A/N2: Nov 11 , 2012: So, decided to give my first ever Smallville story a bit of a facelift. Gradually, you will see each chapter get a makeover. As this was first published 10 years ago, my writing style has come a long way, and I'm in the process of making sure all my fics are up to my own writing standards. Story and plot will generally stay the same, all I'm updating is wording, grammar, etc. I hope you'll continue to enjoy and that you'll let me know what you think. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.

A/N: Hi everyone! This is the first Smallville story I've written, so I hope you enjoy it! Please read and review.

Chapter 1:


Chloe Sullivan stood in front of her dressing-table mirror, smiling at herself. She looked good, if she said so herself. She'd gone the extra mile today—red sleeveless top, knee length black, pencil skirt, combined with knee high black boots. Her hair was extra flip-py today, as well—all in the name of picture day.

She was all set to go. Glancing at her wall clock through the mirror, she frowned, seeing what time it was. "Dad," she yelled out. "I'm going to be late for school if we don't get going!"

She found it irksomely inconvenient that her car was currently in the shop and that she had to rely on her dad for a ride.

Mr. Sullivan, suddenly poked his head inside her open door. "All right, Chloe," he said slowly. "I've only been ready to go for the past thirty minutes…"

He grinned at her, letting her know that he'd won this round. She pointedly rolled her eyes at her dad before he disappeared, presumably back down the stairs.

Quickly checking her reflection once again, she grabbed her bag after deeming herself presentable and headed downstairs.

"You look lovely, Chloe," Mr. Sullivan complimented before grabbing his own bag.

She gave her dad a huge smile. "Thanks Dad. Now, let's go, let's go," she said quickly as she pushed her now laughing father out the door.

It didn't take long for them to reach Smallville High. The minute Chloe's feet landed on the ground, she rushed straight for her The Torch office, her usual morning destination. Only now, because she'd had to get a ride with her dad—and you know, taken her time in getting ready—she didn't have a lot of time for morning routines.

And when she opened the door to the medium-sized room, she found that she'd probably have even less time. There, sitting at one of the mac computers, looking very intent at something there, was none other than billionaire playboy, Lex Luthor.

She didn't have time to hide her surprise at his presence before he was looking up from the screen and squarely at her. The smile he gave her also did nothing for her shock.

"Lex?" she exclaimed, ignoring that million dollar smile the best she could. "What exactly are you doing in here?"

"Oh no, you caught me! You've thwarted my evil plans to steal the Torch's computers, even though I've got millions of dollars to buy my own," he replied, voice mocking. And she realized that maybe her tone had been a little accusing.

"Ha, ha, very funny," she said disdainfully. Still, she wanted to know what he thought he was doing in her office, on one of her computers. "Now, really, what are you doing in here?"

"Not that it's any of your business, I here with Clark," he replied with a satisfied smile on his face.

She glanced around the office, blatantly looking for Clark. "And has Clark all of the sudden developed the ability to turn invisible?" she asked, smugly.

"For your information, he had to step out. He said he'll be back soon, so I decided to sit here, wait, and play some solitaire," he informed. He turned the screen towards her. "See? Is that all right with you Oh Mighty Queen of The Torch?" He punctuated this last bit by standing up and bowing.

Chloe couldn't help herself then; she burst out laughing. Admittedly, Lex could be a pretty funny guy when he wanted to be.

"And the ice has broken," he said with flourish and a sigh of relief, that melted into a grin.

Smiling, she felt more at ease, now that she knew which Lex Luthor she was dealing with at the moment. She took of her jacket, hurriedly, aware of the time and went to her computer turning it on. "So, where did Clark say he was going? Class starts pretty soon."

"You know Clark; all he said was that he would be back right away." He paused, and she looked up to see him watching her with a considering eye. "Shouldn't you be getting to class?"

"Who made you hall monitor all of the sudden?" she joked. "This is one part of my daily routine. I come in here, check my email, do some other things which I don't have time to do today, and then I'm off to class."

"Ah, I see. You're looking for letters from a secret internet romance," he said completely serious, until she raised an amused eyebrow at him, that's when he gave her a smirk.

"Yeah right, Lex. That is exactly what I'm looking for," she replied, deadpan. Her eyes went back to her screen when he looked at her in wonder.

Scanning her mail, she voiced her opinion on what she found there. "Junk, junk, more junk. Oh my God! Yes," she breathed out in wonder. And then loudly exclaimed, "Yes!"

Lex glanced at her with a look that clearly said, 'you're totally nuts!' Knowing saying that to her wouldn't go over very well, he asked, instead, "What? What's wrong?"

"Wrong. How can anything in the world be wrong? Everything is just so… right," she said dreamily.

He continued to eye her warily. Chloe was Clark's friend, he didn't know her extremely well, but he knew this wasn't typical Chloe-like behavior.

Finally noticing his look, Chloe turned her full-wattage smile on him, causing him to almost step back at its brightness. "I've got an interview with The Daily Planet for an intern position. I applied during the summer; I didn't expect to get a reply so fast. This is amazing!" Chloe explained.

Lex smiled, getting out of his chair. He walked the short distance between them and put a friendly hand on her shoulder. "Congratulations, Chloe. I've got a hunch you'll make a great reporter."

"Thanks, Lex," she replied. She grabbed her calendar of her desk and began to flip through it. "Hmm… The interview is during my holiday next week. Now, I just need a way to get down there."

Lex knew she was talking more to herself than him, but he suddenly found himself offering up his services.

"I could do it," he said nonchalantly.

Chloe glanced up at him from her computer screen, a look of surprise and confusion on her face. "Do what?" she asked quizzically.

"I could drive you there… if you'd like," Lex clarified. She continued to give him that same blank look, so he felt the need to go on. "I need to go to Metropolis next week, so I could give you a lift there."

"Oh," she said seeming to get what he was saying suddenly. "It's all right. I can take the bus or something," she replied nervously.

Despite him being Clark's new best friend, she did not know him very well. So, the idea of him offering a ride was a bit weird to her.

But Lex wasn't a guy that took no for an answer. He found himself brushing off her attempt at declining his offer. "Don't worry about it," he assured. He even took it one step further. "It will give us a chance to get to know each other better. I mean we share the same best friend after all."

Speechless, she watched him make his way to the door. "I'll call you soon and we'll figure out all the details, all right?" She nodded dumbly, a little star struck, she hated to admit. "Oh, and can you let Clark know that I couldn't wait any longer, I've got a meeting starting in twenty minutes. Thanks!"

She let out a sigh of relief when he stepped out the door. Talking to Lex Luthor, she found, was quite exhausting.

When he suddenly poked his head back inside, a big smile on his face, Chloe fought hard to keep the yelp of surprise inside. "By the way," he began, "you look lovely today."

Yes, he was definitely exhausting. But as a smile grew across her dazed face, she found that it was most definitely in a good way.


That's it for this one. Again, if you'd like, leave me a review. Thanks!