Through Lana's Eyes

Chapter 9

Rouge

Author's note: I condensed the story a little bit and made it take place over a shorter period of time. It was easier to write that way. I hope you guys don't mind. I plan to do that more often just to make things simpler.

"Lana, are you ready yet?" Nell called up the stairs. "We need to leave in a few minutes. Whitney's here; he just pulled into the driveway." Lana stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. She had on a creme colored dress that was so long that it almost trailed on the floor. 'I would have been happier with that blue dress we'd seen the other day, but Nell insisted. It was either black or white. It's just a charity gala, and I'm sure if it was being held anyplace other than Luthor Hall it would be less formal. Lex told me that Clark would be there, so I know that I'll have at least two people to talk to, him and Whitney. When she went downstairs she saw Whitney sitting in the living room. He was wearing khaki pants, a light blue button up shirt, a black jacket, and a blue tie.

"He cleans up pretty good." Nell whispered in her ear as she walked by.

"Hey." She walked over into the living room.

"Hey. You look really nice."

"Thanks. You don't look so bad either." He smiled.

"Thanks for the compliment."

"You're welcome." She took his hand and led him out to where Nell was waiting in her car. On the ride there she mainly listened to Nell make small talk with Whitney. When they got there Nell led her and Whitney over to a table, and then walked off to look at the exhibits. After a while she decided to go and have a look around.

"Would you mind if I went and looked around?"

"Just don't get lost."

"I won't." She walked over to the table where water was being served and picked up a glass. Then she saw Clark talking to Lex. 'I wonder if they're in a more talkative mood than Whitney.' As she walked over she heard Lex say,

"I'm not. I'm just interested in people who ruled the world before they were thirty."

"Don't work, Lex, you still have a few years to go." She walked over.

"Lana, I didn't know you were gonna be here."

"Didn't Lex tell you?"

"Must've slipped my mind." 'Yeah right. This is exactly how he planed it.' "Why don't I leave you two alone?" Lex turned and walked off towards one of the other glass cases.

"Having fun?"

"Yeah, well I'm feeling a bit underdressed." he told her.

"If it makes you feel any better, Whitney is just as un comfortable." She pointed over to the table that he was sitting at.

"Whitney came too."

"Why don't you join us? I'm gonna yank Nell away from the jewelry exhibit so we can eat."

"Yeah, sure." She walked off too find Nell. It didn't take to long for her to find Nell, she was just were she had been half an hour ago.

"Come on. Whitney and I are starving, and Clark's gonna eat with us."

"Alright honey." They walked back over to the table, where she expected to see Clark sitting with Whitney. But he was nowhere to be seen. 'Not again. He's always doing stuff like this.' "I thought you said Clark was gonna eat with us."

"I haven't seen him all night. Since when was he going to eat with us?" Whitney asked.

"I was talking to him like a minute ago and he isn't here with anyone, so I thought that it'd be nice to invite him over here. Let's get some food anyway. If he comes over he can join us." But Clark didn't end up coming over, in fact she didn't see him for the rest of the night. 'I hope nothing's happened to him.' The next day at school she was walking past the Torch office and she saw Clark sitting with Pete and Chloe at a computer.

"Clark, what happened to you last night?"

"I wasn't feeling well. Guess I'm not much of a city guy." he told her.

"You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy." Chloe said as she walked over to a filing cabinet.

"Sullivan, is this your idea of a joke? Concerned parents have been calling all morning." Principal Kwan said.

"What have you been telling them?" Chloe asked.

"What the EPA and other environmental groups said years ago. Meteor rocks are harmless."

"People have a right to know about the strange things that happen in this town!"

"The Torch is a school paper. It's not your own personal tabloid."

"Are you censoring me?"

"I'm requiring you to do your job, which is to report on relevant school events: sports, dances, clubs. I'm relieving you of your duties. The Torch is suspended until I can appoint a new editor." The principal walked out of the office.

"Okay, what just happened?" Chloe asked them.

"I think you were fired." Pete told her. Clark stood up.

"Chloe, I'm sure there's something we can do."

"Let me talk to Kwan." Lana stood up and stood in front of Chloe.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but what can you do?"

"I don't know, but let me give it a shot."

"Alright. But I don't think that it'll do any good." Lana turned and walked down the hall after the principal.

"Principal Kwan!" He turned and she caught up to him.

"Miss Lang."

"I wanted to talk to you about the Torch."

"Alright. I'm listening."

"I think that it's a great way for all of us to get news. Even though Chloe was printing some strange stories some of them actually turned out to be true. For example, a few weeks ago the guy went missing from a nursing home and then a man was killed using this guy's methods. The truth was that the man had been exposed to the meteor rocks and it caused him to appear many years younger than he was. Now, I'm not saying that that is the only thing that the Torch prints, because it's not. The Torch does print stories about Sports, Dances, and Clubs. Many of the players from the football team have been interviewed, as well as members of the dance committee. The school paper hasn't been turned into Chloe's personal tabloid. If you read through any issue there is only one story about meteor rocks and a few editorials; the rest in relevant school events." She paused to take a breath.

"Well, Miss Lang, maybe the paper won't have to be suspended. If you have this much passion for the newspaper you can be the new editor." 'That's not what I wanted. I was trying to get Chloe back to being the editor. I don't really want to be the editor of a newspaper.'

"But, principal Kwan. . ."

"Take it or leave it Miss Lang."

"I'll take it." When she walked back into the office she saw that Pete had left. "Hey."

"So, how'd it go?" Clark asked her. 'Just perfectly. I'm now the editor of the paper, which I don't want to be. And I'm afraid of how Chloe will react.

"Well, it's interesting."

"Bottom line, when can we send out the next issue?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"Cool."

"Except. . .uh. . . um. . . Kwan made me the new editor." 'Please don't hate me, Chloe.'

"Okay, rewind. I need you to say that last part again."

"After I made my case, Kwan said that if I had that much passion I should be in charge."

"I don't believe this!"

"Chloe, it's the only way he'd reopen the paper."

"So, what? Cheerleading's not enough?" Chloe looked like she was going to cry. "Maybe the editor of a school newspaper looks better on a college application."

"That isn't it! I figured you could ghostwrite until we got you reinstated."

"So the I would work for you."

"The paper would still be yours."

"Wait, wait." Clark interrupted. "Chloe, think about it. It's not a bad idea."

"It figures you'd side with her."

"I'm not taking anyone's side."

"Yeah right, Clark. You're completely objective in all things Lana." 'What does she mean by that."

"Gotta go." Clark headed for the door.

"No, please, Clark, stay. Take my desk!"

"Chloe this isn't what you think."

"You know what the weirdest part is? For a millisecond, I almost thought you were my friend." Chloe turned and stormed out of the office. 'This is not how I wanted this to end at all.'

"Sorry, Lana, but I really have to go. See you later." He walked out of the office leaving her alone to run the newspaper. 'I'll start by trying to get this place a little neater. A few minutes later she heard some strange noises coming from the printer. 'I guess Chloe had been printing something before she left.' She went over and saw that the paper looked like it was stuck in the printer. Once she finally got the paper out she typed up something to print to see if the printer was broken or not. That got stuck in the printer as well. 'This is just great. I haven't even been here for one day and I already broke the printer.' She heard the door open and saw Clark come in.

"Clark, what are you doing here?"

"Hiding out."

"I heard about your dad. I know it isn't true." 'You're father would never harm, let alone kill anyone.'

"Thanks. How are you doing."

"To be honest, I'm in way over my head."

"All I wanted to do is help Chloe out, and now I feel like I've screwed up everything." 'Including the printer.' "Guess that's what you get when you try to be a hero."

"I know the feeling. You ever thing your aunt's life you be simpler if she hadn't adopted you?"

"Clark, what's going on?"

"Just seems like all I ever do is complicate my parents' lives." 'That doesn't sound like him at all. Something must be really wrong.'

"You can't blame yourself for what's happening with your dad." 'It wasn't your fault.' "Every family goes through rough times. When I was ten, I tried to run away to Metropolis, Nell found me at the bus stop. It was freezing. As she was driving me home, I asked her if she regretted adopting me. She stopped the car. I remember because it started snowing. She looked me in the eye. And she said it was the best thing she had ever done. She didn't love me any less because I was adopted but she worried about me more."

"I've gotta go." 'Why does he keep doing that today?'

"Don't worry, Clark. It'll all work out." He just smiled and left. She turned back to the printer and tried to fix it. After a while she gave up on fixing the printer and went to find a janitor. That night she got an idea for how to get Chloe reinstated. On the next issue of the Torch the headline was going to be "Kwan Crushes Freedom of Speech." 'That should get someone's attention.' The next day she was typing on the computer when Principal Kwan came in.

"Miss Lang, what's this?" He held up a copy of the latest issue.

"It's a news story."

"It's totally unacceptable." 'Just because it's criticizing you.'

"Why? It covers all of your criteria. It deals with a student and a school sponsored club and there are no mutants in sight."

"Did you do this because you thought I'd reinstate Miss Sullivan?" 'Partially, but,'

"I did it because it was the right thing to do. Chloe was born for this job."

"Although I do admire her passion, her reporting lacks accuracy."

"I can work on that." They both turned and saw Chloe standing in the doorway.

"If you want your job back, Miss Sullivan, don't print what you can't prove. Do we have a deal?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Principal Kwan."

"Don't thank me. Thank Miss Lang." He turned and walked out of the office.

"Congratulations. You deserve it." she told Chloe.

"Thanks. You know, Lana, I'm sorry I flipped out at you the other day. I just. . . You know, the paper's kind of my identity and it's the only thing Clark and I do together. And so when I saw you here."

"Did you think I was trying to cut Clark out of your life?"

"Nobody ever said I was rational."

"I want to be friends with you, Chloe, but I don't want to stand between you and Clark."

"Oh, no. Don't worry, there's nothing between us. We're just good friends." 'Same here.' "How about you?"

"Same thing. We're just friends."

"Good. I'm glad we got that out of the way. Now, let's see what you've messed up since I've been gone."

"What do you think of this issue?" Lana took a copy off of her desk. As Chloe flipped though it, Lana thought about what she had said; that she and Clark were just friends. 'Right now we are, but I kind of like him. Stop it.' She told herself 'Remember Whitney, your boyfriend.'

"Lana!"

"What?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"No, sorry I must have zoned out for a while."

"To sum it all up this is really good writing. Have you ever though about writing for the paper before? I could always use the extra help."

"If you're really desperate, but I wouldn't want to get in the way. Besides you should have your time with Clark without me always hanging around. I did like this, but I couldn't imagine doing it every week. I don't know how you do it."

"Caffeine." She smiled. "Some of which I could use right now. Wanna come with me?"

"Sure." They left the school and walked towards the Beanery. 'This is going to be fun, having friends that aren't completely obsessed with sports.'