Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville
Chapter Seven
00 cravings 00
I was drafting the designs for Lana's birthday gift when Chloe and Pete asked me for a favor.
"Algebra tutor?"
Chloe smiled, "Yeah, Clark's busy helping out the birthday girl, so we were hoping you could help us out."
I looked at them apologetically, "You don't want my help."
"Yes we do, you're great in Algebra. You're great in all your classes," coaxed Chloe.
"Yeah, but I'm used to teaching Clark, and only Clark. I have a tendency of going too fast and then I get frustrated when the person I'm teaching wants me to slow down. I can only manage Clark because I have had years of experience in getting him to understand concepts. You don't want me to try to explain anything school related to you." I didn't know how to make it any clearer that I was the absolute worst person in the world for this job.
Chloe frowned, "Then do you have any recommendations?"
I went over the students with the same classes and then cross-referenced personalities, "You should ask Jodi. She understands the material well enough, and she's amicable enough that she will most likely agree, and be helpful."
"Seriously, your just passing us off to someone else?"
"Yes, I am. Now that Clark is actually friends with Lana instead of psudo-stalker, I am apparently expected to give her a present," I packed up my bags and left for class, annoyed that I would have to spend another afternoon sneaking into the salvage yard for parts.
0000
"Clark, I'm telling you, this is good news for you," said Pete when he heard that Whitney would be out of town during Lana's party, as we walked through the quad.
"Kansas State gives Whitney a full scholarship and Lana gives him a tongue bath," said Clark dryly, "How is that good news."
"Even I'm having a hard time following this skewed Ross logic," agreed Chloe.
"Lana's going to be dateless for her own party."
"Hi, Pete." We turned to see Jodi, who appeared much thinner than she was last week when I had seen her last.
"Jodi?" Pete asked, and she got up from the table so we could get the full effect of her skinniness. "You look…" Pete began, uncertain how to continue.
"Thinner?" Jodi prompted.
"I was still looking for a euphemism, but, yeah," agreed Chloe.
"Are you okay?" asked Clark.
"Never better. My diet's just starting to pay off. Bought some new clothes."
"We can tell," I said appreciatively, her plain blue shirt and jean jacket a big improvement over the layered sweaters she used to wear.
"You look great," Pete complemented, smiling stupidly.
"Thank you for sticking up for me yesterday," Jodi said, causing me to turn to Chloe questioningly. "Most people wouldn't have done that."
Pete shrugged, still smiling, "Most people can't stand Dustin."
That explained it, Dustin must have made an asinine comment about Jodi's weight, and Pete, being the generally good person he was, stood up for her.
"Yeah. Listen. I was wondering, do you have a date for Lana's party?" Jodi asked Pete in what I thought was a very impressive show of bravery for her.
Pete just stood there smiling dumbly, causing Jodi to loose confidence. Finally Clark had enough and tapped Pete on the back and answering for him, "No, he's still free."
"Would you like to go with me?"
Still Pete stood there, just smiling, so Clark poked him again and answered, "He'd love to."
"Great. Okay, well, I'll see you later," Jodi said happily, packing up her things.
It was only after she had already left that Pete finally spoke, "Bye."
"I don't get it," Chloe said, causing Pete to get defensive.
"Women dig me. Get used to it."
"No, I mean Jodi. It's like she lost that weight overnight," said Chloe, looking in the direction Jodi had left.
"I hope not, that can't be healthy." I said, Jodi was okay, and I'd hate for her to end up the victim of a bad diet.
"If she could do that, half the school would be after that secret. Come on," Clark said walking away.
"Lets go," agreed Chloe.
Pete turned to me, "What? No comment about me getting a date?"
I rolled my eyes, "Jodi's okay so I'm gonna refrain from any derogatory comments, but when you're on your date you could at least answer her questions yourself. I've heard that the inability to form sentences is a deal breaker in most relationships."
Pete rolled his eyes, "Shut up, we gotta get to class."
0000
After school that day I had finally completed the project I had made for Lana, now the only thing left to do was to write out an instruction manual. I had just finished making my project look smooth and professional and all I needed now was a box and some paper to write on.
I headed into the house to find in surprise that the birthday girl was in our living room.
"… contemplating stowing away in the back of his truck on Saturday," Lana said to Clark.
"A no-show at your own party. That would keep the town talking."
"I wouldn't do that to Nel—"
"What are you doing here?" I exclaimed, stuffing my hands behind my back. When Lana only stared at me shocked I turned my ire to Clark, "What is she doing here?"
"Clara, stop being rude!" mom scolded.
"Do you have a problem with me being here?" asked Lana, looking offended and hurt.
"In general? No. Right now? Yes! Since you are now Clark friend I am expected to give you a present too, and I can hardly work on it and keep it secret if the recipient is over at our house without warning!"
Lana laughed, "So your upset because you have my present and you don't want me to see it?"
That was exactly what I just said, but even I knew that voicing that thought would be considered rude. "Exactly!" I said walking over to the stairs, but keeping very careful to face Lana the entire time, "There is no point in wrapping the present if you already know what it is!" I said stoutly before backing up the stairs, still facing Lana.
Once I turned the corner on the stairs I relaxed my stance, and began to dig into the hallway closet for the right sized box and some spare printer paper, focusing on my ears to hear the conversation downstairs.
"Is she always like that…?" Lana asked hesitantly.
"Not really, but she can get very excited about giving people presents, especially if she's put a lot of work into it."
"So, her reaction, should I be worried?"
Clark laughed, "For her to get that worked up, I don't think you should have anything to worry about. Speaking of worries I could be your escort on Saturday."
Silence from Lana.
"You know, so I can fend off the throngs of adoring fans," Clark recovered quickly.
"I'd like that."
"Great."
"I better go. I don't want to bother your sister anymore, and if I'm away too long, Nell will probably send out a search party." Pause, the sound of Lana walking a few steps before pausing, "And Clark, promise me you'll make it this time."
"I promise."
Looks like Clark got his date after all, I grabbed up all the paper I needed and then retreated to my room, thankful that my bionic hand was incapable of experiencing writer's cramp.
0000
The next morning Chloe came by the house and pulled me out of bed, insistent that we go investigating. She made me get dressed and then dragged me out to the barn to fetch Clark.
When we found Clark he was peering through his telescope that was aimed directly at Lana's house.
"Getting your morning Lana fix?" Chloe asked.
Clark jumped up guiltily, "Chloe, don't you ever knock?"
"It's a barn, Clark."
"Is there a reason you're here early, or do you just enjoy busting my chops?"
"I'm gonna guess the first, because while we do enjoy the second , it doesn't normally involve me getting woken up at an ungodly hour," I yawned moodily.
"Did you hear about the accident last night? A deer was hit out on Route 5."
"That's what this is about? A freakin' deer?" I shouted, outraged.
"It's not exactly "Wall of Weird" material," said Clark, ignoring my outburst.
"Check out the paper," Chloe said, handing Clark the paper, "Animal Control said that the deer died of causes unknown."
That was odd.
"So?" Clark asked.
"Not much unknown about a bumper at 60 miles per hour."
"She right, it could be interesting," I agreed, looking imploringly at Clark.
"I'd love to run down theories with you, but I've got chores to do. And I still haven't figured out what to get Lana for her birthday." Clark admitted, pulling on his backpack.
But Chloe wasn't finished, "Well, you or your family knows people at Animal Control, right?"
"One perk of growing up on a farm, why don't you just take Clara?"
Even I laughed, "Clara's going to help me with the autopsy report, but I need someone who can get me through the door. I was thinking we could stop by before school. You could use your pull, take a couple of pictures." Clark was still walking away so Chloe reached out and slapped him with the paper, "I'll help you out with your gift-giving dilemma." Chloe bargained.
Finally Clark gave, "Okay, but I want it to be something unique."
"Just don't make it as unique as what you gave me last year," Chloe cautioned.
"Let's go." I cheered, my bad mood fading with the thought of another mystery.
0000
"Very impressive use of pull: "Can I use your bathroom?"" Snarked Chloe.
"I can't believe we're looking for road kill," Clark grumbled.
"The deer's in there," Chloe said, pointing to a room where we could see the carcass of a deer through the blinds. Chloe fumbled at the door, "The door's locked. I'm gonna go find a maintenance worker."
"No need," I called, squatting down next to the lock and pulling out my new lock-picking kit.
"Is that a lock pick?" Chloe asked excitedly.
"Yeah, I figured with all the trouble we seem to be getting into lately it would be a sound investment." The lock clicked and I smiled, "Presto."
We walked in and quckly closed the door behind us, turning the blinds closed. Chloe pulled out her camera to start taking pictures, while I chose to search the room.
"Lift it up. Go," Chloe nudged Clark to lift up the tarp covering the deer.
Clark did, only to grimace and drop it again, "Looks like jerky."
I found a clipboard containing the necrospsy report. "The lab report says the deer lost around 80 percent of its body fat," I read grimacing, going over to hold up the tarp while I read. "Almost as if it's been liposuction-ed to death," I looked at Clark and Chloe before smiling, "Isn't that cool?"
"Remind me to go over your definition of 'cool', Clara," Clark said in deadpan. "So what do you think it is? Some fat-sucking vampire in town?"
Chloe smiled, "This is Smallville, Clark. Land of the weird, home of the strange."
"And nirvana for the reporters," I added smiling.
0000
Chloe called us to the Torch a little while later, but when we got there, it wasn't her there, but Lex.
"Most of my friends are trying to get out of high school," said Clark.
Lex smiled, turning away from the wall of weird, "I was meeting with your principal. Apparently, you guys are in dire need of a new computer lab." Lex shrugged, "I figured I could help."
"They might even name a lunch special after you," Clark said.
"That was really nice of you Lex, god knows I have been getting fed up with the school's system," I said smiling.
"How'd you end up here?"
"My plant manager, Gabe. He's always going on about his daughter, the reporter on the Torch. Thought I'd drop by and say hello."
"She's a little more than that, she might just be a freshman, but she runs this newspaper," I bragged.
"She wasn't around, but I was struck by this," Lex said, gesturing to the wall.
"That's the Wall of Weird," I explained, "I've helped her start it, but she's really taken it to a new level. She thinks she can trace all the freaky things that happen in Smallville to the meteor shower."
"Interesting theory."
"Most people think it's crazy," said Clark.
"I don't, those rocks are radioactive, and radiation has proven to alter genetic material," I cut in, "I think I've told you about this before, Lex. That people all respond to it in different ways."
"Do you remember where you were when they fell?" asked Lex.
"Clark doesn't, but I do," I answered before parroting the story our parents had told the deputy, "Our parents were bringing us home from Metropolis after the adoption, and then the sky rained fire. Actually that's the first time we met you Lex," I said nostalgically.
"What?" I looked up to see the shocked faces of both Clark and Lex.
"Or well, I think it was you Lex. After the shower had stopped dad had found us a truck that we could use, and as we went down the road we were flagged down by a well-dressed brunette man, and then dad got out and carried his son back to the truck. I remember he was wearing a very cute little suit, and was almost completely bald except for some tufts of orange sherbet colored hair that had stayed stubbornly on. That was you, right?"
Lex looked gobsmacked, "Yeah, my mother wanted me to spend some quality time with my dad. He brought me here on a business trip. Just a quick hop to Smallville to finalize a deal. I was out in a cornfield before the first meteor hit. It was like a tidal wave coming at me. Then everything went black. That's the last thing I remember before waking up in Metropolis General completely bald. I met you two?"
"'Met' is a strong word," I said thoughtfully, "You were in and out of consciousness, from what I heard from the hospital you were in shock, so I'm not surprised you don't remember."
"So that time on the bridge, that wasn't the first time you've seen me."
"Nope."
"I'm sorry about what happened to you," Clark said, as always focusing on the part he could blame on himself.
"Why, it's not your fault," Lex said, rubbing a hand on his bald head, "Kids figured I was a freak or on chemo. Then I began to see it as my gift. The thing that defined me, that gave me strength."
"Yeah, I have to say I see it as a gift too, because going through life with hair oranger than a carrot, might even be worse than baldness." I said solemnly, effectively breaking the intense mood Lex had created.
"Mr. Luthor." We turned to see that Chloe had arrived.
"It's Lex. Clara was just telling me your meteor theory. I like it." Lex said, shaking Chloe's hand.
"Thanks." Chloe said turning to look at us with a confused look.
"Especially since most people think my company's secretly behind everything that goes wrong in Smallville."
Chloe nodded, "That's the reigning theory."
"Are you two the only ones that blame the meteors instead of me?"
Chloe looked thoughtful, "Pretty much. Well, there is Mr. Hamilton." Chloe said turning to Clark for confirmation.
"Except most don't have high regard for a guy who sells plastic meteor chips to tourists."
"Doesn't exactly inspire confidence," Lex said dryly.
"Well, once upon a time he was a respected scientist, but no one remembers that anymore," I said wryly.
Lex looked thoughtfully at me before turning to Chloe, "Call me when you're looking for a summer job. I've got friends over at the Inquisitor. I'll see you two tomorrow," Lex said, gesturing at me and Clark before focusing on Clark, "I hear you're escorting the birthday girl. Nice work." Lex nodded and turned to walk out.
"We're just going as friends," Clark said weakly.
"Sure you are. Hope you got her a nice gift."
I smiled grandly at Clark once Lex was gone, enjoying the momentary thrill his discomfort gave me.
I already had a gift wrapped and ready to go.
0000
My good mood was slightly spoiled by the news that Clark had found a liposuctioned-nearly-to-death Dustin in the stands, and we were still puzzling over it the next day.
"I called the hospital this morning. Dustin's in a coma. His body went into shock with the loss of fat. He hasn't told the police anything," Chloe informed Clark and I as we walked through the cafeteria in search of a table to eat at.
"Time to revisit the fat-sucking vampire theory," said Clark.
"There are no such thing as vampires," I mumbled mutinously.
"You know, if you hadn't been there, he probably would have died, Clark," said Chloe.
"What I can't figure out is why anybody would want to steal body fat."
"Body fat contains a lot of energy Clark, the person who attacked Dustin might have an increased metabolism, forcing them to go to other sources beside normal food for sustenance," I commented helpfully.
"Gross."
"It takes eating disorders to a whole new level," said Chloe, leading us to sit at the same table as Jodi, who although she appeared to be stuffing her face like food was going to be outlawed.
"Jodi."
"Hi, guys, what's up?" asked Jodi, never looking up from her tray.
"Study group, remember?" Chloe asked, causing Jodi to look up, the unique expression of 'oh, my, god' on her face.
"Did you forget?" I asked sympathetically
"Totally slipped my mind," she said, stabbing her food with her fork, before digging in again.
"So no more veggie shakes, huh?" Chloe asked as we watched Jodi devour everything on her plate.
"Are you feeling okay? Pete said you felt sick yesterday." Clark asked, and I was starting to become worried she might accidentally eat the plate.
Jodi looked up, quickly swallowing the food in her mouth, "Oh, that. I'm fully recovered."
"I guess it's safe to say the diet's finally over," Chloe said, eyeing all the fatty foods on Jodi's plate.
Jodi grunted, "I'm starving. I haven't eaten anything all day." When she looked up to see our faces she paused in her quest to eat as much as she could, "I'm just a little nervous about the party tonight."
"Jodi, I hope you don't go too far in this whole eating roller-coaster, dramatic changes in diet can be bad on the body. You've already lost a drastic amount of weight, you don't want to stress your body too far alright?" I eyed her in concern, but she was already buried in her plate.
After eating a bite of rice and then following it up with butterscotch pudding Jodi looked up to see the disturbed look on Clark's face. "I'll see you guys tonight." She said, grabbing a couple of cakes and then getting up and leaving her tray behind.
"Okay, what was that about?"
"I don't know," Clark answered. "I gotta fly. We'll talk about this later?"
"Okay."
"Hey, where you going?" Chloe asked.
"Still working on Lana's birthday gift."
"Any hints?"
"Yeah, it's not a gift certificate." Clark said before turning and leaving us to our lunch.
"Jodi's gone from under eating to over eating in two days, talk about eating disorders," I mused, before my words registered. I looked at Chloe in horror.
"I'll look into it."
I set down my fork, my appetite gone.
0000
Saturday started with mom waking me up far too early to treat me like a doll, I think she was feeling jilted over my lack of social interaction before this so she took the opportunity for far more than I thought it warranted.
She put my hair in curlers, ignoring my protests and then dressing me up in spaghetti strap knee length dress that was a cool purple with blue lining because the color 'matched my eyes', I managed to veto the heels thankfully, but the compromise was ballet flats. Mom dressed me up, painted my face, and pushed back my hair with a plain blue head band.
When I examined my reflection, even I could admit it was an improvement, but it still felt like far too much of a hassle.
I waited at the table as mom folded clothes. Clark was still in his white T-shirt and I was irrationally jealous of the male gender at that moment.
"Mom, you almost done?" Clark asked as he came down the stairs.
"Relax, Clark. You're not going to be late for once." Mom folded another shirt, "By the way, did you figure out what to get Lana?"
"Yeah, Lex helped me out."
"So, what is it?"
I sat at attention, curious to what his long anticipated present would turn out to be.
"I thought you were butting out of this," Clark said, avoiding the question.
Mom scoffed, "Then you better learn how to iron," mom said, handing Clark his dress shirt, and walking out.
The door opened, "Hi, Chloe."
"Hi, Mrs. Kent," Chloe called, not stopping in her advance on Clark, holding a yellow slip of paper, "You've gotta take a look at this."
"Why aren't you dressed?" Clark asked instead.
"I didn't have time. You really, really need to check this out."
"What is it?" I asked curiously.
Chloe turned to me and then did a double take, "Wow, Clara, who dressed you?"
"Mom. What is it?"
Clark took the paper and started to read, "'Smallville Body and Fender. Replace windshield, replace side-panels. Cause of accident, impact with deer'?" Clark finished questioningly.
"It was Jodi's car."
"Oh, god," I said catching on.
"What do you think happened to her?" Clark asked, still buttoning up his shirt.
"Her house is right next to a big meteor hit," Chloe explained.
"She lost all that weight by drinking juice from vegetables grown in her green house."
I groaned, "They must have put her metabolism on overdrive, making her resort to body fat to not starve to death."
"We need to find her," Clark decided.
"Jodi wouldn't let anything keep her from getting to that party," said Chloe.
"Pete," Clark said, before running (at normal speed) out the door, with Chloe following close behind.
I wanted to go along too, but with my current outfit I knew I was in no condition for a tussle, besides with Clark going after a fat-sucking Jodi, I was currently ride-less, and Lana was currently dateless.
I grabbed my present and got in the truck that Clark had left when he ran, and steadfast ignored the part of my mind reminding me I didn't even have a learners permit.
How hard could driving be?
0000
As it turns out, it was fairly nerve-wracking, but I knew plenty of relaxation exorcises to keep me from wigging out and crashing. I had long since memorized the rules of the road, and had plenty of experience on a tractor, so there wasn't much issue.
I pulled up in front of the Lang house to see Lana waiting on the front porch in a very pretty blue dress, her smile when she saw the truck turned to confusion when I was the one to get out of the drivers seat.
"Where's Clark?" she asked worriedly.
"And hello to you too."
She appeared taken aback at my sarcasm and manners dictated that I be curtious to the birthday girl so I mentally scolded myself. "Hello, It's nice to see you Clara. Where's Clark?"
"He'll meet us at the party, but I'll be your escort until he shows up, so you want to get in the truck?"
Lana obliged, "Clark will meet us at the party?" Lana parroted as I turned out of the driveway and onto the street.
"Hopefully," I muttered, nervously eyeing the speed limit.
"What do you mean hopefully?" Lana asked accusingly.
"Well, he has to go check on Pete first," I told her.
"Why would he need to check on Pete?"
I sympathized with her confusion, I wasn't making much sense, but in my defense, most of my attention was focus on not crashing. "Well, Pete's date to your party is Jodi, but he doesn't know that she has recently turned to cannibalism."
"WHAT?"
"Well, not cannibalism exactly, more like sucking all the body fat out of people so she can eat it."
"She's eating body fat?" Lana asked sounding very disgusted.
"Yeah, you should have seen what she did to that deer," I shuddered at the memory, "But, anyway, while Clark is dealing with that, I'm taking over here."
"So your telling me Clark isn't escorting me to my party because he has to save Pete from a fat-sucking Jodi?" Lana asked incredulously.
"Pretty much, yeah," I said, pulling into the driveway and stopping at the gate of the Luthor mansion.
"And you expect me to believe that?"
I turned to her as the guard opened the gate, "I don't care what you believe, I just came so I don't have to deal with a moping Clark tomorrow."
I parallel parked along the oversized driveway, "Lets go face your party," I said, reaching into the back seat to grab Lana's present and handed it to her awkwardly, "Happy birthday, I guess."
To my utter mortification she unwrapped it right then, taking the modified device and rolling it over in her hands, her thumb tracing the circular lense on the back, "What is it?"
I reached over and took it from her, and pressed the small black button on the side, "Well, from what I know about you, you spend a lot of time talking about the past, so I figured a good present for you would be a camera."
"A camera? Where are the buttons?" she asked, turning it over again but only finding the plug in ports and the two buttons.
I settled it face up on her hands, "It's a touch screen, here," I swiped my finger against the glass and showed the options. "Here you can look at the pictures, select modes when your taking pictures, and when you want to take a picture you press this button," I said motioning to the button on the opposite side as the power button.
Lana looked at it in wonder, playing with the setting for a moment before going back in the box and thumbing through the instruction manual. "This is handwritten, did you build this?"
"Yeah, it's actually a prototype, so if you have any problems or suggestions could you let me know? I would really appreciate some feedback." I said, opening my door and grabbing the box while Lana slid out the other side.
"This must have taken forever, and you made this for me?"
I was uncomfortable with the level of awe in her voice, "I've had it half finished for a while, your party was a good enough reason for me to finish it, why are you making it out to be such a big deal?"
Lana laughed, "This is an awesome enough present that I'm okay with Clark blowing me off."
I took it gently from her hands and placed it back in the box, setting it back on the passenger seat, "I'm just going to keep it here until the night is over, I might not care all that much about any of this, but I put enough work into that present that I don't want it getting lost or broken on the first night." I shut and locked the door.
I stuck out my elbow in the proper escort stance, regarless of the fact that Lana had at least 3 inches on me, "Shall we do this, madam?"
"Let's do it." She said gamely, putting her arm through mine.
As we walked through the foyer Lana spoke again, "How come whenever I see you in a car you're always in either the passenger or back seat. You're a pretty good driver."
I shrugged, "Well, that's because I can't drive yet."
Lana almost stopped, but I pulled her along, "What do you mean can't?"
"Well, I don't have my driver's permit yet," I said nonchalantly.
"So that was…?"
"My first time behind the wheel," I confirmed, "As it turns out, driving isn't all that hard," I said shrugging.
"Wha-?"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Lana's shout of outrage was drowned out as we finally reached the party.
I gritted my teeth into a smile at the sight of all those faces looking at us.
This was going to be a long night.
0000
Finally, Lana and I were able to escape her adoring fans, and now we were currently hiding out on the balcony.
"Sneaking out, huh?" I looked to see that Lex had come out here too. "Isn't this your shindig?" Lex asked Lana.
"Says so on all the invitations," Lana commented wryly.
"Right. You're not hiding, you're getting some air."
"Oh, I'm definitely hiding," I said, eyeing Lex's coat enviously, "I just wish my dress had sleeves."
Lex chuckled softly before taking off his blazer and putting it over my shoulders, and I was certain my expression bordered on worshipful, making his smile grow. I pulled the warm garment tighter around me and settled back into the cold chair.
Lex turned back to Lana, "I spent 18 years of Luthor Christmas parties in the coatroom," he confided.
Lana smiled, "Still waiting for my reinforcements," she immediately blanched turning to me, "I mean your great—"
"No, I'm not, and I wish as much as you that Clark was here so I could hide behind him," I said bluntly, causing Lana to laugh.
I don't think she knew I was completely serious.
"I know Clark, he'll be here if he can," assured Lex.
"It's just a birthday," Lana shrugged.
Lex nodded and then silently went back in.
"You know, the coatroom is a pretty good idea, sure it'll be cramped, but at least it'll be warm, and if anyone catches us we can pretend we were playing seven minutes in heaven. That will certainly put a new spin on the whole sneaking away thing," I said thoughtfully.
Lana snorted.
0000
When the party was over we were faced with the dilemma of how to get home. Lana apparently didn't trust me behind the wheel, but she didn't have her license either. Eventually she relented and I drove us home.
I went past my parents who were talking on the phone, probably to the police after whatever Clark had done tonight. I went right up to my room and quickly changed into some nice warm pajamas and then fell on the bed to reflect on the night.
Though Lana and I had gotten along, I still didn't consider her my friend, and not just because Clark hadn't kissed her yet. There was something about her that I just couldn't stand, she was incredibly self-centered, but that was probably a bi-product of her meteor power that made everyone meteor augment fall in love with her. She had been wearing that necklace for years, and been augmented long before puberty, so she probably didn't see the devotion people showed her as odd, and she probably never thought twice about taking advantage of it. I wasn't augmented, I wasn't even effected, but I was surrounded by people who were, cared about people who were, and when she used them thoughtlessly, I hated her for it.
Clark may be in love with her, and I may be unusually civil to her for his sake, but that didn't mean I didn't hate her.