The last place Emmeline expected to be on a Friday night was at a party in the middle of the woods by Crater Lake. But that's exactly where Chloe dragged her and Clark.

"This is what I love about high school parties," Chloe said as they walked towards the gathering. "People will gather anywhere as long as there's illegally purchased alcohol and even the slightest chance of hooking up."

"If I recall correctly, you're the one who wanted to come to this party," Clark said.

"Yeah, but I didn't know it was going to be so cold. It's like twenty thousand degrees below zero out here."

"I don't know, it doesn't feel that cold to me."

"What, are you from an ice planet? It's freezing. I'm going to go thaw out by the fire. Have fun." She walked away from the two of them and sat down on one of the logs by the fire pit. Emmeline noticed Clark look over at Lana longingly as she snuggled up with Whitney. She let out a small sigh. Chloe was really an amazing person if she was able to put up with that for so long.

Some jock walked up to Clark and Emmeline. "Hey, Kent," he said, ignoring Emmeline. "You're friends with Chloe. Is she flying solo tonight?"

"Believe me, Sean, you're not her type."

"Well, you'd be surprised."

"I hate guys like that," Emmeline mumbled as he walked away. "They think that just because they're on the football team that they all girls must fawn over them all the time. And he just completely ignored me. It's like if you're not pretty enough, you're not worth their time."

"Emmeline, you are pretty. You don't need someone like Sean deciding that for you."

A blush rose to her cheeks, but luckily it was too dark for him to tell.

Sean sat next to Chloe at the fire and the two of them conversed for a little while before Chloe wrote something down on his hand and it didn't take much to guess what it was. Clark and Emmeline went over to her and sat down on either side of her.

"Did you just write your phone number down on Sean Kelvin's hand?" Clark asked a smiling Chloe.

"Don't sound so shocked, Clark. Guys do find me attractive even though I don't have raven hair and the initials L.L."

"Ouch," Emmeline said quietly.

"That's not what I meant," Clark defended. "The guy's a dog."

"Clark, relax. I just gave him my number to get rid of him. Get Pete. The taxi's leaving."


The usual four of them met up by Clark's house to get on the bus the next morning.

"So, did Sean call?" Clark asked Chloe.

"Negative," Chloe answered. "Not that I was waiting by the phone or anything."

"Maybe he got caught up," Pete offered. "One time, my sister didn't hear from a guy for a week. When she called to tell him off, it turned out his grandmother died."

"Ah, as much as I appreciate the spotlight here, I'm fine."

"You're probably better off," Clark said. "Sean's a total dog anyway."

"You really don't like him, do you?" Emmeline chuckled.

"He's not that bad, Clark," Pete said. "He's always been cool to me. Just because you can't get past your Lana crush, don't knock us for trying to make a love connection."

"I thought we were focusing on me here," Chloe said as she brought the conversation back to her.

"I don't have a crush on Lana," Clark said adamantly to which the other three scoffed loudly.

"Then why don't you ask some other girl out?" Pete asked.

"Like who?"

"Like Chloe or Emmeline?"

"Okay, wait!" Chloe demanded stepping in front of the boys. "We are not some crash test dummies you guys can use to try out your dating skills." She looked pointedly at Clark. "You, if you like Lana so much, why don't you just ask her out and get it over with?" Then she looked over at Pete. "And you, stop acting like a Vegas bookie picks your dates. And both of you, treat us better."

The four of them got on the bus and Chloe crashed down next to Emmeline. "You know," Emmeline said to her, "I really admire how you support Clark wanting to get together with Lana even though…you know."

"I don't support it. I just don't want him to know that I like him."

Later that day after free period, the four of them met up in front of the school where Clark was all smiles.

"Wait, let me get this straight. You walked in to get a cappuccino and walked out with a date with Lana Lang?" Chloe asked.

"It's not actually a date," Clark said.

"Even with the 'just as friends' rider, I'm impressed."

Emmeline was surprised just how well Chloe was able to hide her jealousy for Lana. At least she wasn't as bad as Tina…

No one could be as bad as Tina.

"How did you score the tickets?" Pete asked.

"I'm guessing a certain follically challenged individual was behind it," Chloe laughed.

"Lex hooked me up," Clark explained. "Actually, Chloe, I have you to thank."

"What did I do?"

"You were right. I just had to get it out there."

"Well, good. I'm glad."

They all looked towards the school entrance and saw Sean walking out. He started walking towards none other than Chloe.

"Maybe this is your chance," Pete smiled.

Chloe's eyes perked up as Sean came up to her. "Chloe, don't I owe you a phone call?" Sean asked her.

"I guess so," Chloe smiled.

"Well, what are you doing now?"

"Well, I've got to put the paper to bed. Maybe afterwards we could, you know, do something?"

Sean looked around and spotted his old girlfriend. "Jenna! Jenna, wait up!" He ran after her leaving Chloe alone.

She looked after him sadly. "Okay, I was playing barely-hard-to-get. What's the problem?" She scoffed lightly. "Clark Kent gets a date with Lana Lang, and suddenly there's no luck left for the rest of us."

"You deserve better than him anyway," Emmeline said to her. "Clark's right. He's just a player."

When Emmeline found Chloe in the Torch office later, she was practically punching the keys on her keyboard. "Hey."

"Hey," Chloe responded shortly.

"I'm really sorry about Sean."

"No, you guys are right. I don't need him. I don't need a guy to make me happy."

"You're certainly right about that."

"By the way, how are you? Pete told me you had a panic attack a few days ago and I never got around to asking you about it."

Emmeline sighed. "Remember all that stuff that happened with Greg? I just…still haven't really gotten over it. It's better now, but…"

"I don't blame you. He put you through a traumatizing situation and it's only natural you feel that way."

"I can tell you that I've sworn off guys for a really long time."

"Even Clark?"

"Even Clark."

"Oh, hey, I'm going to be working here late tonight and I could really use some help if you're up for it."

"Why not? It's not like I have any plans."

"Great! I'll see you tonight then. I'm heading over to Clark's to help him get ready for his non-date with Lana."

"You're really handling this maturely."

"Thanks."

That night, Chloe came bounding into the Torch office where Emmeline sat at her desk proofreading. "Guess what?" she said excitedly.

"What?" Emmeline asked.

"Sean called earlier and said he wanted to talk so I told him I'd let him bring me a coffee here."

Emmeline eyed her with a smile. "What happened to not needing a guy to make you happy?"

"Oh, come on. Just let me test out the waters and see where we get."

"Fine. I do want you to be happy."

The two of them began working and Chloe kept checking her watch every two minutes. She let out a sigh when it must've been past their agreed time. Suddenly, there was a small noise outside. The two girls stood up and went out into the hall.

"Sean? Hello? Is that you?" Chloe called.

When they looked down, yellow rose petals formed a path along the hall. Emmeline laughed lightly. "I think that's your cue. Go on. I'll keep working here."

"Thanks, Em. Uh, is it okay if I call you Em?"

Emmeline ran that through her head and smiled. "Yeah, I kinda like it. Now just go."

Chloe smiled and followed the path of petals. Emmeline went back inside the office and continued working on the issue.

Less than ten minutes after Chloe left, Clark ran into the office looking panicked. "Where's Chloe?" he demanded.

"With Sean, I think," Emmeline responded quickly. "Just follow the rose petals. Why?"

"Stay here."

He ran off as Emmeline stared after him. "Clark?" she called in confusion.

Within minutes, Chloe limped into the Torch office dripping wet with Clark tailing behind her.

"What happened?" Emmeline asked as she bolted up from her chair.

"A certain football playboy just tried to suck out my body heat," Chloe said near tears.

Clark took his jacket off and Emmeline wrapped it around her shoulders while he made Chloe a cup of coffee.

"Did I thank you for that rescue yet?" Chloe asked Clark.

"I heard about Jenna on the news and I didn't want you to be next," Clark told her.

"Well, I finally find a guy I like and he turns out to be homicidal."

"Hey, I found a guy I sort of liked and he ended up being a bugboy who kidnapped me in order to mate with me," Emmeline said.

"We don't have very good luck with guys, do we?"

"You deserved a lot better than Sean and Greg even before he tried to kill you and…mate with you," Clark said.

"That's sweet. I think," Chloe said.

"Any idea what happened to him?"

"The only similar thing I can find is a medical condition where there's damage to the thermo sensitive cells in the brain. The person literally can't stay warm. It's like a permanent case of hypothermia."

"So Sean's getting his heat where he can take it."

"Yeah, preferably from high school girls. But you saw the pool. You take the heat out of water, you get ice. He's like a battery that can't hold its charge. I think we should call for help."

"I'll take care of that. We need to get you both home. Come on."

The three of them started walking towards the door when Chloe stopped him. "You have to believe me when I say that almost getting my heat sucked was not a passive-aggressive attempt to ruin your date."

Clark's face quickly turned worrisome. "Lana."

"I'll take Chloe home," Emmeline said. "You go catch up with her."

"Thanks." He took off out of the office to go wherever he had left her.

"Looks like I'm not the only one handling it maturely," Chloe laughed. "At least now you have a friend who can share in your struggles of boy problems."

"I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

The two girls laughed and returned home to forget about the crazy guys that inhabited Smallville.


The next morning at school, Emmeline found Chloe looking at the shrine the school had set up for Jenna. She gently put her hand on Chloe's back for small comfort. Not long after, Clark and Pete joined them.

"You okay?" Clark asked her.

"Yeah," Chloe responded fighting back tears. "The memorial service is tomorrow. I was just thinking how that could have been me. All because some guy expressed some modicum of interest in me. I thought I was stronger than that."

They all started walking down the hallway away from the shrine.

"Everybody's searching for the soul mate, Chloe," Clark assured her. "It's not a sign of weakness."

"I can't believe both your dates couldn't have been worse and I ended up with the limo," Pete laughed.

"How was that?" Clark asked.

"It was sweet. I've already hooked up with another date for next weekend."

"I'm swearing off men," Chloe stated.

"You too?" Emmeline joked.

"We're not all bad," Clark insisted.

"Maybe you should just swear off heat-seeking dogs and mating bug freaks," Pete laughed again. His expression turned dark when he looked at Emmeline as he realized the memory was still painful for her and he didn't want her having another panic attack. She just smiled at him, letting him know it was okay.

"The next time a guy asks me out, I'm definitely doing an in-depth background check," Chloe said.

"Can you do one for me too?" Emmeline said.

At that moment, they spotted Lana at her locker. "Come on, Pete. Clark will catch up with us later," Chloe said.

As Emmeline, Pete, and Chloe walked away, Emmeline knew that now, she also had someone who understood her position with Greg and could help her get through it more than anyone else could. And that was what she really needed.