Rhone was slowly retracing her path, back to the door that she had vanished in front of. She looked at the walls; awards, pictures, and other items assured passersby that the school had sufficient spirit. What a crock.
…How in the hell did I beat up Eric Simms, all-star quarterback in high school? Rhone wondered to herself. I knew nothing of combat then – only what Dungeons and Dragons had to teach; and let's face it, real fighting isn't exactly turn based.
She never felt guilty about it; he started it and he fought back – at least, he tried. She couldn't stop the small smirk that crossed her lips when she thought about it. …The only thing that was permanently wounded was his pride. …She really needed to talk to Sensei. Perhaps more than a call was in order now – that would be difficult.
Her thoughts shifted to the girl that she had just left. Adra Arden. Rhone didn't know what to make of this. The girl managed to cause her to have a false vision – a vision that Rhone didn't care for. She could tell by looking at her that Adra was quite – angry, reclusive. The entire experience in that green house displeased Rhone on the whole, but for no obvious reason.
She approached the door to The Torch, hearing a few of voices – three of them. None of them were Lex's, but she knew he was in there. The three voices were discussing the layout, obviously for their little paper.
The door was ajar, so she decided that she could just walk in. She opened the door, but stood outside of it. Everyone in the room looked to see her gazing down the hallway. Footsteps were approaching from behind her – running.
At the sight of Rhone Chade, Chloe's eyes lit up. Just in time for a few questions. …What is she looking at?
Pete and Clark saw Chloe's eyes go wide. They knew that that could only mean one thing. Pete had covered for Rhone in the midst of a bank robbery, but he doubted his ability to keep a story-hungry Chloe away from her.
Clark's eyes went to Lex, who was standing in front of The Wall of Weird. The corner of his friend's mouth curled up at the sight of the woman in the door. He smiled a thoughtful smile as he looked at his friend.
Lex felt a pair of eyes on him. He looked away from Rhone Chade to Clark. The boy had a knowing closed mouth smile etched into his face. He knew Clark was going to make him talk about Rhone. He found it fortunate that Chloe and Pete had made an entrance shortly after he noticed that Rhone was missing. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Clark about her; he just didn't want her excellent ears to hear the conversation.
A figure rounded a corner, Adra Arden. She slowed to a jog as she approached Rhone and stopped a few feet from her. Rhone looked at the girl with a quirked eyebrow.
"I have to know," Adra said as though that was supposed to make sense.
"Know what?" Rhone asked quietly, but she knew those in the room would hear them.
"What did he do?" Adra clarified.
"Who?" Rhone was playing dumb.
"The quarterback," Adra breathed heavily.
Rhone cast a glance into the office of The Torch; all eyes had fallen on her and the half of Adra that they could see. Rhone turned back to Adra and shut the door once more.
Everyone in the office looked at one another, not really knowing what to make of the situation.
Rhone continued to speak quietly, in attempt to maintain the privacy of the conversation. "To make a long story short," she began, "He said something to my best friend, I said something to him, he got pissed, he grabbed me, I gave him a very slight concussion." Among other things, she kept that to herself. Despite all the strides of women's liberation, she had something against men that roughed up women -- as though how hard they grab your arm makes them right.
Rhone smiled politely as she grabbed the door and began to open it again, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have take-out to pick up in a few minutes."
Adra nodded with a very faint smile. She looked at the door they were standing in front of for a prolonged moment. The smile faded, she turned on her heels, and began walking the way she had come.
Rhone watched Adra for a moment; hand on the doorknob. What was her problem with the girl? She hadn't done anything wrong – the story just lent itself to Adra's situation. Still…
The door pushed against Rhone's hand. Chloe peeked out from the other side of the door. Rhone had heard her walk to the door, but was transfixed on Adra.
"Are you going to come in or are you going to have conversations with all of the school hermits out here?" The blond grinned widely.
Rhone pulled the door open the rest of the way and smiled directly at Chloe as she walked by, "Don't make me choose."
Chloe laughed lightly as she watched Rhone walk past her and into the office.
Lex watched her glide into the room. It was as though time stopped around her and she was moving in slow motion. Her left hand was on her hip and her right hung loosely at her side.
"Hey, Rhone," Clark smiled widely as he watched Lex smirk at the target of his greeting.
"Clark," Rhone smiled back. She noticed that he hadn't made eye contact with her; he was just smiling at Lex. What the hell? She refocused her attention, "And Pete, I owe you a thank you."
Pete smiled, but furrowed his brow, "For?"
She put a hand on Pete's shoulder. "Your quick thinking at the bank," she reminded him, "Everyone that was there is indebted to your cool headedness." She shouldn't bring up the situation; it had been buried. However, she knew that her companions were not like so many others, and would not contribute what they saw to post traumatic stress.
Pete looked at the ground. He wasn't used people saying things like that to him; it was always Clark that played hero. He was just Clark's friend.
Lex stared at the hand Rhone had on Pete's shoulder and set his jaw. Was there something wrong with him? He ran his hand over his smooth head – well, besides that. She wasn't like that, was she? No, she was too good for that. He remembered the one time that she had touched him. His wrist and neck, where she had touched him, tingled.
Clark and Chloe were taken aback at the ease with which she talked about the situation two days ago. The steps she had taken to cover it up would imply that she would try to convince everyone that it didn't happen.
Chloe shook her head, "And speaking of that – incident, do you have time to answer a few questions?"
Lex looked sharply at Chloe; the girl could be quite tenacious when she wanted to be.
"Chloe," Clark's eyes were warning. He knew this was coming.
"I'm afraid I don't follow," Rhone said with little emotion.
"I have a few questions," Chloe ignored a pointed look from the three males in the room.
"I believe that The Smallville Ledger gave quite a bit of attention to that subject in yesterday's edition," Rhone said matter-of-factly.
"It seems they fell victim to some – inconsistencies," Chloe crossed her arms over her chest.
"Sounds like they have a problem," Rhone remained innocent.
"I was actually interested in a more human side of the story – you," Chloe moved to her computer.
"Like an interview?" Rhone gave her a "what the hell are you talking about" look and tone.
"Exactly," Chloe said in an excited voice.
"No," Rhone said plainly.
All hint of enthusiasm drained from Chloe's face. She had never just been shot down like that. Usually people at least humored her and made excuses. "Why not?" Chloe asked.
Lex turned back to The Wall of Weird to hide his smirk. Chloe pretended to be mature and professional when it came to reporting, but someone unmistakably says no to an interview and she was acting like a disappointed ten year old. He often forgot about the difference in age between himself and Clark. In this case, he was reminded of his difference in age with Clark's friends.
"I'm pretty boring," Rhone said.
Lex smiled even wider at The Wall. He remembered her saying something very similar to him, but he knew that she was selling herself short – far short. He wondered if Rhone believed it – that she was just some girl. He hoped not -- if only he could find the words to tell her how amazing she really was. The nerve to tell her…
"I think the four bank robbers that spent time in the hospital because of you, would say differently," Chloe observed.
Lex began to walk away from The Wall, towards Rhone. That was enough. Thankfully, she had removed her hand from Pete Ross' shoulder.
"So what does the high school paper want to know? My favorite color is green, and my favorite book is…" she was cut off.
Green, Lex committed that to long-term memory.
"That isn't the kind of award winning journalism I was thinking about," Chloe said.
"To the contrary, Chloe, I would love to know," Lex smiled and fixed his gaze Rhone.
Clark smiled widely again as he watched his best friend.
Lex looked up to see Clark grinning like an idiot. At least everyone else in the room was assuming this actions and words were just part of his trademark suave arrogance. Damn Clark. That's what you get for having friends – Ok, so it was worth it. "We have take-out to pick up," he said to Clark with a smirk.
"I'll walk you out," Clark gestured to the door.
"What about my interview?" Chloe asked to the three figures that were shuffling toward the door.
"You should have listened about her favorite book. …Maybe you should just let it go," Pete suggested. Chloe just looked at him. He should have known better than to say anything. He hoped Clark would return soon and agree with him, so he would no longer be on the receiving end of the dirty look Chloe's face had distorted into.