Leaving the house just as fast, Clark was relieved to be only ten minutes late for English class. Intently watching everyone in class, he was disappointed that most of the students either looked as bored or sadly excited as they usually did while listening to the lecture about Hamlet. When it was finally over, Clark was raring to get answers to some of his questions.
"So, did you sleep in again?" Chloe smirked, taking a dig as his tardiness.
"No. I had to help my Dad fix the tractor and it took longer than I thought." Clark walked next to the happy couple comfortably, "And how are things with you guys? Everything's normal?"
Chloe hesitated before saying, "I guess. Why wouldn't it be?"
"My parent's were acting kinda weird this morning. They seemed to be remembering things that hadn't happened yet." Clark tried to make it sound unimportant.
"Cool. You mean like déjà vu?" Pete grinned, thrilled with that idea.
"Yeah." Clark nodded. 'If only he knew.'
"I remember being extra pissed off when the alarm woke me up this morning. Does that count?" Chloe laughed. "No, really. I totally thought that it was Saturday this morning and that I didn't have to get up early, but that's happened to me before. I think that's happened to everyone."
Pete snorted, "God, I remember about two years ago. I just woke up and even though it was dark out I got up, had a shower and got dressed for school, before seeing that it was five am-"
This wasn't working. They didn't remember anything. Feeling miserable, Clark was in the middle of deciding not to question them anymore, when by chance Jack Swanson, with his slutty looking girlfriend in tow, walked past them.
Chloe immediately reacted by snickering out loud, "He's wearing a hot pink thong."
"How do you- wait I remember seeing that." Pete gaped at Clark with a what the hell look.
The quarterback must have heard her, because he stopped and turned to look in their direction before making his way back towards them. "What did you just say?"
"I said that I'm wearing a pink thong- Are you interested? I think your girlfriend might mind if you saw it? But- For you, anything." Chloe grabbed onto the waist band of her jeans and pulled at her zipper.
"No! Get away from me." Jack twisted backwards before quickly leading his disgusted companion away from the three of them.
"Psyche." Chloe beamed like she'd just won the super-bowl.
"What the hell was that all about?" Pete looked very unhappy. Clark could have easily protected his friends if the guy had started getting physical, but he knew how Pete quietly hated how overshadowed he was by Clark. And, Chloe was great at sticking up for herself. Out of the three of them, Pete was the one people tended to notice the least.
Feeling sad and happy at the same time, Clark was relieved to have some more proof that the general population seemed to be retaining some of their memories. "So Chloe, where did you find out that interesting information?"
"I don't know." Looking stressed, she said, "Look, we're gonna be late for math. Why don't we talk about this at lunch and see if anyone remembers anything else?"
That sounded like a great idea. Clark grinned as he continued to watch his fellow students around him. What were they thinking and remembering? Thank God, he hadn't gotten caught yesterday during his immature pranks, imagine how much trouble he'd be in if people recalled that? Or if anyone had seen him using his powers? No longer smiling, Clark went into math class with the intent of getting a very nice 'A' on his exam, and not getting any unneeded attention his way. He had to be on his best behavior just in case.
At lunch, Pete and Chloe mentioned that the math exam had felt very familiar to them, and they both appeared eager to investigate further. It was time for an explanation. Finally, giving his friends a watered down version of what was going on, he told them that the last few days had been repeating and that some woman named Elizabeth Hoffman had been the cause. He also told them that she seemed to be weakening and it didn't appear that Elizabeth would be able to make the day repeat much longer. Clark hoped his hypothesis was correct there.
After comparing some actual written notes, Clark was relieved that Chloe and Pete had absolutely no memory of his destroying the school a few days ago. And by the sounds of it, they only recalled a few regular school events and of course some of yesterdays shenanigans. But, Clark hadn't done anything of particular interest with his two friends' between the gap of 'smash school smash', and yesterday. How much would Lex remember, he had no idea. 'Why don't I go ask him?' And pigs loved to fly around the world in 80 days.
At the end of their discussion, Clark had to sit down on a chair, bend forward with his head in between his knees and concentrate on not throwing up as he broke out into a cold sweat. That, of course, sent a barrage of concerned questions his way by both of his friend's. When he was able to, Clark informed them that he was some how connected with Elizabeth and was feeling her pain from over using her powers. Once again, that was an educated guess, but it seemed to be the most logical answer. Clark mentioned that he'd heard that Elizabeth's deceased sister had similar problems, and Chloe immediately went running off to investigate what she'd died from, leaving him alone to talk with Pete about more personal matters.
"Anything else you'd like to tell me?" Pete peered at him questioningly.
"Nothing more than I'm sick of being sick. And that none of my special abilities have been very special against her. You guys remembering stuff has been my first ray of sunshine in what feels like forever in my little war against her."
"I just can't believe you got us to terrorize the football team. Hell, I wish I could remember all of it instead of a few bits and pieces. Man, if only I could taunt the Crows in front of their faces just once, I'd die happy. " Pete laughed. "You'd better hope Chloe doesn't remember any of the finer details about you, or you'll be in trouble."
"I know. Big Sullivan trouble. The worse kind."
They laughed again.
Mulling over the events in his head, and after weighing the good against the bad, Clark came to the conclusion that it had been an all around awful idea. "It was kinda fun at the time, but stupid none the less on my part."
Poking him, Pete didn't seem to understand why Clark was so serious, "Hey, Clark, if you don't let your hair down every once in a while, you'd become a prude."
Clark twitched his nose comically, "We wouldn't want that."
Laughing, they made their way to Biology class, in which Chloe ended up being suspiciously absent for.
As the school bell rang, Clark's cell phone chirped out an embarrassing ring tone, it sounded like some weird circus tune. 'I'm never going to let Chloe play with it again.' Answering, Clark wasn't too surprised to hear Chloe happily talking on the other end.
"Yes. Really? Interesting." Clark rolled his eyes at Pete while making silly hand talking movements in front of him, making his friend snicker. Ending his conversation with, "Good, good. We'll be right over." Clark put his phone away and told Pete, "She wants us to meet her at the Talon. She's been spending all of her free time interviewing people and of course gathering vital information."
"Do you think I should marry her?" Clark gave Pete's mirthful look a good eye rolling.
"Hey, with her smarts and resourcefulness I'd never have to work. I could be Pete Ross couch potato extraordinaire."
"I dare you to ask her for real." Clark kidded.
"Let's not go crazy here." They continued their friendly banter as they made their way to Smallville's finest, but soon to be closed, coffee shop. Clark was feeling okay enough to talk with Lana for a bit. If she remembered their talk about kissing Lex it might not go so well, but hey at least he'd find out how far back people were able to remember, since that was two days ago for him.
Entering the familiar establishment, Clark saw a familiar group of strangers sitting at the far side of the room. They were the ones who must have contacted the police about him oh so long ago.
Distracted, it took a loud yell from Chloe to grab his attention. "Clark, over here!"
Before arriving to the round booth that Chloe and Lana were sitting at, Chloe began to tell Pete and Clark about her great discovery, "Jennifer Cross was diagnosed with Meniere's disease. She died about eleven years ago, but get this, a person can't actually die from it."
That made Clark feel a bit more relieved. He didn't even realize how much he'd been worrying about that foreboding tid-bit about Elizabeth's sister since that morning's reign of havoc.
"Meniere's disease has four main symptoms: fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus which is like a ringing in the ears, aural fullness kinda that feeling of pressure in your ear like when your descending in an airplane, but the most physically disabling is the unpredictable rotational vertigo, a form of severe dizziness. Elizabeth's sister died from falling down a flight of stairs not from her so called disease." Chloe slapped down a bunch of papers onto the table excitedly. "I think she didn't even have Meniere's, considering how rare it is in younger people and the fact that Elizabeth told you that her powers affected you similarly to how they'd affected her sister. After finding nothing else wrong with her, the doctor's must have taken her bouts of dizziness and slapped her with some type of label. And Meniere's disease had the closest symptoms."
'Wow, all that in less than two hours? Maybe I should marry her?' Clark picked up the papers and sifted through some of them.
"Mystery solved." Pete grinned, giving her a big kiss on the side of her cheek.
"Hey, there's more." Chloe pouted, before giving Pete a quick hug. "A week after her sisters death, Elizabeth was committed into a mental institution for digging up her body, claiming that she could bring her back. Creepy. Her stay there lasted for over a month."
'Grave robbing? Can we say issues?' If Elizabeth had problems dealing with her sister's death, Clark could understand how she wouldn't get any better coping with her husband dying on her as well.
Lana spoke up, "Chloe filled me in, and she sure sounds kinda scary. Is she in Smallville right now?"
"I don't think so." Clark looked at Lana closely trying to determine her mood towards him. All he got was one of her innocent looking smiles. She looked genuinely concerned about him.
"Good, I don't think I'd like to meet her. So what's up with the days repeating? I noticed earlier that today has beginning to feel quite repetitious for me. But, after working here for almost two years, I'd thought it was just me."
'Did I say two or three days before? Why isn't my brain working right?' "Today's Friday has repeated, I think about three times, Elizabeth told me that and-"
And the door to the Talon opened with one sleek and sexy looking Lex Luthor striding into the place like he owned it. Wait, didn't he still own it? Clark couldn't stop staring at Lex who turned and gave him a sweet little grin. 'Oh my, oh my, oh…'
"Clark? And then what?" Lana sounded a bit impatient. Clark felt annoyed at her interruption. 'Didn't Chloe already tell her this part anyway?'
"And she said some more stuff and left-" Preoccupied, Clark stopped talking as an unusual amount of anxiety swept over him as he continued to watch Lex's analytical expression.
Glaring, Lana looked in the direction that Clark was staring at and said, "Lex. Why don't you come over here and have a seat. I can get you another chair, or if we smoosh over a bit there's lots of room here. I think Clark has something interesting to tell you."
'Oh dear Lord, Lana! Why did you have to say that?' "I- I…"
Lana made Chloe move even closer against Pete, while having herself bump into the side of Chloe. But, Clark didn't budge an inch next to Pete. Lex was now standing next to the smallish spot beside Lana, looking a bit wary of sitting there.
"What are you doing here?" Clark couldn't quite believe how rude that sounded coming out of his mouth. But it was true, to Clark's knowledge Lex had never gone to the Talon on this day before. What made him change his mind?
Lex studied Clark for a moment before answering, "I wanted to get out and enjoy this nice day we're having. And to have a coffee."
Clark glanced at Lana, expecting her to get said coffee; instead she stayed sitting there like a dope.
It was now Chloe's turn to make Clark feel even more uncomfortable and nervous, "So, do you remember anything odd happening so far today?"
"What do you mean by odd?" Lex frowned, giving Clark a fleeting look.
"Well, it seems Smallville and maybe even the rest of the world-" Chloe glanced at Clark who tried to nod a yes, but wasn't sure whether his head had actually moved or not. "Are having some déjà vu problems, due to a grand scale time manipulation by one evilly powerful woman."
"You're saying that people are remembering events that have already happened or will happen?" Lex continued to stand. It'd been a while since he'd been invited to join Clark's little clique of friends.
"They've already happened. Today, but like yesterday today and the day before that which was also today." Chloe excitedly stated. "I've interviewed at least a dozen people in the last hour, and they've all, to a certain degree, had the impression of having seen or experienced something before, today. But it's happening for the first time today. Whether it's something as mundane as vacuuming or going to work to having a more unusual experience like let's say being robbed for example."
Lex purposely did not look at Clark when he answered, "My father called me this morning to make a business appointment tomorrow with him. It seemed rather familiar to me at the time, but other than that I don't recall anything out of the ordinary." Clark studied Lex using his full range of abilities. During his 'I don't recall anything' statement, Lex's heart rate had dramatically increased. 'He's lying.'
Opening his mouth to say so, Clark closed it just as fast, not believing that he'd blow that particular secret wide open in front of Lana, Pete and Chloe. He had to act like these people, his friend's, were from now on going to remember everything like before. Before crazy land had taken over his reality. Which was what normal life was, not living in a fun dream world where no one stayed hurt and everyone stayed blissfully ignorant of the changes, or lack of, around them. Clark now had no idea what was going to happen tomorrow. Was tomorrow going to be tomorrow? Honestly, Elizabeth still seemed strong enough to repeat another day, so Clark wasn't getting his hopes up quite yet. He had to be prepared for Saturday at the same time.
Bad timing unfortunately seemed to be the only timing Clark had lately, because he really wanted to talk to Lex in private, if possible, but he couldn't do that if he started tossing his cookies on to Lex's nice leather shoes.
"Hey man, you're looking a little green again."
"Is he gonna be okay?"
"Stop pawing at him, Pete, and let him breathe! It should be over soon."
"Chloe, do you know what's happening to him?"
Mortified, Clark could only sit and shiver in his seat as the Talon spun around him like a merry-go-round on steroids. Crap, if Lex didn't get out of the way right now he was going to puke all over his shoes. Clenching his hands into fists to stop from damaging anything, Clark could no longer hold back his wrathful stomach. Aiming for the tiled floor, and as far away from Lex as he could, Clark got violently sick.
"I'll go get a mop and some other stuff."
"Shit! That's just wrong."
"Lana, while you're at it, I think you should call his parents!"
"Someone should explain what exactly is happening to Clark… Right now!"
With his eyes closed, all Clark could concentrate on was the rank taste in his mouth and the putrid smell entering his nostrils. Yup, going home sounded like a mighty fine idea.
Reaching out blindly for some type of support, as Clark tried weakly to get away from the mess on the floor, he was surrounded by well-known arms and a much better smell. 'Oh Lex, why did you come here? You couldn't have known I'd be here.' A cloth wiped a bit of gross drool from the side of his face. 'How romantic.'
Lex's voice spoke into his ear as a warm hand massaged his back. "Do you want me to take you home?"
"Yes."
The many voices and movements of his friend's behind him were ignored as Clark trustingly let Lex lead him out of the Talon, still clutching onto him for support as the attack of vertigo didn't seem to want to go away.
Getting into the Mercedes was a task, and once that hazardous chore was accomplished, Clark vowed not to wreck the inside of Lex's car. Concentrating on controlling his breathing and trying not to let any of the bumps in the road bother him, Clark was comforted by Lex's caring presence and was grateful for his help. Elizabeth had to be getting worse, fast.
A hand touched his fevered cheek. "We're almost there."
Clark moaned before opening his eyes for the first time since leaving the Talon, he saw Lex's look of terror. Hating that expression of fear, Clark wanted to make his friend feel better. "Thank you. I'm going to be fine. I promise."
"I'll hold you to your word." Lex tried to smile.
Clark replied bitterly, "Yeah, my word is golden in your books isn't it?"
Lex frowned, "You're not thinking clearly right now. Try to relax."
Another minute of driving gave Clark ample time to decide what to say to Lex next.
"Lex?" His friend glanced at him as they pulled up the Kent's driveway. "If you remember this tomorrow, I promise I'll tell you everything. It's only fair, and you deserve it."
'Everything. That's one big promise.' At that moment, Clark meant every single word of it. And, even though, Lex's look of disbelief wasn't quite the heart-warming response that Clark had hoped for, it would have to do.
Opening his door, Clark tried to get out by himself; unfortunately, he only managed to fall out of the car and Lex wasn't quite fast enough to catch him. Staring at the dirt helplessly, Clark wished himself to feel better- trying to forcibly will strength into his body that just wasn't there. Feeling this pitiful was horrible.
Lex wrapped his arms around Clark, and used most of his strength to get Clark into a standing position. Helping Clark to the door, they didn't make it all the way there before his parents came bursting out of the house and forcibly took him out of Lex's arms and into their own. The loss of contract with the person he'd come to realize he loved was jarring. 'No.'
"Lex what the hell is going on? Lana called and told us that Clark was badly sick." His dad's expression was a mixture apprehension rolled up with a bit of confusion.
"I don't know. I think Chloe may have more information than I do." Lex stood by the front porch as Clark's mom brought Clark into the living room and sat him down onto the couch. Clark had to concentrate to hear the rest of his dad and Lex's conversation.
"We appreciate you bringing him home, but it would be for the best if you leave Clark here with us. This is a family matter. Clark can phone you later on or if he's still not feeling good you can visit him tomorrow." His dad most likely wanted to get Lex out of the way, so he could give Clark a big lecture on honestly and hiding his problems from them. Okay, and to do a ton of parental worrying as well.
Clark groaned into a pillow, not wanting Lex to leave, but it didn't seem like he had any choice in the matter. 'Maybe I should just go to bed and sleep until tomorrow?'
"I think he should see a doctor. I can have one here in a matter of minutes."
"No. That's for us to determine, not you. I'm sure Clark will be fine, it's most likely food poisoning."
"If that is what you've decided than there's not much I can do. Please, contact me if he gets any worse."
Clark felt terribly unhappy as he listened to Lex's footsteps quickly travel back to his vehicle. 'God, Lex must be so worried about me. 'Tomorrow? What was going to happen tomorrow?'
"Mom. I wish Dad wouldn't have made Lex leave." Feeling physically better, but not enough to start jumping up and down with glee, Clark let himself go totally limp letting his weary body rest.
"Honey, whatever is happening to you is serious. How could you hide something like that from us?" She had gotten a cold damp cloth and was lovingly wiping it over his hot face.
"I didn't. I told you. Over and over. And I just wanted to see what happened today before telling you again." Clark sighed gloomily.
"Martha, how is he?" His dad must have entered without him noticing. Feeling a flare of anger that he'd sent Lex away, Clark stared through a window ignoring him.
"I think he's delusional. He's not making a lot of sense." His mom started to stroke Clark hair.
"Son, can you tell me what's going on? Your mother told me that some strange woman was in your room this morning attacking you. And when I told her about your accident with the tractor, we both couldn't believe you'd keep secrets like that from us."
Clark remained silent.
Frowning, his dad spoke in a pleading voice, "I've never known you to get sick to your stomach like this before, what are you not telling us? Please, Son. We want to help you."
"There isn't anything you can do. That woman doesn't mean me any harm. If anything, I'm the one who has bothered her more." With a bit of effort, Clark sat up. 'How am I going to be able to get them off my back?' Looking from one concerned face to another, Clark decided to go with his 'I'll tell you everything later' speech, before faking another bout of nausea and pretending to dry heave on the couch. His parents agreed he should take it easy and once he was feeling better they'd continue with their fun discussion.
Unfortunately, his stomach disagreed with his lies and began another flare up for real a few minutes later.
After stumbling upstairs and cleaning up a little, Clark was grateful to finally be able to lie down in his bed and rest. Clark didn't remember going to bed before suppertime in his life, but hey there was a first for everything: a first rescue, a first car, a first party, a first dance, a first wedding, a first kiss, a first funeral, a first love, a first rebellion, a first escape, and a first lover.
Later that evening his mom tried to bring him some chicken soup, but the smell made his body quickly say 'no.'
Watching as the sun set, he gloomily mulled over the past weeks events. Moaning into his bed and thinking about everything at once, Clarks' thoughts were in chaos as he tried to concentrate on what were the most important aspects of this Friday.
So much had happened to him. He'd gotten closer to everyone he cared about and he'd pushed them away just as hard. He'd let his anger and anxiety get the best of him and had lashed out in ways he'd never thought possible. He'd done brainless and stupid acts to amuse himself, and he'd deeply connected with the one person he'd never thought possible to go that far with.
When Saturday finally came, Clark didn't know what he was going to do.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR WONDERFUL REVVIEWS. I love ya all darlins! Really.
I decided that I'd love to go back and expand on scenes plus add a bit more descriptions of characters and surroundings. I'll finish posting the whole story though while I re-edit it. Anyone who'd like to help give me suggestions or be a beta in that way please feel free to email me at: ballisticliz(at)yahoo.ca
And for the end of Day 11 e-mail me to ask for that as well, if you have not gotten it, it was only due to me not having your e-mail addy, or it not working for me. So please e-mail me and try again. Thanx again.
I love hearing from you all.
Lizzy