Anna surfed the web for a while whilst she was alone but the thing that kept annoying her was that file she had found on Chloe's computer. 'What is Clark keeping from me?' She asked herself. But her thoughts were interrupted when Clark and Lana (who Anna met when she first arrived in Smallville) came into the office. "Hey Clark. Hi Lana... that's your name, isn't it?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm guessing you're the cousin Clark couldn't stop telling me about all period. Anna, right?"

"Anna Clark, that's me."

"Clark!" Clark and Lana said simultaneously.

"Didn't Clark tell you my surname?"

"Well, I didn't actually know what it was." Clark explained.

"Well now you know Clarkie. Anyway, could I get the keys to the truck? I wanna check out what else there is in this small town." Clark was about to saw something so Anna continued, "Please."

"Ok, ok. At least you'll get out of my hair for a little while." Clark said as he got the keys to the truck out and threw them over to Anna.

"See you later guys!" Anna shouted as she left the office. Of course, the halls were empty and the hall monitor was around. After Lana and Clark heard him telling Anna to be quiet, they both laughed a little.

"So... Clarkie," Lana teased since that was what Anna called him.

"I get enough of that when Anna's around, don't you start calling me that Lana."

"Alright. Still up for that cram session at the Talon tonight?"

"Sure. Six-thirty?"

"That'll be great, see you tonight."

-At Kent Farm-

Clark super-sped home after the study session with Chloe, Pete and Lana at the Talon since Anna hadn't came back with the truck yet. Now it was nearing ten-thirty (Clark's curfew on school nights) and Anna still wasn't home. As he went inside the house, his parents jumped up and turned towards the door but became disappointed with who they saw.

"Anna still not home?" Clark asked but he was well aware of the answer he was about to receive.

"No. We're really scared Clark." Martha told him. Anna had only been there less than 48 hours and she had already gone AWOL.

"I'll go out, try and she where she is. I'll call if I find her." Clark said, then he super-sped out the house and stopped around 30 miles away from the farm. 'Where would Anna go...?' Clark asked himself, and then remembered what he and Anna were saying the other night.

"I just need at least one alcoholic drink a day. It helps me get through the day without smoking."

'She would go somewhere to get alcohol...' Then it came to Clark, 'The Wild Coyote.' That was a bar Pete told him about once, just over the county line and they never checked IDs. A perfect place for Anna to go. He super-sped to the Wild Coyote and outside, he saw his family's red pick-up. As soon as he went inside, the smells of smoke and alcohol intoxicated him. Even though it had no effect on his body, he hated the stench. After a quick look around, he found his old cousin sitting at the bar, drinking a glass of beer. He walked over to her and stopped her from taking another drink.

"I think you've had enough Anna. C'mon, I'm taking you home. Give me the keys to the truck." Clark ordered but Anna ignored him.

"No Clark... Anna having fun here. Bye bye now." Anna's voice was slurred, and she was now talking like a child.

"Anna, you're coming with me whether you want to or not."

"I don't wanna Cla..." Then Anna suddenly collapsed into Clark's arms and he began to get worried.

"Don't worry kid," the bartender told him. "She just had a little too much to drink, that's all."

"Oh. Well, I'll take her out of your way." Clark said as he lifted his older cousin into his arms and carried her out to the truck. After getting Anna into the passenger's seat safely, he got into the drivers side, started up the engine and headed back home.

As soon as Clark opened the door, Martha and Jonathon ran toward where their son and niece were. Anna's face was buried into Clark's chest and was stained with tears. After Clark explained where he had found Anna and what had happened to her during the ride home, he took her to her room and lay her down gently on the bed. Clark didn't leave her room that night. He knew Anna would be hungover in the morning, so he stayed to make sure she was alright through the night.

Clark was awakened by Anna's high-pitched screams at around 4.45 in the morning. He rushed over to her side as soon as he woke up and started trying to wake her up, but nothing seemed to work. A few minutes later, his parents came into the room.

"Why's she screaming son?" Jonathon shouted over the girl's, now irritating, scream.

"Dunno." Clark replied, then turned his attention back to Anna. "Wake up Anna!" Clark shouted at her. She still wouldn't awaken but the screams subsided and Anna's body went limp. 'Oh .' Clark started thinking that the worst had happened to Anna.

"It's alright Clark, she's still breathing." Martha pointed out then continued," I think you calmed her down. But if Anna does that again, come and get us, ok?" Clark nodded in agreement and then his parents left the room.

The rest of the night went smoothly. Anna woke up at 10.25 and no-one was in her room. But she didn't really care about that. The things that were irritating her were the pounding headache she's received and her urge to throw up anywhere. She ran right into the bathroom and brought up the contents of what she had ate and drank in the last twenty-four hours. After cleaning herself up, Anna slowly made her way downstairs. As she got to the bottom two steps, she was her aunt making something in the kitchen, her little cousin reading a book and her uncle was just re-entering the house.

"Morning Anna. You alright?" Jonathon asked after seeing his niece come down.

"Well... I just threw up but apart from that..." Anna trailed off, as she thought she should tell the truth. "Actually, my head really hurts and I remember nothing from yesterday."

"I found you, pretty drunk, in the Wild Coyote last night." Clark explained.

"That would cover... a lot."

"Are you feeling better now sweetie?" Martha asked as she filled a glass, full of cold water, for Anna to drink.

"The now, I'm good." Anna said to Martha as she took the glass from Martha's hands.

"Well that's a relief. Want something to eat?" Her aunt offered but she politely declined. Her stomach was still a little jumbled. "Ok. If you need anything, just ask." Martha shouted to Anna as she, once again, went upstairs. But instead of going her own room, she walked into Clark's. 'Maybe he's got good music,' Anna thought as she started to rummage through his C.D collection. 'Britney Spears. NSync. Simple Plan. Hey... at least it's not country music.' Anna finally chose Britney Spears – 'Oops... I Did It Again', but the thing she wondered about was why her cousin had a Britney C.D. 'Sure, you'd see dudes with Britney posters... but C.Ds?' She turned Clark's computer on, inserted the disk, plugged in some headphones that she found beside the PC and started listening to the music. After she got into the song, Anna started singing along to it. Loudly.

"'Cause now I'm stronger, that yesterday. Now it's nothing but my way. My loneliness ain't killing me no more. I'm stronger..." Anna stopped after turning to see her younger cousin standing in the doorway. She slipped the headphones off and placed them on the computer desk.

"Learned how to work my stuff now?" Clark asked sarcastically.

"Most of it. Just one little thing that I'm wondering it..." Anna trailed off.

"What?"

"Why do you have Britney Spears and NSync C.Ds?" Anna asked as she picked up the two C.Ds.

"Chloe gave me one and I bought the other one." Clark explained. His cheeks were turning bright red after he answered.

"Right." 'As if I'm gonna believe that...'

Thanks everyone for the reviews. I've not got a Beta, which is something I could really use. Lol. Sorry for the wait, been a little busy watching Smallville, The OC, Desperate Housewives, Life As We Know It and other things. I promise to get the next chapter up a.s.a.p! And there's some TC coming up. :D