Chapter 3

Clark got off his horse and tied it to a tree. He carried a bouquet of flowers into the forest graveyard. Off in the distance a branch snapped.

"Who's there?" Clark called out.

"It's me, Lana," Lana replied stepping out from behind some trees to stand in front of an angel shaped gravestone unintentionally so that it looked as if she had angel wings.

"Lana Kent?" Clark asked. "What are you doing creeping around the woods?"

"You'd never believe me if I told you." Lana replied, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"Lana wait," Clark said. "I just wasn't expecting to see anyone out here. Are you okay?"

He walked over to stand next to Lana.

"I'm hanging out in a graveyard," Lana replied. "Does that strike you as okay behaviour?"

"Hey, I'm here too," Clark answered.

"Good point," Lana said trying very hard to choke back some tears that were threatening to come flooding. "What's your story?"

Clark stepped in front of Lana, "Can you keep a secret?" he asked.

"I'm the Fort Know of secrets," Lana replied.

"I… came out here to talk with my parents," Clark confessed. "You must think I'm pretty weird. You know, conversing with dead people."

"No I don't think you're weird Clark," Lana replied. "Do you remember them?"

"They died when I was 3," Clark said.

"I'm sorry," Lana said.

"It's not your fault, Lana." Clark said. "Come on, I'll introduce you."

He led Lana over to a specific gravestone, "Mom, Dad. This is Lana Kent."

He turned to Lana, "Say hi."

"Hi," Lana said with a nervous wave at the gravestone.

"Yeah she is kinda shy," Clark said kneeling down. "How should I know? Mom wants to know if you're upset about a guy."

Lana shook her head, "No." she said quietly.

"Dad wants to know if you're upset about a girl," Clark said.

"No," Lana denied quickly.

Clark chuckled, "He has a twisted sense of humour she explained. But seriously Lana, why are you out here?"

Lana stared into Clark's eyes, "Clark did you ever feel like your life was supposed to be something different?" she asked.

Clark nodded, "Sometimes I dream I'm at school. Waiting for Nell to pick me up. But she doesn't come. So my parents drive up. They're not dead they're just really late. And we get in their car and we drive back to my real life in Metropolis. That's usually when I wake up. But for a minute, I'm totally happy. Till I realize I'm still alone."

There was a period of awkward silence. Lana felt she had to do something to cheer Clark up.

"What's that Mrs. Lang?" she asked. "Yeah I'll tell him. Your mom wants you to know that you're never alone. That she's always looking over you, no matter what.

Clark smiled at Lana.

"What's that Mister Lang? Your dad thinks you're a shoe-in to replace Whitney on the football team." Clark said.

"Did they really say all that?" Clark asked.

"Oh yeah," Lana replied. "They're quite chatty once you get them started."

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"Thanks for walking me home," Lana said.

"No problem," Clark replied. "Do you realize this is the longest conversation we've ever had? We should do it again."

"Yeah we should," Lana agreed. "So are you going to the dance."

"Yeah," Clark said. "Whitney has set me up already."

"Right," Lana said trying to hide her disappointment. "Of course."

"How about you?" Clark asked.

"No," Lana replied, "I figured I'd sit it out."

"Well," Clark said. "If you change your mind, I might just save you a dance."

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "Good night Lana."

Clark walked off back towards his own home. What he didn't know was that Whitney had followed him all the way here.

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The next day Lana went to the Luthor mansion to return the truck. She quickly found herself lost in the expansive building.

"Hello?" She called up a stairwell.

She stepped into a room and suddenly two people burst in fencing. One managed to get the sword on the other. The loser hurled his sword angrily at the wall. It struck just a foot away from where Lana was standing and stuck into the wall.

"Lana?" Lex said taking off his protective mask, "I didn't see you."

"I uh, buzzed but no one answered," Lana stammered.

"How did you get through the gate?" Lex asked.

Lana didn't want to tell him the real way she did it, "I kinda squeezed through the bars," she said. "Look if this is a bad time…"

"Oh no, nah, no." Lex cut her off. "I think Heike has sufficiently kicked my ass for the day."

"This is a great place," Lana commented.

"Well if you're dead and in the market for something to haunt," Lex joked.

"I meant, it's roomy," Lana corrected herself.

"It's the Luthor ancestral home," Lex said. "Or so my father claims. He had it shipped over from Scotland stone by stone."

"Yeah I remember," Clark said, "The truck rolled in for weeks but nobody ever moved in."

"My father had no intention of living here," Lex told him. "He's never even stepped through the front door."

"Then why'd he ship it over?" Lana asked.

"Because he could," Lex replied.

"So how the new ride?" Lex asked Lana.

"That's why I'm here," Lana said.

"What's the matter?" Lex asked. "You don't like it?"

"No it's not that," Lana replied. "It's just… I can't keep it."

"Lana, you saved my life," Lex said. "I think it's the least I can do."

Lana looked at the ground not wanting to give the real reason.

"Your father doesn't like me, does he?" Lex asked. "It's okay. I've been bald since I was nine. I'm used to people judging me before they get to know me."

"It's nothing personal," Lana said. "He's just not crazy about your dad."

"I guess he figures that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?" Lex asked. "Understandable. What about you Lana? Did you fall far from the tree?"

Lana didn't know how to reply.

"I'd better go," she said handing the keys to Lex. "Thanks for the truck."

"Lana," Lex called after her. "Do you believe a man can fly?"

"Sure," Lana said. "In a plane."

"Nah I'm not talking about that," Lex said. "I'm talking about soaring through the cloud with nothing but air beneath you."

"People can't fly Lex," Lana said.

"I did," Lex said. "After the accident when my heart stopped. It was the most, exhilarating two minutes of my life. I flew over Smallville and for the first time, I didn't see a dead end. I saw a new beginning. Thanks to you I have a second chance. We have a future Lana and I don't want anything to stand in the way of our friendship."

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Just another reminder if you wanna talk to me about the story or Smallville in general. Go on IRC to the otherside servers, irc. (Port 7000) or irc. (Port 7000), channel #smallville.