Episode 05 – Cool
"This is what I love about high school parties," Chloe commented as I stood next to her, "People will gather anywhere as long as there's illegally purchased alcohol and even the slightest chance of hooking up."
"If I recall correctly," Clark smirked, "You're the one who wanted to come to this party." I smirked at that.
"Yeah, but I didn't know it was going to be this cold," Chloe complained, "It's like twenty thousand degrees below zero out here."
"It's winter," I smirked at her.
"I don't know, it doesn't feel that cold to me," Clark commented.
"Are you from an ice planet?" Chloe asked, I bit back a laugh, "It's freezing. I'm going to go thaw out by the fire." She took my arm, "And Izzy needs to talk to her popular friends. See ya."
"Have fun!" I called over my shoulder, my gaze taking in Sean walking over to Clark making me frown before I headed over to Whitney and some of his other jock friends.
"Izzy!" they greeted with a cheer making me roll my eyes as I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering horribly, until one of them, Jamie, dropped his jacket over my shoulders making me look up at him and grin in thanks.
"We're gonna do 'Hail Marys' down by the lake," Whitney commented, "You in?"
"Sure," I grinned at him, "Show you how a girl can whoop your ass." He grinned at me and shook his head before turning to the fire.
"Yo Sean!" he called, I turned to see him talking to Chloe making me arch an eyebrow, "Hail Marys down by the lake!"
"Yeah!" he called back before turning to Chloe and asking something. I smirked as she gave him her number before I followed the guys down to the lake, shrugging Jamie's jacket on properly as I did.
We were passing the ball around for a while when I smirked slightly, "Whit, go wide!" I called to him, he gave me a surprised look before running back a few steps, I rolled my eyes before reeling back and tossing it, he gave me a surprised look before running backwards, jumping to catch it as Jamie shoved my shoulder, I grinned up at him.
"So what's with you and Chloe?" I asked Sean as he joined my side after a catch. He shrugged with a smirk making me frown at him as he sent the ball towards one of the other guys, running to tackle Whitney with a laugh.
"What's with the girl from the Torch man?" Whitney asked him.
"Another notch, dog," Sean replied making my eyes narrow as I jumped for a catch.
"Sean!" I called before tossing it, he missed the catch and the ball went out on to the frozen lake. "Oops, sorry!"
"Don't worry about it," he called back, before heading out on to the ice as Whitney joined my side.
"Pizza," he nodded for me to come with him, I bundled myself up in Jamie's jacket before we headed over to the fires.
It was an hour or so later that I looked around the party, my gaze avoiding Clark who was frowning at me sitting with Jamie whilst wearing his jacket. "Where's Sean?" I asked out loud.
"Who knows?" Jamie grinned back, "Probably in the back of some car." I shrugged, he was probably right.
"The distributor get's twelve five," Mom's voice commented the next morning as I pulled my boots on .
"The feed bill over six months at five percent," dad added.
"Plus the mortgage at eight point two," mom told him, "Plus the harvester repairs gives us..."
"Fifty four thousand five hundred and one dollars," I told them as I walked in, "And thirty eight cents."
"Hey, honey," mom greeted.
"Sorry, we didn't mean for you to hear all that," dad told me, I shrugged it off.
"You don't need to protect me," I told him, "Is it really that bad though?"
"Yeah, it's pretty bad," mom nodded, "We might have to take out a bank loan..."
"Another one?" I asked her, "The interest alone would put us up to..."
"Izzy, don't," dad told me I bit my lip to stop myself from saying it.
"Maybe Clark and I can help," I offered.
"You already have," dad told me, "Last season you saved us four part-time hands."
"I'm thinking bigger," I told him, "Like, forget high school and try pro-sports or something. Clark can make a ton of money in endorsements." Mom glared, "Trying to lighten the mood."
"As much as we'd love to see our children on cereal boxes, we'd settle for you getting to school on time," she told me, "Clark's already left." I sighed and grabbed my bag as well as Jamie's jacket.
"Oh and by the way, it was sixty-five thousand, two hundred..." I started.
"Go!" she laughed.
"And one," I smirked before I ran out of the house, joining Clark, Chloe and Pete at the bus stop. "Did Sean call?"
"Negative," Chloe replied. "Not that I was waiting by the phone or anything."
"Maybe he got caught up," Pete suggested, his gaze on the jacket wrapped around the arm strap of my bag. "One time, my sister didn't hear from a guy or week. When she called to tell him off, it turned out his grandma had died."
"Ah, as much as I appreciate the spotlight here, I'm fine," Chloe told us.
"It's a good thing Chloe," Clark told her, "Sean's an ass."
"He's not that bad," Pete told him, "He's pretty cool when he wants to be. Just because you can't get over Lana, you should knock everyone else for trying to make a love connection."
"I thought we were focusing on me, here," Chloe asked.
"I don't have a crush on Lana," Clark argued.
"Then why don't you ask someone else out?" Pete asked him.
"Like who?" he asked me.
"Like Chloe," Pete pointed out.
"Okay, wait!" Chloe snapped, "I'm not some crash test dummy you guys can use to try our your dating skills!" she glanced at Clark, "You, if you like Lana so much, why don't you just ask her out and get it over with?" She looked at Pete, "And you, stop acting like a Vegas bookie picks your dates." She looked at me, "And you, Pete wants explanations for why his girlfriend has someone else's letterman jacket." She looked at the three of us, "And all three of you, treat me better." I frowned and looked at the floor.
"Good point Chloe," Pete commented before looking at me, "Whose is that?"
"Jamie's," I replied, with a shrug as the bus pulled up, I hopped on before there were more questions.
"No, wait, don't walk away," he called to me as I sat down, he took the seat next to me, "Why've you got Jamie's jacket?"
"I was cold last night," I replied, "He gave it to me to stop me shivering." He frowned, "I'm sorry, I forgot my jacket and you weren't there."
"Clark said you spent most of the night with him," Pete told me.
"I spent the night with Whitney and the guys," I shrugged, "Like I do at most parties. What's the problem all of a sudden?" He frowned and sat back in the seat making me roll my eyes at him.
I got off the bus as quick as possible when we got to the school, getting as far away from Pete as I possibly could. I could feel his glare on my back as I met up with Jamie, handing him his jacket back before falling into step with him.
I walked into the Beanery at lunch to see Lana and Whitney talking at the table, he was probably telling her he couldn't go to Metropolis because of fight night. I smiled and waved at her as he got back up, kissing her cheek before joining me, "Ready?" he asked me, I nodded and followed him back out, only half catching sight of the confused look Lana sent me.
"So, what's with you and Pete?" Whitney asked as I walked with him to his truck.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"He spent most of the day glaring at the back of your head," he replied, "And he ripped into Jamie at practice."
"He what?" I asked him as I stopped walking.
"Yeah," Whitney nodded, "Said something about him not letting him take you or something. I mean, Pete flipped." I frowned at that before looking at the floor.
"I'm gonna need a rain check," I told Whitney.
"You sure?" he asked, I nodded. "Are you still coming to fight night?" I nodded and walked away from him.
"Wait, let me get this straight – you walked into to get a cappuccino, and walked out with a date with Lana Lang?" Chloe asked as I walked towards the three who were loitering outside the school after the last lesson.
"It's not actually a date," Clark commented.
"Even with the just as friends thing, I'm impressed," Chloe told him.
"How did you score the tickets?" Pete asked as I walked over, he glanced at me before looking away at the sight of my glare.
"I'm guessing a certain follicle challenged individual was behind that," I commented.
"Lex hooked me up," Clark shrugged, "Chloe I have you to thank."
"What did I do?" she asked in shock.
"You were right," Clark smiled, "I just had to get it out there."
"Well, good, I'm glad," she told him making me smile at her before I turned to Pete.
"I need to talk to you," I told him simply, he scratched the back of his head bore nodding as my gaze landed on Sean walking up to us, "Here's your chance Chloe."
"What's wrong?" Pete asked as we walked a little way away from them.
"Whitney told me you freaked out at Jamie at practice," I told him, he frowned at the floor, "What's the problem Pete?"
"You're supposed to be my girlfriend," he replied, "But instead of spending time together, you're with them. You walk around wearing his jacket and he was..."
"He was what?" I asked him in a dangerously calm voice.
"He was talking to Sean and Whitney about you," he replied, "The way he talked about you, it was like he already had you." My frown lessened.
"You think I'd do that to you?" I asked him, he sighed. "Pete for God's sake! We've been friends since Kindergarten! I've liked you since 2nd Grade! I'm not going to mess up the only chance I have with you by cheating on your with some dumb jock!"
"2nd Grade?" he asked me in shock as I caught sight of Clark and Chloe paying very close attention.
"So not the point right now," I told him firmly, "My point... is that you don't seem to trust me." I could feel tears prickling at my eyes.
"Izzy I..." he started before trailing off with a sigh. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's more that I don't trust them."
"Well you're going to have to learn," I told him as my voice cracked, "They're my friends too. And I'm not the type of girl that lets her boyfriend tell her who she can and can't hang out with." With that I turned on my heel and started to walk away.
"Wait, Izzy," he shouted towards me, attracting more attention as I turned to face him. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean, is I'm hanging out with them tonight," I replied, "You can either get over it, or come with me." He gave me a shocked look before frowning in thought. "Call me when you make your mind up." With that I walked away from him, fighting back angry tears as I did.
I walked into the kitchen with a frown in place as I pulled my hair back in a messy bun before searching the fridge for food. "Izzy honey?" Mom asked since I hadn't taken notice of them being in there, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I muttered, in a tone that said just the opposite.
"Hello Citizens!" Clark walked into the kitchen happily making me look at him before rolling my eyes and grabbing a bottle of water.
"I'm not familiar with these children mom commented to dad, "Where's the moody boy and cheerful girl that live upstairs, they can run really fast too."
"I have a date tonight," Clark explained, "Not a date, date, but a concert." I frowned slightly as I started to leave the room.
"Wait right there," Dad called to me, "We're not done with you yet." I rolled my eyes and leant against the door frame. "Just who might this not-a-date date be with?"
"Lana Lang," Clark replied, "Lex hooked me up with a couple of serious tickets and his limo."
"Oh, did he?" Dad asked in a suspicious tone.
"Clark? Isn't Lana still going out with Whitney?" Mom asked him.
"She's not married, Mom," Clark replied before leaving the room. Mom and dad shared a look before turning to me.
"Why're you upset?" mom asked me.
"It's nothing," I replied with a shrug, "I've got to go get ready, I'm watching the fight with the guys tonight." I turned to leave.
"Isabelle!" Dad called making me stop and turn to him, he caught my gaze and his stern look softened. "What's wrong?" I could feel tears stinging at my eyes again.
"Nothing," I replied in as light a tone as I could, my voice still cracked as I did though. "I just found out that my boyfriend is just as much as an ass as every other guy on this planet, that's all."
"What'd Pete do?" Mom asked.
I sighed and explained the argument with him, "...and he still hasn't called me," I told her, "So I'm going without him." With that I turned and walked out of the kitchen, neither called me back as I let a tear fall down my cheek.
I met Chloe as I walked up the stairs, her having been giving Clark fashion advice, "Hey," she greeted, I fixed a fake smile on my face, "I just got off the phone with Sean."
"And?" I asked her curiously as she followed me back up the stairs to my room.
"He said he wasn't feeling well earlier," she replied, I smiled at that, my mind not really working all that well.
"You like him?" I asked her curiously as I pulled jeans and a low cut jumper from my closet.
"He may be a little intellectually challenged, but he's really hot," she replied, I grinned in agreement, "Besides, he begged to get together tonight just to talk, so I told him he could bring me coffee at the Torch."
"Sounds like a date," I told her.
"It's not a date," she told me, "It's a fact finding mission to see if he deserves a date."
"He's blowing off his friends," I told her. "It's fight night and he's going out with you instead." She gave me a surprised look before she seemed to remember something.
"What's going on with you and Pete?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know," I replied simply.
"Are you guys still together?" she asked curiously as I pulled my other shirt on.
"As of..." I looked at my clock, "...ten minutes ago, no we are not." She gave me a shocked look.
"Izzy..." she started.
"I told him to call me so we could talk, I gave him time to think about our argument and... nothing," I told her. "So as far as I'm concerned, he's not worth it anymore."
"What happened to giving people second chances?" she asked me.
"Never really believe in second chances," I told her, "Especially if it can lead to me getting my heart broken."
"So what's Lana up to tonight?" I asked as I leant into Whitney's side, my feet on Jamie's lap as we waited for the fight to start.
"I don't know," he replied with a shrug, "We were supposed to be going to Metropolis, but this was happening... she seemed to understand."
"She's probably hanging with the girls then," I told him with a small smirk as an emergency news bulletin came on the TV.
"And in Smallville tonight, police are seeking seventeen year old Sean Kelvin after the mysterious death of a fellow Smallville High student Jenna Barnum, whose body was found early this afternoon..." I sat up straight at that as the guys all started muttering in shock. "Kelvin was last seen leaving-,"
"Shit!" I muttered as I got up quickly.
"Hey! Where're you going?" Whitney and Jamie shouted to me as I ran from the house headed straight for the school.
I got to the Torch office to see her Chloe with Clark, "You deserved a lot better than Sean even before he tried to kill you," Clark told her as I walked in.
"You okay?" I asked her in a hurry, rushing over, she nodded as I pulled her into a hug.
"Any idea what happened to him?" Clark asked her.
"The only similar thing I can find is a medical condition where there's damage to the thermo sensitive cells in the brain," Chloe replied, "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," Clark commented.
"Yeah, preferably from high-school girls," I commented.
"But you saw the pool," Chloe pointed out, "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."
"We'll take care of that," I told her, "Clark's gonna get you home. Come on."
"Y-you have to believe me when I saw that almost getting my heat sucked was not a passive-aggressive attempt to ruin your date and night with the boys," Chloe told us as she shivered.
"Lana," Clark muttered in realisation as he led her out.
After checking out the pool I headed back out, locking up the Torch and the school on my way before I headed out to look for Clark. He was probably going to the Beanery to find Lana, so I'd start there. "Hey Whit," I smiled at Whitney who was heading in when I got there.
"Hey Iz," he smiled at me, "You ran off back there."
"I uh... Chloe was supposed to be out with Sean tonight," I told him, "Had to check she was okay." He nodded in understanding before we walked in, my gaze landing on Pete who was with Lana.
"Lana!" Whitney greeted, "What are you doing here?"
"Just reading," she replied with a shrug as Pete caught my gaze with an apologetic one.
"Pretty dressed up to be digging into a book," Whitney commented.
"I'll catch you later," Pete told Lana as he moved to walk off.
"Pete, why don't you take your date for a spin in the limo?" Lana called as he passed me making him stop walking as I tensed and looked at the floor.
"She's not a date, she's just a friend," he told her as he sent me a look, I looked away tears stinging in my eyes.
"Either way, I won't be needing it," Lana told him as she gave me a sad look, I smiled fakely before I turned to walk away.
"Thanks," Pete sighed as I walked out of the Beanery all together. Lana and Whitney passed me as I leant against the wall outside, pausing to give me a look.
"I'm fine," I told her, "Go ahead."
"I'll call you later, okay?" she asked me, I nodded with a weak smile.
"Izzy," Pete walked out, some cheerleader trailing behind him, he turned and said something to her before walking over to me. "This is not what it looks like."
"Really?" I asked him, "Cause to me it looks like you hanging out with some girl I've never seen you with before, just because I wanted to hang out with my guy friends, instead of calling me to tell me whether you were going to come with me or not." He gave me a sad look, "Translation, you were trying to get me jealous of some cheerleader hoping I'd see what I was doing to you when I hung out with Jamie."
"Izzy..." he tried as I finally looked up at him, tears glistening down my cheeks. "I'm sorry."
"Too late," I told him, "I always said that if a guy hurt me there'd be no second chances. You don't know how many chances I've given you over the years Pete... I'm done."
"Izzy, please," he sighed, grabbing my arm.
"Go take your date in the Limo," I told him, "Tell me all about it tomorrow... like friends do." He let out a resigned 'croak' as his hand fell from my arm making me offer a watery smile before I turned to walk away.
I was sat on the porch as I looked up at the sky, a frown etched on to my face as I thought over what had happened in the past few days. My phone buzzed in my pocket making me frown before I took it out, "Hey Lana what's...?" I started.
"It's Whitney," he told me simply, "We were in a crash, she's hurt her ankle. We're headed to the Luthor mansion; do you think you could meet us?"
"I'm on my way," I told him immediately as I snapped my phone shut, putting it in my pocket before I took off towards town, veering off to go to the Luthor Estate. I skid to a stop by Whitney's truck, my gaze on Clark who was practically frozen making me gasp as I dropped down next to him. "Hey, Spaceman, wake your ass up!"
I spent a few minute slapping at his face before he groaned and woke up, "What way did he go?" I asked him quickly.
"Lex's..." Clark muttered, making me take off towards the Luthor Estate.
"What do you want?" I heard mom's voice from around back making me change direction.
"Who me?" Sean asked, "I just want to get warm."
"Get away from her, Sean," I warned dangerously.
"Izzy," Mom called.
"Get in the house, mom," I told her, "Go, now!" She gave me frightened look before doing just that.
"That's your mom?" Sean asked me as he turned back to me, "She's hot!"
"You have to go to the hospital," I told him gently, he was my friend after all.
"What are they going to do? Put me under an electric blanket?" he snapped at me, "I need heat, Izzy... Contact! That's the only think that's going to work for me. Every person's another fix."
"You're not getting into that house," I told him simply.
"Who's gonna stop me? You?" he smirked, "Oooh! Brr!" He launched at me knocking me on to my back as we grappled with each other before he pinned me, his skin turning normal as I clenched my fists angrily.
"I don't know what it is about you," he smirked, "But I haven't felt this good in two days. And when I'm done with you, there's your mom, your dad, your brother... and Lana."
"You're not getting anywhere near them," I growled at him as I felt my fist heat up unbelievably, the heat travelling up my arms as I bucked against him. Clark appeared behind him as I threw him off of me and Clark grabbed him before tossing him towards the lake... which froze over instantly.
"Izzy..." Clark muttered as I sat up, my arms covered in flames until I looked at them... they shut off immediately, not even looking like they'd been on fire in the first place.
"How'd it go with that cheerleader?" I asked Pete nonchalantly as we walked down the hallway of the school the next day.
"Izzy..." he started making me give him an emotionless glance, "It was cool."
"Great," I smiled at him, "She was cute."
"You okay?" Clark asked making us both turn to Chloe who was putting a candle on the shrine for Jenna.
"Yeah," she nodded, "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."
"Everybody's searching for their soul mate, Chloe," I told her with a shrug, "It's not a sign of weakness."
"I can't believe all our nights went to hell and Pete ended up with a Limo," I laughed slightly as I glanced at him, he gave me a sad look before smiling as the others looked at him. "You set up another one?"
"Next weekend," he replied as I felt a slight twinge in my chest, but I ignored it and smirked.
"I'm swearing off men," Chloe told us.
"Right there with ya," I told her as I linked my arm though hers
"We're not all bad," Clark complained.
"Maybe you should just swear off heat-seeking horn dogs," Pete suggested making me smirk slightly.
"The next guy hat asks me out, I'm definitely doing an in-depth background check," Chloe told me, ignoring the comments, I smirked at that and laughed slightly before my gaze landed on Clark who was looking at Lana.
"C'mon guys, Clark will catch up later," I told them as I pulled Chloe away, Pete followed. For the first time in a while, when the jocks waved me over to talk to them, I shook my head and nodded towards Chloe and Pete making them wave it off as it was okay.
AN: So that was 'Cool' not that great I know, but I had to do it and I think it was okay compared to what I could have written.
Let me know what you think!