Chapter 3
Unraveling the Mystery
After class, Clark hastily got up and walked up to Andy, hoping to introduce himself and perhaps be her guide for showing her around the school—he knew Chloe was too busy with the Torch and her classes to do both.
"Hi, I'm Clark Kent. I heard you needed someone to show you around for today. Are you new to Smallville?" he asked, trying to be as friendly as possible to the new student, trying to fulfill his usual job of being the host and escort. Andy looked up at him, and the fear showed in her eyes as she knew this was Clark. "Hey, it's OK. I'm not as intimidating as I look."
"Um, I have to go now," Andy said, slipping past him and leaving the room as fast as she could.
"That was weird," Clark said to himself, not used to the unsettling reaction he got from Andy. He walked into the hallway, hoping to find Andy and assure her that there was nothing about him to be afraid of; although, he thought, if she knew my secret, she would have. He pushed through the growing crowd of students in the hallway, and had the advantage of height, being taller than the average teenager his age. He saw her, running for the doors, and continued his battle to reach the newest student, still observing the way she walked—as if she had something to hide. Hunching over like he had seen her do before, she veered away from anyone who came near her, and was desperately trying to leave the building to get away from the overwhelming crowd, still clutching her books to her like it was the only thing she had left in the world. She finally reached the double doors and ran down the steps, doubling back to the side of the building and leaving Clark's view, aware that he was following her. Clark ran out after her, only to find that she was gone.
Knowing that a scared person could do drastic things without thinking, he switched to his x-ray vision, hoping to see her skeleton in the bushes or a clump of nearby trees. Looking around, he saw nothing, but noticed something on the ground. Switching back to his normal vision, he walked over, and picked it up off the ground. Clark realized it was the sweatshirt he had seen her wearing, torn all the way down the back; the fabric stressed as if it had been pulled to its limit and had torn at the pressure. Scanning the area once again, this time looking for a potential kidnapper, he still saw nothing, not even a stray book or piece of fallen paper. Confused, and absent-mindedly still holding the torn sweatshirt, he made his way back inside.
"Does he know about your wings?" Andy's mother, Ellen, asked her once her daughter had finished reciting the events of the morning. Ellen had come to accept Andy's irregularity when she had discovered her three year old was sprouting wings from her shoulder blades, and over time had become overprotective. She continued her strife to protect her daughter from any potential threat, even when they discovered not only did Andy have wings, she too had talons, which she had accidentally discovered one day when her mother had startled her. Luckily, no-one had been hurt, but Ellen could only imagine the horrible things scientists would do to her only heir if they discovered her secret.
"I don't think so, but he's starting to get curious; I mean, it's hard to have wings and not be the least bit inconspicuous about it. Anyway, I think he wants to escort me around the school, like it's his job or something…" Andy said.
"Well, I'm just glad you came home when you did—no more school for you," Ellen said, obviously thinking she had the upper hand this time and had concluded the discussion.
"No, mom, I want to try to go to school, I just have to be careful," she assured her mother. The argument to let her go to school had only been successful because Andy had mentioned her social life, or lack thereof.
"Andy, what if someone does find out? Do you know what they could do to you?"
"I know mom, that's why I have stayed hidden for 14 years of my life! I've lived in a prison for as long as I can remember and I want to be free!"
Ellen shook her head, recognizing where this conversation was leading. "Andy, you know why I kept you here, it was for your own good, and you've got to understand that!"
"Yeah, that's what you've told me time after time, but you don't understand what it's like. I'm a prisoner in my own home—I can't go to movies or to dinner, or anywhere. I don't have any friends except for you! This is my chance to get out into the real world. Maybe if I did reveal my wings to everyone, they'd realize how special I am and perhaps accept me; I saw this wall in the office of the school's newspaper—it's covered in articles about people like me, mom, people with strange abilities that they got because of the meteor shower—freaks!"
Ellen scooted over on the couch to a placed a comforting arm around her daughter's shoulders, resting just above the wings. "Andy, you're not a freak—you're special. Do you realize how many people can only dream of having what you've already got? You can fly free in the sky when others daydream of doing so. But I don't know about you revealing your secret to anyone—it could be dangerous."
Now it was Andy's turn to sadly shake her head, gazing down at the floor with tears in her eyes. "Can I go back to school tomorrow then? I promise I'll stay away from Clark and Chloe…plus, they don't even know enough about me to recognize me even if I did!" Andy pleaded with her overprotective mother.
"Alright, I guess you can," Andy's mother said as she sighed in defeat. "We'll have to buy you another sweatshirt tomorrow though, in the meantime, just wear your blue one. If anyone asks, say you get cold easily—which is easy to believe because of your size."
"Thanks mom!" Andy said gleefully before running from the room, her wings flaring out behind her. Reaching her own room in a matter of seconds, she closed the door and the shades on the windows and let her wings free from the blanket her mother had draped over them as soon as she had entered the house with her wings exposed. She lay on her stomach sprawled on the bed, lazily flapping her wings, doing the English homework that was assigned at the end of her only class that day. She had only told her mother she'd stay away from Clark and Chloe to convince her to let Andy return to school—she knew she wouldn't keep her promise; after all, Clark and Chloe had been the only two students who had even acknowledged her. She knew she would have to explain her disappearance the next day, but she could easily get away with being sick and having to go home for the day.
Chloe and Pete were both looking intently at one of the computer screens in the Torch Office when Clark walked in a few minutes after the 3rd period had ended.
"Hi Chloe, hey Pete," Clark said, breaking their intense gaze at the computer. "Another contender for the Wall of Weird?" he asked, walking over and sitting down in a nearby computer chair. At their confused faces, he continued, "What's with the hypnotic gaze into the face of technology?"
"Oh, Clark, no, actually I found a match for the license plate number you gave me," Chloe said. "A red 2003 Mustang Convertible. Sound familiar?"
"Yeah, that was the car I saw go off the bridge the other night. Did it say who it belonged to?" he asked, determined to find out who owned the vehicle.
"Ellen McKenzie," Pete answered for him. "Now, all we need to find out is if our mysterious winged one is also a McKenzie…"
"But how are we supposed to do that? We don't even know who she is, or even if they're related…" Clark said, becoming more perplexed.
"Just another one of the clues, Clark. Part of solving the mystery," said Chloe.
"Well, I have another clue to add," Clark said, as he tossed the ripped sweatshirt onto the desk in front of him.
"Clark, we all know your wardrobe is, and always will be a mystery, but why admit to it now?" Chloe said, teasing him as she picked up the item of clothing and inspected it, instantly noticing the huge tear down the back with a journalist's eye.
"Chloe, this isn't mine, its Andy's—I think. I saw her leaving the school a minute ago, and when I followed her, she was gone—just like that. I found this out near a clump of trees by the school. The odd thing is, it's almost torn identically to the way that the sweatshirt I found in the car was," Clark said as he shrugged, adding what he suspected was more than just a little important clue to their puzzlement.
"So, you think it's Andy who's the winged wonder?" Pete asked.
"Well, the fabric is pretty tough to be ripped clean through like this, and I've just noticed she acts a little strange…" Clark commented.
"How so?" Chloe asked, beginning to wind the different pieces into the situation.
"I dunno, she just wears a sweatshirt that could fit me, and never seems to be anywhere without her backpack—though she carries all of her books. Plus, she seems to hunch over a bit, but her backpack is empty…"
"Did it ever occur to you that she could just be inordinately self-conscious? I know a lot of people who are…plus she's new here, it must be scary with the magnitude of kids that go here, not to mention all of the Wall-Of-Weird contenders that have been disguised as another crow in the group…"
"Maybe, I just don't know. Her last name's Falcon though, and the owner's of the car is McKenzie; it could just be a weird coincidence," said Clark, then remembering Lex's wise words: coincidence is a word used only by fools and liars. "I'll have to look into it more, but right now, I have to get to class. I'll see you guys later."
