It was a Monday morning and Whitney hadn't seen Chloe Sullivan since the night they spent together at Lex Luthor's. He didn't want to admit it, but he had missed her quirky remarks and cynical jokes, not to mention she was the only one that talked to him like she actually had a brain in her head and it wasn't full of air.

Whitney walked into the halls of his high school and instantly started figuring out which halls to walk down to avoid the clumps of jocks and the girls who hung all over the jocks. 'I can't believe I'm avoiding my friends.' But were they really his friends? Did they care about him and what happened to him? Sure, some of the guys gave me a pat on the back and said, "That's awful buddy, so who's your next project?" Yeah, they cared. Until this whole thing with his dad and then Lana, Whitney had never realized just how damn pathetic his life was. He spends his whole life thinking he's the Prince of Smallville and then a blink later, he's lost it all. Except for Chloe.

Chloe had been something he would never have expected. He used to hate her. Really hate her. But, why? He hated her for telling the truth, no matter how sad it was? Whitney had thought that the new relationship between Clark and Lana had changed Chloe, maybe it had made her nicer. But no, she never changed. She's always been Chloe and he's just never seen it.

"Whitney!" Whitney didn't turn around to the cheerleader who was flocking towards him. 'I guess since Lana broke up with me, I'm free meat.' Instead, he just sped up his walking pace and hid in the boy's bathroom until she passed. 'Wait, this doesn't smell like the boy's bathroom…'

"Um, hey Fordman." Chloe! He jumped at her voice and turned around only to realize he had run into the girl's bathroom.

"Hey Chloe…" He could feel the red flooding from his temples all the way down to his neck. 'Yeah, suave.'

"You keepin' a secret from everyone?" She giggled staring at him.

Chloe had been at school real early so she didn't have to get a ride from Whitney. He had already picked her up like she was some bummy hitchhiker. She felt bad trying to avoid him, but this new friendship between her and him was scaring her. 'No Chlo, what scares you is the fact that you actually think Whitney Fordman is cute AND you're slightly attracted to him.' As she walked into the bathroom at school, Chloe kept beating herself up about avoiding her new friend. Before she had the chance to continue her inner-ranting, the boy in question ran in and peeked his head out of the bathroom for a moment before stepping all the way in.

"Um, hey Fordman." He turned around and she couldn't help but think how cute he was when his face turned beat read.

"Hey Chloe." 'What the heck are you doing in here Whitney' is what she wanted to scream as she noticed how good he looked in just plain blue jeans and a white t-shirt that had the Smallville high logo in the top left corner. Instead, she opted for her usual humor.

"You keeping a secret from everyone?" She couldn't help but giggle because she knew he was embarrassed. After the humor of the situation died out, the nervous tension started up. She realized this was the first time that they had seen each other since Lex had tried to convince her that she and Whitney liked each other. 'That was a while ago.' Even though it had only been last week.

Whitney laughed and he ran his hand through his hair.

"Sorry, I was just running from the flock…and make a mistake. A big mistake apparently." He laughed again and Chloe cocked a smile.

"It's okay, I can't tell you how many times I've walked into the guys' bathroom…but usually because I'm chasing after someone." 'He didn't laugh. Oh! He smiled. Wait, Chloe…are trying to impress Whitney Fordman?'

"Uh, Chloe…I like talking to you, I love it actually, but could we take this outside?" Chloe couldn't help the smile that came to her face when he said he loved talking to her.

"Oh yeah! Come on." Chloe went out first and made sure the coast was clear before she motioned for him to come out. Whitney shot out of the bathroom while scanning the halls to see if anyone saw him.

"Your off the hook jock boy, no one saw you." Whitney turned to her with almost a hurt look, but Chloe didn't notice.

"I'm not JUST a jock. I'm a human you know! I mean…I'm smart, I'm nice…when I want to be. I'm not just jock boy!" He yelled not really in an angry voice, but it was clear to Chloe that he was annoyed.

Chloe raised her hands and stepped back. "Whoa, sorry Whitney, just teasing you."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, I'm sorry, I'm just tired of being the 'jock', you know? I'm tired of everyone looking at me like I'm going to implode if I say something close to even being smart. If that makes any sense…" He walked over to the lockers and rested his back on the lockers.

Chloe walked over to him and nervously rested her hand on his shoulder. 'That feels nice, shut up Chloe!' With a sigh, she turned and rest against the lockers right next to him.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think you should know that out of all the jocks, I thought you were the smartest."

He turned to look at Chloe and her sarcastic expression and he laughed. That's all he could do. He loved it. If anyone else had said that to her he would have either decked them or cussed them out. But not her. She had this way of being sarcastic at the wrong time, but it fit just right.

"Chloe, you are one interesting girl." She cocked an eyebrow and smiled.

"Is that good or bad?" He laughed and stepped up from the lockers.

"We'll find out. But first, we have to survive the school day and then I want you to come to dinner at my house. How about it?"

'Oh god…what do I say? My heart is beating really fast…why is my damn body acting this way? You're just friends…just friends…"

"Sure, what time?"

"Meet me at my truck after school and we can work on homework at my house before dinner. Is that okay?" 'Oh boy, Whitney. You're asking Chloe Sullivan over to your house? Boy, what are you doing?' Still the words came.

"That's fine." 'Oh my god, we'll be hanging out all afternoon. Oh boy.'

"Great, well I'm officially late for class so I have to go, bye Chloe."

"Bye Whitney." She said softly as the tall boy ran off.

Chloe sat in class thinking about what she was going to be doing after school. 'What's the big deal? We're friends who confided in each other when the loves of our lives started dating. We're friends who want to hang out and get to know each other. Yeah, if your just friends then why can't you stop thinking about him?'

"Chloe. Hey Chloe, what are you thinking about? Me?" Chloe's skin crawled at the sound of Dave's voice. She turned to the slimy boy and smiled politely.

"Hey Dave, I'm fine, how are you? Oh really? Good, now leave me alone." She turned back around and shivered as he continued to stare at her back. She turned back around and he smiled at her.

"Dave, would you leave me alone? I'm not like those other girls who follow after you because you're a football player."

"But you follow after Whitney don't you?" She turned around quickly and glared at him. He smiled what to others would be a genuine smile, but in his eyes Chloe saw something that made her terrified. His eyes were completely opposite of his animated face, they were icy, hate emanating from them.

"That's none of your business Dave." With that she turned around and pulled her jacket close around her and slid down into her seat. Behind her, Dave grinned. 'Yeah, be scared stupid bitch. You better be scared.'

After school, Whitney walked out of the school and to his truck. As he rounded his truck he saw the small blonde that was on his mind for most of the day and his heart lifted. For some reason, he had been scared that she wouldn't show.

"Hey, you ready?" She nodded with a smile and jumped into his truck. Chloe loved Whitney's truck. It was so…Whitney. The seats were cushiony, not leather. They were a dark blue, faded and so comfortable. The truck smelt old and Whitney's aftershave was mixed in with the scent. As soon as she sat in his truck, all of her nervousness fled her body to be replaced with complete comfort.

The first few minutes was filled with complete silence. Every once in a while, Whitney would turn and give her a smile and she would give him a shy smile in return. 'Why aren't we talking…' Finally, Whitney broke the silence.

"I'm glad you're coming over, Chloe. I didn't think you would want to, honestly."

"Honestly Whitney, before about two weeks ago I didn't think I would have wanted to either. But I'm glad too."

"Things around the house have been really depressing lately because of my dad. But my mom is really excited about you coming over." Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"Your mom knows I'm coming over?" Whitney opened his mouth and closed it as his face turned red.

"Oh, well I kind of called her during my free period." Chloe smiled and tried to hide her laughter in.

"What's so funny?" He questioned not wanting to look stupid in front of her as she continued to giggle.

"Aw, I'm sorry Whitney. It's just; you're so cute when you get embarrassed. You would think that we're having a date or something." Whitney smiled and shook his head.

"No, no, this is not a date. I get embarrassed easily." She nodded her head as if saying, 'Yeah Right.' "I just wanted to get to know you Chloe; you've been one of the only people to actually treat me as a friend."

"You too. I mean…for me that is." On the inside, Chloe's heart was beating at the speed of a jet plane. 'Oh boy.'

-

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, so it's definitely been over a year since I've updated this story. I know I can't keep on repeating the same ole line, "I'm Back! I promise I'll finish this story soon!" I can't say that, but I can say that I'm going to be updating this story frequently. I won't be getting a chapter out every 2 days or anything, but I will try to get at least one chapter in every week.

Thanks to everyone for all of the reviews!

Rebecca Anne