Chapter 11-- wow, this is way longer than I expected it to be
But you have now been upgraded to 2 extra years in your life! Okay, well, if I could, I would give that to you. But, you see, if you didn't read this, you might feel guilty, and the guilt would harbor up inside of you until you had a stress heart attack. But since you are reading this, no heart attack! So, in a way, this does add extra years to your life. Aren't you glad you read it now? I know I am:), Thanks again, people!
Anyway-- back to the story....

"I'm not going."

Lana was surprised. The thought hadn't even entered into her mind that Chloe wouldn't want to know what Clark was going to tell them.

"What?"

"I'm not going. Lana, I can't believe you are going! He does this over and over again, and then when he's ready, he just expects you to drop everything and be there?"

"Chloe..."

"I can't believe him. I can't believe you! Look, Lana, if you want to get your hopes up and run to his barn like a kid in a toy store, that's your business. But I'm done being played." Chloe paused. "I just am."

Lana watched Chloe pass her, and for the first time she realized there was a lot more to this than she had thought. What surprised her about that was that for the first time it wasn't about Clark. The key person in that piece of the story was Chloe.

School was over, and though it was only seven hours like it had been every other day, it seemed longer. It even seemed longer than it did the day before.

"Lana."

Lana smiled as she saw him. She's never looked more relieved... "Clark! So, I'm ready when you are." She might have looked relieved, but inside she couldn't have been more nervous than if she were going to go skydiving. Act calm, Lana... Just be calm. You don't want to stress him out—don't give him a reason not to tell you...

"I'm going to need a few minutes to do my chores," Clark said without thinking.

Lana might not know a lot about running a farm, but she did know that a farm that big with only Clark and his dad working, took a while to run. "Just a few minutes?"

Clark thought for a second. "A couple of hours then. Around six?" He knew what Lana was thinking. "I'm not changing my mind, Lana, I just need some time. If I get my chores done then we can have the whole night to talk." Assuming she would talk to him after she knew everything.

Lana smiled. "Six it is then." Clark watched her walk to her car and drive away. That's the last lie I will ever tell her, he told himself. The chores taking hours part—not him actually telling her. At least he thought.

Clark went inside the Torch. He wanted to see it one last time until he might be banned from it forever. He spent a lot of time in that room over the years—fun times with Chloe and Pete. Not so fun times when he learned about the Wall of Weird. He could see it now—just one more reminder that everything was his fault. His eyes fell on Lana's 15 minutes of fame, when she was three years old crying wearing a fairy princess outfit. That too could be his fault. Maybe this isn't such a good idea...

"Did you want something, Clark?" Chloe asked as she organized newspapers. Clark had been so into his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed she was there. Chloe was still waiting for an answer.

Snap out of it, Clark. "Um, yeah." Wow, this is hard. Even his voice sounded nervous. Chloe would have laughed if she didn't want to hear what he was going to say. "I was wondering if you wanted to come by my loft around six, you know-- just to hang out."

"Just to hang out?" Chloe asked. She looked skeptical.

Clark paused. "Well, and, you know, talk."

Chloe was still putting things away. "We're talking now."

"Well, we can... talk more."

Chloe was kind of having fun with this. "And we can't talk more now because..."

"I have to finish my chores at the farm."

"It's pretty amazing how you get up just on time to get to school and yet you've begun tasks that need completed."

Clark paused. Chloe was acting too weird for something not to be up. "Okay, I have to start my chores at the farm. And then homework, so we can, you know..."

"You're saying 'you know' a lot." Chloe paused again. "You know?"

Clark gave her a weird look. "Yeah... so..."

Chloe was done playing. "You can relax, Clark—Lana already told me about tonight's little 'share your feelings' fest."

Clark's head shot up. "She did?" He worried all day how to tell her for nothing.

"Yeah," now Chloe was filing. "But I think I'll have to pass."

Clark wasn't sure if he heard her right. "What?"

"I said, 'I think I'll have to pass.'"

Clark was confused. "Why? Chloe, I want you to know."

"Yeah, well... thanks for the invite, but I'm busy."

Clark looked hurt. "Well, when are you not busy?"

Chloe tried to ignore him. "I couldn't tell you."

"You can't be busy forever..."

Chloe stopped what she was doing and interrupted. "Look Clark, you're either really bad at taking hints or you really don't know what I'm trying to say. Either one is a major flaw in your personality."

Clark was defensive. "I'm just trying to find out why my friend—my reporter friend—who has been bugging me to tell her the truth for three years wouldn't want to..."

"Bugging?"

Clark stopped. "You know what I mean." This was not how he envisioned this conversation would go.

Chloe was finished putting the paper to bed. She grabbed her purse. "I have to go."

"Chloe, are you mad at me?"

Yeah! She thought. "I promised Lex that I'd see him around three."

"Lex... why..." his nervousness came back. He still didn't trust Lex completely. And Chloe did team with another Luthor before...

"He wasn't there when I stopped by yesterday." Clark looked at her like he wanted more of an explanation. "We're friends, Clark. Friends talk." She thought about their conversation for a second. "Then again, sometimes friends don't."

Clark watched her walk past him. He hadn't expected this. How could he tell Lana and not tell Chloe? How could Chloe not want to know? Then again, nothing in his life made much sense so far—why did he expect it to now?