Chapter Five
Vision
Towards the end of the day, the Farmer's Market was starting to wrap up and many of the venders were finishing up their last sells while closing up and packing things away into the trucks or cars they had driven in to attended. Jonathan and Martha were taking down the tent tarp they had been using to give their area shade while Clark, Lara, Chloe, and Pete were stacking up the boxes of left over produce and making trips back and forth between the blue pickup truck parked just outside the area used for the Farmer's Market. While Clark headed off towards the pickup with a couple of apple baskets stacked up on one another in hand, Lara and the others finished rearranging things so that way they would stack up better. Pete grabbed two boxes of plums stacked and ready to go. "Hey, I'm gonna go take these to the truck." He said while looking over at the two girls, who nodded at him before he took off.
As the two girls returned to packing things up, Chloe glanced over at Lara who was rearranging some vegetables in a crate. Pausing a moment in what she was doing, Chloe turned a bit more to face the dark haired Kent girl. "Hey Lara, what are you doing later on?" she asked while holding a somewhat hopeful look on her face as she had a few reasons as to why she was asking this question. Chloe needed to do a few things at the Torch that would get done a bit faster if she had an extra set of hands helping out, and Chloe knew that Lara was more than capable of helping out with the high school paper a bit more than her twin brother was.
Lara managed to get a cucumber to fit into the last crate before looking over at Chloe and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and out of her face. "Nothing really, just homework. Why?" she asked while grinning, which caused her nose and forehead to wrinkle a bit.
Chloe's face became a bit more alight as she heard Lara's answer and grinned at her. "Do you think you'd be able to come over to the Torch and help me out with a few things for the next edition? I'll even spring for a coffee break at The Beanery." She stated with a sort of sly grin on her face.
Lara laughed a little before giving her friend a broad smile. "Wow, offering of coffee? Now that's definitely a new way to bribe your friends." She commented in a teasing manner while still laughing a bit. "Sure Chloe, I'll come help you out at the Torch." Lara replied finally, which had her blonde friend grinning from ear to ear practically before returning to the crate before her and finishing the last bit of packing needed to be done. "Ah, I'll get that if you'll finish packing this one." Lara gestured between the two crates they had been working on.
"Okay. Just don't pull a back muscle or anything." Chloe stated as she was pretty sure the crate she had been working on was packed to the max and a bit heavy.
Grabbing the handles of the crate, Lara gave her a small nod of the head to Chloe and then lifted the crate up. Putting up an act so that way Chloe wouldn't get suspicious, Lara let her shoulders sag a bit while holding the crate just below her waist and then started off towards the truck. As soon as she was out of sight, Lara easily lifted the crate up to a more comfortable position for herself. It was hard sometimes to play pretend for her friends, especially when it was more acceptable for Clark to be strong enough to lift several crates at the same time like the one she was carrying. That type of stereotyping irritated Lara a bit, but she just accepted it enough to not have any questions asked of her. Grumbling something under her breath to herself, Lara glanced off to her left for a brief moment to see Lana over with Whitney by his truck. Apparently they were saying good-bye or whatever, because as they went to kiss each other, Lara looked away and focused on what she was supposed to be doing since it was none of her business. Oh, but how it has become that way now it seems. Lara sighed to herself at the whole situation while once again resuming her acting skills as she was approaching the family truck and spotted both her brother and Lex Luthor standing by.
As Lara came up beside the blue truck she lugged the heavy crate up on to the edge of the truck bed and looked over at her brother and their friend. "Hey guys." She greeted them with a somewhat exasperated sigh in act of having lugged a heavy crate to the truck.
"Hey sis." Clark returned while sliding the crate out from under his sister's grasp and then set it down at the end of the truck bed. While setting in, Clark took notice of the fact that Lex was staring at his sister with a rather unreadable look that he wasn't really taking a liking to at the moment. Dropping the crate the rest of the way, which of course caused a somewhat loud bang that startled Lex and caused Lara to look over at him from staring off at some kids playing soccer, Clark looked over at his sister with a small smile on his face. "Hey Lara, can you let mom know that the truck is almost packed up and ready to go?" he asked while suggesting at the same time for her to leave now, which caused Lara to raise a confused brow.
"Okay." Lara stated while turning away from him slowly. "See ya Lex." She didn't even really glance over at him as she then walked off back towards what was left of the booth. As confusing as that had been, Lara only shook it off.
Once everything had been finally packed up and stored in the bed of the pickup, Martha and Jonathan left the Farmer's Market with Clark since Lara told them she was going to go with Chloe to the Torch to help out with the paper. Leaving the makeshift parking lot Lara headed back towards what was left of the food area of the market to catch up with Chloe and Pete who were waiting for her return. Once the small trio was together they headed back to the parking area where Chloe's red bug was waiting for them. Pete hopped into the backseat while both Lara and Chloe took the front seats. After the engine was started Chloe backed her car up out of the spot she had picked upon first arriving and turned her car about to back towards town and to the high school. Before the red bug left the parking lot, Lara caught sight of Lex getting into his car off to her right. Both made eye contact with each other, and Lara held her hand up a bit to wave while a small smile came across her lips as she left with her friends. Lex offered a short wave back and watched as the red VW bug turned out on to the main road and then drove off. For some reason Lex couldn't help but smile to himself while getting into his own car to leave as well. She just has one of those smiles that's infectious.
With the radio on in the car and the convertible top down, the three chatted about the upcoming science project that their teacher Mr. Larson had been telling them about for the passed two weeks concerning something about the metal alloy called lead. The conversation continued, but eventually switched to something else by the time the three friends pulled up into the student parking lot of the high school and then headed inside towards the Torch office. Chloe of course led the way while Pete followed alongside her and Lara followed behind them. "Pete I'm gonna need you to dig out the year book from twelve years ago, and find the picture of Jeremy Creek as well as anything else on him that can tell us about what he did or was involved in during his time here at Smallville High." Chloe stated while looking over at him in a momentary glance.
"Whoa, Chloe. What kind of article are you writing on Jeremy Creek?" Lara asked while picking up her pace and got in between her and Pete rather quickly.
Chloe looked over at Lara and gave her a somewhat half grin. "An article about how after twelve years of being in a coma he suddenly disappears from the hospital he was housed in and shows back up in Smallville at the same time several former jocks are put into comas of their own." She stated while coming to a stop before the door of the school paper's office, and dug through her purse for a brief moment to fish out her keys.
Lara's brow furrowed a moment to this as she and Pete came to a stop on either side of Chloe. "Chloe, the poor guy doesn't even remember what happened to him. What do you think is going to happen if you run an article about all of this?" Lara asked, as she was trying to keep Jeremy Creek free of high school gossip.
"A good article is what's going to happen along with further proof that the meteor rocks may have had side affects on the people of Smallville since the shower." Chloe replied while shoving the key into the door lock and then turned the knob. Opening the door into the office, Chloe stepped in and flipped the lights on so that way they could see what they were doing inside. "Wait, Lara, you and Clark were the ones who found Jeremy." She stated rather excitedly as they entered the small classroom. Turning about to face her darker haired friend, Chloe held a huge grin on her face.
A rather stern and serious look crossed Lara's face at that moment as she walked passed Chloe. "No Chloe. I'm not going to help you exploit Jeremy Creek just so you prove something that doesn't make any sense whatsoever." Lara stated while stopping near a computer and then turned about halfway to look back at Chloe, who held a somewhat confused look on her face, while Pete just gave his friend a shrug of the shoulders saying he didn't want to get in the middle of this.
"Lara, ever since the meteor shower weird things have been happening here in Smallville that no one can seem to explain." Chloe pointed out in defense of her case. "And it all started after the meteor shower."
Lara held her stern look still while placing a hand on her hip. "Chloe, if you're talking about two headed calves or hundred pound vegetables I'm going to tell you the same thing my dad told me, and that's because of all the stuff the Luthor Corp fertilizer plant has been pumping out over the years since it has been here. What happened to Jeremy Creek isn't something to be made into a editorial when we don't any real or solid proof." Lara explained, the look on her face had dropped a bit from completely serious and stern to one that was rather blank and dumbfounded as out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of something on the wall to her right. Her gaze had her head now drifting over to stare at a wall covered in newspaper articles and magazine clippings, many having colored pictures accompanying the black and white print. Confused as to what this was, Lara stepped over to the wall slowly. Lara studied the wall for a moment and for a while her gaze remained on the cover of TIME magazine where a young girl was dressed in a fairy princess costume crying. Lana? "What is this?" she asked while looking back over her shoulder at Chloe and Pete.
A small smile started to form on Chloe's face as she came over to Lara's side. "This would be the 'Wall of Weird'." She replied while her small smile became a bit more broader. "It started out like a scrape book and then it just mutated into this." Chloe explained while then looking over at her friend with a somewhat mischievous smile on her face now. "It chronicles every thing that has happened in Smallville since the meteor shower. I don't know if Clark told you or not, but Jeremy Creek was the year's scarecrow when the shower happened. A meteor hit about twenty yards from where Jeremy was tied up at in Riley Field, he was rendered unconscious and taken to a state infirmary where he was in a coma for twelve years. After that there's an electrical storm in the area, the hospital takes a momentary power surge and when the generator kicks in, Jeremy's gone. The next thing we know he's back in Smallville and former jocks are being put into comas."
Chloe was right in the sense that Clark hadn't exactly told Lara everything about Jeremy Creek and what was going on with the whole situation. Hearing it from Chloe caused Lara's thoughts to somewhat give a bit in the stubborn setting they had been placed in. Maybe Chloe was right, maybe there was a connection between these things and the meteor shower. But if that was the case, then that meant it was all their fault. Lara looked away from Chloe and back at the wall. "Why didn't you show me this before?" she asked while keeping her blue-eyed gaze upon the wall before her.
Giving an exasperated groan, Chloe raised and dropped her hands in showy gesture. "I give up with you Kents." She stated while turning around and walking over to the nearest computer to take a seat before it and get started on the editorial for the next Torch issue. After the computer screen snapped to life and flickered for a moment before stabilizing itself, Chloe looked up over at Pete who was staring at the wall with Lara while casting a few quick glances over at the dark haired girl to see what she was thinking, as she seemed to usually convey her thoughts right on her face. "Hey Pete, I need that year book today." Chloe stated while giving a somewhat demanding look before returning to the computer before her.
Turning around, Lara gave Chloe a look of disbelief before speaking up finally. "Chloe, why are you doing this? If you write this article it's just going to end up turning things into a issue of The Inquisitor." Lara stated while trying to both protect Jeremy Creek from any type of persecution and Chloe's reputation as an inspiring reporter.
"Lara I'm only reporting on something that happened here in Smallville, and whether or not its believed… is up to the people who read it." The last part came out a bit slower and less sure in what was being said. Chloe looked up from the computer screen while biting the inside of her lower lip. "I guess I would end up turning this article into something like The Inquisitor." Chloe admitted with a guilty look on her face accompanied by a sheepish smile that was small in its appearance. After glancing over at Pete for a moment to see him trying to hide a laugh and a huge smile he couldn't contain, Chloe grabbed a piece of paper off the table and crumpled it up to throw at him. Chucking it, Chloe caught Pete right in the back of the head and then looked back over at Lara without the guilty look or the sheepish grin. Instead she had a rather insightful and amused look. "You know Lara, I can definitely see you becoming a lawyer or something along those lines later on in life." She stated.
"Oh yeah, fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. That's me, Lara Kent." Lara replied in a sort of slight mocking to what Chloe had said, and thus earned her the right to have a paper ball tossed at her face as well. Lara took it over the top in her reaction to being hit, as the paper ball went for her face Lara brought her hands up to block it off and acted as though she had been hit by something coming at her really hard and really fast as she fell backwards to the floor in pretend.
Even though she was goofing around, Lara's actions caused Chloe to shoot up out of her chair and peer over the side of the desk with a frightened and shocked look on her face. "Oh my god! Lara are you –?"
Before Chloe could finish her question or even really look over the edge of the desk, Lara popped back up on her feet and nearly scared Chloe half to death. "You know, this is a waste." She stated while holding up the paper ball and then tossed it on to the desk.
Pete burst out laughing as he took a seat across from Chloe, and was near tears as the whole situation was too funny. Chloe still had a look of fading shock and oncoming disbelief as she sat back down in her chair while Lara was pulling up a chair to the desk. Catching Chloe's attention on her, Lara gave her a questioning look of puzzlement after settling herself in the chair. "What is wrong with you?" Chloe asked while tossing the paper ball at Lara again and this time managed to brink it off the crown of her dark haired head. "Seriously, Lara what was that all about anyways?" she asked while crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair, a rather unamused look on her face.
Lara grimaced in a funny smirk when the paper ball ricocheted off her head and landed somewhere on the floor behind her. Grinning over at Chloe, Lara shrugged her shoulders a bit. "Just trying to add some entertainment to your life. You know, keep you on your toes and all." Lara stated with a singsong tone in her voice as she spoke. "So, now that I've ruined your article on Jeremy Creek and the 'effects' of meteor rocks, what are you going to do?" she now asked while scooting up further to the desk and folded her arms across the edge of it while pulling free a newspaper clipping that was caught in between two books.
"Not sure." Chloe admitted while again biting her bottom lip tapping her index finger against her opposite forearm. "I am now at a complete loss." She near whined while placing both hands to her face and leaned further over the back of the chair she sat in.
Watching Chloe's reaction, Lara Kent grinned a bit after looking up from the clipping she had begun to read. "Hey, you know you can always write something up about…say maybe…oh I don't know, Bigfoot?" Lara suggested while a much broader grin was spreading as Chloe shot straight up and gave her a rather displeased look for what she said. "Oh, oh! I know! You should write about the Werewolves in Wisconsin!" Lara started, her voice growing excited as she spoke.
"Lara." Chloe spoke her friend's name to get her attention off whatever it was she was thinking at that moment, as she knew Lara was just saying stuff to both be funny and just to ride Chloe's nerves a bit in all good humor.
"The Jersey Devil." Lara continued while then looking over at Pete with a bright look on her face she was trying to convince him in what she was saying as well. Pete was starting to laugh a bit while shaking his head and flipping through the pages of a sports magazine he had pulled out from amongst other things littering the large desk. He was trying not to get himself involved.
Chloe crossed her arms and started to tap her fingers impatiently. "Lara." Her voice was taking on a more stern tone of voice as if she were unamused at this point.
Lara had a huge grin across her face now as she had final thing to say. "La Chupacabra!" she stated in finale while faking a Mexican accent as she spoke, rolling the word on her tongue.
"Lara!" Chloe exclaimed while giving her friend a somewhat annoyed and yet at the same time she trying not to laugh. "Seriously, weren't you the one arguing that I shouldn't write about stuff I can't prove or back up?" she asked while not having a paper ball to throw at her friend, but settled for flicking a pencil top eraser at her.
Moving her head to the side, and dodging the eraser flicked at her, Lara grinned near stupidly at her blonde friend. "Sorry Chloe, I was just trying to help." Lara pointed out while returning her attention back to the newspaper article she still had in hand.
Chloe shook her head a bit at this while turning her attention to her computer. "Yeah, yeah. Lara Kent to the rescue." She grinned while glancing over at her friend from the corner of her eye. "What are you reading anyways?" Lara glanced over at Chloe momentarily and then held up the newspaper clipping with its printed side flipped about so that way Chloe could read it for herself. Chloe did a once over of the clipping and then nodded her head. "Oh, right. I clipped that out of the Daily Planet yesterday." Chloe stated while then returning to her work on the computer.
Flipping the article about, Lara seemed to study it a moment before she then looked at Chloe with a somewhat confused look on her face. "Didn't know you were interested in the on goings of Wayne Enterprises." Lara said while raising an amused brow at the same time. "Especially since, oh I don't know, it's in Gotham City." Her eyes held a suspicious gleam in them as she stared at Chloe trying to pry out an answer now. Even Pete had left his magazine flipping to look between Lara and Chloe, wondering the same as the dark haired Kent.
"What?" Chloe asked while looking up once more from her computer as she realized that both pairs of eyes were upon her now and searching for answers to their questions. "It was an interesting article that happened to be in the Daily Planet, so I read and then decided to save it." Chloe stated in near defense of herself while starting to show signs that she was growing a tad nervous with the prying.
The sudden fidget in Chloe's demeanor caused Pete to slightly furrow his brow in puzzlement, while Lara on the other hand was starting to grin like the Cheshire Cat. "Oh so, you know, never mind the fact that they have a picture of the company's CEO," Lara paused a moment in her statement to look at the name under the picture real quick," Bruce Wayne, on here as well?" she asked while flipping the clipped article about so that way it faced Chloe again.
The article was a bit small, but it had a rather decent colored picture of the CEO of Wayne Enterprises along side the printing. Having been faced with the pressing question by her friend, and the added further furrowing of Pete's brow as well, Chloe started to become further nervous with this new subject and decided to try and change it quickly before Lara got anything further out of her. "Well, you're one to talk, Ms. Social-life With The Rich And Famous." Chloe pointed out quickly in a near accusation rather quickly towards Lara.
A bit confused as to what Chloe meant, Lara raised an eyebrow while her brow furrowed a bit at the same time. "What?" she asked, clearly oblivious to what Chloe was talking about at the moment.
Aye, Lara how is it even possible for you to be incredibly successful at prying out the truth with people, but yet at the same time you act like a near airhead? Chloe almost smacked her own forehead with the palm of her hand after Lara gave such a confused stare. "I'm talking about your sudden budding friendship that you and Clark have started with Lex Luthor." Chloe stated while giving Lara a somewhat annoyed look.
The innocent look that Lara had on her face along with the sheepish grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, had Pete near ready to fall over out of his chair as he started laughing all over again. Chloe on the other hand rolled her eyes and started back on working out her next editorial for the Torch. For another two and a half hours, Chloe had finally found something she could use as an editorial for the next week's newspaper release, that is after much poking and prodding on the part of Lara Kent who convinced Chloe to write about Wayne Enterprises and its CEO – Bruce Wayne. At around four thirty or so, the three friends closed up the small office and left the school. Chloe offered to drop both Pete and Lara off at their respective houses, but while Pete accepted the offer, Lara declined while explaining that she was going to head into town and do a few things before she would call home for a ride.
Outside in the student parking lot, Lara watched Chloe's red VW bug pull out of the lot and turn on to the main road. The small horn honked as both Chloe and Pete waved good-bye to their friend. Lara waved back while watching them disappear down the street and turn a corner. Sighing to herself while shoving both her hands into the pockets of her denim jacket, Lara glanced about quickly for a moment and then was gone from the parking lot faster than the blink of an eye. The super teen sped down the street and entered the downtown area of Smallville all within a short minute arriving within the eaves of an alleyway that separated the Beanery from another store lining the streets of downtown. Taking a moment to make sure she didn't look windblown and somewhat suspicious, Lara adjusted her jacket and then walked out of the alley in a casual manner and headed for the Beanery. No one seemed to pay any attention to her at all when she just seemed to show up on the sidewalk, but as she stopped at the door of the small coffee shop to pull it open, she was noticed from across the street by someone who knew her.
Heading inside, Lara went straight for the front counter and ordered for herself a large Chai Tea Frappuccino to go and then waited off to the side as the gal behind the counter set to work on her drink order. While waiting, attention turned about to the activity behind the counter, Lara was oblivious as to who walked into the Beanery after her until they came up right beside her and started speaking to her directly.
"Running solo?"
Lara almost jumped when she heard the voice start speaking to her and then looked over at her right to see Greg Arkin standing there with a small smile on his face. "Oh, hey Greg." She greeted him with a grin while trying to settle her beating heart down as it was still racing a bit from the sudden fright that near come over her. "I'm just grabbing a little something before I head out. What about you? I didn't see you around the Farmer's Market afterwards." Lara stated as she tried to make conversation with a friend she hadn't really talked to in a while.
Greg shrugged his shoulders before verbally responding. "I got bored and left." He replied while glancing off momentarily towards the front windows of the coffee house and then returned his attention back to Lara. "Do mind if I ask you a question?" he suddenly asked while holding a somewhat serious look on his face at the same time.
"Yeah sure." Lara replied while her smile dropped a bit as something about the way Greg looked was starting raise a curious sense of worry on her part.
"Are you like friends or something with Whitney Foreman?" Greg asked, his brow furrowing a bit at the mention of the quarterback's name even from himself.
"Well, not really. He's more like someone I randomly talk to if I pass him in the hall at school or run into anywhere else outside of school." Lara explained while trying to understand her status with the high school athlete she wasn't about to call 'friend'. "He's been trying to recruit me for the girl's soccer team lately."
Greg nodded his head to this, his own facial expression softening now that he understood something on his own part. "Figures. I knew someone would eventually start poking you on that subject." Greg commented while then smiling a bit at her. "So, are you going to try-out?" he asked, as he too also knew Lara was a very good player when it came to soccer.
Lara's stomach dropped at the mention of trying out for the team. However, she just gave Greg a half-hearted smile and then shrugged her shoulders in response. "I don't know yet." She answered while then looking away and to the gal standing behind the counter with her drink ready for her. Taking the ready drink, Lara looked back over at Greg. "Well, I better get going. I'll see ya at school Greg." Lara stated in a short farewell while also smiling at him. Greg returned the smile and said his own good-bye to her before the dark haired teen left the coffee house and entered the stream upon the sidewalk, walking off down towards the direction of the old movie theater. Yanking the wrapper off the straw in her hand by way of using her teeth, Lara popped the green colored plastic tube into the open port in the dome shaped lid that covered her drink. Before she was even about to set her lips about the straw's head to take a drink of her chilled smoothie like Chai Tea, Lara came to a complete stop on the sidewalk and looked back over her shoulder as she heard someone shouting.
Before she had the time to react, Lara was near blind-sided as a guy dressed in some rather faded and very old looking clothes came running passed. When the guy hit her, Lara was a bit confused but she hadn't really been moved except for a slight stumble off to the side. The guy on the other hand had nearly been knocked to the ground but managed to keep himself on his feet, only he was holding his upper left arm with the other hand holding a bright pink leather purse. His face showed a look of contorted pain as he looked at the somewhat startled teen girl who almost towered over him by a foot. His arm hurt like hell, as if he had just clipped a brick wall or something… that seemed odd when you run into a teen girl. However, the guy wasn't the only person who was confused and reacting strangely to this whole event. Lara stared at the guy wide-eyed as her eyes apparently had something very wrong with them and how she viewed the world. Everything looked like an x-ray or something, like a negative of a piece of film that you hold up and stare at with some light source. Only, Lara was seeing this guy's skeletal structure and also the contains of the purse he held. The first name of the ID within the bag read JODI, but as Lara was so incredibly freaked out with what was going on with her eyes, she didn't even really catch too much of anything else.
Looking around quickly, all Lara could see was negative x-rays of the whole world, nothing but walking skeletons in a bluish background. Finally blinking, Lara's eyes returned to normal she gave the guy before her a rather harsh stare as she realized what he was up to. Catching the look on the girl's face, the guy made to bolt, but Lara caught him by the scruff of his shirt collar and yanked him back and nearly tossed him to the ground…but then that would be too suspicious of course. As the guy stumbled backwards, Lara grabbed the purse and then stuck her foot out for him to trip up and fall backwards. Of course the guy did and luckily enough Sheriff Ethan rolled up in his cruiser along with his partner and saw most of what happened when Lara grabbed him.
The two officers got out of the car and came over to the young teen that Ethan knew through her father Jonathan Kent. "Lara, you okay?" he asked while coming up to them with a hand resting on the holster of his gun as his partner knelt down beside the guy and flipped him over to cuff him.
"Yeah, I think so." Lara replied but then was ready to retract her statement as all she stared at was a man with no skin and just all muscle structure like you saw on those school diagrams. What is going on!
"Lara?"
It took a few rapid blinks of her eyes to cut the oddities out quickly, but the call of her name snapped her further out the whole consuming fear that had started to come over her at that moment with the whole eye thing. Looking over towards the direction the purse snatcher had come from, Lara spotted a girl her own age with blonde hair and was rather heavy set in her body build. "Jodi, hey." Lara greeted her friend from school while then quickly looking at the two officers who had the purse-snatcher up on his feet and handcuffed. Looking back at Jodi, Lara realized the purse must be hers' considering the fact that she had 'seen' the ID inside…? "Uh, I guess this is yours?" she asked while handing the pink purse over to her.
"Yeah, it is. That creep ran up from behind me and grabbed it." Jodi stated while taking the purse back with a thankful look on her face and then watched as one of the officers escorted the guy to the cruiser. "Thanks so much Lara. I don't know what I would have done if nobody stopped him." She stated while grinning at the dark haired girl.
Lara smiled back at her while trying to push aside what had happened earlier with her own eyes. "Hey no problem. You okay though?" she asked while now realizing that the purse-snatcher could have hurt Jodi when he grabbed the bag.
Jodi nodded while opening her purse and going through it quickly. "Yeah I'm fine." She stated and then closed her purse. "How about you?"
"Uh, yeah, I'm good." For as far as good goes when your eyes go all freaky on you!