CHAPTER THREE

Disclaimer in Chapter One

They were good childhood friends.  It was a well-kept secret, even from their own families.  Of course, everyone was aware that they knew each other, but as far as they were concerned, Lex Luthor and Chloe Sullivan were acquaintances.  After all, they were five years apart; what could they possibly have in common?

But no one took into account that they were both outsiders.  Bullied and isolated because they were different in appearance and abilities, they were fishes out of water in their own worlds.

Those worlds finally collided when Gabe Sullivan had to bring his daughter as he applied for a job at LuthorCorp.  Despite being told to stay put, she decided to explore the halls to see if she could find the devil as her classmates claimed to be living in the building.  She was trying to be stealthy, making like her favorite sleuth Nancy Drew.

Right as she was turning into the corner, her stealthiness proved itself useless as she crashed into the chest of a rather tall teenager.

"Ow," she quietly winced.

"That's what you get for being in the way," the boy huffed. 

Chloe looked up and replied, "Well, there's no need to be a jerk about it."

The boy stared at her, shocked at the audacity of this tiny girl.  "Don't you know who I am?"

"I really could care less," she snorted.  "As far as I'm concerned, you're nothing but a jerk."

Impressed, the boy smirked.  "Lex Luthor," he held out his hand.  "And I'm sorry."

"Chloe Sullivan," she smiled smugly as she took his hand.  "And apology accepted."

That was the beginning of their friendship.  They kept in touch constantly and secretly, especially after Lex introduced Chloe to the wonderful world of computers and electronic mail.  Almost every day, they expected a long entry from each other about how their day went.

As years passed, emails were not simply enough for the young Luthor.  He was having a hard time with his father and was missing his mother and even the traitor Pamela more and more severely.  Chloe was the only hope he had.

Which is why Lex managed to manipulate Lionel into sending him to Smallville when Lionel threatened to exile him.

Chloe was venting her Clark-related frustration on an editorial piece for the Torch when two hands covered her eyes.  "Guess who?" a voice spoke softly behind her.

A grin dominated half of her face upon realizing who the gentle intruder was.  She took his hands off her face and turned around.  Confirming that it was Lex, she jumped up and threw herself at him.  "What are you doing here?"

"Being a Luthor exile," he smirked, hugging her back.

"Oo-kay," she responded.  "Care to elaborate?"

"I got my father to exile me here," he declared proudly.

"What?" she practically screamed, almost pushing him away.  "What did you do?"  He looked at her knowingly, which generated a moan from her.  "Please don't tell me that it was Club Zero."

No confirmation was really needed, which made her plop herself into her seat.  "Lex.."

"No," he interjected.  "We're not going to argue about this.  Besides, aren't you happy to see me?"  He pulled her seat closer as he knelt in front of her.

"Of course, I am," she replied.  "I just wished that you were staying here for reasons other than for being self-destructive."

"Self-destructive?!?" Lex backed away.  "I did this for *you*."

"No, you did this to spite your father," she retorted.  "You never had to resort to that if you wanted to stay here.  And you know that."

He shook his head.  "Please, Miss Freud, please enlighten me as to what I really had planned in my exile to Cattledom," he hissed.

"Always the jerk," Chloe glared at him.  "You really want to know what I think?"

Lex barely nodded when she continued.  "I think that you're a coward.  Using me as an excuse to be cast off by your father in the most ridiculous way possible.  If you wanted to be with me, you would have done it.  But no, you had to come out here with a bang."

"That's a cheap plot to get back at your father, Lex," she lashed out.  "If you really want to hit him where it hurts, I suggest that you start using your brain."

Lex stood speechless, infuriated by her candidness and his stupidity.  Afraid that he might do something to hurt her out of spite, he left without a word.

That was when he sped his way through town, thinking of ways to pretend to rectify this situation with his father and get himself back to Metropolis.  And when he finally broke away from his thoughts and saw Clark Kent, it was too late.