Obsession Part 1
At the Kent farm…
Clark bounded down the stairs the next morning. Once again he had slept through his alarm. That meant he had to rush, even with super speed, to get his chores done and get ready for school.
"Morning, mom. Morning, dad." Clark kissed his mom on the cheek and opened the refrigerator to pull out the milk. He took a long swig, straight from the bottle.
"Clark Kent," his mother glowered at him.
"It tastes better that way," he muttered as he grabbed a glass and poured a few more mouthfuls inside. He downed the drink as he put the bottle back, but both of his parents continued to stare at him with stern expressions.
"What?"
"Had a good night's sleep?" his father demanded.
"Uh, not really."
"And would that happen to be because you were entertaining a certain someone?" his mother pressed.
"What?"
His mother led him over to the bathroom mirror that still needed to be put back. There, Clark saw the problem: a bright red lip imprint like from a cartoon was on his cheek.
"Oh. That. Well, you know, I was with Alicia last night before I went to sleep. I must not have noticed." Clark tried to laugh it off as he wiped the mark away.
"Why didn't I see it?" his mom questioned.
"It was dark?"
"You took a shower."
"Waterproof?"
"Clark," Mr. Kent said in a stern voice, "you're sure Alicia didn't come into your bedroom again last night?"
"Yes, dad, I'm sure," Clark lied. "I mean, I left the door open like you asked."
"Well, this does bring up an old issue. Clark you're grounded for the rest of the week."
"What did I do?"
"Remember, you asked for your grounding to be postponed until you caught Van? Well, he's been caught. That means your original punishment is back on."
"He's more than caught, dad. Van's dead." Clark was relieved his secret was safe but felt horrible knowing it was at the expense of a life.
"Van was a troubled young man," Martha put a hand on her son's shoulder. "You can't blame yourself for Van's choices."
Clark nodded, knowing his parents wouldn't accept any other reaction. But Clark knew he was responsible. Like he was with everything else in Smallville.
At Smallville High…
Clark ran to school. He opened his locker and sighed when he was greeted by dozens of Alicia pictures. There were so many he couldn't concentrate on what each looked like. He became distracted when he felt someone kiss his cheek.
"Good morning, gorgeous."
"Alicia." Clark pulled her aside. "Hey, were you in my bedroom last night?"
"Did you want me to be?" Alicia rested her hands on Clark's chest.
"Look, when I woke up my parents saw a lipstick mark on my cheek. They were not happy."
Alicia rolled her eyes. "They really need to lighten up. Kissing my boyfriend good night isn't a crime."
"No, but you've really got to stop doing that."
"Why?"
Clark struggled to explain something that seemed so clear to him. Before he could, the bell rang.
"We'll hang out after school." Alicia kissed him lightly on the lips.
"We can't. I'm grounded," Clark tried to say as Alicia teleported away. He turned back to his locker to grab his books. The sight of the photo mural still annoyed him, so he began to pull them down, leaving behind only three. One was the photo of them at the ice cream parlor. The second was of Alicia, smiling as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. The third was a headshot with "To my love, Clark" written in the bottom corner. The other photos were stuffed into his backpack. Feeling better, Clark raced off to his first class at normal speed.
Opening theme song…
At the Torch office…
Chloe growled. It was just her luck that the secret mission she was on took her out of town during the most newsworthy days in Smallville's history. She looked up from the newspaper as Jordan came in.
"Hey. Can I count on you for an interview about your experience in the mansion?" The Inquisitor might have already splashed this story on their front page, but the Torch still needed to print its own.
"Actually, I need to ask you some questions. Like…why did Van die? I mean it just doesn't make sense."
"Well, my cousin's an army brat. She's mentioned how some prisoners who strongly believe in their cause sometimes off themselves after they're captured. Death is preferred over imprisonment. Jordan?"
The young man seemed troubled. "Are they sure? Are they really, really sure? I mean, could you look into it?"
"You saw something didn't you?"
"I don't know," Jordan looked at the ground. "My visions have been changing lately. So, maybe I'm wrong and maybe Van actually did kill himself. But if he didn't…"
"Sure. I'll see what I can find. Can you give me anything else?"
"No. If I'm wrong, I don't want to spread any rumors. Can you not say anything?"
"Of course. I'll keep it on the down low," Chloe promised.
A green flash of light showed Alicia sitting on a desk, her attention absorbed in a brochure. She looked up the exact moment Clark entered the office, sipping on a soda.
"Hi, baby."
"Hi."
Chloe kept her face neutral. Alicia was all smiles, but Clark seemed to be forcing his.
Trouble in paradise?
"Alicia, I hear you were the real hero. Care to do an interview?"
"Can Clark do it?"
Chloe glanced at Clark. He looked away and was busying himself putting away papers.
"Actually, this story's going to be mine."
Alicia sneered. "Giving yourself the headliner, huh? Isn't that an abuse of power?"
"Yeah. Maybe you want Clark to ask you how Van got inside the mansion." Jordan said, glaring at Alicia. She looked down, abashed at Jordan's accusation.
"Look, Van stole my phone," Clark explained. "He called Alicia, said he poisoned me, and would only give her my location if she brought him inside."
"But Clark wasn't there," Alicia went on. "I spent the whole time searching for him until I saw he was fine. Then I came back and started helping. I just couldn't leave Clark to die." Alicia rushed forward to hug Clark. Chloe might be hallucinating it, but the farm boy seemed reluctant to return the embrace. He seemed more interested in the brochure Alicia put down.
"The Metropolis Planetarium?"
"I thought it would be perfect for us."
"Yeah. Yeah, I can take you there. It'd have to be next week, though."
"Oh, I couldn't get a viewing scheduled for two months."
"What are you talking about? You just buy the tickets when you get there."
"If only it were that simple. I had to fill out a form with prospective dates and then I was on hold for at least an hour."
"I'm so confused." Clark took a sip from the soda can.
"Clark, this is to tour our wedding venue."
Chloe's mouth fell open, and Clark spit out his drink and went into a coughing fit. Even Jordan looked shocked. Alicia alone acted as if she hadn't said anything out of the ordinary.
"Wedding!?" Clark was trapped between the desk and Alicia dabbing at his shirt with a napkin. "Whose?"
"Ours, silly. Not until after we graduate, of course. Can you imagine? We'll have our ceremony a few weeks after graduation and then the entire summer can be our honeymoon. Oh, this is them right now. Maybe someone canceled." Alicia answered her phone and left the office, leaving behind a speechless Clark.
"Mazel Tov?" Chloe said.
"Did you really…?" Jordan's voice trailed off.
"No! I never…we never…that, that's never come up." Clark turned towards Chloe. "Please tell me that's a girl thing. I need to hear this is something girls just do."
Chloe flinched at the stereotype that girls only aspiration was to get married. That every waking thought was planning "the happiest day of their life". But looking at Clark's face she could tell he was seriously freaked out and should take pity on him.
"Clark, I can honestly say some girls do this for fun."
"And it doesn't mean anything?"
"It means Alicia is taking your relationship very seriously and the two of you should talk and clear the air." Chloe hesitated before continuing. "Clark, there's actually stuff we need to talk about. Clark?"
"Huh?"
Chloe inwardly groaned as she realized Clark was in too much shock to have a serious conversation now. The farm boy was long overdue for a conversation about his girlfriend, but now was not the time.
"Never mind."