Chapter 09 — Naked

Zoey smiles at the camera. "Hi Whitney," she nervously says. "I think what you're doing is incredibly brave and I want to thank you for your service. Come home safe." Lana smiles and lowers the camera. "Are you sure you want to include me? I think I've barely spoken two words to Whitney."

"Zoey, you're my friend," Lana tells her. "Of course, I want to include you. You did much better than Clark."

Zoey snorts. "That doesn't surprise me. How is it that we get a heat wave that the air conditioner can't keep up with?"

"I don't know. But I do know that you are getting lots of looks." Zoey's face flushes. She was wearing a sunflower pattern spaghetti strap dress that ended above her knees and a pair of wedge heels. "I think this is the first time I've seen you wear a dress."

"It is very hot."

"Well, this might be the year Zoey York gets a boyfriend."

Zoey shakes her head with a smile. She was thankful that any news of her new relationship with Bruce had flown under the radar in Smallville. Of course, Martha and Jonathan had given her a strict talk, including requesting that Bruce visit so they could meet him.

"What class do you have first?"

"Biology. You?"

"Same. I've heard that Mrs. Kowalski starts the year off with sex ed."

Zoey lets out a groan. "I do not need another lecture on how sex is something special. And should only be with someone you love. I mean, what if you don't know if you love that person? What if you just wanted to try it? For fun."

"Zoey, who have you been having sex with," Lana teases as they walk into the biology class. They take a seat at one of the empty tables. Chloe walks in and they wave at her. She takes a seat at the table behind them while Clark and Pete take the table next to Lana and Zoey.

"Zoey," Chloe says, pulling a magazine out of her bag. "Can I have your autograph?"

Zoey turns around, confused. Her gaze widens upon seeing the magazine was from the summer. "Oh my god. Give me that," she hisses.

"You didn't tell me that Bruce Wayne was the guy," Chloe amusedly says, giving Zoey the magazine.

Lana glances at the magazine cover. "I thought Clark was joking ab—"

"You knew," Chloe interrupts. "How am I the last to know?"

"Shush," Zoey interrupts. She looks between her friends. "Can you guys please keep this to yourselves? Please."

Lana and Chloe exchange a look. "Of course," Lana tells her.

"Sure, Zoey. But the cats already out of the bag," Chloe points out.

Zoey sighs, shoving the magazine into her binder. "Yeah. But I am trying to take back control of my personal life. I don't talk about it unless I choose to. My life is not entertainment for other people."

The door opens and they turn to see a tall brunette woman wearing a short sundress walk in. "Good morning. I'm Miss Atkins. I'll be your new biology teacher on health and human development." Zoey snorts when Clark and Pete, along with some of the other boys in class sit up. "I'm sorry about the air conditioning in here, but it looks like we're going to have to suffer through this together."

"Bring on the pain," Pete mutters.

Lana giggles and exchanges an amused look with Zoey. The boys in the class were enthralled with their new, much younger biology teacher. Miss Atkins walks to the front of the room and pulls down the projection screen. Zoey snorts when Clark almost falls out of his chair. After getting the projection set up, the film starts to play. It doesn't take long for Zoey to zone out during the class. Her mind wanders between what kind of birthday present Bruce would like and whether or not she should tell Oliver that she knew about his secret.

"Zoey!"

Zoey blinks and sees the class running out of the room. The projection screen was on fire. She stands up and rushes out of the classroom with everyone else. Once outside, she looks around and finds Chloe standing towards the edge of the crowd.

"Is it just me or was that super weird," Zoey asks.

"Oh believe me. I'm already working on the story," Chloe tells her. She grabs Zoey's arm and pulls her further away from the crowd. "Okay. So, I owe you an apology."

Zoey frowns. "For what?"

Chloe looks around, making sure no one was listening. "You know last year when I teased you about…you know. And how you didn't realize…"

Zoey's eyes widen. "Oh!" She shakes her head. "Chloe, you don't need to apologize. Don't worry about it."

"Except that I do because I get it now."

"Did you…"

"I did. And it was…eh. He was cute in a bow tie kind of way. Do you regret it?"

"No."

"Oh." Chloe looks around. She stops when she sees Lex and their new teacher share a kiss. "That is not on my bingo board for the new school year."

Zoey turns and raises an eyebrow. "I'll get the details from Clark later. But that is not something I would have ever expected."

Zoey shifts as she looks around the elegantly decorated patio of the Luthor Mansion. Part of her was confused as to why she had even been invited to the sudden wedding; the other part of her was intrigued by the sudden relationship. "I officially don't know how you live with Clark," Chloe says, sitting down at the table with her. "He thinks everything is okay between us. And it is not."

"I think you just have to be honest with him," Zoey tells her friend. "But then you have to deal with Clark doing everything he can to make it up to you…which could make it worse. Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No. It'll just have to be awkward for a while."

"So, let me get this straight. Lex goes on a business trip for two weeks and comes back with a fiancee. It just seems odd."

Chloe shrugs. "Some people just move fast when they have chemistry. And others move at a snail's pace." She snorts. "I think Clark is going to get in trouble with the groom."

Zoey turns to see Clark staring intently at the new Mrs. Lex Luthor. She frowns. She remembered Clark staring at their new teacher intently during class before the fire had started. Once it had been deemed safe, the students had returned to class except for Clark. And he had avoided her that afternoon until they left to attend Lex's wedding.

"Hey," Lana greets, walking over to them. "How are you guys doing?"

"Trying to stay cool," Zoey answers with a smile.

Later, once the reception is finished and they're on the way back to the farm, Zoey hits Clark on the arm. He shoots her a confused look. "You set the classroom on fire today," she says. Clark shifts, confirming her statement. "Clark, how?"

"With my eyes," Clark tells her. "I don't know how it happened."

"Well, you were staring at Miss Atkins…or do we call her Mrs. Luthor now. Either way, you were staring at her."

"Mom thinks it might be hormonal."

Zoey wrinkles her nose. "Okay. Definitely didn't want to know that." They arrive at the farm and she climbs out of the truck. "Clark—"

"I'm going to talk to Lana," Clark quickly tells her. "Lex said that he loves Desiree; that he was sure of it. And that he took the risk. So, I'm taking a risk."

"Are you sure that visiting Lana is a good idea," Zoey questions. "I mean, if you shoot fire out of your eyes and it's hormonal related…maybe it would be best you waited until it was under control. So, you don't, you know, set Lana on fire."

Clark shoots her an annoyed look. "I think I'll be fine, Zoey."

Zoey smiles at Lex as she sets the basket of produce on the counter in his massive kitchen. She was surprised to Lex in the kitchen. She figured he would have already left for his honeymoon. "I'm surprised to see you and not Clark," Lex greets.

"He's not feeling well," Zoey tells him. It was a little lie. Clark was hiding out until he could gain control of his newly developed heat vision. "I'm surprised you're not on your honeymoon."

"We're leaving in a few weeks to spend some time in Southern Europe. You and Bruce Wayne, huh," Lex states. A light blush appears on her face. "Congratulations."

Zoey shrugs. "Thanks, I guess."

Lex frowns. "Everything okay?"

Zoey sighs. "I don't like the press talking about my personal life. How do you deal with it?"

"I ignore it," Lex says. "The press is going to say what they want. So ignore it and share your life with people that you trust."

"Has that worked out for you?"

"It has so far."

Zoey nods. She lightly smiles at him. "Thanks." She starts to walk out of the kitchen.

"Zoey," Lex begins. She stops and looks at him, with curiosity. "Zoey, I'm sorry, but you can't come over here anymore." Zoey shifts, confused. "I know we're friends, but it's inappropriate for you to continue to visit."

Zoey frowns. She was even more confused. "I-I-I don't understand. How is visiting a friend inappropriate?"

Lex shoots her a pitying smile. "Zoey, you're an attractive young woman. People would get…certain ideas about our friendship. And I doubt you would want people to get that impression. It really is for the best."

Zoey blinks. She had no idea if people would think that about her and Lex. Especially since her relationship with Bruce was now public knowledge. "Um, okay. I, uh, I understand." She quickly makes her way out of the mansion.

"So the new Mrs. Luthor has an alias," Chloe states, reading the computer screen. Desiree had paid a visit to Clark the night before in the loft; a visit that ended with Desiree running out of the barn as Zoey was walking in. "That's interesting."

Clark shifts. It had been Zoey's idea to look into the newest member of the Luthor family. She had been unsettled since her encounter with Lex. "What would you say if I told you Ms. Atkins aka Alison Sanders showed up in my loft last night and…tried to seduce me," he says to Chloe.

Chloe scoffs. "I'd say you were living the voyeuristic fantasy of every male student in this school. Clark, she just married Lex. Why would she possibly be interested in you?"

A hurt look crosses Clark's face. "Thanks." He shifts. "She was dissing Lex. Saying he was the only thing standing between her being with me."

"That's creepy," Zoey comments.

"She's got some strange hold on Lex."

"I wonder what that could be," Chloe mutters.

"I'm serious," Clark snaps. "It's more than the fact that she's hot."

"Clark, this is Lex Luthor we're talking about. Don't you think he considered all the unfortunate possibilities before saying 'I do?'"

"I don't know. But I'm gonna find out," Clark tells them, standing up. "I'm gonna go talk to him. Will you keep digging?"

"Yeah, sure. Where there's smoke there's fire. Excuse the aphorism," Chloe tells him. Clark walks out of the Talon's office.

"I think Clark is right," Zoey softly begins. "I was dropping off the produce order at the mansion and Lex told me I couldn't visit the mansion anymore. It was weird."

"I will admit that's a little odd," Chloe reluctantly agrees. "But maybe Lex is trying to protect himself. If paparazzi were following you in Star City, then why can't they follow you here?"

"Why would paparazzi follow me around in Smallville," Zoey questions. "My life is pretty boring when I'm here."

Chloe snorts. "Zoey, you're dating Bruce Wayne. And you guys are both orphans. Put anything about you two on the cover of a magazine and it sells a shit ton of copies. That's all the paparazzi need to follow you around."

Zoey stares at the Blackberry in her hand before scrolling through the contact list and selecting Oliver's name. The day had been filled with numerous events including Clark being arrested, Jonathan attempting to shoot Lex, Clark saving the day once more, and Desiree Atkins quickly skipping town after it had been revealed she was behind the string of arsons in the town. "Hey, Zo, what's up," Oliver greets.

"Um, do you think that paparazzi could be following me in Smallville," Zoey softly asks. She looks out the window of her bedroom. She could easily see the main two-lane highway. It was empty at the moment.

"Have you seen someone following you," Oliver questions, concern laced in his voice.

Zoey shifts. "No."

"They're probably not following you, Zo. They know that Bruce is in Gotham. And they think that you're going to school in Europe, not Kansas."

"But they could be? If they found out I'm in Smallville."

"Zoey, are you in any trouble? I can come out—"

"No, everything's fine," Zoey quickly tells him. "It's just…After those tabloids published those photos and what happened at Uncle Max's party…Never mind. It's stupid. I shouldn't have bothered you."

"It's not stupid, Zo. You feel like your privacy was invaded. At least at Max's party. The beach is a public place. Right now, they're only interested in you if you're with Bruce. That's the story. The public is interested in your relationship. That's what people want to see. That's what makes the media money. A teenage girl going to school in the middle of nowhere isn't going to make anyone money."

Zoey sits down on her bed and bites her lip. She knew he had a point. Why would anyone be interested in her boring life? "You're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right," Oliver amusedly tells her.

Zoey snorts. "Good night."

"Good night, Zo."

'Cause I've never felt like this before
I'm naked
Around you
Does it show?
You see right through me
And I can't hide
I'm naked
Around
And it feels so right
(Yeah, yeah)