Hello! Thanks for the reads, favs, and follows! :)
This story may not be updated very frequently. I apologize. I need to figure out exactly where I'm taking it. There will be some OCs sprinkled throughout the story. I don't know much about Lana's parents out there in canon so I'm kind of writing them how I want. I'm basing it off the Post-Crisis era and a little Smallville and Superman:TAS series mixed in. Some things will be drawn from Superman:Birthright as well in later chapters. For the reviewer who asked why on earth would Lana have a kid with Pete Ross and name him after Clark?! Great question! I always thought that was strange myself but it was canon at one point in time. That will be addressed later.
Thanks for reading and please leave a review!
Chapter Two
August 1999
"Are you ready to rule the school, man?!"
"Shit yeah, bro, you know it!"
"WOOOO!"
"Class of '00, baby!"
More laughter and cheers followed from the football jocks from across the Smallville High School parking lot. Lana, Clark, Pete Ross, Lex Luthor, and Lana's best friend Jennifer Carlson were watching the antics from their respective vehicles. It was registration day. In their backpacks, they carried new textbooks and their freshly made Student ID cards. They spent some time comparing the class schedules that would dictate their next nine months.
"Geez…you think they're excited or something?" Jenny joked.
A tall, dishwater blonde with sparkling hazel eyes, she was a teammate on Lana's cheerleading squad. She was, on the surface, what most kids called a "prep" based on her unlimited wardrobe consisting mainly of The Gap, Hollister, and Abercrombie & Fitch. However, despite outward appearances, she was friendly to everyone and was one half of Smallville High's most unusual couple: her and David Brinley, math whiz and chess champion extraordinaire.
"Ah, ignore them. They're just full of it," replied Pete.
Pete, like Jenny, lived within the city limits of Smallville, not out in the boonies like Lana and Clark did. He looked like any other nice Midwestern boy would look like: decent height, an in-shape but not exactly muscular build, golden blond hair. Good looking, pleasant, and wholesome. The kind of guy a girl could take home to her parents and they wouldn't fret about letting her go off alone with him.
"Yeah, and we should know, right, Pete?" Clark chimed in, referring to the fact both he and Pete play on the same team with those rambunctious jocks. Clark was wearing his favorite red T-shirt and blue jeans caked with mud and muck most likely from the morning's chores on the farm.
"I guess we'll be just as excited as that next year, huh, Lana?" Jenny asked, giving Lana a nudge.
Lana was wearing a denim skirt and baby pink short-sleeve top. Her long copper red hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. The summer sun had tanned her normally pale skin making the freckles that danced across her nose and cheeks pop.
"I suppose so," Lana said. She and Jenny were juniors and the three guys were all seniors.
As if on cue, Lex finally spoke: "There is nothing to be excited about. High school is just four wasted years of learning the most rudimentary material that the government forces upon us. It teaches you nothing of real value; only memorization and repetition. You graduate and nothing you do here matters unless, of course, it's when you peaked in life," Lex paused and nodded toward the football players. "Like those fine gentlemen over there. In short, it is a joke and the faster it's over, the better."
Without waiting for a reply, Lex slipped into his black Volvo and took off.
To say Lex Luthor was an odd duck would be understatement. He was born and raised around Smallville but spoke with an unusual accent, sort of like a British villain in an action movie. He came from the wealthiest family around town. He lived out in the country in a sprawling 30,000 square foot mansion. He was lanky, awkward, and wore turtlenecks in the middle of summer. His hair was redder than Lana's, almost so red it looked unnatural, like Ronald McDonald's hair. He seemed to be always looking down his nose to everyone with those icy green eyes of his.
"God, he is so weird," Jenny stated the obvious as the three of them watched Lex drive away. Pete and Lana nodded in response. Clark only shrugged.
"Hey, as weird as he is, I bet you he'll be the next Bill Gates someday," Clark joked.
For some reason, Clark was the only person Lex seemed to be remotely friendly to and Clark always defended him.
"Yeah, or maybe the next Jeffery Dahmer or Charles Manson," Pete quipped and when they all shot him a dirty look, Pete held up his hands in surrender.
"Hey, you know y'all were thinking it; I just said it!" exclaimed Pete.
Once the friends were finished talking, Jenny and Pete said good-bye, got in their cars and left. As soon as Lana slid into the passenger's seat of Clark's crew-cab truck, she leaned over and gave him a tender kiss before he had a chance to buckle his seat belt.
"Mmmm...," Clark moaned as he returned Lana's kiss.
She loved the way she could feel him smile whenever they kissed. They weren't like most high school couples, laying on the PDA thick in front of everyone. But when they were alone, the affection overflowed like a left on faucet.
When they parted, they smiled lovingly at one another. Clark buckled up, turned the ignition and began to back out.
"Everything, OK, babe?" Clark asked as he pulled out of the parking lot. "You seem kind of quiet."
Lana sighed. "Yeah, I'm OK. The summer went by so fast. I'm just not as pepped up as everyone else is to start school again."
Clark chuckled. "Heh. 'Pepped up'? You're a cheerleader; you're supposed to be the peppiest of all."
Lana rolled her eyes. "Ha, ha. Yeah, no, it's just…" She trailed off as she watched the wheat fields zip by through the truck window as the Smallville town passed away and they drove further out.
"You're a senior this year," Lana whispered but she knew Clark could hear her. He had the ability, among others, to hear a bird break wind in Wichita if he wanted to.
Clark gave her a glance and turned his attention back to road. At first he appeared confused about why his status as a senior was bothering her but then he softly said:
"Lana, honey, we've been over this. Don't worry about it."
She looked over at him to see him, smiling at her, trying his best to put her at ease. It was easier said than done. As if reading her mind, he reached over and rubbed her knee.
"We still got plenty of time together. And when the time comes, we can still make it work, you know? Lots of people have long-distance relationships."
Lana took his hand and held it, her hand dwarfed inside of his.
"I know," Lana replied, her thumb brushing back and forth over the top of his hand. "I'll try not to worry about it."
Lana's house was before Clark's. She lived in a 1950s constructed brick ranch house about three miles from the Kents. Clark pulled into the drive, put the truck in park, and reached over to give her a hug.
"See you soon, babe," Clark said and gave her kiss.
"Bye, Clark, thanks for the ride." Lana said.
She waited until he drove away before she let herself in. Her father, Henry, was off work from his insurance job and was sitting in his favorite recliner watching TV and nursing a Coors Light.
"Hi, sweetie, how was school today?" Henry asked.
Once upon a time, he had been an attractive man but in the years since had seemed to let himself go. His tawny brown hairline was starting to recede and a pot belly had been growing for a while.
"Dad, it was registration day. School doesn't start until Monday." Lana sighed as she hung up her backpack and took off her shoes.
"Oh, that's right," Henry answered and took another swig of his beer. He turned his attention back to the TV.
'Oh that's, right' seemed to be Henry's favorite thing to say. It was like he could never remember anything anymore and Lana often wondered if it was something serious or if maybe he just didn't care. Lana assumed it was the latter. He was only forty-seven years old but didn't seem to have much ambition to do anything of note anymore. He went to work, paid the bills, came home and sat in his chair.
"Lana, are you home?" A voice called from the kitchen. "I need you to come set the table."
"Coming, Mom," Lana answered.
She walked through the kitchen and the smell of chicken pot pie drifted into her nostrils.
Lana mother, Lisa, was mixing up some salad dressing. Lana could feel her mother's eyes on her as she moved about in the kitchen, opening cabinets and drawers, gathering the things needed to set the table.
Lisa Lang was ten years younger than her husband. It was from her Lana inherited her green eyes and red hair.
"Did you go to registration?" Lisa asked, briskly, as if what else could have Lana been doing?
Lana briefly thought about answering back sarcastically by saying, no, she and Clark took her parents money and ran off to Vegas and got hitched by an Elvis impersonator. But Lana was no mood to hear the scolding she'd get if she mouthed off.
"Yes, Mom," Lana said. She began laying out three blue Currier and Ives plates on the table.
"Oh, OK." Lisa said, clearly pleased that Lana did what was she was supposed to do as if Lana was the type of kid who regularly disobeyed.
"Did that Kent boy drive you there?"
Lana closed her eyes and then opened them. She was trying her best to remain cool.
"He has a name, Mom," Lana said with a tone of annoyance.
Lisa squeezed lemon juice into the mixture she was making.
"Oh, hell, I know that, Lana. Don't get so bent out of shape."
Lana felt her heart wince. It wasn't that her mother was a cruel person. It was just something about the way she spoke to Lana always made her feel less than. Lisa was kind of like Henry, although Lisa's flippant nature was more intentional Lana thought. It seemed to be her mother's God-given talent to make people feel like shit and then turn it around on them to make the other person feel like they were the one with the problem. Condescending and dismissive were the two perfect words to describe her mother.
An awkward, quiet dinner followed with no one saying much of anything. After clearing the table and doing the dishes, Lana went to her room. Absentmindedly, she turned on the radio on her boombox and the Goo Goo Dolls singing "Black Balloon" sounded softly from the speakers. She switched on her lap-top and began to change into her comfortable clothes as the familiar dial-up screeching noise signaled her computer was connecting to the Internet.
"You've got mail!" the friendly computerized male voice exclaimed, and Lana turned to look at the monitor. She sat down at the desk and saw a few messages: one from Jenny and a few other girls from the cheer squad. As she chatted back and forth with them another message came in. The screen name instantly made Lana smile. SmllVillGuY38. Clark wasn't much on creativity, but neither was Lana. Her screen name was: Cheerz4RedHeds.
SmllVillGuY38: hey, beautiful. just want to say good nite. see ya at school monday.
Cheerz4RedHeds: hey, yourself, sexy.
Lana chuckled knowing that would for sure to make Clark blush, the adorable dork.
Cheerz4RedHeds: see ya, on Monday, baby. Luv you.
SmllVillGuY38: ha. ha. it's going to be great... it's gonna be a great year, sweetie. you'll see.
Cheerz4RedHeds: Yeah. I think so too.
"Lana?!" Her father's voice called to her. "Are you on the computer?! Get off! Your mother needs to use the phone!"
Cheerz4RedHeds: G2G. mom and dad yapping at me.
SmllVillGuY38: hate it when that happens. TTYL.
Lana logged off and shut down her lap-top. Standing up, she stretched and then flopped down on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. From her walls, posters of Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, and the cast of Dawson's Creek smiled down at her. Various photos of friends and family also made a collage on her four walls. The radio was now playing a love song ; the R&B duo K-Ci & Jo-Jo crooning the chorus: "Tell me it's real/the feeling that we feel…"
Lana glanced over at her nightstand and stared at the framed picture of her and Clark together. They were sitting on the Kents' porch swing with Clark's arm slung over her shoulder. Mrs. Kent had taken the photo at her insistence despite her son's embarrassed pleas not to. The two young sweethearts looked directly into the camera, both smiling wide.
Clark is right, Lana thought. It's going to be a good year. No matter what happens.
He was a senior, but graduation was nine months away which might as well be a lifetime as far as Lana was concerned. What comes next; they'd cross that bridge when they get there. Until then, they were going to enjoy their time together. Lana laid awake thinking of her dark haired, blue eyed boy next door and eventually drifted off to a dreamless sleep.