Wow, I really meant for this story to be a one-shot, but all my wonderful reviewers asked for more. So here it is. Before I continue, I really need to ask: Does anyone want to be my beta-reader for this fic? I may have the spellings and grammar down most of the time but that doesn't make me a good writer. I NEED YOUR HELP! Ok, I'm done ranting now.

DISCLAIMER: Oh, this part always makes me cry.

Chapter Two: Desperate

Clark opened his now tear-filled eyes, which had been clenched tightly shut mere moments ago due to his fear of heights. His chest, legs, arms and face stung a bit wherever they had made contact with the grass beneath him. Nothing more. Just mildly stinging, like when you high-five someone a little too hard. Clark sat up, taking note of his now trashed clothes. Despite its irrelevance, he thought, Mom's going to kill me. This shirt was brand-new. Then he stared at the wall of rock that towered in front of him. It's not fair. Anyone else would have been able to escape that way. But, I'm always the odd man out. Or alien. Whatever. Sighing in resignation at what he had to do, he stood up and dusted himself off before trudging home at a human pace.


Next Morning

Oh God. I REALLY hope they don't ask why I was gone so late last night, Clark thought with sudden dread as he made his way downstairs. It smelled like coffee a good ten feet from the kitchen door, so he knew the coast was clear. Mom had had her vital first two cups of coffee. The average passerby wouldn't suspect it, but Martha Kent was a coffee fiend, and if anyone ran into her before her first two cups of morning java, they lived to regret it. It was a source of both constant amusement and constant danger to Jonathan and Clark.

The teenager put on a sleepy look he had perfected long ago and crept into the kitchen. So far so good. Now for the hard part. Getting some cereal and sitting down without his parents noticing anything off about him. Clark had managed to get a bowl and pour cereal into it. He was about to add milk when his father cut his intense concentration on the cereal. "Alright Clark, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just still a little sleepy, that's all," he replied, rubbing at one eye for effect.

"Well I imagine you would be. After all, your mother and I were up until nearly three a.m. waiting for you to come home, and still neither of us was up when you got back. Care to explain?"

Explain that I went to an outcropping to try to kill myself? No thanks. I'll pass, Clark thought sardonically. "I just needed to think. My birthday got me thinking about my life and what I want to do with it."

Jonathan nodded slowly, as if processing this information. By the time he looked back up, Clark was sitting at the table, about to eat. "Uh-huh. And where did you do this thinking?"

His dad thought he had him pegged. Not nearly. Constantly having to lie to his friends, cops, reporters and other people had made Clark a pretty good liar. "Oh, I wandered around. Mostly the outskirts of town."

"Really? Because Lex was up at Crater Lake and said he saw you there. Said you were at the bottom of that rock outcropping," Jonathan replied, a glint of suspicion in his blue eyes.

"That's where I wound up, that's all. Don't worry, it's not like I jumped or anything," Clark snapped, glaring at his cereal bowl.

"Alright. I was just worried."

I am now too. Did Lex see me jump off? What did he see? I have to find out, Clark decided. I'll pay him a visit at his mansion today and find out what he knows.


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