Surprise!
AN: Mwahaha.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
o-o-o-o-
Clark Kent frowned in concentration at the Bunsen Burner in front of him. The idiotic thing simply refused to be lit. He had tried everything. He had checked the gas hose three times, turned the gas on and off countless times, and had used at least seven different sparkers in futile attempts to get the burner going. Clark bit his lower lip and glared at the burner. Chemistry was almost over, and he and Pete hadn't even been able to start their lab.
Mrs. Tersa, Clark's frizzy-haired, absentminded Chemistry teacher, stopped at his lab station on her way around the room. With her goggles on, she looked like a gigantic insect.
"Still haven't got the burner, Kent?" Mrs. Tersa asked in her flighty voice. Clark mumbled a negative and blushed.
From the next table over, Lana turned and looked at him. Clark felt himself flush a bit more and clumsily dropped the sparker in his hands. Lana smiled kindly at him, then turned back to Whitney. Whitney was her lab partner, of course. Whitney shot Clark a venomous sneer when Lana couldn't see before turning his attention back to his flask.
Mrs. Tersa spoke again. "If you and Ross don't get that lit soon, you're both going to have to stay after school to finish." Her eyes goggled at Clark solemnly from behind the lab goggles. "Try to hurry it up."
"Alright," Clark mumbled, embarrassed. Mrs. Tersa wandered away as Pete came back. He had what would be their fourth hose for the gas in his hands. He looked at the still un-lit burner in disappointment.
"Ah, man," Pete sighed. Clark snuck another look at Lana and Whitney. Lana was laughing at something Whitney had said and happily stirring their boiling solution. Whitney had a lovesick half-smile on his face. Clark felt anger welling up inside of him.
"Mrs. Tersa said we'd have to stay after today if we didn't get this done in class," Clark told Pete.
Pete got a stricken look on his face. "After school? There's no way." Pete looked left to right, making sure that no one was listening. "Do you think you could...you know...zap it?" he asked hopefully.
"Zap it?" Clark hissed incredulously. "You mean you want me to risk revealing my secret to the entire school, and thus end life as I know it, so that we won't have to stay after school for one day!"
Pete looked uncomfortable. Clark sighed and pushed his hair back from his forehead. "Alright, fine, but get between me and the class," Clark muttered. Pete grinned and moved.
Clark took a self-conscious look around the room. Mrs. Tersa was nearby, but her back was turned. Everyone else was engrossed with their labs. It was now or never. Clark bit his lip and shot an eyebeam out at the burner.
o-o-o-
Lex heard all about the explosion on Smallville's local news station.
He normally didn't waste his time with local news, but he had been flipping to CNN when Clark's face had popped onto his large plasma screen. Naturally, he left the channel where it was and turned up the volume.
A reporter was interviewing Clark, who had a long smear of ash on his cheek and was looking rattled. Behind him, the school was visible, along with two ambulances and the news broadcast van.
"-Yet you seem unhurt," the reporter was saying. Clark's face adopted a look that Lex recognized immediately. In fact, Lex had that expression memorized. It was the face Clark used when he was hiding something. It seemed to say, "Huh, what a weird coincidence." In fact, that was what Clark was saying out loud. Lex rolled his eyes. Clark was probably the worst liar Lex had ever met.
"I think it's because I was under the air conditioning vent," Clark postulated. "All of the escaped gas must have been blown away." Lex snorted at the television.
The interviewer said, "I see, I see." She looked at her notes. "And could you see how badly Mr. Ross and Mrs. Tersa were injured?" she asked.
Clark looked cornered. "Well, they just seemed kind of dazed," he said, sounding a little defensive. "They were a little singed. But it was nothing serious from what I could see."
The reporter turned to the camera and beamed. "Well, there you have it, folks. I'm Tina Springer, and I'm here live at Smallville High School. I've just been talking with Clark Kent, a junior here at Smallville High, whose Bunsen burner exploded earlier today, causing injury to another student and a faculty member. No other injuries have been reported, and the school remains intact. Thank you for speaking with me, Mr. Kent."
Clark looked at the camera uncomfortably. "No problem," he said, smiling half-heartedly at the reporter.
Tina Springer smiled. "And now, back to the studio! Tom, I hear you have some earth-shattering news about corn – "
The channel clicked to CNN. Lex bit his lip thoughtfully as he computed his net gains/losses in NASDAQ on autopilot. This created an interesting opportunity. The best way of getting someone's guard down was to surprise them.
Lex smirked as he made up his mind.
o-o-o-
Tuesday. The day after Monday. Incidentally, also the day after Clark Kent blew up his school and put two people in the hospital. Clark wasn't looking forward to school.
Clark was staring glumly at his blueberry pancakes. Mama Kent, who was bustling around in the kitchen, knew something was up from his stony silence.
"Don't worry, honey, it wasn't your fault," Mama Kent said soothingly as she came to stand behind Clark. Clark only bit his lip in reply. He felt doubly guilty. He hadn't told his parents the whole truth.
Clark didn't need another lecture on his superpowers, or the importance of his secret. He had been getting a lot of them lately. Didn't his parents think that he knew how important his secret was? After all, it was his life that would be changed the most if it got out.
"Clark, no one blames you. Just go to school and try your best, honey." Clark's mom put a soothing kiss on the top of Clark's head.
"I know Mom. And I will." He swallowed guiltily and stood.
"But then, why would they blame me?" asked Clark, in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. "Heh. I mean, it's not like I caused the explosion..." his mother looked at him blankly. Clark coughed into his fist.
Clark gathered his things and caught the bus. He spent the ride to school in silence, reflecting on the low-cut shirt Lana was wearing today and wondering if his Chem substitute would be hot.
o-o-o-
"Psst, Clark!"
Clark turned around to look at Whitney. He unfortunately sat behind him in Algebra II. Whitney leaned in close to Clark over his desk.
"I saw how you were looking at Lana yesterday," Whitney whispered. "Don't even think about trying to take her from me."
Clark recognized the dominant glint in Whitney's eyes. "Alright, whatever," Clark whispered back, turning around again.
"I mean it, Kent! I'm talking public humiliation. Don't even try," Whitney whispered menacingly.
Clark rolled his eyes. Spare me the melodrama, Clark thought to himself (ironically). The bell rang and Clark allowed Whitney to shove past him roughly before going to Chemistry. Now that he was back at the "scene of the crime" Clark was getting a little nervous.
Clark slipped inside the Chemistry room and stopped dead.
Why was Lex here? Clark's eyes widened in surprise. Why was he writing "Mr. Luthor" across the board while smirking? When did this happen!
"Lex!" Clark squeaked. He threw his stuff down on his desk, which creaked a lot more than it should have. In the background, he heard Whitney gasp when he realized that Lex Luthor was in the classroom. Whispers hissed around the room like wildfire.
Clark went up to the teacher's desk. Lex had finished scrawling on the board, and turned to face Clark. Lex's eyebrows shot up as he looked Clark over.
"Clark. What a surprise," he said as he dusted off his hands.
o-o-o-o-o
AN: Cliffie! Mwa. Ha. Ha. If anyone wants to help me out with some fun stuff that could happen, leave a comment. I thought that Lex being at Clark's school could turn out very interesting for everyone but unfortunately I'm not certain where this story should go next.
