I woke up, startled, and looked around my room, seeing if everything was in it's place. It was. I rolled out of bed, grumbling, and walked over to my closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and a plaid long-sleeved button down. I rolled the sleeves up, and headed down the stairs, smelling eggs and bacon.
"There he is!" my mother, Martha, said. She was at the stove, finishing cooking. My father, Jonathan, was sitting at the table, reading the paper. On the front page there was a picture of a red and yellow blur, with the headline "WHO IS THE SCARLET SPEEDSTER", followed by some article about LexCorp.
I sat across from him, sipping on a glass of water. My mom sat next to dad, and asked me, "So, Clark, what do you plan on doing today?"
"I thought I would head over to Pete's house once I was done with my chores, and then from there go get Lana and see a movie. But aside from that, I don't really know what to do." I said, getting up and forking eggs and bacon onto a plate. I grabbed a piece of toast, and sat down, eating.
"Well, it's good to have a plan anyways.." Mom said. "Also, speaking of Lana, she came over about an hour ago, asking if you were up yet. We told her that you'd be over when you got done with your chores.." She went back to her own plate of food. Dad folded the paper, ate, and left the house to the field a few minutes later. I followed suit, putting my plate in the sink and jogging into the warm, moist June air.
Getting to the fields, I started working. I mostly stacked hay-bales for today, but I also painted the fence and got the produce boxed up to go into town. This was the only time of day I used my abilities, because I feared that I might hurt someone with them. You see, I'm not a normal human. I mean.. I look normal, but.. I just don't feel like a human. I can do all these chores in a few seconds if I felt like it. I could lift the tractor with one hand and the truck in the other... I'm a freak.. Which is why I only used my abilities in secret, whether that be hidden at school , or here at the farm. But I don't anymore. I want to be a normal man. So, I work normally.
A few hours later, I'm finished with my chores. After I get the OK from dad, I take my truck into town, heading towards my friend Pete's house. Pete Ross has been my best friend since childhood, given that we were both four, needed a friend, and was obsessed with aliens.
I got to his house, and Pete answered, wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. He has blonde hair, brown eyes, and he almost always has a mischievous grin on his face. His shirt showed his impressive build, as he played football . I walk to the truck, waving to him. Pete follows, the screen door shutting behind him. We climb into the truck and drive off.
"Clark, where are we going? I need to know, so that I can let mom know when I might be home." Pete said, pulling his cell from his jeans.
"Well, we're gonna get Lana and go see a movie. You're welcome to invite Lacey if you want." I say, nudging him.
"I hate you sometimes... What're we seein'?"
"Not sure.. Whatever looks good."
"Alright."
We get to Lana's house a few minutes later, which takes longer than if I went to hers then Pete's, due to her living next door to me. Lana's been my crush since we met, almost right after I met Pete. It had taken years, but we've been dating since the end of senior year. I park and get out, going up and knocking on her door, lost in thought.
"Clark!" Lana's standing there, shaking my arm. I glance at my watch and realize that several minutes have passed.
"Sorry," I shake my head. "Ready to go?"
She smiles, and waves Pete over. "Come on in, I'll be ready in a few. Sit down, make yourself comfy." She bolts up the stairs, and her door shuts.
Pete and me sit awkwardly on the couch, him looking at the ceiling, me staring at the floor. A few minutes later, Lana came down, wearing a pair of jeans, tall boots, and a white T-shirt. Her long red hair was pulled back in a simple pony-tail, her green eyes smiling. We left, and got to the movies. It was some romance movie. Pete sighed, and we got Lacey, his girlfriend. We went in, and saw the movie.
There's a fire here now. I'm locked inside, stuck in a room .
During the movie, I had kissed Lana. A simple enough act. But I heated up. My heat vision went off. Next thing I knew, there were two holes on the screen, and the place was on fire. I had grabbed Lana, Pete, and Lacey and ran out, but went back in to help others. When the last person was out, several support beams fell in front of the door. I ran to another room, and I'm currently in here. If I wanted to, I could walk through the flames, although that would look weird. And I'd be naked. So I'll either put it out, or wait for a fireman.
About three minutes later, my phone goes off. I pick it up, and I hear Lana on the other end.
"Clark! Are you OK? You did get out, didn't you?" she said, worry in her voice. I felt a pang of guilt from not being able to tell her about my abilities, but I try to ignore it.
"No, I didn't. But I'm safe. I made it to the basement: The door was unlocked." I say into the phone. Not one of my better excuses, but it's up there. I'm really standing in a small circle of flames caused by support beams. Luckily she doesn't catch the lie, or at least doesn't press it.
"Alright.. I'll tell the firemen when they get here. Be careful, Clark."
"I will be." I say, hanging up. I sigh and look around, then I jump the flames, headed towards the basement. I tear the handle off the door, and walk down the stairs, shutting the door behind me. The basement is somewhat small, with a spare projector and some films. The room smells like smoke, and I glance down to make sure my clothes are in check . My boots are a bit charred and my jeans are fine, but my shirts completely burned off. I go over and look into a small mirror in the corner.
My raven hair is loose and messy, hanging in front of my brilliant blue eyes. I'm built, larger than Pete, and my muscles are larger. I stand at 6'3, and weigh 290 lbs. Despite this, I never played football, because I might hurt other kids. And dad won't let me play. I glance around, finding an old shirt, which I pull on. And now... I wait.
Roughly 15 minutes later, a few firefighters come into the basement. I cough wildly when I get out, to put on a show. Mom and Dad show up a few minutes later, and we're free to leave about 45 minutes later, after some questioning. We get home, and the dreaded lecture comes, like I expected.
"What the hell was that, Clark!" Dad said, pacing furiously. "If they had been just a tiny bit curious-"
Mom cut him off. "Jonathan, please, calm down. Clark didn't mean to, right Clark?" She looked over at me.
"Of course not!" I said. "I just kissed Lana and it.. Happened. My heat vision went off and next thing I knew I was hauling people out." I shrugged and looked up at dad, seeing him sit down in a chair, holding his head in his hands. "I didn't know it was gonna happen!"
"We know that Clark. We just worried that someone might have seen you, that's all. And I don't think anyone did!" She said, seeing me getting ready to retaliate.
I sighed. If anyone saw me, then my life was over. I'd be labeled a freak of nature and shipped off to some lab so that they could study me. I'd be tortured and cut apart. I shuddered at the thought.
After my lecture, I went to my room, laying down and staring at the ceiling. My phone buzzed about 5 minutes later, on my nightstand. Pete, sending a text message. I picked up the phone, opening the message.
'Meet me outside in 10. Need to talk.'
Well, then. He's being cryptic. I sigh, and sit up in bed, standing and stretching. I go downstairs, let mom and dad know that I'm going with Pete, and head outside, waiting on the curb. Pete drives up about 10 minutes later, like he said. I climb into the truck, and he drives in silence for several minutes. I break the silence first.
"So... Where are we going?"
"Clark, cut the bullshit. If you don't know why I picked you up, then you're stupid." He said, his hands clenching around the steering wheel.
I thought for a moment, and said quietly, "Is this about the theater?"
He looked over at me. "Yeah, that's what this is about. We're here. Now, what the hell happened?!"
I sat, silent for a minute, then answered slowly, "I'm... Different."
"Yeah, I know that," Pete said. "You're 6'3, 29-something, and you don't play football, you talk with a way higher vocab, even though you're a c-average student." He thought for a minute. "And you somehow always end up in the paper, or on the scene of a crime. Or you used to, anyway. Now, I'm not sure."
I cleared my throat, calmly got out of the truck, and walked over to a somewhat large tree, and gripped the base of it. Pete watched in both amazement and horror as I uprooted the tree. I laid it down gently, and turned to him. "Different."
Several hours later, Pete and I were standing outside the door to the storm cellar, with dad unlocking it, muttering curses to himself.
"Now, Pete, if I find out you breathed a word of this to anyone, so help me I will track you down to the ends of the Earth and kick your ass." Dad said, pulling the lock off of the door. Pete nodded furiously. And with a nod, h opened the doors and descended down the stairs.
We followed him, and he was standing next to a large object under an old sheet. "What are we doing down here, Dad?" I said, as he grabbed the hem of the sheet.
"Clark, you know that you're adopted, right?" I nodded. "Well, that's not entirely true.. We found you, about 17 years ago, out in that field right there.. After the meteor shower."
I swallowed. What was he getting at? I wanted to say something, but words wouldn't form n my mouth.
"Clark... You're not... Well..." He said, pulling the sheet away. I was left staring at a silver, gleaming ship-looking object. I looked at him.
"Clark... Let's just say you're not from Kansas."