A/N: Whoo! Second chapter! I usually don't get past the first, so I'm quite happy. Now all I have to do is work out the plot bunny issues…Hmmm…Any suggestions?

2 A/N: Okay, so I made somewhat of a drastic change. I was going to start this story from after Magnetic and before Shattered, but I decided I would start during season two before Rush since it would be way more fun…so please excuse any friction in the timeline…and for this fanfic to work, we're going to pretend that Slumber is never going to happen, okay?

"Hey, Chloe, could you do a favor for me?" Clark said with ease as he

walked into the room. Noticing Sarah he smiled an extremely innocent and captivating smile, like one of those Oral B commercials. "So, you're the new girl." He directed toward her. "I've heard about you."

"Really?" Sarah said, surprised for about the fiftieth time that day. "I mean.. I didn't really know that…um…so what have you heard?" How could she have been so stupid as to suppose that no one had noticed her for two weeks? It was probably the fact that no one cared enough to find out from Sarah herself that no one had talked to her.

"Not much," Clark said, trying to keep from laughing as he saw the girl stumbling over her words. He was used to girls reacting to him this way by now, but this was pure nervousness. "Just your name and where you're from. Oh, and that apparently you have a fantastic taste in music."

Sarah grinned. So word had gotten around.

"Sorry to interrupt," Chloe said, "but didn't you have something to ask me?" She looked expectantly at Clark.

"Oh yeah, I wanted you to check up on a kid called Joyce Richards. You know, maybe go through some FED files." Clark gave Chloe his sparkling lopsided grin.

"Um, Clark?" Chloe asked, putting on her best innocent face. She didn't fool anyone. "Isn't that illegal?"

"That never seemed to bother you be…" Clark suddenly became apprehensive of everyone in the room before he finished his sentence. "…fore."

"Oh, um, I think I'll skip the period. I trust you won't tell on me." Sarah said to Chloe. She quickly walked out and spent the rest of the period in one of the bathroom stalls. Listening to music.

As Sarah walked in the front door, she gladly dumped her backpack near the stairs, and moved towards the back of her new house. It was a pleasant house, with a white exterior and a wrap-around porch. Inside, a stairway in the main hall was on the right, while the living room lead to a kitchen on the left. Almost all the rooms were connected in a sort of semi-circular maze. The house was small and pretty, (Sarah's stuff had already cluttered her considerably bigger bedroom) and she wasn't too disappointed with the fact that it was across from Clark Kent's farm.

"Honey?" Sarah's mother's voice rang out, "back from school so early?"

"Ha ha," Sarah replied, she wasn't too happy with the fact that her mom's new job didn't need her to go to an office. Sarah loved her mother, for sure, but she didn't need her home every hour of the day.

"It wasn't that bad, was it? Didn't you make some new friends today?"

"Sure, fourteen Mindys, ten Johns, nine Lauras and four Jacobs." This, in fact, was true. Apparently, originality of names didn't run high in small towns.

"Well, at least you won't confuse yourself with someone else who has your name." Mrs. Tetch said, forever the optimistic.

"They don't even have a Starbucks," Sarah replied dryly.

"Oh," In the Tetch household, Starbucks had been about the only place that the two girls could agree on.

"Instead, there's some coffee slash movie house called the Talon. It's run by some girl named Lana Lang." Sarah continued, glad to know something about the town now.

"Oh!" Mrs. Tetch exclaimed, "Lana Lang? I think she owned this house before us."

"Really?" Sarah asked.

"Oh yes, Lana Lang was before the Thompsons and the Jeffersons."

"And this is all in the past year? What, is this the only house up for sale?"

"I guess so, honey. It's a pretty small town," Her mother stated.

"I didn't notice…" Sarah said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

" Tell you what, how about we check out the Talon before your dad gets home? It shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Going in there the first time with my mom? No offense, but…"

"Alright," her mother sighed, "you win. How about I drive and we can talk on the way there?"

"Deal."

It doesn't take long to describe the heart of Smallville. There was a huddle of buildings; the high schools and middle schools all clumped together at one end of the map, while the elementary schools were all at the other. In between were some convenience stores, appliance stores, flower shops, farming equipment, all within walking distance of another.

The Talon towered over it all. It gazed out from the center of street, the skyscraper of the town. It still had its authentic 50's movie sign that glowed neon during the night. On one side it showed what movie was playing, "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer," and on the other side it had coffee advertisements, "Coffee for your morning rush."

Sarah and her mom pulled up beside the sidewalk. Sarah could see into the glass doors, but got a somewhat distorted picture of the inside, since there was another set of glass doors obstructing the view.

"So, are you ready to make the scene?" Her mother asked. Sarah loved her mother, but she wished she would stop trying to be modern and just go with the flow sometimes.

"I guess so." Sarah replied.

"Have you got cash?"

"Enough for a coffee drink."

"Okay, call me when you need a ride home."

"I think I could walk."

"Okay, just call then."

Sarah started to get out of the car. "Bye, mom."

"Bye, sweets." Sarah shuddered inwardly.

However, the second she stepped inside both sets of doors, she wished her mom was there, for the mere purpose of someone to sit with and talk to. Everywhere there were people talking and laughing, lost in their own little world of friends and, in some cases, family. People didn't seem to be so conscious of being seen with relatives here.

Sarah looked around, but she couldn't find Mindy or the others. She did, however, spot Clark, Chloe, and a dark-skinned boy hunched together, whispering rapidly. After today's slight embarrassment, Sarah decided against walking up to them just yet.

As she walked through the restaurant, she noticed the decorations. The wall was a dull yellow covered with hieroglyphics and colorful pictures. There was a staircase at the right that led up to an open door that looked like a storeroom. There were small round tables in different colors spread around the room. Cluttered enough to set a friendly atmosphere, but empty in spaces so people wouldn't get claustrophobic. She would have to commend the decorator for the nice job.

Sarah took one of the seats near the back of the coffee house, a little to the left when you walked in. She was partially secluded from the rest of the crowd, but Sarah didn't really care since she had a nice, quiet view of most of the people in the Talon. She had barely settled down when a very pretty teenager with a very forlorn look on her face came up to her table. She was obviously there to take her order since she carried around the mandatory spiral pad and pen, with a tray full of coffee balanced on her other hand. She had long, straight dark brown hair, very clear green eyes and forever tan skin.

"Hey. You're new here, aren't you?" She asked, putting down the tray. Apparently, she intended to get to know Sarah better.

What? Do I have a sign saying 'New here, ask me!' taped to my shirt today?

Of course, Sarah didn't tell the waitress this. Instead she said, "Yeah, I'm Sarah Tetch," rather lamely. "And you are?.." She asked, careful not to say it rudely.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, I'm Lana Lang. I actually own the Talon." She explained as if shaking out of a reverie. "Actually, I co-own it with Lex Luthor. Have you heard of him? He's a billionare. But basically I run it by myself."

Sarah started to worry whether everyone in this town talked incessantly, when all of the sudden.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I'm boring you to death aren't I?" Lana looked horrified at what she had just done.

"I wouldn't go that far." Sarah said with a smile, but then asked, "Are you okay?" Clearly this girl was dealing with some very emotional problems.

"Well, my old friend just impersonated my old boyfriend, Whitney, and then tried to date me, then kill me…"

"Wow."

"Yeah, I mean, I should get over it, it was four weeks ago. Plus the fact that Lionel Luthor just got shot, so all the attention should probably go to him…but it's not really something you get over in an hour, you know?"

"Wow." Sarah didn't know what to say. She had never been shot at, or had an attempted murder aimed at her. It seemed that the small town life would end up being bigger than the city life.

"Oh, oops sorry." Lana said, snapping out of her reverie again. As Sarah had been pondering the mysteriousness of the town, Lana had gone into one of her dazes. "I'm on the clock. What can I get for you?"

"Can I have a mocha? What sizes do you have?"

"No sizes, just one huge cup." Lana replied with a smile, standing up and jotting notes down on her pad.

"Okay, that's fine."

After Lana walked away, Sarah turned her attention back to the inhabitants of the restaurant. Obviously, the deep discussion Clark, Chloe and the other guy were having was over because now they were sitting back and relaxing.

When Lana came over to take their orders, there was an obvious tension between the four of them, coupled with lots of smiles. It didn't take Sarah long to figure out what was going on. Basic human nature was Sarah's specialty.

First up were Clark and Lana, they were very tense around each other, and kept staring into one another's eyes. Obviously, they were taking a step forward, then a step back in their relationship. Then Chloe kept interrupting with what Sarah assumed were jokes, because everyone started smiling again. Sarah assumed that she was smitten with Clark by the way her eyes bored him every time he looked at Lana. After that, came the least obvious one, sitting to the left from Clark, across from Chloe. He seemed uncomfortable in the situation, like all he wanted to do was hang out with his friends, and not have any worries. He smiled at all of Chloe's jokes, not more than the other three did, but in a way that said that he adored her.

The strangest part was, they couldn't see what was right in front of their faces. Clark paid almost no attention to how Chloe was drooling over him, and Chloe had the same oblivious look that Clark had about the other guy (she wished she knew his name). It had taken about five minutes for Sarah to analyze all this.

See? Sitting alone in a corner booth isn't all that bad.

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