Through Lana's Eyes
Chapter 5
Cool
On Friday night Whitney called her and said that there was a party down by Crater Lake. She agreed to go as long as he promised he wouldn't spend the whole night with his friends laughing, he agreed.
"Why wouldn't I want to spend time with you?" he asked.
"Because you act differently around your friends."
"I'll spend time with you. I promise."
"Ok."
"And, I'll even give you a ride."
"Oh, how thoughtful." she said sarcastically.
"Whatever makes you happy. I gotta go; the guys are waiting for me."
"See you later."
"Bye." That night for the first half of the party she and Whitney sat on the bed of his truck with a blanket wrapped around the two of them. later after the pizza came he disappeared with a few of his friends, and she was left alone with a huge warm blanket. 'Well, at least he left it the blanket here.' While Whitney was still there she noticed Clark and Chloe were sitting by the fire, but around the time Whitney got up, they left too. She was disappointed; she and Clark had become good friends, and she was just starting to get to know Chloe too. By eleven she was getting pretty tired so she got up and sat down right next to the cab of the truck and leaned her head on the window. A few minutes later she was sound asleep. When she woke up, Whitney was carrying her around the truck to the passenger's side. Since she was still half asleep she let him put her in the truck. When he climbed in on the other side she opened here eyes, and squinted because the truck lights were on. Whitney reached over and kissed her.
"Hello, sleepy head."
"What time is it?"
"One thirty."
"You have to be home by two right?"
"Yeah." 'We were lucky Nell was in a good mood when I left.' She was quiet on the way home. When they got to her house Whitney gave her a good night kiss and drove away.
The next she was sitting in the Beanery when she heard someone come up behind her and say,
"That's a great exhibit. Caught it in St. Petersburg."
"Whitney and I are going to Metropolis tomorrow. I thought we'd check it out."
"Oh, trying to give the quarterback some culture?"
"It was his idea."
"He figures one afternoon at the museum, he's off the hook for six months." 'Why is he attacking Whitney like that?'
"For someone who wants people to keep an open mind you're pretty quick to judge."
"Hey, Whitney. " someone by the door said.
"What can I say? I just think you're with the wrong guy." Lex walked away as Whitney got a chair and came over to sit next to her. Whitney gave her is kiss on the cheek before he sat down.
"Hey. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I was just checking out some stuff for us to do tomorrow." He gave her a blank look. 'Please tell me he didn't forget.' "Metropolis, remember?" He sighed, and wouldn't look at her.
"Some of the guys are pulling together and getting the fight on pay-per-view. It's tomorrow." 'Great. His friends come before me.'
"And you gave them your money already."
"Yeah. Hey, we'll go next weekend, okay? I promise." She sighed. 'It's so hard to be mad at him for a long time.' "I'm really sorry, Lana."
"Culture can wait." He winked and smiled at her gratefully. 'He's so cute when his does that.' "I'll make it up to you." He kissed her forehead. "See you." Whitney got up and left. She looked at Lex, but he just smiled and left. She picked up a book off the table and started to read.
"Hey, Lana, you busy?" She looked up and saw Clark standing in front of her.
"Completely swamped. That's why I'm sitting in a coffee shop attempting to wade through a Russian classic." She held up the book. 'I don't think he got it.' "That was a joke, Clark."
"Um, good. Because there's this thing tomorrow night."
"Define "thing."
"It's a concert. Radiohead, to be exact, and I've got a couple of tickets." 'That's impressive.' She took the tickets to look at them.
"Wow. Where'd you get these?"
"A friend. Something came up at the last minute and I was wondering if you'd like to go, you know with me." 'Is he asking me out?'
"I'd. . ."
"Just as friends." 'Alright, now I won't feel like I'm cheating on Whitney.'
"Definitely. I'd love to."
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you." 'I guess I'll have something to do after all.'
The next night she put on a white sweater and black jeans. 'I hope I look alright.' She sat in her room reading until she heard a knock on the door. She went down stairs and saw Clark standing at the door. When she walked outside she saw a limo waiting outside for them.
"Wow." she said. "Where'd that come from?"
"A friend." said Clark. 'Lex Luthor most likely.' she thought. 'I've only been inside a limo once.'
"I've never actually sat in a limo before tonight."
"I did once. Nell got one to take us to the ballet. But it wasn't as nice as this."
"Beats another night of defensive reading." 'What does he mean by that?' "You've done it since we were kids. Whenever the world gets disappointing you retreat into a book. There are worse things."
"No, you're right. It's just easier than dealing with my own life, you know what I mean?" 'I hope he does.'
"I do the same thing with astronomy. I look at different worlds and wonder if my life would be better there." 'That's exactly what I mean. He's really good at understanding people.'
"You always seem to understand what I'm trying to say. How come you know so much?"
"Magic." 'Really?' "You don't believe in magic?" 'I don't know.' She shrugged. "I'll show you." He took a deck of cards from a compartment in the door. He held them out to her. "Pick a card."
"Alright." 'Three of hearts. Let's see what he had me do with it.' He concentrated on the card, just staring at it and then said,
"Three of hearts." 'Wow, he's good.'
"Full of surprises." She handed him the card. Their hands touched just for a second, but it was enough to make them both feel uncomfortable.
"This is weird, huh? I felt like I had to explain tonight to Nell." 'It was really just a two second conversation, but still and explanation.'
"I spent the better part of the day convincing people this was not a date. How about Whitney."
"I didn't tell him."
"You feeling guilty about that?"
"He's hanging out with his friends and I'm hanging out with mine."
"Exactly." She picked up the remote and turned on the T.V. 'Cool T.V. in a car.'
"And in Smallville tonight, police are seeking 17-year-old Sean Kelvin after the mysterious death of fellow Smallville High student Jenna Barham whose body was found earlier this afternoon."
"Oh, my God." 'I wonder what happened to her."
"Stop the car." Clark said. When the car stopped they were in front of the Beanery.
"Clark, what's wrong?"
"It's complicated. Hang out her for a while. I want you to be safe."
"Safe from what?" 'What's going on?'
"I promise I'll explain when I get back. Will you wait for me?"
"Sure." 'This is an odd twist.'
"I just want you to know that this is the best non-date that I've ever had." He turned and walked down the street. She walked into the coffee shop and ordered a coffee. After a few minutes she go sucked into a book.
"Shouldn't you be fifth-row center right about now?" She looked up and saw Pete standing in front of her.
"Hey, Pete."
"Where's Clark?"
"I don't know. He saw a news report about Jenna and suddenly he said he had to run."
"I heard that too. I always thought that Sean was a good guy. I guess we don't know people as well as we think."
"You've been friends with Clark for a long time. Is he always so. . . ?" 'What the word?'
"Clar-like? Sometimes he's totally there and you think you know everything about him and then this part of him that's. . ."
"Mysterious."
"Yeah, that's it. Clark Kent, international man of mystery."
"Well, whatever it was it seemed important."
"I can't believe there's anything more important to him than you." 'Really.'
"Lana, what are you doing here?" Whitney said as he walked over to the table.
"Just reading."
"Pretty dressed up to be digging into a book."
"I'll catch up with you later." Pete said and he turned and walked back to his date.
"Pete, why don't you take your date for a spin in the limo?" Whitney gave her a weird look.
"She's not a date. She's just my friend."
"Either way, I won't be needing it."
"Thanks." He smiled and led is friend outside.
"What were you doing in a limo?" Whitney asked her.
"Just hanging out with a friend. Could you take me home?" 'I don't think that Clark's coming back after all.' He took her hand and together they went out to his truck. They rode along in silence for a while before Whitney spoke,
"I know this is probably one of those times I should just let things go but I'd kind of like to know what's going on."
"You went out with your friends, I went out with Clark. He invited me to a concert." 'Let's see how he takes that.'
"So you tow were just hanging out."
"Right."
"Was this some kind of test to see what I'd do? Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because I knew you'd overreact."
"You go on a date with another guy, and I'm overreacting."
"It wasn't a date. Clark a friend, that's it." She looked out the front window and saw Sean standing in the road. "Whitney, look out!"
"Sean!" He swerved and the truck went off the road. The truck crashed into a ditch and the back windshield shattered. "Lana, are you okay?" 'Eventhough we were arguing he still cares. That's so nice.'
"My ankle hurts. I think I twisted it. Where did Sean go?"
"I don't know. But I gotta get you somewhere safe. Hold on." He walked around the truck and helped her limp to the road. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
"Come on. Those lights are over at the Luthor house, just down the road. Come on." They slowly walked up to the house where someone showed them into a office type room. The Kents were sitting on the couch talking to Lex.
"Lana." Mrs. Kent said.
"She's okay." Whitney reassured her.
"Where's Clark?"
"He left me at the Beanery and ran off somewhere." She told everyone about the news report, and then Lex went off somewhere. She and Whitney sat down in front of the fire. Lex came back with some coffee.
"This kid sounds dangerous. I've got the gate down and the alarm on. You're staying here until they find Sean. Sorry about your date." He handed out the coffee. Whitney gave both her and Lex a look. Mr. Kent hung up the phone.
"No. I'm still getting the answering machine at home."
"Remind me I don't have to worry." Mrs. Kent said. Mr. Kent said something to her that she couldn't make out. The power flickered and then went out. Lex produced some matches and lit a few candles. Then he went somewhere and came back with some flashlights.
"Here you go."
"I'll go check the front gate." Mr. Kent said.
"It should be secure." Lex told him.
"I'll check the generator. Where is it?" Mrs Kent asked. They both walked out of the room.
A few days later at school there was a memorial for Jenna set up in the hall. Lana was surprised to see candles were part of it. 'The school usually tries to keep fire out here.' She stopped by her locker to get some books when she heard someone come over.
"Lana." Clark said. "Hey how's you ankle?"
"It's better, thanks."
"You never came back the other night." 'I was hoping you would.'
"I did, but you were gone. I'm sorry, I wanted things to work out differently."
"Don't worry about it."
"I was thinking maybe we could try again sometime. How about Saturday?"
"Whitney's taking me to the city. He's got the whole day planned. I think our non-date freaked him out."
"What'd you tell him?"
"The truth. That we're just friends." 'But what Pete said did get me thinking.' The bell rang. "I have to go."
"Lana. Why do you go out with him? Whitney, I mean."
"Because whenever I need him, he's there." 'I guess. I never really thought about that too much.' "Guess he makes me feel safe." She walked away to class. 'Is that really why I go out with him? I don't know. I mean, Clark's been there for me plenty of times too. He really makes you think. It's a change, but I think I like it.'