It was no secret that most people at Smallville High hated gym class. Emmeline was no exception. For a shy girl, gym class was basically a torture chamber. She hated being put on the spot when they did sports because she was terrified she'd make a mistake and look foolish in front of her whole class. Running the mile wasn't so great either because she didn't want to finish first and she didn't want to finish last lest all attention be put on her, so it was more exhausting for her to find a good pace to go at where she could end up in the middle than it was to actually do the run.
So of course, that was the day all the girls were due to run the mile. Emmeline was in Lana's class, but she really wished Chloe was with her. Ever since that night they had made a promise to each other, Emmeline wanted to hang out with her as much as possible. They had gone to the Beanery several times just the two of them for a nice chat, and it was so refreshing for her. She had never had someone to do that with before.
When Emmeline and the rest of the girls came back in from the gym, the guys were climbing the rope and it was Pete and Clark's turn. Emmeline couldn't help but hang back to watch the two boys climb, interested to see who would get there first. Pete ended up winning.
Suddenly, without warning, Clark lost his grip on the rope and came crashing down to the hard ground.
"Clark!" Emmeline cried as she ran over to him. When he looked up at her, his face contorted to a look of horror. "Are you okay?"
His gaze went to what seemed like nowhere, but she didn't miss the small shadow of a smile that crossed his face.
What on earth was going on with him?
The next day, Emmeline, Chloe, and Pete were walking down the halls when they saw Clark staring off into space with intense concentration.
"Hello, Clark," Chloe said trying to get his attention.
When he didn't move at all, Pete waved his hand in front of his face. "Is everything okay?" he asked as they all laughed when Clark flinched.
"Have you guys ever noticed anything strange about Tina Greer?"
"Nothing that would require the intense concentration you're exerting to look at her," Chloe responded.
Pete shook his head. "The only thing weird about Tina is the amount of time she spends idolizing Lana."
"Yeah, she's practically her clone. Come on, let's go."
The three of them headed to the Torch office to get started on the latest issue. Emmeline looked behind her to find Clark looking at Tina again. Something really weird was going on with him as of late.
But the last thing she wanted to do was pry into matters that weren't any of her business.
Later when Chloe was typing up an article and Emmeline was proofreading, they heard a sound at the door.
"Pete, you throw that rubber spider again, and I'm going for my staple gun," Chloe said without looking at the door. Emmeline smiled as she kept her head over her article.
"Mind if I come in?" Lana's voice said. "Hey, Emmeline."
Emmeline acknowledged her with a small smile as Chloe finally turned. "The girl who writes for the pom-pom parade is, no surprise, out with mono." There was that disdain again. It made a lot more sense now that she knew Chloe had a thing for Clark while Clark had a thing for Lana.
"This week's editorial?"
"My semiannual 'where-are-our-priorities' rant."
"For what it's worth, I really like what you've done with the paper this year."
"Well, that puts you in the majority of one." After a small pause, she added, "I'm sorry about the pom-pom crack. Once I hit 'take no prisoners' mode, it's kind of hard for me to shut it off."
"Actually, I admire it. You know who you are and you go for it."
Chloe stood up and began shuffling papers. "Well, I appreciate the compliment. However, I know you haven't come down to this hole to give me a pep talk."
"The Torch prints the graduation speech every year, right?"
"Having transcribed last year's snore-fest, that's an unfortunate yes. What year?"
"1977."
"That's P.C."
"P.C.?"
"Pre-computer, when disco ruled the earth. Anything we have before then is gonna be H.C."
"Hard copy."
"You catch on fast." Chloe went over to a file cabinet and started flipping through the files. "Uh, let's see. '77, here we go." She pulled out a very old issue of the Torch. "'Saturday Night Fever' was their prom theme. Styx won 'Group of the Century', and…wow. Someone got in the administration's collective face."
Lana looked at the issue and read, "'Due to the controversial nature of this year's graduation address, the editors have elected not to run the text in this issue of the Torch'."
"Meaning, ironically, it's probably the only one worth reading. You know, maybe I could track something down for you. Do you know who gave the speech?"
"Yeah. My mother." There was an awkward silence before Lana said, "Thanks, Chloe. You're incredible."
She left the Torch leaving the other two girls alone.
"I hate it when they're nice," Emmeline muttered. "It makes it that much harder to dislike them for stealing your guy."
Chloe laughed. "She has almost everything she could ever ask for. The football boyfriend, she's the most popular girl at Smallville High, and of course, she has Clark's affections. And she's still so nice and humble about it."
"I hate that."
"Has that happened to you before?"
"I used to have an old friend back in grade school. We weren't really close, but we were friends. We liked the same guy but she didn't know I liked him. She ended up dating him and after that, the friendship kinda just broke off."
"That's awful. Well, I promise that I will never do that to you. I will honor our deal."
"I will too."
After school, Emmeline was walking down the sidewalk when she heard, "Hey, Emmeline!"
Across the street, Pete and Clark were walking together as Pete waved to her. She crossed the street and joined them on the sidewalk. "Hey, guys."
"Clark was just telling me something…out of the ordinary." They began to continue walking down the street. "So you're telling me Tina Greer can bend her bones like a contortionist and become anybody she wants?"
"I saw it with my own eyes," Clark said.
"Another one?" Emmeline asked quietly.
Pete laughed. "I'm sorry, this is usually Chloe's territory. I cover girls, football, and general guy stuff. She does the tales of the unexplained. So why don't you give her a call?"
"I did. She said she was busy with something else," Clark answered.
"You realize that's like getting turned down by the National Enquirer."
"Tell me again why we're friends?"
"Because even when I think you're whacked, I show up ready to rumble." By now, they had arrived at the antique shop where Tina's mom worked. "Great, it's closed." Clark peered through the window which caused Pete to let out a big sigh. "Clark, man, haven't you ever watched Cops? The last place Tina's gonna be hiding out is in her mom's store." Clark kept staring into the store so once again, Pete waved his hand in front of his face. "Earth to Clark. Is everything okay?"
"We need to get in here," Clark said urgently.
"Why?"
"Just…it's a hunch."
They went around to the back of the store and got in that way. "Hey, Clark. What are we looking for?" Pete asked.
Clark opened the door to one of the closets in the store. What fell to the floor was a body. Emmeline gasped heavily.
"Whoa, who's that?" Pete asked.
"It's Tina's mom."
"How'd you know she was in there?"
"Because I can see right through the door, Pete."
"Very funny, Sherlock."
"Is it a thing for people who have weird abilities to kill their mother?" Emmeline asked as she stared at the body. All thoughts of being in Greg's house and seeing his dead mother followed by what happened afterward came rushing back to her at once.
"Hey, Emmeline, are you alright?" Pete asked taking her arm. "You're as white as a sheet."
"I…I can't breathe."
"Here, sit down." Pete helped her sit down and the two boys took her hands. She immediately started squeezing them upon contact which made Clark and Pete look over at each other worriedly.
"It's everything that happened with Greg," Clark whispered to Pete as he remembered her getting shaken up when he walked her home a few nights ago.
"Oh, man. Okay, Emmeline, we're gonna count, alright? Just count with us. One. Two. Three. Come on, you gotta count."
"Four," Emmeline began counting. "Five. Six."
"Good," Clark said. "Take a couple deep breaths. Picture yourself flying through the sky with nothing but the wind on your face and the air beneath you."
The three of them counted and took deep breaths together until Emmeline was finally calmed down.
"How do you think she died?" Pete asked looking back at Tina's mother.
"Broken neck," Clark answered without hesitation. When he noticed Clark and Emmeline giving him weird looks, he added, "I'm guessing."
"My call, Tina's already on a bus to Metropolis."
"I don't think so."
Clark looked at several pieces of paper with Lana's names written over and over again. "Why's she writing Lana's signature?"
"You said Tina was obsessed with her. She's gonna take it to the next level."
"She wants to kill Lana?"
"Worse. She wants to become Lana."
"Go! I'll stay here with Emmeline." He sat down next to her. "Feeling better?"
Emmeline turned a light shade of red. "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize."
"I should be over that by now. It was a while ago. But now, I feel like I'm pushing it out of my mind constantly because every little thing triggers a memory."
"I'm sorry you're going through this. You don't deserve it. And all because some guy collected one too many bugs." Pete looked over at the lifeless body of Mrs. Greer and realized this was the worst place for them to be. "Come on," he said as he helped her stand up. "Let's get out of here."
The two of them left the shop and went to the Beanery to get her some tea. She took some slow sips and it helped her relax. After she was visibly better than before, Pete walked her home.
"Thanks, Pete," she said at the door. "For…everything."
"It's no trouble. I hope you feel better."
"You're a good friend."
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Later that night, there was a knock on Emmeline's door. She went to answer it and saw that it was Clark. "Hey," she smiled. "Is Lana okay?"
"Yeah, she's alright. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he said.
"I'm fine. Pete got me a tea at the Beanery and that helped. I'm really sorry I freaked out like that."
"Considering the circumstances, it's understandable. There's no need to apologize."
"I know, that's what Pete said."
"Well, he's right. Emmeline, you keep thinking you need to be the perfect person. But no matter how much you want that, it's not going to happen. And that's okay because we all like you just the way you are."
Emmeline smiled. "Thanks, Clark."
