Chapter 4: Visitation Rights
Chloe impatiently tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. 9:30 had come and gone while she waited for the authorities to clean up the wreck that spilled across the highway far ahead of her. On the side of the road more than a mile in front of where Chloe sat, a logger had spilled its cargo, which had caused the chicken truck that had been running behind to swerve and tip. It was almost funny to watch a flock of traumatized chickens flutter over a mile of road. The logger should have been off the road at sundown, but Chloe was always seeing them running at the edge of daylight. It was just her luck that this night would be the one that the logger tipped.
In the sour light of the emergency vehicles rolling past the lines of cars, the only thing Chloe could think about was that she wanted to be on her way, that, and making bets with herself about how long it would take the chicken man to catch that rooster.
The damn radio wouldn't stop playing that little tramp Britney's music. Chloe idly wondered if she could write an article about how Britney slept her way onto the radio's rotation. A brief smile lit Chloe's pale face. The thought, impractical and illegal as it was, made her head dance with silly thoughts.
A new song had been pulled onto the rotation. She had never heard the song before, but somehow the pulsing sound touched something inside Chloe's heart.
I feel the words unspoken inside...
And they pull you under,
Finally a new song, Chloe turned the radio back up and let the rock and roll seep into her. This was a new one for her, kind of sad but with a strong guitar riff. It flowed perfectly with her mood, helping her forget for a moment that she was running away.
You are all I wanted,
All my dreams are fallin' down,
Crawlin' around...
Running her finger along where her breath had begun to fog the windshield, Chloe scribbled a set of stick figures holding hands. Two had little triangle skirts, one with two long curls, the other with shorts curls. I'm a pathetic stick figure Chloe scolded herself. Here she was, running away from college, in desperate search of friends. The fact that finding a friend meant being on the road for more than an hour... just pitiable. It would all be easier once she got to Kansas State and soaked up some friendly vibrations from Lana and Pete.
Let your warm hands break right through,
Somebody sa-a-ave me,
I don't care how you do it, just
St-a-a-y, st-a-a-y
C'mon, I've been waiting for you-u,
Where was Clark Kent when you needed him? Of course Clark was right where she left him: on the farm. Even knowing where he was, and why he wasn't with her, Chloe half-expected him to show up and save her from the crisis her life had turned into. She should have known better. This wasn't the kind of catastrophe that showed up on Clark Kent disaster radar. Besides, his Lana radar had always been so much more fine-tuned than his Chloe radar.
I feel the waves crash down inside,
And they pull me under,
And, I would give you anything you want, oh
In her heart Chloe knew that she no longer cared who saved her, she just needed someone to be there for her, to save her from a world gone mad. Quietly she laid her head down on the wheel, soft heaves shaking her shoulders in rhythm with the song.
All my dreams have fallen down,
Crawling around...
Out on the highway the sirens of an ambulance geared up as it started to pull away from the wreckage. Somebody out there was trying to save lives.
Let your warm hands break right through,
Somebody sa-a-ave me,
I don't care how you do it, just
When you really thought about it, she was lucky, right? She was alive, relatively normal and rational, not unpretty. At least she wasn't out there on the ground with strangers trying to keep her alive.
C'mon, I've been waiting for you-u,
All my dreams are on the ground,
Crawling around...
"Lucky," Chloe whispered. Things had been really good once. She could remember her father's warm hands holding her the night her mother left. She wanted her father, her friends. She wanted what she had in Smallville back.
Let your warm hands break right through,
Somebody save me,
I don't care how you do it,
She wanted a hero to come save her, to turn back the time. Only thing was superheroes don't exist; no one was out there waiting to save you from the great cold world. She could give everything to the world, but it only took and took and took. People were the trick to the whole thing. If you found the right ones they would allow you to give without taking too much, and in return you wouldn't be left out in the cold.
I made this whole world shine for you-u...
Just st-a-a-y, st-a-a-y
C'mon, I'm still waiting for you-u
A policeman tapped on her door, indicating she could move on. Slowly, Chloe inched her car down the road, finally going past the remains of an eighteen-wheeler and the stacks of wood that had once traveled on its bed. Just beyond it, the empty cages of the chicken truck were lit up with dancing colors of red and blue. Chloe's eyes were drawn to two large mounds, mounds of very dead chickens. They were very white and feathery, with surprisingly little blood though. Heart attacks, some part of Chloe's mind provided. She could remember Clark talking about it once, that chickens couldn't take much stress before their little hearts gave out.
Within moments, Chloe was beyond the wreckage, her mind began focusing on the drive ahead.
Barely fifteen minutes after the policeman had waved her past the accident, Chloe was driving through the gates of Kansas State University. She knew both Lana and Pete were in the Strong Complex, housed in the Van Zile building.
Pulling over to the side of the road she waved at a passing student. "Do you know how I can get to the Van Zile dorm?"
"Sure, that's Manhattan Ave just ahead, go that way," he pointed to the right, "Van Zile is up there on the right."
"Thanks!" Chloe gave the young man a perky smile, a façade she put on to put off strangers and pulled away.
"Lucky guy." The freshman watched the girl pull away, silently wishing the pretty blond had been here to visit him. With a wishful sigh, he continued on his way.
It took only a couple of minutes to reach the dorm. Chloe found a parking spot at the end of the lot. As she got out of the car, she took a deep breath, pulling the cool night air into her stifled lungs. Two and a half hours of breathing recycled car air made the wind outside smell sweet and fresh.
Locking her fingers together, Chloe stretched her arms as far above her head as she could. She could feel the blood start to circulate again. Running her fingers through her hair, Chloe headed for the dorm.
By the time she reached the front door, the fresh air had cleared the cobwebs from her head. She suddenly felt kind of silly for showing up on her friend's doorstep at such a late hour on a weeknight. Even if she had chosen to skip classes, they probably wouldn't.
Looking through the front window Chloe saw that the lobby was empty. Tomorrow would be soon enough to visit. Tonight she would find a nice hotel to hole up in…after she walked some more. Chloe just didn't feel like getting back into the car yet.
She headed for the side of the building. Chloe could see the corner of a bench situated under an arbor of late blooming honeysuckle. The thicket didn't look like it had been cut back for several months; its emerald green leaves created intimate little worlds around the dorm. White speckles of late blooms were scattered through the leaves, perfuming the air with a sweetness that stirred memories.
Breathing deeply Chloe sat on the first bench she came to. The thickness of the greenery cut the breeze off, but she could still hear it rustling the branches above her making a melody with the crickets. The scent of honeysuckle pooled around her, creating a cozy little wonderland that Chloe felt at peace in. Her thoughts fell away into the night.
Nearby she could hear lovers making out, the soft rustle of clothes rubbing together and murmuring of loving words between moist smooching. At first she was too caught up in the simple joy the smells and sights of her haven, but soon the cooing started getting on her nerves.
But still she ignored it, until a single name jumped out and caught her attention. Clark. Shifting Chloe tried to get nearer the lovers without giving away that she was there.
"…figured out how he's going to finance his adventures around the world?" Chloe would swear on a Bible that the voice she was hearing was Lana Lang's.
"I don't think that boy thought things through." She could hear the laughter in Pete's voice.
"No, but he needs to…his parents can't finance a trip around the world." Lana's voice sounded softly regretful.
"Don't worry." Pete laughed again. "Clark can do anything he wants. He'll find a way to get around the world. Now stop worrying about him…we have better things to be discussing right now."
Chloe heard Lana start to giggle madly.
"Girl, you are one big tickle!"
"Stop! Stop it Pete, stop it right now!"
"What do I get if I stop?"
"This." The mad giggles stopped, a tender sound replacing them. After a minute Chloe, could hear a thump, like two bodies falling to the ground.
Chloe's eyes glistened with tears she didn't even feel falling. Her hands trembled as the covered her mouth, holding back the cries of shock that wanted to escape. She started scooting back, like a trapped animal trying to pull away from the hunter.
The one constant she could remember in her life was that no matter how much she loved Clark, he loved Lana. And Pete had always been hers, not in a selfish, needy way, but as a rock solid friend. But Pete had never been obsessed with Lana…she was Clark's obsession…right? How could Lana take not only Clark from her, but now Pete as well…
Not knowing and not caring what noise she made, Chloe surged to her feet, heading for her car as fast as her sobbing lungs allowed her. She could barely breathe by the time she reached the car. She laid her hand on the door, intending to open it. For a moment, she stared at her own slim fingers.
Slowly her hand left streaks down the window as she sank to her knees. Sobbing, Chloe rested her head on the door.
Sorry about taking so long on this chapter, I got kinda behind after killing Deanine's computer. Anyway, this chapter kinda came about because I was listening to the opening Song of Smallville (Save Me by Remy Zero) and thought how utterly perfect it seemed to for how Chloe felt at that moment. So here, in the middle of my fic, we get this little, umm, well songfic... hope its not too distracting.
Debster