"Hey, who's the new girl?" Clark Kent asked as he took a seat between Chloe and Lois on a plush leather couch. Lois moved a couple of inches away suddenly, not wanting to be in such close proximity to the star quarterback, and Chloe brightened up faster than a row of streetlamps flicking on at sunset.
"Who?" Chloe asked, her curious side quickly overpowering her romantic side. She searched the Talon and soon pinpointed who it was that Clark had been asking about. It was a young brunette woman, about their age, talking to Lana Lang. Judging by her clothes and hair, Chloe figured that whoever she was, she was not and never had been from Smallville. Or, for that matter, any other small town.
Chloe ran a quick mental check of everything she knew from the school records and then it hit her. This was the new girl that she had heard talk when she had been snooping around the principal's office while trying to research an expose of hers. "Zatanna Zatara," Chloe informed Lois and Clark. "She's here from Coast City, I think."
"She's...nice," Clark replied, his face breaking out into a bright, dimpled smile as his blue green eyes tried to lock onto Zatanna. The young woman, though, was looking everywhere except right at him.
Lois glared at Clark, and though he didn't notice it, Chloe did. Her jealousy factor spiked up for a moment, but then went higher when she noticed that Clark was seriously checking out Zatanna. Not surprising, really. Even sitting down and talking to Lana, Zatanna practically screamed out sex. Chloe just disliked the fact that Zatanna didn't scream it out in a slutty way.
"Why don't you go welcome her to the neighborhood, Smallville?" Lois asked as she gulped down the rest of her now-ice-cold latte.
"Maybe I should," Clark replied, starting to get up. He stopped in his tracks though when it struck him that maybe going up to her while she was talking to Lana might not be the brightest idea he ever had. But then...Lana had moved on, hadn't she? So he supposed that since she had...he could as well. "Excuse me, ladies," Clark said as he took a couple of steps towards her.
Lois, who was annoyed for some inexplicable reason, stood up and bade her cousin goodnight. As she started to leave, she didn't notice that Zatanna was doing the same thing and that Clark had stopped in his tracks once again and had gone to sit back down next to his best friend.
It was a moment or two before Lois realized that she was walking right behind Zatanna. She had half a mind to switch tracks and turn to go back to Clark and Chloe when she realized that she needed a piece of Nicorette more than anything. That piece of Nicorette was in the car. And so, Lois followed Zatanna out, unprepared for what she was about to see next.
As she walked to her car, she kept one eye on Zatanna, trying to get a feel for her and see what it was that Clark found so intriguing about her from a distance. She watched as Zatanna approached an empty parking spot a little far off from the Talon. The young woman was rifling through her gold clutch purse, and soon pulled out a tiny matchbox car. She set it down and, back turned to Lois, muttered a few words that Lois didn't catch.
The car rose to the size of a regular Mini Cooper.
Lois watched in disbelief as the mysterious young woman slipped into the car and drove away.
This girl, she realized, would need some further investigating.
The Next Morning:
Smallville High School was a rowdy, lively, bustling place early in the morning, Zatanna realized as she pulled her Mini Cooper convertible into an empty parking spot that was far, far away from the high school. The young woman decided to take a few moments there, in the parking lot, to silently gather herself together. If anything, she needed to be ready for a day full of weirdness and secrecy if not much else.
The young woman had moved to Smallville alone, an orphan, searching for her father, the great magician known as Zatara. Zatanna had already checked Metropolis, Gotham City, Hub City, Keystone City, Central City, and of course her hometown of Coast City. She had, of course, had no luck whatsoever. And then she had heard of Smallville, and its meteor showers, and the wacky weirdness that had ensued in the tiny town since. The young woman had deduced that she might find some clue there as to her father's whereabouts. Also, what with the meteor showers, Zatanna was sure that Smallville might have some sort of mystical energy about it, and thus would be as good a place as any to learn her powers. Being the daughter of a powerful sorceress and an intelligent stage magician came with its perks, and one of those was that Zatanna was a sorceress. Or at least, that's what she supposed she was. The problem was that Zatanna was still getting used to her magick powers, and she still hadn't learned how to harness them. Sure, she could pull a rose out of thin air or even turn Kleenex into designer shoes, but the more advanced stuff still got to her. But soon, soon she would be able to use her magick properly, and then...then perhaps she would find her father. But until then...class beckoned.
Zatanna sighed to herself as she stepped out of her car and grabbed her black suede-and-leather Marc Jacobs tote. Locking the car, Zatanna swished her slick ponytail off of her shoulder and started the long walk up to the high school, praying to herself that she wouldn't be too late for her first class.
As she gently sashayed down the parking lot, Zatanna quickly checked herself to ensure that she looked pulled together and decent. The young woman had dressed that day in an outfit that made her feel wholly comfortable, which was a pair of knee length black stretch leather boots, black fishnet stockings, a pleated pinstriped miniskirt that flared just so, and a black velvet mini blazer, buttoned so that no one could tell that she wasn't wearing a shirt underneath. She would have worn one, but no matter how thin a shirt it was, the blazer just looked too bulky with anything more than a bra underneath.
The young woman had just stepped out onto the front courtyard when she heard a sweet, cheery voice suddenly pipe up behind her, "Zatanna, hey!" The young woman turned around on her heels and was pleasantly surprised to see Lana Lang standing behind her. Lana was dressed elegantly in teal mock croc kitten heeled pumps, chocolate brown cigarette pants, and a flowy teal blouse.
"Lana, good morning," Zatanna greeted her warmly. She took a few steps towards the almond-eyed brunette. Lana was walking, Zatanna noticed, by the cute blonde male who had bumped into her at the Talon the night before.
Lana noticed Zatanna looking at Jason curiously – and with some marked interest – so Lana quickly introduced him to her. "Zatanna Zatara, this is Jason Teague. Jason, Zatanna."
"Hey," Jason greeted Zatanna, holding out a hand. Zatanna shook it, feeling a slight electric charge. Houdini, was this boy hot! After shaking his hand for a moment longer than she should have, Zatanna demurely pulled her hand away, a long stemmed rose (sans thorns) entwined between her fingers. The young woman waited a moment for either one of her new acquaintances to notice her little trick.
Jason was the first person to notice her little trick. "Hey, niiice! How'd you do that?"
Zatanna smiled at him coyly and replied, "Just a little trick I picked up somewhere. A magician never reveals her secrets."
"A magician?" Lana asked, her interest suddenly a little piqued. She brushed off Zatanna's minor flirtation with Jason and asked, "So...you do a lot of this stuff?"
"Oh, plenty," Zatanna replied, her demeanor brightening up a little more. "It's...well, you could say it's a gift of mine."
"That is great," Lana said. "Look, I know you're supposed to start waitressing for us at the Talon, but I was thinking...what if you do some magic stuff too? We can pay extra...and it might add some added excitement to the place."
Zatanna considered Lana's offer for a moment. She could certainly use the extra money to fund the search for her father, and as long as she kept her true powers reigned in so as to not raise any suspicions, she supposed that it would work out well. "Yeah...I think I'd like that."