Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Claire didn't know where to go, she didn't know who to talk to. He world was upside down, and she didn't know what to do. Before she knew where she was going she had arrived at Chloe's house, and her feet had taken her to the door. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the hardwood and waited.
When the door opened Claire saw Chloe's smiling face staring across from her. "Claire, what's up? Why are you crying?"
Had she been crying, she hadn't even realized it. Claire tried to speak but her word just came out as a gasp for breath, as she felt herself falling apart, the tears now rolling quickly down her cheek.
"Claire come on." Chloe ushered her friend into the house and as she closed the door behind her she noticed the torn sleeve of Claire's sweater. "Claire what happened to you?" Chloe directed her friend to the couch and sat her down, then moved to sit beside her. Wrapping an arm around Claire she tried to sooth her friend.
"I didn't know where else to go. The lied to me Chloe, all these years, they kept it from me." Claire sobbed as she wrapped her arms around her friend and cried into her shoulder.
Chloe placed her hand on top of her friends head and slowly ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm the young woman. After a few minutes Claire's crying had died to a soft shake and Chloe pulled back to examine her closely.
"Is your dad home Chloe?" Claire questioned softly.
"No, he's at work still. Claire what is going on?" Questioned Chloe.
Without speaking Claire reached forward and grabbed a letter opener that sat on the coffee table. Then looking to her friend she swiftly brought it down on the forearm of her other arm.
"CLAIRE!" Chloe screamed as she watched her friend attempt to injure herself. However, when the blade made contact with Claire's skin it shattered into a million pieces, and Claire's skin was untouched.
"Chloe, I think I'm an alien. My parents showed me my ship today." Claire spoke slowly as she watched her friend, waiting for her to go screaming out of the house.
Chloe looked at her friend and stood. Beginning to pace the room she paused every few seconds and then began moving again. Her mind was reeling with the information she had just received about her best friend.
Minutes passed of Chloe just pacing back and forth, not saying a word. "Chloe, please say something. Call me a freak, hell call the police, just please say something."
"This all makes so much sense now. All those times you did the impossible, and made of some lame excuse in an attempt to cover it up. Claire this is amazing."
"Chloe, I've just told you I'm an alien and you call it amazing." Claire spoke as she wrung her hands together in front of her and bit at her bottom lip with nervousness.
Chloe stopped pacing and moved to sit back down next to her friend. "Claire, you are a hero, I would never call you a freak. Hell, you're like a superhero."
"I am no superhero Chloe." Claire spoke as she stuck her hands underneath her legs in an attempt to keep herself from fidgeting.
"Claire, you are amazing. I apologize for every time I was mad at you for disappearing on me. Apparently you were just off saving the world." Chloe moved to sit next to her friend again.
"Chloe, can I trust you?" Claire spoke quietly, refusing to look at her friend. Scared of the answer she might get. "My parents never told me because they were scared the world would find out about me. That I...would be taken away from them. I don't want to become some lab experiment."
"Claire, I would never tell a soul." Quickly Chloe wrapped her arms around Claire and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm glad you trusted me enough to come and tell me this." Chloe then pulled away and looked at her friend with a large smile. "So what exactly can you do?"
Without speaking Claire reached forward and lifted the coffee table into the air with one hand and then sat it back down. "I also can run really fast, I have heat and x-ray vision."
"Wait, x-ray vision, like can see through anything...like see into the guys change room?" Chloe smirked as she said this, and it caused Claire to blush.
"I only did it once and it was totally by accident." Claire said quickly.
Chloe's smirk widened and she winked at Claire. "Sure…"
An hour had passed with Chloe asking Claire questions and Claire telling Chloe everything she knew about herself. They were finally interrupted by Chloe's dad walking into the house. "Oh hey Claire."
"Hi Mr. Sullivan." Claire greeted from her spot on the couch.
"Here I though Chloe had a boy over, but that must be your shiny new truck outside?" Mr. Sullivan spoke as he placed his coat on the coat rack.
"Shiny new truck?" Chloe questioned as she quickly jumped off the couch and rushed to the large picture window across the room. Looking out towards the road so examined the large red beast that sat there. "When did buy that? Better question how did you afford that?"
Claire fidgeted a little and began to chew her lip as she sought the right words to answer Chloe's question. "I umm...didn't buy it. It was a gift."
Turning quickly Chloe looked at her best friend and watched as her cheeks reddened under her stare. "This wouldn't happen to be a thank you present for saving a certain billionaires life yesterday would it?"
"I'm not keeping it though. I am going to return it as soon as I leave here." Claire spoke. Standing from the couch she made her way to stand next to Chloe.
"Wait Mr. Luthor bought you a truck. Wow I have a hard enough time trying to get a raise." Mr. Sullivan laughed as he watched his daughter and her friend. "Claire, what happened to your sweater?"
Claire suddenly remembered that her sleeve had been chewed by the woodchipper. "Oh, I umm...got it caught while I was trying to get out of the truck."
Before another word could be uttered Chloe grabbed Claire's hand and began pulling her up towards her room. "Come on, I think I have one of your many plaids hanging in my closet."
Once Claire was changed into a fresh top and Chloe was finished her mini makeover, claiming that the last time Lex had seen her she looked like a drowned rat and now Claire needed to make a good impression, Claire made her way to the Luthor manor.
When Claire arrived at the gates, she pushed the buzzer and waited for some type of response. "Hello?" Came a deep male voice from the speaker box.
"Hi, My name is Claire Kent, I am here to see Lex if he is available?" Claire waited in silence till suddenly the gates opened and she took that as a sign to enter the grounds. She drove up the drive slowly, marveling over the architecture of the large mansion. When she arrived at the front of the massive building she put the truck into park and killed the engine.
Just as she reached for the door to knock it opened, revealing an older man in a casual suit. "Ms. Kent, please follow me, Mr. Luthor is in his office awaiting your arrival."
Claire followed the man up a large flight of stairs and then towards a large set of double doors. He opened the doors and directed Claire to enter. Once she was past the threshold she heard the doors swing closed behind her. Turning she found the man gone and was only greeted by solid wood.
"Ms. Kent. To what do I owe this pleasure? Lex questioned as he stood from his desk. Making his way towards Claire he inspected her carefully. Plaid shirt, tucked into a pair of daisy dukes which was connected to a set of very tan and lean looking legs, which were then covered by a much loved pair of simple cowboy boots.
"Please Mr. Luthor call me Claire. Ms. Kent makes me sound so old." Claire spoke as she turned around to look at Lex as he approached her. She remembered back to when her mother had once told her a man always seemed to look good in a suit, and boy was she right. Here lex stood in a pair of black slacks, and pair of shiny dress shoes and a deep purple button down. He looked like he was ready to conduct a business meeting.
Lex laughed lightly as he came to stand in front of his guest. "Then please, I must insist you call me Lex. I assume you are here about the gift I left for you?" Lex smiled brightly as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
Claire bit down on her lip as she thought how to best word her rejection. "Lex, the truck is amazing but, I can't accept it." Reaching into her pocket Claire grabbed the keys and held them out for Lex to take.
"Claire, if you don't like it I can get you something else." Lex spoke not understanding the fact that his gift was being rejected.
Once the keys were out of her hand she swiftly shoved them into her back pockets to keep herself from fidgeting. "It's not that Lex, trust me I love the truck. I just don't need to be repaid for saving your life. I did it because it was the right thing to do, I never expected anything in return."
Fingering the keys in his hand Lex looked down at them then back towards the young woman that stood in front of him. "Your father doesn't like me does he?" Claire made to respond but Lex cut her off. "I've been bald since I was nine, I've gotten use to people judging me before they get to know me."
"Lex, my father, it's not that he doesn't like you, it's just that...he doesn't like your father." Claire responded as she rocked onto the balls of her feet and back again. The disappointment on Lex's face at her words.
"But he figures the apple can't fall far from the tree right?" Responded Lex shoving the truck keys into his pocket. "What about you Claire, did you fall far from the tree?"
"I should probably be going." Claire responded not wanting to answer that question after everything she had learned today. "The truck was fun to drive while it lasted." She then began to make her way towards the door.
"Do you believe people can fly Claire?" Lex questioned, causing her to stop before she reached the door knob.
Turning around to look at Lex, Claire shook her brain to find meaning to his question, but came up blank. "Sure Lex in planes."
Lex moved forward to stand next to Claire. "I believe we can fly, I did anyways. After the accident, when my heart stopped. It was the most exhilarating two minutes of my life. I flew over Smallville, and for the first time, I didn't see a dead end. I saw a new beginning. Thanks to you I have a second chance. We have a future, Claire...and I don't want anything to stand in the way of our friendship."
Claire didn't know how to take Lex's monologue, and so instead she just said the first thing that came to mind. "Dinner."
Shaking his head Lex looked at Claire quizzically, not understanding what she meant. "Dinner?"
"Why don't you take me out to dinner. That is if you are still looking for someway to repay me for saving your life. Besides, friends go to dinner." Claire said this with a smile. Where the nerve to say all that had come from she would never know, but she was quite proud of herself.
"Dinner, excellent idea. How about a weekend in Metropolis? Us Luthor's don't do anything small." Lex smirked reaching forward to take Claire's hand in his own, then bringing it to his lips for a light kiss.
"That...that sounds wonderful. The rest of the week will take forever." Claire laughed trying to break her awkwardness with humor.
"Till we meet again then." Lex then reached around Claire to open the door for her. The scent of vanilla and fresh baked bread hit him like a brick wall, and he found himself taking in a deep breath of air as she walked away.
Once he was alone in his office he ran a hand over the back of his head. What was it about this Kent girl that had him feeling like a teenager again. All he had envisioned since she walked into his office in those short shorts was to sweep everything off his desk and take her right there.
Back at the farm Claire laid up in the loft of the barn just staring at the ceiling. "Honey, Claire? Are you up here?" Jonathan questioned as he slowly made his way up the steps.
"Ya, dad." Claire pushed herself up by her elbows and watched as her father moved to sit on the other side of the loft.
"I'm sorry about everything Claire. We should have told you sooner. We had always planned on it, but it just seemed like by telling you we would lose part of that connection we had to you. We are your parents Claire. We loved you from the first moment we met you and we will continue to love you even if you never forgive us."
"Dad, it's okay. I forgive you. But in return I need you to forgive me." Claire spoke as she sat up and ran a hand through her hair. "I told Chloe...everything."
"Claire…" Jonathan began but was cut off by his daughter.
"Dad, I have no one else to talk to about this stuff. Only you and mom know and I was mad, and didn't know what else to do. She took it well, and she promised to never tell a soul." Claire spoke quickly trying to get everything out before her father could interrupt her.
Jonathan sighed and looked towards his daughter. She was seventeen, and he needed to start getting use to the fact that she was becoming an adult and not his little girl anymore. This was just the first of many decisions she would have to make on her own. "I think we should still have her over though, just so we can speak to her about everything."
"Sounds good dad, I'll see if she can come over after class tomorrow. Also would it be alright if I went to Metropolis this weekend?" Claire questioned, hoping her father wouldn't ask for any more information.
"Is Chloe dragging you to another convention again?" Jonathan laughed as he looked upon his daughter.
Claire ran another hand through her hair and diverted her gaze to the floorboard beneath her. "Actually dad, Lex was wanting to take me to the city for the weekend, as a thank you."
"Claire…"
"I gave him back the truck and he wouldn't take no for an answer. So I told him he could buy me dinner, then he turned it into a weekend in the Metropolis." Claire spoke as she stood and began to chew down on her bottom lip.
"Claire, I don't think that's a good idea." Jonathan spoke simply.
"Dad, please. I will be fine. It's just the weekend and it would mean a lot to me if you trusted me enough to let me do this." Claire knew it was a long shot. Her father had never really cared about her going into the city before. But she knew because of his hatred for the Luthors it was going to be hard to persuade him to let her go, and she really wanted to go.
Jonathan ran a hand over his face and looked at his daughter, knowing that she was right. That she was old enough to make these decisions on her own, just like with Chloe. If she slipped up or made a mistake it would just have to be a life lesson. "Fine, but you need to check in with us when you get there. I want you and Lex in separate rooms, and you are to be back Sunday before lunch so you can catch up on your chores."
Claire moved across the loft and wrapped her arms around her father tightly. "Thank you daddy. I promise everything will be fine."