Author's Note:
Dang it. I was watching the old Smallvilles the other day so I could figure out what exactly was going on in Season 2. And...well.. I realized a large ISSUE. Lionel's supposed to be blind. Well, that's why it's called AU. (To save my sorry butt when I screw up)
So I think this chapter is a filler, but I promise, we'll be hitting something MAJOR in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading!
The front door opened, and Kaitlyn turned off the television as the credits rolled. Her dad walked in, blue eyes shining as usual. "I see you finally decided to come home today," he said, grinning.
She couldn't hold back a small smile. "Hi, Dad! I was at T's, but I forgot to call you. Sorry." She shrugged.
Brian looked at her for a second, trying to discern whether or not she was lying. He decided that it probably didn't matter. "Well...I just MIGHT be able to forgive you," he said reluctantly. Then his grin burst into a huge, toothy smile. "It's good to see you again!" He made it sound like they hadn't spoken in months, not just a day.
Kaitlyn grinned. Her dad was a man she could trust, unlike that Luthor. Her stomach churned at the thought of his name. "I love you, Dad."
"I love you too, sweetie," he replied. At the sound of the front door opening, he exclaimed, "Oh, no! It's your mom. Hide!"
Kaitlyn let out a small laugh and stood up. Kelly appeared in the living room doorway. She sighed in relief and ran to hug Kaitlyn. "Oh, baby, I was so worried that something horrible had happened to you! Thank goodness you're okay!"
Far from okay. Usually, Kelly worried for absolutely no reason. Funny how this time, her fears aren't unfounded. "I'm home now," she said, pulling away from her mother's embrace.
Then came the mood swing Kaitlyn had been bracing herself for.
"Where were you, and why didn't you tell us? I was about ready to call the police!" her mom asked, her face turning a shade of pink.
"But you hadn't been missing for twenty-four hours yet, so she couldn't," Brian added in a stage-whisper, grinning.
"Sorry, Mom…I forgot to call. Went to T's house for a sleepover."
"On a school night?" her mother frowned. "I don't think you should do that."
"Well, I got to school, didn't I? What else matters? It's not like I stayed up until three in the morning!"
"We're not going to start this, Kaitlyn. I am your mother--"
"And I'm your father," Brian interrupted, a look of false seriousness on his face. He was trying not to laugh.
"And I say that you can only have sleepovers on weekends. That's final," Kelly ordered. "Don't roll your eyes like that!"
Kaitlyn groaned. "Well, sorry," she said sarcastically.
"And don't take that tone with me!"
Brian decided to intervene. "Hm… If you two are still fighting in a minute, I'll smear peanut butter on your faces." He winked and headed for the kitchen.
Kaitlyn flopped back down on the couch and looked for the remote. She felt something poking her back and dug the controller out from underneath her. "Food Channel, Mom? Or maybe the starvation channel instead?"
Her mother sighed. "I can take a hint; I'll go start dinner."
Kaitlyn flipped on the television. The tabloid news show was on, and the anchorwoman was talking about the latest celebrity gossip. Apparently, Eminem thought he was too famous.
"…and making headlines today are two millionaire families of the Midwest. Anonymous sources say that Rebecca Bell, wife of millionaire Michael Bell, has been having an affair with billionaire with Lionel Luthor." Kaitlyn felt a horrible dread trickle down her spine and through her body. She was the anonymous source.
The pictures of her friend's parents and Lionel Luthor appeared on the screen, and Kaitlyn nearly gagged. His face brought on an onslaught of flashbacks that made her sick. "While it has not yet been confirmed, there are reports that Michael and Rebecca are filing for divorce…"
The anchorwoman droned on, but Kaitlyn couldn't concentrate. All my fault… Wordless anguish echoed in her head for a minute before another coherent thought appeared. Seven-thousand dollars was never worth this.
I'm just sitting here like everything's all going great. How long can I keep up the façade around my parents? My classmates? Brooke's probably told all of her friends about my betrayal, and they've told their friends. Half the school must know by now! She felt like crying…but not in front of her parents.
Brian walked into the room, a giant jar of peanut butter in his hands. "No yelling? Darn, I really wanted to use this. You and your mom disappoint me, Katie."
"Sorry." Kaitlyn brushed past him and took the steps two at a time, keeping her gaze down. "I'm going upstairs. Call me when dinner's ready," she said in a voice dangerously close to breaking. Tears were spilling down her face before she opened her bedroom door.
She flopped down on the messily-made bed. Stop crying, stupid. It's your fault, but you can't change anything now. Get over it, she told herself. But the guilt piled on higher, and she buried her face into her pillow, smudging mascara all over it.
Some time later, her crying had ended but was replaced by shaking, ragged breaths. A knock on the door startled her. "Katie, dinner's ready," her mom called, sounding much too cheerful.
"'Kay. I'll be down in a few minutes." She wondered if her mom could hear the pain in her voice. Footsteps descended to the lower level, and Kaitlyn stood to look in the mirror.
She didn't look much better than yesterday. Black smudges were on her cheeks from running makeup. Her shoulder-length brown hair was sticking out everywhere, as if she had just woken up. Her too-wide eyes were red and puffy, and her lower lip, jutting out a bit father than it should, was trembling.
What a mess, she thought with a sigh. She attacked her hair with a brush and flattened it out. It took her a minute to find the makeup remover, and she swabbed off all of the mascara and eyeliner.
Her eyes were still a bit red, but she was presentable. Her parents might look at her strangely, but they wouldn't ask questions.
When she entered the kitchen, her parents were already serving themselves. Unappetizing-looking chicken casserole sat on the table, steam rising off of it. The smell of the spices made her stomach turn. A pan of plain white rice was placed next to it.
She sat down and dished out a pile of rice onto her plate. Her dad took a bite of casserole off of the serving spoon before speaking, "So--munch munch--how are you, Kate? We haven't seen you for a while--munch munch--so fill us in."
"Brian, don't talk with your mouth full!" her mother scolded, snatching the serving spoon from his hand. "Honesty, you act like you're ten sometimes!"
He looked at her with the insulted eyes. "I act fifteen and you know it," he retorted.
Kaitlyn let out a single laugh, even though nothing seemed too funny right now. It was best just to humor her dad.
"What did you do yesterday, Kate?" Kelly asked.
Kaitlyn resisted the urge to choke. She could not let on that something about yesterday was off. "I…um….hung out with T. We went to this insane party." She shuddered at the memory. The lights and the colors still pulsed in her mind's eye.
"You didn't drink, did you?" her mother interrupted, an accusing glare on her face.
Kaitlyn gave her a look that said, 'what do you think?' "I could barely breathe in there, much less drink. We talked at T's for a while, went to school. Now I'm back in exactly the same condition I was in yesterday." She shrugged to hide the fact that yesterday's condition had been horrible.
"Interesting," her mother said. "The boss has me working on a project for a big client…"
Kaitlyn stopped paying attention for the next few minutes and poked at her rice with her fork. Why did I serve myself so much? I'm not even hungry. She forced herself to swallow some anyhow.
"…Mike's stapler!" Brian ended his newest joke with that trademark guffaw of his. Kelly always said he sounded like a braying donkey when he laughed.
"Oh, Brian! That's so mean!" But Kelly laughed, anyhow, her polite little laugh that sounded like a mouse squeaking.
Kaitlyn looked at them blankly. "Wha?" She shoved another forkful of rice into her mouth and chewed it mechanically.
Brian shook his head. "Sorry, only people who listen get to laugh at my jokes."
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and tried to swallow, but the food wouldn't go down. It was as if there was something blocking her throat. She tried again, to no avail. She spit the rice into her napkin. "I can't eat any more," she declared, pushing the half-filled plate away from her.
Kelly frowned. "It isn't good to waste food."
"Then throw it in the fridge; I'll eat it later." Kaitlyn walked back to her room and resigned herself to doing homework.
--
That first week was the worst. Kaitlyn was almost always red-eyed. She hated herself for being such a cry-baby, but couldn't stop herself. Brooke ignored her entirely, not even smiling in the hallways. Kaitlyn decided that she would have to make the first move if their friendship was going to be saved.
She approached her during the passing period before lunch. Brooke was talking with Tatiana.
"Brooke?" Kaitlyn said.
Brooke looked around the hallway for a second before turning back to Tatiana. "Hey, T, did you hear something?" she asked sarcastically.
Tatiana opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged apologetically at Kaitlyn.
"Brooke, seriously, we need to talk." Kaitlyn sighed impatiently. She grabbed Brooke's arm to keep her from going anywhere.
The girl wrenched away. "No, we don't."
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?"
"Sorry? Psh, I'll believe you when you get my parents back together."
"What? That's not even fair! How am I supposed to do that?"
Brooke looked at her in disgust. "Well, you broke them up, didn't you?"
"But that's different; I didn't mean to!"
Brook rolled her eyes. "And yet, you still did."
"Look, I'm trying to be nice, here! All you're doing is acting like an idiot!" Kaitlyn yelled.
"Yeah, real nice, Kate. Ruining my life and calling me an idiot." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
"At least I'm trying to apologize!"
"Why, Kate? You never were my friend."
"Are you kidding me? Wow, that's kind."
"Just returning the favor," Brook sniffed.
"What happened to, 'You practically live here anyhow'? If I wasn't you friend, why would I be at your house so much?" Kaitlyn challenged.
"Because it made you feel rich. Admit it, Kate, you only talked to me because it made you feel important. 'I hang with Brooke Bell,'" Brooke said in a high voice. "It made you 'popular.' You wanted to see what you could get. Expensive gifts, attention from guys. All because you hung out with the rich girl!"
Kaitlyn turned a bright red. While some place in the back of her mind knew this was true, the rest wouldn't acknowledge it. "Liar! That's not true! It is so not true!"
Tatiana stepped between them. "Okay, okay. Y'all need to shut up for one second!"
Kaitlyn glanced around the hall and noticed a few freshmen staring. "Go away!" she yelled, glaring at them. They ran for the lunchroom. Stupid freshies.
"'Kay, Kate, yo wanna 'polgize, right?"
"Right."
"Yo wanna go back to bein' friends, right?" Tatiana continued.
"Yeah, duh."
Tatiana turned to Brooke. "Are yo gonna 'cept her 'pology and be friends again?"
Brooke's eyes narrowed a bit. "We never were friends. And I'm not going to accept her apology. Probably won't even talk to her."
"You're being an idiot, Brooke!"
"Well, how would you treat the person who turned your world upside-down?" Brooke asked.
That made Kaitlyn pause for a second. I'd shoot that sonuva. "But that's different! At least I'm trying to make things right! He would never!"
Tatiana looked at her, confused. "But John did try. You just wouldn't--"
"You just shut up, T! I'm not talking about John! Why would he have ruined my life?"
"He pushed you in a fire and made you a freak?" Tatiana suggested as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"How would that ruin my life? I swear, T, you can be so dumb sometimes!"
Tatiana's mouth fell open. "Hey, wha'd I ever do to you?"
"You're so ignorant to everything around you. Why the heck would I be crying for a week over a freak power or an ex-best friend? Sure, a day makes sense! But seriously, a whole week? It'd have to be something a whole lot worse!"
"Well, I'm sorry. But yo never want to talk 'bout it, so how would I know? I'm doin' the best I can!"
"Well, then I guess your best isn't enough."
"Hey, hey! Sorry, dude. Chill. I'm tryin to help you, here."
"Get away from her before she ruins your life, too, T," Brooke said in a stage whisper. Kaitlyn would never admit that the words cut straight to her soul
"Yeah, because I just run around, screwing up people's lives for the fun of it!" Kaitlyn mocked. "I don't want to see your pathetic face again, Brooke. You obviously don't know how to let go of a grudge."
"I was avoiding you long before you suddenly decided that you were the one calling all the shots."
Whatever satisfaction had come from walking away disappeared in that moment, and Kaitlyn realized just how dumb she was acting. She kept her head up and pretended that she didn't think that.
"What's up with her?" Tatiana asked.
"PMS, meteors, or both," Brooke responded simply.
"Figures."
"Mhm."
Was it just me, or did the 'fight' seem a little...I don't know... unrealistic? Ugh, someone help me. Reviews? Flames?