Emmeline and Chloe were in the Torch office finishing up the latest issue and were soon joined by Pete and Clark. Clark took a seat next to Chloe and looked at the computer.
"Another scathing editorial?" he asked referring to the article she had written about the strange things happen in Smallville.
"Is there any other kind?" Chloe smiled.
Emmeline looked up as Lana came into the room. "Clark, what happened to you last night?" she asked.
"Where did you go?" Emmeline said.
"Lex's Museum Gala in Metropolis. To answer your question Lana, I wasn't feeling well. I guess I'm not much of a city guy."
"You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy," Chloe joked. She didn't look too happy about Lana's intrusion in the office.
Chloe got up to do some more work when Principal Kwan came into the room.
"Sullivan, is this your idea of a joke?" he asked angrily holding up the issue of the Torch where Chloe had written about the meteor rocks' effects on people. "Concerned parents have been calling all morning."
"Well, what have you been telling them?"
"What the EPA and other environmental groups said years ago: the meteor rocks are harmless."
"People have a right to know about the strange things that happen in this town!" Chloe defended.
"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 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." Principal Kwan stormed out of the room leaving the others in a state of complete shock.
Chloe turned to her friends. "Okay, what just happened?" she asked looking like she was trying really hard to not have a meltdown.
"I think you were fired," Pete said sadly.
"Chloe, I'm sure there's something we can do," Clark told her as he stood up.
Lana went up to her. "Let me talk to Kwan."
"Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but what do you think you can do?" Chloe asked.
"I don't know, but let me give it a shot."
The next day, Emmeline came into the Torch office to find Clark at a computer. "Hey, Clark," she said.
He turned around and shut off whatever he was looking at. She was curious as to what he didn't want her to see, but she wasn't going to push it. "Hey."
"How are you doing?"
"It's just one of those weeks," he answered.
"I know how that is."
"How's Chloe been?"
"I spent the day with her yesterday and let her vent for hours. She's pretty upset about it, and I am too. She was just reporting the truth."
"You think the meteor rocks give people weird abilities?"
"From what I've seen lately, absolutely."
At that moment, Chloe walked into the room. "Hey, guys. What are you both doing here so early?"
"Just doing a little research," Clark answered.
"Have either of you heard anything about Lana's meeting with Kwan?"
"Chloe, I'm sure it'll work out."
"Hey," Lana smiled as she walked into the room.
"So how'd it go?" Clark asked her.
"Well, it's interesting."
"Bottom line it," Chloe said firmly. "When can we send out the next issue?"
"Day after tomorrow."
"Cool!"
"Except, um…Kwan made me the new editor."
The silence in the room was deafening. "Okay," Chloe stuttered. "Uh, rewind. I need you to say that last part again."
"After I made my case, Kwan said if I had that much passion, I should be in charge. And then he made Emmeline co-editor."
"What?" Emmeline exclaimed.
"I don't believe this!" Chloe yelled.
"Chloe, it's the only way he'd reopen the paper," Lana told her.
"So what, cheerleading's not enough? Maybe the editor of the school newspaper looks better on a college application." She looked at Emmeline. "Did you just pretend to be my friend and then take the job you wanted right out from under me?"
"That isn't it," Lana said, giving Emmeline no time to answer. "I just figured you could ghost-write until we got you reinstated."
"Okay, so then I would work for you?"
"The paper would still be yours."
"Wait, wait," Clark interjected. "Chloe, think about it. It's not a bad idea."
"It figures you'd side with her," Chloe said tearfully.
"I'm not taking anyone's side."
"Yeah right, Clark. You're completely objective in all things Lana."
There was a very awkward pause before Clark said quickly, "Gotta go."
"No, please, Clark, stay! Take my desk!"
"Chloe, this isn't what you think," Lana tried to explain.
"You know what the weirdest part is? For a millisecond, I almost thought you were my friend. And that I had finally found someone who understood me."
"Chloe," Emmeline said quietly. "Believe me, I don't want this job."
"Yeah, right, Emmeline. You pulled the little façade that you didn't want to be in the front lines when you really did all along."
"Chloe…you're the first person to ever treat me like I wasn't invisible. And if you really think that this whole 'shy girl' thing is just an act and I only became friends with you to steal your job from you, then I guess we're not as good of friends as I thought we were."
Emmeline tearfully bolted out of the room as fast as she could, eager to get away from the uncomfortable situation. She couldn't believe Chloe was accusing her of faking her shyness. What person would fake being scared in every single thing that took place?
Neither girl talked to the other for the rest of the day and into the next one. When Emmeline went to the Torch office, Clark was just leaving and Lana looked about ready to rip her hair out.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here," Lana said to her. "Please help me. I have no idea what I'm doing."
Emmeline smiled a little. "Well, I guess co-editor should do something about that."
"I know you didn't want that position. I tried to tell Kwan that, but he said that someone who worked on the staff and hardly got any credit deserved more spotlight."
"Next time, tell him I try to avoid the spotlight at all costs." She sat down at the computer and tried to put the issue in the proper format. For the rest of free period, she and Lana worked together and finally got the issue straightened out.
When the two girls released the issue, it wasn't long before Kwan stormed into the Torch office.
"Miss Lang! Miss Brooks! What's this?" he demanded.
Lana and Emmeline smiled at each other. The headline read, 'Kwan Crushes Freedom of Speech'.
"It's a news story," Lana answered calmly.
"It's unacceptable."
"Why? It covers all of your criteria. It deals with a student, a school-sponsored club, and there are no mutants in sight."
"Did you both do this because you thought I'd reinstate Miss Sullivan?"
"We did this because it's 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," Chloe interrupted as she walked in the room.
Kwan turned to her and sighed. "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 and Miss Brooks."
"Congratulations," Lana smiled as Kwan left. "You deserve it."
"Thanks," Chloe smiled, setting her bag down. "Uh, you know, guys, I'm sorry I flipped out at you both the other day. I just…you know, Lana, the paper's kind of my identity and it's like the only thing that Clark and I do together and so when I saw you here—"
"You thought I was trying to cut Clark out of your life?" Lana asked in disbelief.
"Nobody ever said I was rational."
"I want to be friends with you, Chloe. And you too, Emmeline. But I don't want to stand between you and Clark."
Emmeline noticed Chloe's eyes water ever so slightly. "Oh no. Don't worry. There's nothing between us. We're just good friends. 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."
The three girls fixed everything Lana had screwed up during her time as editor. The end of the day bell soon rang, and Lana decided to clock out and head home leaving Chloe and Emmeline alone.
"Hey, uh, Em," Chloe said quietly. "I'm…really, really sorry for accusing you of faking the whole shy thing. I was way out of line."
"It's okay, Chloe. I know you were really upset about losing the paper and angry at Lana for stealing Clark. I would've been too."
"I'll make it up to you."
"You already have. You've been the best friend I've ever had these last few weeks. Actually, you're the first best friend I've ever had period."
"Well, apparently, I'm a pretty terrible one."
"A momentary weakness. We all have them. Especially when someone like Clark Kent is around."
"Forgive me?"
"Of course."
"You know…this last issue didn't look too bad. Would you like to remain co-editor?"
"Thanks, but no thanks. I think I prefer to be the unseen and unheard behind-the-scenes person."
"Maybe one day that will change."
"Maybe."
