14.

"Clark can you please pass me the peas." Johnathan said smiling warmly across to his son.

Alex observed the Kent family under an imaginary microscope. They were too nice to each other, to be a normal family.

'There's something up about them, secrets, lies. Something to make them act this way. Maybe Mrs. Kent was secretly sleeping with the town coffee proprietor, who ever that was. Maybe Mr. Kent was secretly a Mafia boss in hiding. Maybe they're from outer space.' The last thought made her smile. 'Yeah right. And Clark can fly.' She inwardly laughed. 'Maybe they're robots.' There was definitely something wrong with this picture perfect family.

"How is your dinner, Alex?" Mrs. Kent asked snapping her out her Sherlock-like state.

"It's delicious." She replied with a warm smile.

'This from the girl who turns into silver Jell-O.' Her mind thought getting it's last word in before she shut it up. Reason began to sink in. 'Just because they have a perfect family doesn't automatically mean that they're keeping secrets. Does it?'

She decided to listen in on the conversation again.

"So what is farming like exactly?" Her dad asked.

'Oh god. Not the twenty questions of George Mack. Anything but the twenty-questions of George Mack.' Her father was pulling his usual routine around people he didn't know. Trying to act as natural as possible with a difficulty that Alex had only witnessed her father and sister use. The Kent family didn't seem to notice at all.

"Mom, would it be alright if Alex and I ate in the barn?" Clark asked noticing her dismay.

"Sure honey. Go right ahead." Martha Kent smiled warmly. "Alex," She called as Alex was walking by.

"Yes?"

"Don't forget some pie."

Smiling Alex took the two pieces of the pie.

"Thank you." She said to the seated woman.

"And Alex-" Her dad called as she was walking out the door.

"George be quiet." Her mother chided.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the room. One embarrassment diverted - for now anyway. But dinner in the barn? Sure, she had already seen it, but that was a little bit too - well - romantic. And from what she had seen of her new friend, Clark Kent didn't do romantic. Was she just thinking about romance and Clark Kent in the same sentence?

Clark led her out of the door towards the barn. She couldn't help but laugh. Here she was. At Clark's house, in her bare feet and a dress, carrying two plates of his mother's apparently famous apple pie.

"What's so funny?" He asked turning around to face her. She smiled back at him.

"Nothing really." She said before extending the pie out to him. "Except that I have an incredible urge to throw this in your face."

"Don't do that." He said feigning shock. "That's the best apple pie you'll ever eat in your life."

"Really?"

"Blue ribbon material in every," he took a step towards her. "And I do mean every farmers market that Smallville hosts." He was so close to her now.

'How did he get that close to me?' Her mind wondered as Clark leaned in. 'Oh god. He's going to kiss me.'

"Hey, watch the pie." She said moving away from him quickly.

Somehow, he was one step ahead of her, and in an instant, the pie was in his hand. His other hand had wound around her neck and then he kissed her. Softly at first, then it grew into something else entirely.

(The author is growing tierd of finding new and exciting separators that this site will accept... many appologies -S)

Chloe was growing tired of Lana's incessant blubbering. Lana cried during dinner. Lana cried, rather loudly, in her room. Lana cried in the office of the Talon. There was no place, that Chloe could think of that Lana hadn't cried.

She had just gotten back from her abrupt meeting with Lex. Operation Mant was a go on his part.

All the plan entailed now was to keep Lana from tearing Alex limb to limb. Because there was no way that she could do that to Clark. Somehow Chloe didn't think that Alex had superhuman strength, or that she was made of steel. And yet, somehow Chloe didn't doubt that Alex was stronger than she appeared. Somehow Pete had to keep Lana away from Clark. Chloe rolled her eyes at the thought. 'How was he ever going to do that?' She thought with a smirk.

Lana was pretty easy. All that Pete had to do was romance her. Feed her chocolate. Give her roses. She would be his in less than three minutes. Lana wailed loudly from the other side of Chloe's wall. 'On second thought, Pete has his work cut out for him.'

Chloe grabbed a green post-it note and scribbled 'Buy Pete Chocolate' in capital letters, before sticking it to the inside of her wallet, where nobody would find it.

Smiling triumphantly she turned off her light and headed to the door. Lex was going to phone her and tell her where to meet him.

"Where are you off to?"

Chloe spun around quickly, caught. Her dad was at a convention in Metropolis over night. He actually went to a lot of those lately. So that could only leave one person. Caught by "the Pink" herself. Eyes smudged red with crying, perfect makeup smeared across her cheeks. 'If only Pete could see his princess like this.' She thought, inwardly smirking.

"I have to go do an interview I forgot about for my article on the swim team's pool pollution problems." She lied with ease. She couldn't lie to Lex. She would never lie to her father. Pete would know immediately. But with Clark and Lana, they were too easy to lie to. They usually would give a quirk of their perfectly sculpted eyebrows, and say something along the lines of -

"Well have fun. And don't get in trouble." Lana was so predictable.

"I never get in trouble!" Chloe said feigning shock.

"I'll see you in the morning?" Lana asked sniffling. Chloe nodded. "Have fun with the swim team." Lana winked before retiring to her room.

"When you say it like that.. I think I just might." She said to Lana's door before going down the stairs and to her car.