-1Chapter Fourteen-Kal
Clark awakened with a jerk. His math book fell to the floor with a thud. His dream had been so real, he had actually felt the softness of Lana's skin. His dreams were getting worse each time he fell asleep. There was no doubting it, he had fallen for Lana. He'd fallen right off the cliff of love and landed hard on the rock named Lana Lang.
Clark pulled himself out of bed and looked over at his alarm clock. He had two hours to get ready for school. He stretched out his back and went over to his dresser. He looked up at the photo of his parents and himself on the wall. It's frame still perfect, the glass one piece. It had been one hell of a dream.
Clark dressed and went to get breakfast. Clark was the first to the dining hall and took his normal seat. The newspaper was already there for him to read, so he pulled it open and sat back in his chair. Just like the small town, it was nothing but small news.
"Morning Mr. Kent." Steve said setting his plate of cereal and glass of orange juice down in front of him. Clark set the paper down and nodded to Steve. "I took care of it like you asked." Steve continued moving the paper to Lex's side of the table.
"Thank you Steve. Hopefully this will be settled before anything happens." Clark said picking up his spoon.
"Before what happens?" Lex asked walking into the room and taking his seat.
"Master Clark here has a crush on this pretty girl at school. Asked if I'd deliver something for him." Steve said.
He winked over at Clark. They had rehearsed this to the tooth. Lex couldn't find out what was going on. Just to be safe, Clark did have a dozen white roses sent to the Talon for Lana. He hadn't signed the card though.
"Really? I never thought that big bad Clark Kent would be swept off his feet by a lady." Lex said setting his napkin in his lap while a server brought out his breakfast.
"Neither did I." Clark said, taking a sip of his orange juice.
"Well, aside from your personal affairs how about we discuss business?" Lex asked cutting his eggs.
"What news do you have for me?" Clark asked looking down at his Cheerio's.
"I have arranged with my father, a summer job for you." Lex said.
"At Luthorcorp?" Clark asked, furrowing his brows. This had been a part of his dream what he and Lex were talking about. Would kissing Lana become reality as well?
"Yes. Head of security. The easiest way to get all the information for the heist." Lex said smiling at Clark.
"I had a feeling." Clark muttered as he finished off the rest of his cereal.
"So, I need you to skip school today and go to Metropolis. You have to fill out the paper work and such. You start next week, day after finals." Lex said.
Clark wiped his mouth after he downed the last of his orange juice. "I have football practice."
"I've already talked to the coach. Pete Ross will fill in seeing as you have an important doctor's appointment." Lex said.
"You'll fix up my bike for all the miles you'll have me put on." Clark said, rather than asked.
"Don't worry about your bike." Lex said leaning back. "That's why we're discussing this. You'll be gone for awhile and someone will need to take care of business. I would be more than qualified…"
"Don't. Listen Lex, I want you stay away from the Talon." Clark said, cutting him off.
"Why would you ask me that?" Lex asked folding his hands.
Clark stood, "I'm not asking. I changed the locks at the Talon for a reason. Your late night visits were uncalled for."
"What are you talking about?" Lex asked.
Clark had to admit he did look convincing, but Clark knew Lex better than that.
"I don't mind being your errand boy, but when you sneak into a young woman's room in the middle of the night and watch her sleep. I won't stand for it."
Lex's smile was wiped off his face. "Fine, I'll stay away from the Talon. Just get to work."
Clark had pinched a nerve and pissed Lex off. Clark smirked as he left the dining hall.
Sam, Will and Rex leaned against the lockers, joking about the losers that walked the hallways.
"Does Kal seem off to you guys?" Will asked.
"Yea, ever since he fell for that chick." Sam said his arms folded across his chest.
"I really think he's fallen for her." Rex said.
"We can't have that." Sam said.
"Why not? I remember when you fell for that stripper." Will said. Rex laughed getting a glare from Sam.
"Look how that turned out. I got her killed, remember?" Sam said.
"So what? You saying we should scare her off for her own good?" Rex asked.
"Exactly." Sam said.
Lana and Chloe walked in through the main doors. Sam reached over and smacked Rex's chest. The trio looked over to the two hot chicks and waited till they were at their lockers. They stalked up behind them and surrounded them.
"Morning ladies." Will said, leaning against the locker next to Chloe. She looked at him disgusted.
"What do you want?" Chloe asked.
"Just to give you a friendly warning. We don't give warnings twice." Rex said.
"What could you possibly warn us about?" Lana asked folding her arms across her chest. These guys freaked her out and she wanted nothing more than for them to back up.
"Our friend Clark, has sold his soul to the devil for you. This is not the time for that." Rex said.
"What my friend is trying to say is…"Will said.
"Stay away from Kal." Sam said, leaning forward and pointing his finger into Lana's face.
"Don't you mean Clark?" Chloe asked.
Will smacked Sam across the side of his head. "Way to go idiot." The other two pulled Sam back before he slipped anymore secrets while he was mad.
Chloe looked over to Lana after they watched the creeps leave. Lana looked over at Chloe, "He said Clark was Kal."
"I know what you're thinking." Chloe said smiling. The duo headed straight for the Torch.
"Do you think Clark sent you those roses?" Lana shrugged. She'd opened the door to find a dozen white roses signed by her secret admirer. According to Sam, Will and Rex; Clark liked her.
"He could be. Let's see what we can find out about Kal." Lana said.
Chloe looked over at the fax, then back to the webpage on her computer.
"What did you find?" Lana asked. They had spent the past two hours hunting down a guy named Kal.
"Kal is one of the top criminals in Metropolis. He works for crime boss, Edge." Chloe said reading from the paper work. "Turns out, Kal was only caught once and sent to court. His punishment was swayed by a close friend of Edge's. The very own, Lionel Luther. He swayed the judge to have Kal sent to a controlled home for Kal to rebuild his life. Can you guess who?" Chloe asked.
"Lex." Lana said.
"You bet it. Now if Edge is close friends with Lionel could he be the business partner Morgan Edge?" Chloe asked.
"Think about it. Morgan Edge has the money and power to get away with anything. Even mass crime." Lana said.
"So it wouldn't be too far fetched to say the Mr. Edge recruits messed up kids from the street with the offer of a better life filled with money." Chloe said.
"Okay, so that's Clark's dark secret. But why would Lionel send Clark to live with Lex?" Lana asked.
"They said that Clark sold his soul for you. Do you think he made a deal to get ownership of the Talon?" Chloe asked.
"I could believe it. But what did he offer?" Lana asked.
"Knowing Lex, a chance to take down the only man more powerful than him." Chloe said. "After all Clark has connections to Morgan Edge who has been known to secretly go after Lionel himself."
"So Clark is the inside man. What do we do?" Lana asked.
"I don't know." Chloe responded setting down her paperwork.