6.
Justin and I went antiques shopping along Main Street one afternoon for our second date. Justin needed to pick up something for his mother, so we turned it into a little adventure, grabbing a bite to eat and then walking around shopping to celebrate Justin being released from the hospital.
"Thank goodness I have you around," he told me, smiling sheepishly. "I mean, you have a habit of saving people's lives and -"
"Justin, lookout!" I yanked him back from the road just in time for Principal Kwan's car, carrying his son, to come screeching to a halt. The guy had been about to run a red light, and he wouldn't have been able to stop in time to keep from hitting Justin.
Justin let out a huge breath. "See what I mean?" he said, only half joking. "Excellent reflexes."
I told my Mom that morning, "Yeah, I'm off. Don't wait up for me, I have a late shift at The Beanery."
"Okay," she said from the kitchen.
After school, I speed ran up to Metropolis with my roller skates. The run there was more comforting than difficult - I even experimented with going off the ground a little bit - and then I'd arrived in the city. It was so different from Smallville's cozy, friendly little buildings - all high sky rises and black pavement and screeching cars and graffiti.
I walked into the cheering, thundering auditorium for my first roller derby competition. My team and I all strapped on helmets and skates, getting together and doing the cheer. Then we waited on the front line -
The alarm sounded and I shot off like a cannon, aggressive to make up for my nerves. I bowled people out of the way, shoving them off to the sides, going faster and faster, never losing in a fight of either speed or strength -
I helped my team win and there was exultant cheering among us at the end, but I asked my coach worriedly, "Did I hurt any of the people I hit?"
"Of course you did, that's what you were supposed to do!" my coach barked. "Lots of bruises and a couple of black eyes, nothing worse than that."
I paused, and smiled. "Thanks," I said. "That's all I needed to know."
The coach shook her head. "You always were a softie, Kent," she said. "But I don't know, when you get out there on that field… you become hard. It's like you're a different person. Nobody wants to mess with you."
Post release from the hospital by his own private Metropolis doctors, Lex had started inviting me over to talk books and play video games when I drove the weekly produce over to his mansion in the family truck. I would go in the servant's entrance, then be led up to Lex's personal set of rooms - all under the watchful, increasingly resentful, impotent glare of Amy Palmer.
I had a lot of fun with Lex. He was sarcastic, lively, and interesting; he knew a little about everything, but at heart under the sporty rich guy veneer he was a true nerd and I could connect with that. I never felt like he looked down on me or tried to take advantage of me because I was younger. That was nice.
He started inventing ways of getting around my refusal to accept money-related gifts.
He began giving me gifts he'd gotten from his late mother, who he'd apparently been very fond of, gifts he hadn't bought himself - overriding my protests that I could not take anything so precious or treasured. One was a gold watch; another was a beautiful engraved lead box. I kept the precious treasures locked safely away inside my Fortress.
He gave me a packet full of suggestions from his own personal mechanic on ways I could fix up the old Mustang, and soon enough I began driving it back and forth to school.
After he heard Felice Chandler picked on me in school, he threatened to fire her father - who worked at the local plant - if she didn't leave me alone. Felice gave me plenty of fiery glares, but she began avoiding me like the plague. She needed her Dad's money to buy all the tacky pink Prada knockoffs and keep up her Volkswagen Bug.
I told Lex repeatedly that he didn't need to give me things in order for me to like him - that I liked him and enjoyed hanging out with him already - but I think he felt better, more secure, when he got me things. It almost hinted at insecurity, but that appeared absurd in someone so seemingly confident and at ease with himself as Lex Luthor.
He also began visiting The Beanery regularly in the evenings with paperwork, and I would give him the next size up in coffee drinks for no extra charge. I memorized all his favorites and he would just have to name something and I automatically knew everything about how he would like it. "It's sometimes a good thing to be friends with the barista," I teased him.
Greg once walked up to me during my working hours at The Beanery. "Remember," he said, "we have our library meeting tomorrow."
"I know." I smiled. "I haven't forgotten."
He smiled himself, his eyes watchful. "I'm looking forward to it."