Letting out a small sigh of relief, his eyes followed to where she was
indicating and now it was his turn to be confused. His face registered shock as
the realization suddenly hit him. "That's…….?"
She nodded an affirmative. "Mac," she said sadly.
TBC
* * * * *
Okay, this is the deal:
NO REVIEWS means DEPRESSED WRITER
DEPRESSED WRITER means NO NEW CHAPTER!!!
No, this is not blackmail. This is Fanfic Life. Isn't it great!? J
