Disclaimer: I don't own "Smallville"
Chapter 8: "Jitters"
Early one morning, before the sun was even up, Clark was up and dressed, ready for the day. He had finished his chores, and already had his breakfast. I just wish I could write the same about his sister. Sarah was still in bed, the covers over her head, and the curtains closed on her windows. Clark came into her room, turning on the light, and drawing the curtains.
"Come on Sarah," he said. "Get up. You have to get ready for school,"
"Mmm," Sarah groaned and pulled the covers up harder. "5 more minutes Clark,"
"I told you, you shouldn't have watched that three hour movie last night. You stayed up to eleven. Mom told me 8:30 was the time for lights out,"
"Yeah, well, it's time for you to get a watch!"
Clark shook his head, and with his super strength, pulled the covers off of Sarah.
"You're not gonna be late for school again,"
After much urging of Sarah to get out of bed, Clark finally got her to get ready for school. They did the same routine as usual. They had missed the bus, so Clark took Sarah and super sped to the schools. At the end of the day, Sarah, Brianna, and Allison were at the lockers getting ready for Miss Wormwoods Science Class. Now let me tell you something about Miss Wormwood. She was an unmarried woman in her forties, and already had grey hair. Allison made a bet with Brianna once that maybe she was infected by meteor rocks. Turns out she wasn't, and they both got detention and 48 hours of community service for invasion of privacy. Although she is a teacher in her profession, Miss Wormwood didn't like teaching children who, in her words, "were not mature", especially, Sarah, Brianna, and Allison. Ever since they had started school, she saw these three friends as trouble-makers who "shouldn't be sticking their noses into everybody's business". But she hated them even more when they write their meteor related stories in the "Jr. Torch". Now frankly, the principal had no problem with that, for it was expressing freedom of speech, and the students seemed to enjoy the stories that they dig up. But if you ever cross this kind of teacher, you wouldn't be in a classroom. No. You'd be in a torture chamber. The girls were talking, when they walked into the classroom. If you were a sixth grader in the walls of Smallville Junior High, and a student of Miss Wormwood's Science Class, talking was a big mistake.
"Miss Kent! Miss Arkin! Miss Harper!" came the shrilling voice of Miss Wormwood.
The girls stood frozen in their place, and looked down at the floor. Miss Wormwood looked down at the young reporters with arms folded, and tapping her foot.
"That was a very un-mature manner you've brought upon yourselves," she said. "You know my rule. Miss Kent, do you know what that is?"
"Uh…" Sarah stammered. "Never wear polka dot dresses on Thursdays?"
The whole class busted into laughter, which was a very rare moment in this class. But it all stopped, when Miss Wormwood gave a stern look. She turned back at the farm girl with an unpleasant gleaming in her eye.
"You may sit in the back row for the rest of the week, Miss Kent," she ordered. "After you give me your permission slip for tomorrow's field trip. That is, if you've taken time out of your little tabloid to ask your parents to sign it,"
Sarah mentally rolled her eyes, as she dug into her pocket and pulled out the nearly crumpled piece of paper and gave it to the teacher. Brianna did the same, and so did Allison. But as she was going to her assigned seat, Miss Wormwood called her up to front.
"Miss Harper, why is there a coffee stain on this paper?" she asked showing a hardly visible spot.
"Miss Wormwood, there isn't any stain," Allison reasoned. "I don't see it,"
"But I do. That is another imperfection for you Miss Harper, to add to the list,"
"What list?"
"Your list of imperfections,"
"She actually keeps a list?" asked Brianna to Sarah through the corner of her mouth. "That is so sad,"
"First off, you and your companions create this little flim-flam you call a newspaper, and use it to write these made-up stories that you believe are true, Secondly, you're always sticking your noses into other peoples business, and you wear these ridiculous clothes that you wear over your shirts,"
"You mean my poncho?" asked Allison. "It's not ridiculous. It's a style. It's in the 'must-wear' season,"
"Not in this school,"
"But it doesn't violate the dress code. I mean it used to, but welcome to the 21st century,"
"Oh," Sarah groaned. "Tell me she didn't say that to her. Please tell me she didn't say that to her,"
"Hate to say it, but…" Brianna started to say. "She did,"
"I will be calling your parents tonight Miss Harper," Miss Wormwood informed. "I won't be tolerating this kind of behavior on the field trip tomorrow. I'll do you the favor by letting you go on with the rest of the students, but I will not hear a peep out of you for all of tomorrow. Understand me?"
"Yes ma'm," Allison agreed.
After school, the girls were sitting on the bus that took them from their school to the Kent Farm. Chloe and Pete were stuck at the "Torch" so they couldn't go home just yet, and Clark was already home.
"I can't believe that evil…evil…" Allison groaned.
"Witch?" Sarah suggested.
"Thank you! Witch, is a teacher. I mean, is the school board blind? She hates me,"
"Uh, Allison, she just doesn't hate you. She also hates me and Brianna. It was just your day for her to pick on you,"
"Yeah," agreed Brianna. "And they shouldn't call her a teacher. They should call her the torturer. Look at all this homework she gave us,"
Brianna held up her stack of books that were up to her chin, with loose papers sticking out its pages. Sarah sighed.
"Another day in the lives of Sarah Kent…" she started.
"…Brianna Arkin…"
"…and Allison Harper," Allison finished.
"Well, at least look at the bright side," Sarah reassured
"What bright side?" asked Allison. "I don't see any bright side. There's nothing bright about homework and this day. It just keeps getting worse and worse once we step into Science,"
"Yeah Sarah," agreed Brianna. "What bright side are you talking about?"
"Clark's having a party," Sarah said calmly.
Brianna and Allison looked at Sarah with open mouths.
"Clark's having a party?" Brianna asked, repeating.
"With your parents gone in Metropolis?" asked Allison.
"It's just a small one," Sarah winced a bit.
"Sarah, you need to get out of the cow-pen more often, and start getting into real life,"
"Don't you know what happens at high school parties?" asked Brianna, almost shaking the girl by the shoulders.
"No,"
"THINGS GET OUT OF CONTROL! Alcohol gets brought, dishes break, people puke, couples make out in your own bedroom. And worst of all, when it's all over, there is a huge mess left for your parents to find, and 3 weeks worth of no TV and no computer left for you,"
"Is that supposed to be the normal version of that? Cause you're forgetting one thing,"
"What could I possibly forget?"
"That Clark can clean it all up with his super-speed, and my parents aren't coming home until tomorrow evening, after we get back from the field trip at LuthorCorp,"
"You know what, she's right Brianna," smiled Allison. "So if we ever need a high school party we could always invite Clark, and when we're done, we can pay him 20 bucks to super-clean it,"
Allison giggled as Brianna rolled her eyes. Sarah just merely smiled.
"Brianna, don't worry," she reassured. "Nothing bad is going to happen at this party. Clark and I have it under control,"
Of course, Clark and Sarah had the whole party under control…yeah right! The whole place was crawling with high school students. Mostly, freshmen and sophomores, and possibly a senior or two covered the whole downstairs. The three young girls, who were the only Junior High Students in the room, pushed their way outside, where more high school kids were.
"Under control huh?" asked Brianna glaring at Sarah. "I swear Sarah, if I ever find a meteor rock around this place, I'll kill Clark with it,"
"Aw come on Brianna," Sarah protested. "How was I supposed to know Chloe and Pete were gonna bring more people than they were supposed to bring?"
"Because you can never trust Chloe and Pete to keep a secret for more than a second. Why do you think Chloe's an investigative reporter?"
"Good point,"
Suddenly, there was a big bang that made the girls jump. They looked toward the house, where they could still see students dancing, and hear the music blaring.
"What the heck was that?" asked Allison as Clark, Pete, and Chloe came outside. "Did somebody bring a bazooka to the party?"
"No, even better," Chloe said amazed at what she was staring at.
"Look," Pete said pointing behind the girls.
The sixth graders turned around and gasped in awe. Everywhere in the night sky, were showers of blue, red, yellow, green, purple, and white fireworks filled the atmosphere. Clark put Brianna on his shoulders so she could see closer, as if she wanted to reach out and touch the colors. Pete smiled.
"Clark, man, how cool is this?" he asked
"Pete, why didn't you just call the cops?" Clark asked. "It would have been a whole lot easier,"
Allison rolled her eyes. Obviously, Clark was not enjoying the party he didn't have in mind.
"Hey, I can't claim credit," Pete protested. "It wasn't my idea,"
"It was mine," said a voice.
Everyone turned to their left and saw Lex coming up toward them.
"Call it a party gift," he said joining them. "I hope you like it,"
"It's cool!" said Sarah.
"It's great, but…" Clark winced a bit.
"Don't worry about the police, it's covered," Lex reassured. "I know this kind of party can make or break a reputation and I wanted to make sure yours was a hit. I hear you're taking a tour of my plant tomorrow,"
"It's a class field trip," Chloe explained.
"Yeah, we're going too," Brianna said.
"What'd you do wrong?" asked Lex
"Walked into Miss Wormwood's territory: The Science Room," Allison joked.
"It's that bad huh?" asked Sarah
Suddenly, a girl came up to Lex and linked arms with his.
"Sorry I took so long," she apologized. "Someone overflowed the bathroom,"
Clark sighed as he put Brianna down.
"I'm officially dead," he said.
"Do you want me to call the funeral home and make arrangements for your death?" Sarah asked sarcastically.
Later, the girls had retreated to the one place they could always count on: The loft. Otherwise known as the Fortress of Solitude. They looked down at the window, drinking soda they had swiped from the party. Sitting on a table, sat a radio playing Brianna's copy of "The Calling".
"Are you guys gonna spend the night and help clean this up?" Sarah asked sipping her root beer.
"I don't know," Allison admitted. "My parents probably know that there's a party going on, and I don't think they'd want me spending the night tonight,"
"Shh," Brianna put a finger to her lips.
Allison and Sarah looked back at their eavesdropping friend. Why "eavesdropping friend" you ask? Well, it seems that our dear friend Brianna has found Lana and Whitney talking together downstairs. Keeping a low profile, the girls bent down and listened to their conversation, joining Brianna's eavesdropping game.
"Lana, what's going on?" Whitney asked.
"I told you when we got back together, that I needed to some breathing room," Lana explained.
"So you sneak off to a party without me?"
"I didn't sneak. I walked. And why are you mad at me? Is it because it's Clark's party? I'm starting to think you don't trust me,"
Suddenly, the whole loft seemed to rattle just a little bit. The girls shot up straight, and backed away to the wall, holding on to random things, as though they would protect them. Then, it all stopped. Just like that in a snap.
"Whoa!" shouted Allison as they all got up slowly. "What a rush! Let's do it again!"
Sarah and Brianna laughed at their friend's humor, practically rolling themselves on the ground, which caused Whitney to come up with a pitch fork. When he saw the 12 year olds, he lowered the weapon in annoyance.
"You three again!" he exclaimed in an exaggerated sigh. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here!" Sarah pointed out.
"And plus, we were invited," Brianna added
Whitney let a hand fall with a sigh, and shook his head. If you may remember the previous times we have joined the girls with Whitney, you may have noticed Allison always bringing up a crush that she once had on Whitney. I bet you're probably wondering right now, "What did that girl ever see in this guy?". Suddenly, the episode they had earlier started again. The whole loft rattled and shook. When it all stopped again, Whitney had cornered the cause to a covered up object in a dark corner of the loft.
"Stay back," he warned the girls.
The girls huddled together, and moved as one, backing away from the heap. Footsteps sounded, signaling everybody that someone was coming. Whitney knew who it was.
"Kent, get up here!" he exclaimed.
Clark rushed upstairs, with Lana and Chloe tailing behind him. He quickly grabbed a flashlight and shone it on the moving heap. Chloe and Lana put their arms around the girls and backed them up a bit more. Grabbing their arms with their hands, the girls were under the impression that Lana and Chloe would protect them. Cautiously, Whitney lifted the cloth with the pitchfork, and appeared an African American looking all sweaty, and afraid. Sarah and Clark's eyes widened.
"Earl?" they said in unison
"Hey, back off! I know him," Clark sort of pushed Whitney aside and moved closer to Earl. "Earl, what are you--what are you doing here?"
"I came to see your dad," Earl panted. "He's the only one I can trust,"
"He's out of town," Sarah piped.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Clark asked as he came closer.
But as he did, Earl started shaking uncontrollably, causing another rattle. The girls hang on to each other tightly. Clark stayed in his position. Although he seemed perfectly normal if you were staring at his back, Clark started feeling sick, just like he felt around meteor rocks. His hand started to bulge and his veins popped out, making them a little green.
"Call an ambulance!" he shouted.
Later, Chloe, Clark, Sarah, Brianna, and Allison were sitting in the lobby. The girls sat there drinking soda, and sort of lying on the couch, since it was so late in the night.
"This guy should be in a detox center," Chloe commented as she sat down with her Sprite.
"He's not on drugs, Chloe," Clark said.
"Then why is he shaking like a junkie?"
"Look, Earl worked on the farm for six seasons. I spent 12 hours a day with the guy out in the fields. He even tried to teach me to play guitar. He said it was a good way to impress women,"
"Really?" mumbled Sarah to herself. "It didn't impress me,"
"Oh yeah!" Brianna exclaimed sarcastically. "We're all a sucker for a guy with a six string,"
"How come I never heard you play?" asked Chloe.
"I kept snapping the guitar strings," explained Clark. "I think Earl go sick of replacing them,"
"You know, just because you spend a lot of time with someone, doesn't mean you know their darkest secrets,"
"He was like family,"
"Then why did he leave?" asked Allison sitting up from the couch.
"LuthorCorp," Sarah explained. "It was full-time and the pay was better,"
Suddenly, Mr. Arkin came running in with a blue jacket on. Brianna instantly sat up, and started talking hysterically.
"I'm so sorry dad!" she blurted out. "I didn't know there was gonna be a party at Sarah's house. It was all Sarah's idea!"
"Wh--you--I—what are you talking about?" Sarah stammered. "It wasn't my idea. Besides, the only high-school people I know are, not including my brother, Chloe, Pete, Lana, Whitney, Jeremy Creek, Brianna's buggy brother Greg, Tina Grier, and Sean Kelvin. And half them are either dead or in Belle Reeve!"
"Sarah," Allison groaned. "Please stop fighting with Brianna. I hate it when you guys fight,"
"Sorry," Brianna and Sarah apologized.
"Brianna, I'm not mad," Mr. Arkin said. "Lana just called me and told me you were at the hospital, and I got worried,"
"…Really? Well, in that case, it wasn't Sarah's idea,"
Sarah growled under her breath. "One of these days…"
"Clark," Mr. Arkin turned to Clark and Chloe. "Chloe, thank you for watching Brianna. I can take it from here. Allison, you're parents called my house, I told them where you were, and I'm gonna drive you home, all right?"
"All right," Allison nodded.
After grabbing their jackets, Brianna and Allison waved goodbye at Sarah and turned the corner, leaving. Clark sighed and turned over to his sister.
"Sarah," he said in a cautious voice. "On a scale from 1 to 10, how mad do you think dad would be if he found out about the party and the trip to the hospital?"
Sarah looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"You really wanna know?" she asked
Clark gave Sarah a look that said "Stop-playing-this-game-with-me-right-now-and-tell-me-what-you-think-before-I-make-you-clean-the-house". Sarah just stared at him, but she figured she could give him that answer.
"Gazillion 85," she said
Clark groaned and put his head in his hands. Suddenly, he spotted two cops entering the hospital lobby asking for Earl's room number. Sarah noticed too, and walked with him to talk to these men.
"Excuse me," Clark said to them "We're friends of Earl's. Is he in some kind of trouble?"
"Oh yeah," answered one cop.
Instantly, Sarah jumped to the sound of screaming, and grabbed onto Clark. Doctors were running past them and into a room that was close to them.
"We need some help in here!" shouted one who was inside the room.
Sarah still hung onto Clark, practically letting her feet drag on the floor, as they raced to the room. Inside was Earl, and he was shaking uncontrollably. A cop tried to come in and contain him, but the results were very unsatisfying. He ended up being thrown out of the room. Clark, knowing what he needed to do, ran in. Sarah began to calm down a bit, as Chloe came up behind her to see the commotion. Clark could handle himself in any situation. However, her thoughts were inaccurate. He was thrown out the window the showed into the room, smashing the glass to tiny bits, and landing on the tile floor. Chloe and Sarah bent down next to him.
"Are you okay?" Chloe asked.
Clark didn't answer. He looked at Sarah. She was looking back at him, and he knew she wanted to ask "What is wrong with you? How come you didn't use your super-strength?". Nevertheless, he didn't have an answer for her, or himself.
Early in the morning, when the sun was just rising, Clark and Sarah had made it back to the farm. Opening the door, they found themselves in garbage filled rooms. The kitchen was an utterly unsatisfying mess, while the living room sat like someone had dropped a bomb in there, and the dining room sat there probably doing an imitation of a junkyard. Sarah dared not go into her own room, for after Brianna said that couples would make out in her own room if something like this happened, she was terrified to see what they left in there.
"You are so gonna be busted if mom and dad find out about this," Sarah said stepping over a few half empty boxes of pizza.
"They won't," Clark smiled a bit. "Just sit tight, and watch a pro clean all this up,"
Sarah shook her head, and sat down at the table.
"All right, Windex," she sighed. "Show me what you got,"
Within milliseconds, Clark super-sped around the house cleaning junk off the floors, furniture, and even the ceiling, not even leaving a single spot. Sarah just sat back and made herself comfortable. The next thing she knew, the whole house was clean, and Clark was sitting at the table beside her, smiling. She rolled her eyes.
"Show-off," she smirked as she put an apple back in the fruit basket.
Suddenly, the two noticed that they weren't alone. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Each one of these claps had a long space between them. The freshman and sixth grader turned around to face their parents, arms folded, and clearly upset. Clark sort of grinned.
"Hi," he said sheepishly. "You're home early,"
"We called six times last night," Martha said. "Spoke with six different people, none of whom knew who you were,"
"It was supposed to be an intimate occasion,"
"Clark, where've you and your sister been?" Jonathon asked as he and Martha walked over.
"The hospital," Sarah answered mildly.
"That's it," Martha sighed. "I'm never leaving home again,"
"Who got hurt?" asked Jonathon.
"Nobody," Clark said. "But we found Earl Jenkins hiding in the loft,"
"He was looking for you dad. He's all messed up," Sarah grimaced.
"What's the matter with Earl?"
"We don't know, but he's wanted for murder,"
"Earl?"
Clark and Sarah looked at each other, and back at Jonathon, nodding.
"What did he have to say for himself?" he asked.
"I couldn't get close," Clark admitted
"How come? The police?"
"No. Because when I got near him, I got sick. It was weird. I mean, every time I stood next to him, it got worse. It's kind of like…"
Clark grew silent as his sentence came to a sudden stop. Sarah furrowed her eyebrows.
"Like what?" she asked.
"It's kind of like the way I feel around meteor fragments,"
Later that day, Brianna strolled through the halls of the Luthor Mansion. It was her first time inside, and she was amazed at the structure and art of this gigantic building. Of course, Allison and Sarah told her all about it, but they didn't tell her it was that gorgeous. Soon, she came inside the office of Lex Luthor himself.
"Miss Brianna Arkin," he said intrigued as he came over to her. "I must admit, this is a surprise. I would've thought that right around now, your science teacher would explain the rules of your field trip,"
"School doesn't start for another hour, Lex," smiled Brianna. "Plus I'm on my way to a dentist appointment this morning, so Sarah thought I could tell you something before I go,"
"By all means. Have a seat,"
Brianna smiled, and sat in the black leather chair, as Lex went over to a mini bar.
"Would you like some orange juice?" he asked as he poured himself a glass.
"I would like that, thank you," Brianna asked politely.
Lex smiled at her, as he handed her a clear glass of OJ. Brianna took a sip, and smiled back at him.
"I believe this is the first time you've visited my mansion," Lex commented as he sat down. "Allison and Sarah have been here, once or twice I believe. What happened with you?"
"I got held up at a lot of things," Brianna grinned, remembering previous events that happened in Smallville.
"Now, what is this 'something' that Sarah wanted you to tell me about?"
"Well, she would've come to you about this, but frankly she's a farm girl, and she can't go anywhere until she does her chores. So she sent me,"
"All right, what is it?"
"Do you remember a man named Earl Jenkins?"
Lex leaned back at his chair, and thought about it for a while.
"I can't seem to remember his name," he finally said. "It doesn't ring any bells,"
"He was found in the loft last night at the Kent Farm, during the party. He was shaking uncontrollably…abnormally, to be more exact,"
"What do you mean 'abnormally'?"
Brianna took a deep breath before answering.
"He used to work at the Kent Farm with Clark and Sarah. But a while later, he got a job at LuthorCorp, and six months ago there was an explosion,"
The whole room was silent between the two, but only for a short while. Brianna started laughing nervously.
"There was an explosion right?" she asked.
"No," Lex simply said. "There wasn't,"
Brianna sat there, a bit opened mouthed at the moment. She immediately closed it to keep her manners, and dug into her backpack, taking out a manila folder.
"Well," she began. "Sarah said that the doctors didn't know what was wrong with him, but they found something inside his body. Here take a look at this,"
Brianna took out an X-Ray scan and held it up in the light of the sunshine, as Lex moved in to see for himself.
"They say it looks like some mineral poisoning that had gotten into his system, but it's not of any mineral known to man. It's amazing he's been surviving seizures this long. Tiny fragments of the mineral are also in his skin. His body's slowly trying to push them out. Lex, are you positive that there wasn't an explosion at LuthorCorp six months ago?"
Lex turned to the young editor-in-chief and smiled.
"Brianna," he started. "You are an intriguing reporter. You, Allison, and Sarah are the brightest 12 year olds I know…actually; you're the only 12 year olds I know,"
Brianna laughed a bit.
"But I assure you, there was no explosion at my plant of any kind,"
"All right," Brianna understood. "Lex, there's one more thing. Earl said that there was a Level 3 at LuthorCorp. That's where he claims the explosion happened. Is there any chance that that's part of the tour me and my friends are taking this afternoon?"
"No…because there is no Level 3,"
"So there's no Level 3 at LuthorCorp, whatsoever?" asked Allison as they lined up to get on the bus.
"That's what Lex said," Brianna said.
"Then, I'm putting my money on the table saying Earl's crazy,"
"Earl's not crazy," Sarah said. "He's just desperate to get better,"
"He's saying he got sick from an explosion that never happened, Sarah,"
"Well how else would he get those fragments under his skin?" Sarah spread out her arms a little bit, emphasizing her question.
Allison shrugged.
"Aliens?" she asked joking.
Brianna broke out into laughter, but stopped as "Miss Wormwood the Worm" got on and faced everyone on the bus. The high-school students (which included Clark, Pete, Chloe, Lana, and Whitney) were sitting in the back of the bus while the Junior High students sat in front. Of course, it was supposed to be the other way around, but since Miss Wormwood was chaperoning instead of the nice Science teachers, she wanted to make sure the "immature children" behaved themselves.
"Quiet everyone," she announced, silencing the whole bus.
"Remember when we used to have her?" Pete whispered to Clark.
"Oh yeah," groaned Clark. "I used to think she was infected by meteor rocks, because of her evilness,"
"I want you all to be on your best behavior," she said in a strict tone. "Don't 'try' to be on your best behavior. You will be on your best behavior. Now I won't be chaperoning with you on the tour…"
"Yes!" Sarah, Allison, and Brianna mentally cheered to themselves.
"…But I will be staying on the bus for those who don't behave themselves. I will have no gum chewing, no snacking of any kind, and no tabloid plotting on this trip. If the members of the school newspaper would come forward and bring their Press Passes to me, we will get on with the trip,"
"But we had special permission from Principal Ferald!" protested Brianna jumping off of her seat.
"Miss Arkin!"
"Come on Brianna," Sarah said digging into her pocket. "It's not worth it"
Sarah took out her press pass and handed it to Miss Wormwood. Allison did the same, while Brianna hesitantly gave hers away. Sighing she slumped in her seat, as the bus started. At the back at the bus, Chloe was in disbelief.
"That witch!" she exclaimed. "She can't get away with this,"
"Actually, she can," Clark said.
"She's the meanest teacher in all of Smallville Jr. High," Pete remarked. "I feel sorry for them,"
"Hey," Chloe said looking at the front. "Check this out,"
Clark and Pete looked up to the front and saw a boy standing in his seat real quick dropping something into Sarah, Allison, and Brianna's seat.
Sarah felt something drop into her lap, and looked up. Brianna and Allison did the same.
"Is the sky falling?" Allison asked.
"No," Brianna rolled her eyes
Sarah held up the mini-notebook the fell onto her lap. When she opened it, there was a note.
I think your next headline should be "Teacher Oppresses Freedom of Speech"
Logan.
Sarah smiled and giggled with her friends after they had read the note too. Maybe this field trip wouldn't be so bad after all.
A few minutes later, the sixth grade science class was free from Miss Wormwoods grasp, and they jumped off the steps of the bus. Once they got inside and gotten their name-tags on, Sarah, Allison, and Brianna, made their way to be with Clark, Pete, and Chloe. When their tour guide came, the girls couldn't help but smile. It was Chloe's dad, Gabe Sullivan.
"Hello everybody," he said with a warm smile. "I'm Gabe Sullivan, plant manager and proud father," Mr. Sullivan waved at Chloe. "Hi sweetheart,"
"Hi dad," Chloe said, embarrassed as some of the students laughed to themselves.
"Welcome to LuthorCorp, where we give a crap,"
The students laughed more, as Chloe stepped behind Clark.
"A little fertilizer humor there," Gabe commented, chuckling. "All right, before we go inside, I need you to remove all your cell phones, pagers, jewelry. Anything that jangles, dangles, or rings needs to go in these plastic boxes right here. Any questions?"
Clark raised his hand, and Gabe picked on him.
"I heard there was a third level to the plant," he said. "Is that true?"
"Yeah, yeah," Gabe smiled. "That's where we do all the alien autopsies," Gabe laughed. "I think we better get started,"
"Don't encourage him." Chloe begged Clark.
"This way, everybody…All right people, let's try to stay together,"
Everyone followed Chloe's dad into the plant. He pointed at various things, and every now and then, Sarah would "accidentally" bump into Logan.
"Oh," she gasped. "Sorry Logan,"
"It's all right," Logan smiled.
As Logan walked away, Sarah looked back with a flirtatious smile on her face. Chloe looked where she was looking, and grinned.
"Ah," she said. "So that's the mysterious Logan. He's cute,"
"You can say that again," Sarah said dazed.
"Watch out for these babies," Gabe pointed to a bunch of pipes. "262 degrees; they get hot,"
Everyone continued to walk down the hallways, and they soon came into a room.
"This is it. The plants mission control. 100,000 tons of animal waste is processed here every year,"
"Gross!" Brianna stuck out her tongue. "Is that supposed to be a good thing, Mr. Sullivan?"
"Trust me Brianna," Gabe smiled. "The results can be pretty explosive. So if any of you had beans for lunch, I'm going to have to ask you to leave,"
The students laughed. Chloe, nevertheless, was still embarrassed.
"Among his peers, he's considered witty," she said to Pete.
"Excuse me…" they heard Sarah. "Coming through…Hey watch it pal. I'm not in the mood for you…"
When Sarah got to Chloe and Pete, she looked completely panicky.
"Sarah's what's wrong?" Pete asked.
"Is the tour getting boring for you?" Chloe asked.
"Where's Clark?" Sarah demanded.
Chloe and Pete looked around. They had no answer for the young girl, because Clark, of course was missing. Suddenly, their attention was brought to a vaguely familiar rattling sound in the next room. Brianna came up behind Sarah, and nearly scared the living daylights out of her.
"What's the matter with you?" Sarah asked eyeing Brianna.
"Allison's gone," Brianna panicked.
"Well so is Clark!"
"Don't move!" shouted a voice.
Every one of the students gasped, and looked behind them. There was Earl, pointing a gun at Mr. Sullivan's head. He was sweating, and he looked clearly angry.
"Take me to Level 3!" he demanded. "Now!"
Soon, everyone was sitting in silence. Brianna was sitting between Lana and Sarah, and even though they were taken hostage, she was bored. I know what you're thinking. How can Brianna be bored in a situation like this? She's in the middle of a hostage situation. Well, Brianna is very good at thinking her way out of things like this…well almost all the time she's good at it. Silently, she started humming the "Even Stevens" show tune to herself. After a bit, Lana and Sarah noticed, and Sarah put a hand on Brianna's shoulder.
"Bri, stop that. You're gonna get us in trouble," she whispered.
Immediately, Brianna stopped and looked at everyone else around her. Earl was still asking Mr. Sullivan where Level Three was. Unfortunately, he had no answer. Which meant the longer Earl kept asking where it was; the longer the students remained hostages.
"I swear," Mr. Sullivan promised. "I don't know anything about Level Three,"
"You're lying," Earl sneered.
"He's not lying!" shouted a voice.
Sarah, Brianna, and the others looked and they were relieved to see Clark and Allison still alive. Allison was standing by Clark, with blueprints in her hands.
"We found these blueprints," she said walking toward Earl. "There is no Level Three,"
Earl walked toward them slowly, the gun still in his hand. Clark started getting a bit sick, so he backed away a bit, as Earl snatched the blueprints from Allison. He opened them and showed them around to everyone to see.
"Every night," he started. "I go down to Level 2, I follow the red pipes down that long hallway, I go to the door, I open it, and I take the elevator down to Level 3!"
The sixth graders, and some of the freshmen, winced every time Earl raised his voice to emphasize a word. Brianna clung onto Lana and whimpered a bit, in fright. Earl looked back at Allison, who was hanging onto Clark, her nails practically digging into his skin.
"You're just like everybody else," he growled. "Now you get over there, and you sit down!"
Allison buried her face in Clark's chest as he led her to the rest of the students and sat down. Sarah gave Clark a hug, glad that he and Allison were safe. Brianna pointed a threatening finger at Allison.
"Where were you?" she asked, menacingly.
"Saving the day," Allison grinned.
Brianna slapped her forehead, as Sarah giggled silently. A while later, the long silence in the mission control room was broken, when the phone rang. Mr. Sullivan picked it up. Everyone waited anxiously to see who it was.
"Lionel Luthor," Gabe held out the phone to Earl.
"Speaker," Earl said slowly and dangerously.
Gabe reluctantly pressed a button, and now everyone could hear the voice of one of the richest men ever, Lionel Luthor.
"Mr. Luthor," Gabe said as he walked over to the phone. "I've finally got your attention, haven't I?"
"Earl, why don't you come out?" asked Lionel. "We've got a lot to talk about,"
"Just tell me what you were using down on Level Three,"
"You're sick, Earl. Let everyone go. We'll get you help,"
Suddenly, like before in the loft, the girls felt the familiar feel minor earthquakes. Worse than before, Earl was having a case of the jitters again. He held onto the gas valve to control himself but he couldn't. Clark got up and went over to him.
"Earl!" he exclaimed.
Clark didn't get the chance to help Earl. The gas valve broke, causing Early to hit Clark. Clark went flying back and hit the ground about 5 or 6 yards away.
"Clark!" shouted Sarah as she rushed over to her brother.
As Sarah went to see if Clark was okay, Allison noticed something on the ground. The valve to the pipe that Earl was holding onto. She looked at him as he panicked a little bit, and went over to the camera. Allison knew that everyone outside the plant was watching security monitors, so that was probably why Earl knew Lionel Luthor was there too.
"See what you made me do?" he asked into the camera. "Your methane gas-valve just broke. The whole place is gonna do something,"
Brianna and Sarah must've heard him, because they let out a scream of fright, and held onto Clark, burying their faces in his shoulders. Allison went over to them and hugged Lana tightly, just for comfort.
"We need to do something," Whitney whispered to the group.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Allison remarked.
"That man's nuts. He's not listening to the cops and that methane gas is gonna blow"
Brianna and Sarah whimpered a bit more and held on tighter to Clark. He wrapped his arms around them.
"Whitney, stop it," he told Whitney. "You're scaring them,"
"Whitney, I don't want you getting hurt," Lana said as she held Allison closer.
"I'm not putting my life in that man's hands," Whitney protested. "Two of us can take him. How about it, Clark?"
Sarah snapped a look at Clark, and with her eyes she was telling him, "Don't do it!". Clark knew she was right. He sighed.
"I can't," he said silently.
"It's okay," Lana put a hand on his shoulder.
Everyone could tell Whitney wasn't going to put up with this. So he got up, despite of the others protests. Cautiously, he walked toward Earl, who was still talking to the camera.
"Luthor, I trusted you," he whispered menacingly. "You told me you were trying to help these people,"
Suddenly, Earl looked behind him and saw Whitney coming toward him.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"
Allison covered her eyes as Sarah and Brianna watched what happened. Earl swung the gun at Whitney but failed, as he knocked it to the ground. Unfortunately, through all the commotion between them, Earl punched Whitney in the face, sending him to the ground.
"Whitney!" exclaimed Lana as she rushed over to him.
Allison crawled over to her friends and held onto Clark too. Burying her face in his chest, she started crying a little bit.
"Don't worry," Clark whispered to her and the girls. "We're gonna get out of this. I promise,"
Silence filled the whole room again. Fear rose up in everyone's throats. The methane gas was going to blow soon. Some of the sixth graders sought comfort in the freshman. Some were even crying, while others were unusually quiet. Pete had given Brianna his jacket, so she sat there with Sarah and Allison, curled up in the warm fleece coat. Sarah and Allison were still with Clark, tear stains still visible on their cheeks. Footsteps could soon be heard, and Allison gasped. There was Lex Luthor with a bullet-proof vest on standing with his arms spread open a bit, meaning that he meant no harm.
"What kind of man sends his own kid to do his dirty work?" Earl asked, jeering.
"I'm not doing anybody's dirty work, Earl," Lex explained. "This is my plant,"
Lex turned over to Lana, who was holding Whitney.
"How is he?"
"He needs a doctor," Lana answered.
"What are we gonna do about these kids Earl?"
"I never meant to hurt anybody," Earl explained. "I tried talking to your father, but he wouldn't listen to me,"
"I know the feeling,"
And just like that, Lex took off the bullet proof vest.
"Earl," he started. 'You say everyone's been lying to you. I'm gonna tell you the truth. My father doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anyone in this room. Because if we all die, his P.R firm will spin it, his insurance company will pay out, and you, Earl, will go down as the bad guy,"
"I'm not the bad guy," Earl said silently. "I'm just trying to get better,"
"How are you gonna get better by killing a bunch of kids? If you let everybody go, I'll take you to Level 3,"
"But you said…"Brianna started.
Clark clamped a hand over Brianna's mouth to silence her, so they wouldn't cause anymore trouble. Earl pointed to the gun at Lex.
"You stop lying," he threatened
"Let them go," Lex said. "And I'll show you where it is. Earl, trust me. I'm a man of my word,"
It took a bit for Earl to think about this. Soon, he turned to the students.
"Get out. Get out!" he exclaimed. "GET OUT! Everybody get out,"
Some of the students started running out of the room, relieved that they were free. Clark helped Brianna and Sarah up, and led them outside. Allison went over to Lex.
"Do you really know where it is?" she asked.
"Yeah," Lex whispered in her ear. "It's in his imagination. There is no Level Three, Allison. Now get out of here,"
"Allison, come on!" shouted Brianna
Allison hesitated, but went out anyway. Following behind the crowd of students, she ran down the halls. But she stopped dead in her tracks. She started thinking. What if there was a Level Three? Would it explain Earl's condition if there was? She knew what she had to do. She had to find it herself. I know you probably think that it would either be a brave or a crazy thing to do, but Allison is always one who wants to know the truth. Just like her friends. She had to find this Level Three no matter what.
The SWAT Team was leading the students outside to where the parents would meet them. But as soon as most of the people were out, the doors started closing. The police urged the rest to hurry. Clark looked back and noticed something. Allison wasn't there. He let go of Brianna and Sarah's hand and started running back. Sarah stopped and looked at her brother.
"Clark, come back!" she shouted.
"We have to go!" screamed Brianna. "The doors are closing,"
"Don't worry about me!" Clark shouted back.
Brianna and Sarah tried to run to him, but two of the police grabbed them, and carried them outside as soon as the doors closed. No matter how much they struggled, they couldn't get free. Brianna got let go, because she gave up, but Sarah was one who wasn't going to give up without a fight. She kept on kicking and screaming. Jonathon rushed up, and reassured the policeman that he can handle it. When he put her down, Jonathon took her by the shoulders.
"Where's Clark?" he asked.
He somehow must've known that that was the reason Sarah tried to go back.
"I don't know," Sarah said with tears. "I tried to stop him. I'm sorry,"
"And he's not the only one that's in there," Brianna said as Mrs. Kent draped her jacket around her shoulders.
"Who else is in there Brianna?" asked Jonathon.
"Allison,"
Back inside, Allison crept in the hallway, back by the door that led into the mission control room. She heard Earl and Lex talking.
"We're running out of time," Earl said. "All right, I've done my part. Now it's time to do yours,"
"Earl," Lex said. "There's no Level Three. It's all in your head,"
Allison heard a groan next that was cause by a hit. She covered a hand over her mouth to keep from whimpering. What had she gotten herself into?
"I should have never trusted you," Earl sneered. "You Luthors' are all the same,"
Suddenly, the intercom came on, and thankfully, Allison could here Clark's voice.
"Earl," he said. "I've found Level Three. They've built a wall in front of the elevator, but it's still there,"
"STOP PLAYING WITH ME!" shouted Earl.
"Get out of here Clark," Lex said.
"Earl, it's here," Clark tempted. "Don't you want to see it? I promise,"
Suddenly, Allison could here footsteps, and before she could get away, she was grabbed by the neck. She yelped in surprise, and saw Earl was holding her and Lex by the collar.
"What are you doing here Allison?" Lex asked.
"I'm sorry!" Allison pleaded. "I didn't mean to stay behind. I just wanted to find out if Level Three was really real or not. I'm so sorry,"
"It's all right,"
Earl dragged Lex and Allison with them for a long time. The plant was huge, and once or twice they got a little lost. But Allison knew this. She would soon be safe with Clark and Lex, once they reached Clark…and possibly Level Three. But Clark wasn't there, by the time they reached the elevator…okay, so it was a janitor's closet before, but there was a hole in the wall. And Allison couldn't help but open her mouth.
"They covered it up with a janitor's closet ploy?" she asked.
"SHUT UP!" shouted Earl.
"Earl, let Allison go," Lex begged. "She's only twelve. She doesn't deserve to be involved in this,"
"She should've thought of that before she snuck in,"
Earl dragged them inside the hole, and Allison saw that it was an elevator. But there were only two buttons.
"How do you explain that?" Earl asked.
"I can't," Lex said. "Two buttons, two levels. I'm sorry,"
But Earl was not about to give up yet. Below the two white buttons, he pressed, what appeared to be, an invisible button. Much to Allison's surprise, the doors closed, and she could feel her stomach drop a bit as they went up. Lex wrapped his arms around Allison protectively, and she held onto his wrists for comfort. Why wasn't Clark there yet? Just then, the doors opened. Earl walked quickly out of the elevator, while Lex and Allison went out slowly in disbelief. There really was a Level Three. Earl talked as they walked across the bridge.
"I told you it was here," he snapped. "Huh? Where is—Where is everything? There used to be—there was a cornfield with sprayers over it. And every night, they'd spray this green mist on it. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH IT!"
"I don't know," Lex said truthfully. "They lied to me too, Earl. I had no idea this was here,"
"Earl," said a familiar voice.
Allison gasped with relief. It was Clark, coming off of the elevator.
"Let's go back upstairs and talk about this,"
"It's all gone, Clark," Earl said sadly. "How am I gonna get better if I don't know what poisoned me?"
"I didn't know about this place, Clark," Lex said. "You've gotta believe me,"
"I believe you, Lex," Clark reassured.
"He's lying!" exclaimed Earl. "He's just like his father!"
Suddenly, Allison felt the bridge shake beneath her feet. She looked back and saw Earl having another case of his jitters. Clark couldn't get to her in time. Besides he couldn't use his powers in front of Lex and Earl. The bridge collapsed, and Allison felt herself falling with Earl and Lex. Thankfully, Earl had grabbed onto the ledge, with Lex holding onto his legs, and Allison holding onto Lex's.
"Clark!" she screamed. "Clark!"
"Hang on Allison!" shouted Clark as he climbed over.
"Don't look down Allison," Lex reassured. "It's gonna be okay,"
Clark grabbed onto Earl's hand. His veins started to bulge into a green color, but that didn't stop him. He was able to pull him up, and let him climb up to the elevator. Next, with all of his strength, he was able to pull Lex up. When he pulled Allison up, she was near tears of fright.
"Hang onto my back, Allison," Clark ordered as she climbed onto him. "You're all right. You're gonna be fine,"
So Allison held on, the whole way, as Clark and Lex climbed up the broken part of the bridge. When the got to the stable part of it, they collapsed in exhaustion. But suddenly, the bridge started shaking, as Earl started up again. Grabbing Allison, Clark carried her all the way to the elevator as he Lex and Earl leapt toward the elevator. They got there just in time, as the bridge collapsed sending dust into the air, off the ground. As they went up, Lex was suspicious. He turned to Clark, who was holding Allison tight around his chest.
"Clark," he said. "How did you pull us up?"
"I don't know," Clark shrugged. "…Adrenaline, I guess,"
Outside, Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent, Sarah, and Brianna, came running up to Clark and Allison and Sarah and Brianna hugged her with all their might.
"I've never been happy to see you in my entire life!" exclaimed Brianna with happiness.
"You can say that again," Allison grumbled.
"What I really don't understand is how the building didn't blow into smithereens, and why you stayed behind when we were still under the impression that LuthorCorp was going to be a toxic waste dump in a matter of minutes,"
"I believe I can answer that," Sarah pointed to herself.
"Oh, this oughta be a fun lesson," Brianna said sarcastically (she got a disapproving look from Sarah)
"First off, it was my belief that Clark somehow turned down the gas level, thus the plant being time-bomb free, and…I believe that Allison did what she had to do, because…" Sarah smiled. "She's a reporter who always wants to know the truth. And I'm proud of her for that,"
Allison gave a thoughtful smile.
"Thanks Sarah," Allison said. "That really meant a lot to me,"
"Hey. That's what friends are for,"
(A/N: I would like to thank you all for your patience. I know I haven't updated to TWO, count 'em. TWO months, but I've been a bit preoccupied at the moment. But, hey the good news is we got a chapter, and I'm not dead…of that's what ya'll were thinking. Please review, and tell me your favorite Allison line)