A/N: Date wise, it's around the second week in February

Thanks go out to Casey, who convinced me to continue writing this when i thought it sucked -- apparently, you all agree with her.

Ch 3 – School

"WHAT!!!!"

Clark winced and wished he didn't have super-hearing as Buffy screamed at him furiously.

"Come on, Slay, it won't be so bad…"

"It's school!" she groaned and flopped down on the bed and covered her face with a pillow, hoping that if she refused to acknowledge reality it would go away. Clark grinned slightly at the Slayer's antics, knowing that they were just her way of dealing with events she couldn't control. She would complain, and whine, but ultimately she always did what she had to do. It was one of the things that made her a great Slayer.

Buffy sat up and grinned at Clark smugly.

"I have no transcripts. They won't let me go if I don't have school papers," she said triumphantly. Clark's grin faltered for a second – he hadn't thought of that. Having heard Buffy's…objection…Jonathon and Martha had come to investigate. Martha cleared her throat slightly to get the teens' attentions.

"Well, we could ask Lex to create some papers…" she trailed off and looked at her husband, knowing that if there was going to be an objection it would be from him. Jonathon still distrusted their son's best friend, even though he wasn't as suspicious as he used to be. But he nodded slightly, realizing that was probably their only option since it was obvious that for some reason Buffy was trying to escape her past. Buffy looked at them in confusion.

"Lex? Clark, didn't you say that he had died? I remember you going to his funeral."

Clark just grinned and said, "You're not the only friend I have who has come back from the dead." At Buffy's pointed look, his smile faded as he realized what he let slip and the two teens were quickly out the door and heading towards Lex's before either parent could react to his statement.

Martha and Jonathon watched the truck drive off with anxious expressions on their faces. For the first time, they began to wonder if their mysterious new guest had more secrets than just a blank past.

"Clark! To what do I owe this visit," Lex asked and then spotting Buffy, continued with, "and with such lovely company?"

Buffy's eyebrow rose at that and smirked and said, "Wow, you weren't kidding about Lex being a playboy, Clark."

Both Clark and Lex laughed at that and Clark introduced the two to each other. Lex shot a questioning look to Clark when he mentioned that he had met Buffy in Metropolis but the younger boy only smiled enigmatically. Lex knew that when Clark got that look on his face, there was no point in trying to find out more.

"I assume this isn't purely a social visit, then?" Lex asked, his instincts kicking. He sat down on his couch and watched the reactions of his guests; Clark looked unsure on how to proceed, but it was the blonde girl's reaction that interested him the most. Her eyes had narrowed slightly, and were watching his every motion – with a chill, he recognized the look as one his father sometimes wore when he was looking for a weakness…or going in for the kill.

"Buffy's going to be staying with us for a while, and Mom and Dad are insisting she goes to school," he paused at her groan then continued, "but she doesn't have any transcripts."

"So you would like me to create some fore you," Lex continued Clark's thought. Clark nodded and shuffled slightly – always uncomfortable to ask favours from his wealthy friend.

"That won't be difficult…can I ask why?"

The two teens shared a quick look. Buffy knew that Clark trusted Lex, but her senses were telling her that though he might not be dangerous to them, Lex Luther was still a very dangerous man. Probably more than Clark realized. But if she left his curiosity unanswered, the Slayer had the sinking suspicion that Lex would find ways to answer his questions on his own.

"There are some people from my past I'm trying to get away from," Buffy answered slowly, hoping that would be enough for the Luther. The two regarded each other, silently trying to find the measure of the other. Lex nodded slightly, seemingly satisfied and the two teens relaxed.

"So I assume you're in the same year as Clark then?" The two nodded in unison. "All right, I'm going to need a full name, so…?"

"Elizabeth Williams," Buffy replied after a moments thought. Luckily, her mother's maiden name was common and Buffy wasn't attached to her absent father's last name – and keeping 'Buffy' was like asking the Watchers Council to come find her.

"With a 4.0 GPA," Clark contributed with a grin to the Slayer's dismay.

"Clark!"

With that, Buffy started off after Clark and the two were out of the room in seconds. For the second time that day, the duo left the person behind speechless.

True to his word, a few days later Buffy was sitting in the Principal's office at Smallville High School trying to sneak a peak at what Lex had put in her records. She was really wishing she had stuck around to make sure the playboy hadn't developed a sense of humour during the process.

"It's a pleasure to have you joining us, I understand that you'll be staying with the Kents."

Buffy nodded.

"Well, I'm sure Clark will be able to help you get you caught up."

Buffy smiled weakly at that. She and Clark had agreed to keep the fact she was actually eighteen a secret, but the idea of being a junior again wasn't pleasant. At least she wasn't going to be attending school on top of a hellmouth – and there was less of a chance that anyone could track her down. Again, she wondered what Lex at put in her records.

Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about anyone finding out about me burning down the school gym.

Clark was waiting for Buffy as she left the office. He only grinned at the glare she gave him and proceeded to give her the grand tour. After visiting the cafeteria and other 'exciting' places, the grand finale was a visit to the Torch, the school newspaper edited by his best friend Chloe.

"Hey guys," Chloe greeted them with a grin as she and Pete continued their work on the computer. "Hey Clark," Pete echoed, giving Buffy a significant look.

"Oh, sorry Pete, this is my friend Buffy. Buffy, this is Pete, and of course, you've already met Chloe."

Buffy smiled brightly, hoping to win over Clark's two best friends.

"It's really nice to meet both of you. Clark's told me a lot about you."

'Oh, he has, has he?" Chloe asked with a grin. "So I guess he's also told you about the infamous Wall of Weird?" Chloe pointed to the wall by the door that was covered with newspaper clippings. Buffy leaned in closer and read a few of the captions, recognizing some of them from stories that Clark had told her about his encounter with 'meteor mutants'. She frowned as she spotted a few missing persons reports, and 'animal attacks'. Vampires and demons were rare in smaller towns – less food – but now and then they appeared.

Buffy may have quit the Council, but that didn't mean she wasn't still a Slayer.

"I know some of it sounds farfetched," Chloe said, misinterpreting Buffy's frown. The other girl gave Chloe a wan smile. "I've seen some strange things in my time."

Chloe opened her mouth to ask her what she meant when Clark interrupted.

"Slay, we got to get going to class, see you guys at lunch."

Chloe looked at Pete after the two had left.

"Great, it's the Clark-Kent-disappearing-act times two."

Lana Lang sat at the cafeteria waiting for the arrival of her friends. She hadn't seen Clark ever since the arrival of his new 'friend'. There were so many questions she wanted to ask Clark; who was she; how had they met; why was she here? Except for when Clark apologized for his behaviour, they had never talked about his time in Metropolis. Clark just hadn't been…Clark. It was as if he was someone else. And as much as she hated to admit it, even if only to herself, he was someone who scared her. What kind of person would be a friend of Kal's?

Spotting Clark's tall figure, Lana waved to grab his attention. Noticing her, he waved back and started to head over. Unfortunately, several jocks stood in his way. Lana rolled her eyes, and went over to – hopefully – rescue Clark. Not for the first time, she wondered what it was about Clark that always got the jocks riled up. As she got closer, she was able to hear their conversation.

"Come on, baby, what are you doing hanging out with this nerd? Why don't you leave him behind and come hang with us?" one of the members of the football said, and grabbed Buffy by the arm.

By now Chloe and Pete had joined Lana and the three shared a concerned look. They knew how protective Clark could be, and they didn't want to see their friend get into trouble. But to their surprise, Clark didn't look upset.

In fact, he looked…amused.

"Really? I get to hang out with you?" Buffy said in her best Valley-girl voice, oozing with sarcasm. Within seconds the dumb blonde act disappeared and the Slayer emerged. Buffy eyed the jock from head to toe, in much the same way he had to her just moments before.

Only she wasn't looking in appreciation.

"Hmmm, there doesn't appear to be any signs of intelligence so I guess a conversation on topics other than sports are out. And by the lack of bulge in your pants, I can only assume that you don't have any other attributes to make up for your lack of conversational skills."

The students that had gathered around gave shocked gasps at Buffy's language. By now the jock had dropped his arm and was flushed red from anger and embarrassment.

"But I can only guess from your comments that I should feel privileged to hang out with a high school jock who doesn't know that when his high school career is done, he will realize that it was the highlight of his pathetic life. I think I'd rather hang out with the person who has a future."

Buffy grabbed Clark's hand and they made their way through the crowd to Clark's friends – who stood staring in shock.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you did that," Chloe breathed out, a huge smile on her face. "I wish I had a camera or a video recorder or something to document this moment."

Lana glanced down at the still clasped hands, wondering just what was going on between Clark and Buffy.

She wasn't the only one who was wondering that. Hidden, a camera zoomed in on the pair and quickly snapped several pictures. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Hitting speed dial, he raised the phone to his ear, never taking his eyes of his target.

"Mr. Travers, sir, I've found her."

TBC