"Wow, you could have cut the tension with a knife back there. She couldn't have been just a dream girl of yours." Sophie says.
"Was it that obvious? Yeah we dated for about a week, I messed it all up as usual. We've never been the same since." Clark tells her.
"Do you still love her?" Sophie asks. Clark hesitates. "I take that as a yes." Sophie says, disappointment in her voice.
"No! Well…" Clark starts and makes her giggle.
"Typical guy." She says.
"It's taken a long time to get over her. I can't say that I completely don't love her. You know… that connection you never lose." Clark tells her.
"I understand." She tells him.
"Enough about me. What about you?" Clark asks.
"Let's just say I caused a few Metropolis heartbreaks." She says with a smile.
"I bet. A girl as beautiful as you…" Clark says, can't believing he let that slip.
"You think I'm beautiful?" She asks. Clark looks over and the smile on her face and the sparkle of her eyes makes him fall for her right then and there.
"Come on. You don't need me to tell you that." Clark says.
"Well, from the way you have been looking at me all day… It's about time you let it out." She says. They finally get to her house and he stops the car. "Thank you for showing me around." She thanks him and kisses him on the cheek. Clark is mesmerized at how soft her lips are.
"Um… do you need a ride to school Monday?" Clark asks.
"Sure, I'd like that." She says with one of her radiant smiles.
Clark walks into the house smiling from ear to ear and his mom instantly notices.
"Date must have went good." She says.
"It wasn't a date, mom." Clark tells her.
"Oh right. Then what's the smile for?" She asks. "Take the muffins out of the oven." She tells him, motioning to the oven.
"I really like her. We had fun today." Clark says and sets the tray of muffins on the counter. Clark grabs one. "Ouch!" He says, dropping it.
"Clark!" She says, concerned.
"I forgot I had the ring on!" Clark tells her.
"You shouldn't be wearing it unless you're doing something where you need it." Martha says.
"You're right, I need to be more responsible." He says, disappointed in himself.
"It was an honest mistake, don't beat yourself up. You should of brought her over here and invited her to dinner." Martha tells him.
"I didn't want to smother her with attention." Clark tells her.
"Ok, guess your right. Your dad could use some help. He had to repair a fence the cows must have knocked down." She says.
After dinner, Clark takes his ring out into the barn. It's too valuable to him. He needs to find another way to use it. As he gets up to his loft, he takes out his rock collection. The only rocks he doesn't collect are meteor rocks. He takes out a purple rock, looks like some kind of gem. "This'll work." He says to himself and goes back downstairs to a workbench. He takes out a chisel and starts to carefully break the rock out of the ring.
"Clark, what are you doing? If you need some quick cash that bad, just tell me." Chloe teases him.
"Oh hey Chloe. No, I just have a sneaking suspicion that these are meteor rocks too." He says, not happy he had to tell her.
"Really? Red meteor rocks, now purple?" She asks.
"Yeah, I found one out in the field." Clark lies.
"This would make a great story, I'm going to the Torch." She says, heading out the door. Typical Chloe.
"Chloe, wait. Do you really want them to take all the rings back, find another ring manufacturer, and get them after we all have long graduated?" Clark asks.
"I do really like the purple… I guess not." She agrees. "Wait, then why do you care so much?" She asks, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
"I'm putting a real gem in it." Clark says, completely truthful.
"You have a thing for astronomy, now jewelry?" Chloe asks.
"Something like that." Clark smiles. Once she walks back out, he wonders what her real reason was to come here.
Probably something to do with seeing me with Sophie today.
Clark trims the other rock and glues it into the ring. Looks just like it belongs in there. Now he can wear it all the time. He takes out a small chunk of lead and starts chiseling out a cavity inside. Clark puts the purple kryptonite in it and starts to make a lid. When he was done, he had a locking lead container to hold the rock. All he has to do is slide the lid open a little, and his powers are gone. Slide it shut, and he has his powers back. If he can do it secretly, everything will be fine. He walks back into the house where his parents are and sets the ring and container on the table.
"What's this?" His dad asks.
"The purple kryptonite." Clark says, opening the container. "My new class ring with a fake rock." He says, pointing to the ring.
"No one will ever know." Jonathon says with a serious smile.
"Yeah, people would start to get suspicious when you start taking your ring on and off." Martha says.
"Chloe knows about the meteor rock rings." Clark tells them.
"As long as they can't trace it to you, we don't have a problem." His dad says.
"I convinced her to leave it alone, I think she will." Clark says.