An Exceptional Young Woman--Part 19/23
Title: An Exceptional Young Woman
Category: Smallville
Rating: Teen/PG13
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Pairing: Chloe/Oliver
Warnings: AU, barely detectable OOC
Summary: Chloe gets thrown out of Smallville High, landing her in boarding school, or more specifically, the sister school to Excelsior Academy. What will she think when she meets the young Oliver Queen?
banner by sarcastic_fina
Chapter dedicated to Sly. Feel better, babe!
Love,
Blue
--19--
The show finished up its run, and the weekend passed without incident, as did the following Monday. And many more Mondays after that. Excelsior and St. Joan's were returning to a sense of normalcy after the death of Duncan Allenmeyer. Chloe had not seen much of Lex since the day of the memorial. She felt the occasional twinge of guilt, but she recognized that he would resent any help or friendship she tried to offer because of her affiliation with Oliver. It was no use.
Oliver seemed much more energized since the play ended, now getting in the occasional decent night's sleep and completing most of his homework. Geoff and Alden stayed more or less the same as ever, as did Diana and Claire.
The school paper's editor was hinting that Chloe was on the path to becoming editor, something that had her gushing in her phone calls home.
Those calls naturally included not only her father, but Clark and Pete. She talked to Mrs. Kent on occasion and Lana through e-mails. She and Clark had managed to find a remarkable balance in their friendship, Chloe decided happily one day. She loved being able to help him. It felt worthwhile. Clark saved lives. More lives than she could comprehend, and it felt good to be a part of that.
Her classes were mostly going well, too. Dave and Oliver both did homework with Chloe occasionally, although Chloe recognized that studying with Dave was for nights when she needed actual help, and studying with Oliver was for nights when it didn't matter if they got absolutely nothing done. One of two things tended to happen before they were even forty-five minutes in. Either she and Oliver got distracted and just started talking about non-school-related things--which also tended to lead to making out--or Geoff and Alden burst into Oliver's room to rope him and Chloe into whatever escapade they were currently fixated on. Geoff and Alden adored Chloe more every day. Alden because Chloe was officially one of Claire's best friend, and therefore essential to his own happiness. Geoff because Chloe was slowly but surely helping him with the elusive Diana, whom Chloe had finally gotten to admit to her (and her only) that yes, she did think Geoff was cute. (Not that they'd made much progress beyond that. Chloe was forbidden to tell Geoff anything Diana said about him.)
It was strange when Christmas rolled around that year, and even stranger when Spring Break came barreling through, earning Chloe the opportunity to meet a very unusual young boy named Ryan on her trip home to Smallville. Which led to the very strange phone call Chloe was about to receive.
She was pouring over algebra, trying to make sense of conic sections when her phone rang and REM's It's the End of the World As We Know It began playing, signaling that her caller was Clark.
"Hey, Clark. What can I do for you?" Chloe asked, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of the coffee Claire had left her with earlier. She assumed if he was calling on a weekday it meant that something was up and he needed her help.
"Um..." he said awkwardly.
"Everything all right?" she frowned, glancing down at her homework and suddenly realizing she'd made a basic addition error early on in the problem, throwing all of her calculations off. She sighed and began erasing.
"Um..."
"Clark?" she paused when he gave his second uncomfortable stammer.
"Yeah. Um--"
"Clark, I forbid you to use that word a fourth time. What's up?"
"Hang on." There was a gush of wind and Clark appeared in her dorm. Not that it was the first time he had done this, but it always managed to startle Chloe good and plenty. She nearly threw her mug of coffee into the air, but Clark caught it, miraculously not spilling a drop. "I have a favor to ask."
She grinned. "And what else is new?"
"Not the usual kind."
She raised an eyebrow. "Okay. You have my attention. What do you need?"
Clark was glancing at her homework. He pointed to the graph she'd just finished. "That's upside down."
She groaned. "Great." She started erasing that one as well, asking as she did, "So what is it you need?"
"A date," Clark sighed finally.
"What?" she looked up at him, startled.
Clark took a deep breath. "There was something Ryan mentioned while he was staying with us--you remember Ryan? The kid who could--"
"Yes I remember our young mind-reading friend. What are you going on about?"
"Well, he mentioned something to me and...well I figured I'd check if it were true."
Chloe's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What?" she deadpanned.
"He said you wished you could go to Smallville's prom. Something about what a nice chance it would be to see everyone and how much you missed them."
"I--I--um--" Chloe stammered. How had Ryan picked up on that? It had been little more than a passing fancy. Yes it would have been nice. She'd once entertained ideas of going with Clark--long ago, of course, before she'd been expelled, before Oliver--and the whole thing held a sort of wistful nostalgia for her. It would have been nice to go with Clark and have a chance to go to the prom she'd always planned on growing up in Smallville. But...she hadn't seriously considered the idea. Not really. She had her own prom to go to at St. Joan's.
"Because I don't have a date--you know, cuz Lana has Whitney, and I don't want to ask someone I don't even know and I figured if you wanted to go I could come pick you up and it might be fun," Clark rushed to explain, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. Chloe knew Clark liked Lana. They both knew that the two of them were just friends, and of course, Clark knew Chloe had Oliver. "It's up to you. It's just...Ryan kept insisting I should ask you to go, and since he left I keep thinking it wouldn't be the worst idea."
Chloe chewed her lip, not sure what to say. It would be fun, sure, but she wasn't sure how Oliver would feel about it.
"I'll tell you what, Clark, I'm not going to say no because I think it would be fun, and the last thing the world needs is to set Clark Kent looking for a prom date on unsuspecting females, but I should mention it to Ollie first. See how he feels about it. I'll let you know?"
Clark nodded. "Fair enough." He glanced down at her homework, of which she had now erased two of only three problems she'd completed. "Want help with this?"
Just as the yes was forming on her lips there was a knock on her door and before she could cover her papers to protect them, Clark was gone, sending an essay scattering to the floor.
She sighed, standing to collect them and tucking her hair back behind her ears. "Come in?"
"What happened in here?" Oliver asked, eyebrow quirking as he took in the small mess on Chloe's floor.
Chloe glanced up. "Accidentally knocked them over."
He took in the Algebra textbook on her desk. "I was going to see if you wanted to watch a movie tonight, but something tells me by the look of that," he indicated the book, "that you're not going to be up for it."
Straightening the papers in her hands, Chloe looked at him apologetically. Then she glanced at her homework and at the window Clark had sped out of. "Actually," she said, laying the essay back down on the desk and stapling it before anything else could happen to it. "You know what? This isn't due for two days. I could use the break."
Oliver stared at her suspiciously. "Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"Well, then," he said walking over and grabbing her around the waist, "feel free to thank me for coming to rescue you from the dragon that is algebra."
Chloe shook her head, pursing her lips as if trying not to laugh.
"Come on," Oliver raised a knowing eyebrow at her. "You can do it. Right here," he tapped his lips with his fingers.
Laughing, Chloe rolled her eyes before planting a swift peck on his lips. "You're such a child," she said, breaking away from him.
"Now if I were a child, wouldn't that make you some sort of cougar?" Oliver returned, flopping down comfortably on her bed while Chloe put away her school things.
Chloe just scoffed in response. She glanced at the essay that had been knocked over and back at the window before steeling herself. She turned to face Oliver, leaning against her deck and gripping the edge of it anxiously beneath her fingers. Oliver sensed her change in demeanor and looked up, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked.
"I...want to run something past you."
Oliver sat up now, not liking her nervous tone. "What?"
"How would you feel about my going home to Smallville for prom?"
He stared blankly. "Is there any reason I'd be expected to feel one way or the other about it?" he deadpanned.
Chloe worried her bottom lip and glanced out the window for umpteenth time, trying to decide whether it were worth the bother.
"Spit it out, Sullivan," Oliver teased.
"Clark wants to take me. As his date."
Oliver made absolutely no physical reaction whatsoever to indicate that he had heard her.
Knowing that he had, Chloe didn't say anything, but waited for him to respond.
After a long moment, he spoke. "Not, of course, that every guy on the planet shouldn't want to take you to prom, Chloe, but can I ask why Clark wants to take you?"
Chloe shrugged. "It's not a hug deal. The girl Clark wants to take has a boyfriend, and he didn't want to take a total stranger, so he thought I might have fun visiting my old friends. It's a different weekend from our formal," she added, hoping that would be some relief to him. She would never dream of going if it were a conflict.
Oliver took another long pause, and Chloe could see the tension building behind his relaxed facade. Finally, he shrugged, standing up. "Nah. I don't have a problem with it. Feel free."
"Are you sure?"
"Hey, I trust you. It's cool. Go visit your friends from home. Just make sure I don't lose out on my date to formal," he winked at her, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Chloe nodded, smiling to lighten the mood. "Wouldn't dream of it, handsome. So this movie night: is it gonna be just us, or are we gathering the others?"
________________________________________________________
Two weekends later, Chloe had packed a garment bag with her prom dress and was saying goodbye to Oliver before she would drive to the airport where she would let Clark International pick her up to run her home.
"Don't you need anything other than that dress?" Oliver asked.
Chloe shrugged. "I have plenty of clothes at my dad's house. This way I don't have to check a bag." She looked at him shrewdly. "Are you sure this doesn't bother you. Because I can still cancel?"
"Why would you going to prom with the guy you had a huge crush on growing up bother me?" Oliver said sourly.
Chloe sighed. "You could have just said no in the first place, Ollie. I didn't want to upset you."
"I don't understand why you're going."
"Because Clark needed a date, and it was a nice chance to visit home," Chloe replied evenly.
"And you're sure Clark's not going to try something?" Oliver grumbled.
Chloe laughed. The very idea was laughable. "Trust me. Clark has eyes for only one girl, and she is not blonde."
"Well just...Don't do anything you wouldn't tell someone's grandmother about," Oliver smirked, giving in and wrapping her in a hug.
Chloe snorted. "Well, I'll do my best. But you know how I get. Sometimes I just can't keep my hands to myself. Can't help it," she teased.
Oliver pulled back and glared. "I thought you wanted me to let you go."
She grinned. "Maybe I'm hoping you'll kidnap me after all and I won't have to."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't think you want to give me that kind of license."
She sighed, still smiling. "True. All right," she pecked him on the lips. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, and pass that message along to Geoff and Alden," she added.
Oliver tugged her back in for a much more passionate kiss, his lips working hers until her legs turned to jelly and nearly gave out from under her. He pulled away again, smirking confidently at her flushed expression. "I'm not making any promises. You'll just have to come back as soon as possible to clean up the mess." She laughed and said a woozy goodbye.
He released her and watched her leave his room with a twang of anxiety. Just...think about that kiss when you're dancing with Clark Kent, he told her mentally as she closed the door.
He fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. She's getting a lot better at lying, he thought uneasily. He could still tell, but he could also tell she did it a lot more often and with a lot more care. He just wished he knew what about. He knew she didn't have feelings for Clark, which he had to remind himself of daily, but it was hard to convince himself that Clark didn't have feelings for her.
"This weekend is going to suck," he muttered aloud.
_______________________________________________
Clark picked Chloe up in a whirlwind that Chloe still wasn't used to, and 'drove' her to her father's house where she dropped off her dress. Her father had work until late in the evening, which was why she had had Clark 'pick her up from the airport for him.' He wouldn't be around to notice the lack of travel time she required. After that Clark had to head off to take care of chores for his dad, and Chloe went to visit Lana at the Talon.
"You have coffee," Chloe groaned, flopping on the counter in front of Lana in relief.
Lana laughed, completely startled by Chloe's abrupt appearance. "Chloe! What a surprise! I didn't know you'd be in town."
Chloe straightened up and grinned. "Coffee first. Gossip later."
Lana smiled back, nodding. "You got it. What do you want?"
"The largest, fanciest, most ridiculously frilly coffee you have," Chloe requested with total seriousness.
Lana raised an amused eyebrow, pulling a tall mug off a shelf. "I think I can handle that. And I'm on break in a few minutes, so we can gossip," she winked.
"Sounds great," Chloe beamed. She went to take a seat in the corner where she could people-watch, and within a few minutes, Chloe found herself coming to a startling realization. Smallville--the ever-stable--was changing. Rapidly.
The presence of the Talon alone was symbolic of that. She'd been prepared for the presence of the newly refurbished theatre turned coffee shop back at Spring Break already, when she'd seen it for the first time. Over Spring Break, though, she hadn't spent much time in town, but had instead spent a short amount of time in Metropolis with her dad. Now, sitting there, sipping the frothy, hyper-sweet concoction Lana had just dropped off, Chloe found herself noticing the dramatic changes she'd surprisingly overlooked until then.
Greg Arkin, Tina Greer, Sean Kelvin, Jodi Melville, Amy and Jeff Palmer, Eric Summer, Tyler Randall, and Sasha Woodman were all absent. Not conspicuously absent. Most people probably didn't miss the collection of oddballs and antisocial introverts, but Chloe noticed. All of these missing teens had somehow come into contact with meteor rock over the last year alone, and all of them were now dead or institutionalized as a result.
There was a new coach on the football team. Luthorcorp was having a distinct effect on the area. Someone other than her was bossing Clark Kent around at the Torch. And Clark Kent was good friends with Lana Lang.
The last one still astonished her. She had always thought Clark was just painfully shy around Lana...and technically he was to some extent, but the idea that her necklace was half his problem? That was mind-boggling.
Speaking of Lana, Chloe thought with a wry grin as the girl in question grabbed a seat across from her.
"So how's the drink?" Lana asked.
"Absolutely disgusting. And slightly delicious," Chloe joked. "What is it?"
Lana shrugged. "I made it up on the spot. Squirted about five random syrups in it without looking at what they were and then put as much whipped cream on top as the cup could hold."
Chloe laughed. "Well done. So how is everything."
Lana tucked her hair behind her ear, looking down as she talked. "Um...things are...a little crazy. The talon's doing well, but Whitney and I are in a strange place. He's...joining the marines." She looked back up as she finished.
"What?" Chloe stared at her in shock.
She nodded, hand automatically reaching for her hair again. "Yeah. He's leaving the night of prom."
"You're kidding. Wow. That's...wow. I never saw that coming."
Lana sighed. "Yeah, well, after everything that happened with his dad this year, Whitney lost his football scholarships because his academics plummeted. He wasn't left with a lot of options, and he ended up deciding to follow in his dad's footsteps."
"Wow," Chloe repeated, frowning. "I...that's...how are you handling this?"
"Off the record?" Lana joked. "I'm not really sure what to do. But I'm just taking it all in stride."
"One day at a time," Chloe nodded in understanding.
"What about you?" Lana asked. "What are you doing in town? How's the private school? How's Oliver?"
"Ollie's good. He's not overly-thrilled that I'm here. Clark's taking me to Smallville's prom."
"Oh!" Lana started in surprise, and Chloe didn't miss the slight flush that spread into her cheeks. Was it possible Lana was developing feelings for Clark? "He never mentioned that."
"Yeah. It's a bit of a surprise. Kind of. To the extent that we didn't advertise, at least. But Clark needed a date. His first choice was taken," Chloe added nonchalantly, taking a casual sip of the god-awful coffee.
Lana ignored the statement and instead eyed the cup. "Do you want me to get you a regular cappuccino?" she offered.
Chloe laughed. "Please," she said, handing over the mug so Lana could go exchange it. While her company was away, Chloe glanced out the window. The sky was turning a bit gray with clouds, and there was a strong wind picking up, judging by the way the people out on the streets had wrapped their coats tightly around them.
Clark had mentioned a storm was coming their way.
__________________________________________________
"Pete!" Chloe exclaimed delightedly, throwing her arms around Pete's neck.
Pete grinned at Chloe. "Hey, Chlo. You look amazing."
"You cut a rather dashing figure yourself," Chloe teased, eying his red bow-tie.
The evening started off well in the long run. They saw Whitney and Lana very briefly before the couple had to head for the bus stop. Chloe couldn't get over how mature and grown up Whitney seemed.
She still remembered her once upon a time conversation with Lana about what she could possibly see in Whitney. Little had Chloe known she would end up with Oliver months later. Even littler had she known that Whitney would grow up to be a regular American hero. It was hard to believe he was off to fight a war.
Things were quick to take a downward dive, however. She was dancing with Clark to her favorite song when he suddenly had to take off on her. The next thing she knew, a tornado alarm was going off in the distance, and they were announcing to the room that they would not be allowed to exit the gym for their own safety.
I know there's a really good reason he's gone, Chloe tried to tell herself while Pete went off to get both her and his date a cup of punch, but I can't help noticing the irony of being ditched at prom by Clark Kent.
Chapter One; Chapter Two; Chapter Three; Chapter Four; Chapter Five; Chapter Six; Chapter Seven; Chapter Eight; Chapter Nine; Chapter Ten; Chapter Eleven; Chapter Twelve ; Chapter Thirteen; Chapter Fourteen; Chapter Fifteen; Chapter Sixteen; Chapter Seventeen; Chapter Eighteen; Chapter Nineteen; Chapter Twenty; Chapter Twenty-One; Chapter Twenty-Two; Chapter Twenty-Three; Epilogue
Category: Smallville
Rating: Teen/PG13
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Pairing: Chloe/Oliver
Warnings: AU, barely detectable OOC
Summary: Chloe gets thrown out of Smallville High, landing her in boarding school, or more specifically, the sister school to Excelsior Academy. What will she think when she meets the young Oliver Queen?
banner by sarcastic_fina
Chapter dedicated to Sly. Feel better, babe!
Love,
Blue
--19--
The show finished up its run, and the weekend passed without incident, as did the following Monday. And many more Mondays after that. Excelsior and St. Joan's were returning to a sense of normalcy after the death of Duncan Allenmeyer. Chloe had not seen much of Lex since the day of the memorial. She felt the occasional twinge of guilt, but she recognized that he would resent any help or friendship she tried to offer because of her affiliation with Oliver. It was no use.
Oliver seemed much more energized since the play ended, now getting in the occasional decent night's sleep and completing most of his homework. Geoff and Alden stayed more or less the same as ever, as did Diana and Claire.
The school paper's editor was hinting that Chloe was on the path to becoming editor, something that had her gushing in her phone calls home.
Those calls naturally included not only her father, but Clark and Pete. She talked to Mrs. Kent on occasion and Lana through e-mails. She and Clark had managed to find a remarkable balance in their friendship, Chloe decided happily one day. She loved being able to help him. It felt worthwhile. Clark saved lives. More lives than she could comprehend, and it felt good to be a part of that.
Her classes were mostly going well, too. Dave and Oliver both did homework with Chloe occasionally, although Chloe recognized that studying with Dave was for nights when she needed actual help, and studying with Oliver was for nights when it didn't matter if they got absolutely nothing done. One of two things tended to happen before they were even forty-five minutes in. Either she and Oliver got distracted and just started talking about non-school-related things--which also tended to lead to making out--or Geoff and Alden burst into Oliver's room to rope him and Chloe into whatever escapade they were currently fixated on. Geoff and Alden adored Chloe more every day. Alden because Chloe was officially one of Claire's best friend, and therefore essential to his own happiness. Geoff because Chloe was slowly but surely helping him with the elusive Diana, whom Chloe had finally gotten to admit to her (and her only) that yes, she did think Geoff was cute. (Not that they'd made much progress beyond that. Chloe was forbidden to tell Geoff anything Diana said about him.)
It was strange when Christmas rolled around that year, and even stranger when Spring Break came barreling through, earning Chloe the opportunity to meet a very unusual young boy named Ryan on her trip home to Smallville. Which led to the very strange phone call Chloe was about to receive.
She was pouring over algebra, trying to make sense of conic sections when her phone rang and REM's It's the End of the World As We Know It began playing, signaling that her caller was Clark.
"Hey, Clark. What can I do for you?" Chloe asked, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of the coffee Claire had left her with earlier. She assumed if he was calling on a weekday it meant that something was up and he needed her help.
"Um..." he said awkwardly.
"Everything all right?" she frowned, glancing down at her homework and suddenly realizing she'd made a basic addition error early on in the problem, throwing all of her calculations off. She sighed and began erasing.
"Um..."
"Clark?" she paused when he gave his second uncomfortable stammer.
"Yeah. Um--"
"Clark, I forbid you to use that word a fourth time. What's up?"
"Hang on." There was a gush of wind and Clark appeared in her dorm. Not that it was the first time he had done this, but it always managed to startle Chloe good and plenty. She nearly threw her mug of coffee into the air, but Clark caught it, miraculously not spilling a drop. "I have a favor to ask."
She grinned. "And what else is new?"
"Not the usual kind."
She raised an eyebrow. "Okay. You have my attention. What do you need?"
Clark was glancing at her homework. He pointed to the graph she'd just finished. "That's upside down."
She groaned. "Great." She started erasing that one as well, asking as she did, "So what is it you need?"
"A date," Clark sighed finally.
"What?" she looked up at him, startled.
Clark took a deep breath. "There was something Ryan mentioned while he was staying with us--you remember Ryan? The kid who could--"
"Yes I remember our young mind-reading friend. What are you going on about?"
"Well, he mentioned something to me and...well I figured I'd check if it were true."
Chloe's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What?" she deadpanned.
"He said you wished you could go to Smallville's prom. Something about what a nice chance it would be to see everyone and how much you missed them."
"I--I--um--" Chloe stammered. How had Ryan picked up on that? It had been little more than a passing fancy. Yes it would have been nice. She'd once entertained ideas of going with Clark--long ago, of course, before she'd been expelled, before Oliver--and the whole thing held a sort of wistful nostalgia for her. It would have been nice to go with Clark and have a chance to go to the prom she'd always planned on growing up in Smallville. But...she hadn't seriously considered the idea. Not really. She had her own prom to go to at St. Joan's.
"Because I don't have a date--you know, cuz Lana has Whitney, and I don't want to ask someone I don't even know and I figured if you wanted to go I could come pick you up and it might be fun," Clark rushed to explain, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. Chloe knew Clark liked Lana. They both knew that the two of them were just friends, and of course, Clark knew Chloe had Oliver. "It's up to you. It's just...Ryan kept insisting I should ask you to go, and since he left I keep thinking it wouldn't be the worst idea."
Chloe chewed her lip, not sure what to say. It would be fun, sure, but she wasn't sure how Oliver would feel about it.
"I'll tell you what, Clark, I'm not going to say no because I think it would be fun, and the last thing the world needs is to set Clark Kent looking for a prom date on unsuspecting females, but I should mention it to Ollie first. See how he feels about it. I'll let you know?"
Clark nodded. "Fair enough." He glanced down at her homework, of which she had now erased two of only three problems she'd completed. "Want help with this?"
Just as the yes was forming on her lips there was a knock on her door and before she could cover her papers to protect them, Clark was gone, sending an essay scattering to the floor.
She sighed, standing to collect them and tucking her hair back behind her ears. "Come in?"
"What happened in here?" Oliver asked, eyebrow quirking as he took in the small mess on Chloe's floor.
Chloe glanced up. "Accidentally knocked them over."
He took in the Algebra textbook on her desk. "I was going to see if you wanted to watch a movie tonight, but something tells me by the look of that," he indicated the book, "that you're not going to be up for it."
Straightening the papers in her hands, Chloe looked at him apologetically. Then she glanced at her homework and at the window Clark had sped out of. "Actually," she said, laying the essay back down on the desk and stapling it before anything else could happen to it. "You know what? This isn't due for two days. I could use the break."
Oliver stared at her suspiciously. "Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"Well, then," he said walking over and grabbing her around the waist, "feel free to thank me for coming to rescue you from the dragon that is algebra."
Chloe shook her head, pursing her lips as if trying not to laugh.
"Come on," Oliver raised a knowing eyebrow at her. "You can do it. Right here," he tapped his lips with his fingers.
Laughing, Chloe rolled her eyes before planting a swift peck on his lips. "You're such a child," she said, breaking away from him.
"Now if I were a child, wouldn't that make you some sort of cougar?" Oliver returned, flopping down comfortably on her bed while Chloe put away her school things.
Chloe just scoffed in response. She glanced at the essay that had been knocked over and back at the window before steeling herself. She turned to face Oliver, leaning against her deck and gripping the edge of it anxiously beneath her fingers. Oliver sensed her change in demeanor and looked up, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked.
"I...want to run something past you."
Oliver sat up now, not liking her nervous tone. "What?"
"How would you feel about my going home to Smallville for prom?"
He stared blankly. "Is there any reason I'd be expected to feel one way or the other about it?" he deadpanned.
Chloe worried her bottom lip and glanced out the window for umpteenth time, trying to decide whether it were worth the bother.
"Spit it out, Sullivan," Oliver teased.
"Clark wants to take me. As his date."
Oliver made absolutely no physical reaction whatsoever to indicate that he had heard her.
Knowing that he had, Chloe didn't say anything, but waited for him to respond.
After a long moment, he spoke. "Not, of course, that every guy on the planet shouldn't want to take you to prom, Chloe, but can I ask why Clark wants to take you?"
Chloe shrugged. "It's not a hug deal. The girl Clark wants to take has a boyfriend, and he didn't want to take a total stranger, so he thought I might have fun visiting my old friends. It's a different weekend from our formal," she added, hoping that would be some relief to him. She would never dream of going if it were a conflict.
Oliver took another long pause, and Chloe could see the tension building behind his relaxed facade. Finally, he shrugged, standing up. "Nah. I don't have a problem with it. Feel free."
"Are you sure?"
"Hey, I trust you. It's cool. Go visit your friends from home. Just make sure I don't lose out on my date to formal," he winked at her, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Chloe nodded, smiling to lighten the mood. "Wouldn't dream of it, handsome. So this movie night: is it gonna be just us, or are we gathering the others?"
________________________________________________________
Two weekends later, Chloe had packed a garment bag with her prom dress and was saying goodbye to Oliver before she would drive to the airport where she would let Clark International pick her up to run her home.
"Don't you need anything other than that dress?" Oliver asked.
Chloe shrugged. "I have plenty of clothes at my dad's house. This way I don't have to check a bag." She looked at him shrewdly. "Are you sure this doesn't bother you. Because I can still cancel?"
"Why would you going to prom with the guy you had a huge crush on growing up bother me?" Oliver said sourly.
Chloe sighed. "You could have just said no in the first place, Ollie. I didn't want to upset you."
"I don't understand why you're going."
"Because Clark needed a date, and it was a nice chance to visit home," Chloe replied evenly.
"And you're sure Clark's not going to try something?" Oliver grumbled.
Chloe laughed. The very idea was laughable. "Trust me. Clark has eyes for only one girl, and she is not blonde."
"Well just...Don't do anything you wouldn't tell someone's grandmother about," Oliver smirked, giving in and wrapping her in a hug.
Chloe snorted. "Well, I'll do my best. But you know how I get. Sometimes I just can't keep my hands to myself. Can't help it," she teased.
Oliver pulled back and glared. "I thought you wanted me to let you go."
She grinned. "Maybe I'm hoping you'll kidnap me after all and I won't have to."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't think you want to give me that kind of license."
She sighed, still smiling. "True. All right," she pecked him on the lips. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, and pass that message along to Geoff and Alden," she added.
Oliver tugged her back in for a much more passionate kiss, his lips working hers until her legs turned to jelly and nearly gave out from under her. He pulled away again, smirking confidently at her flushed expression. "I'm not making any promises. You'll just have to come back as soon as possible to clean up the mess." She laughed and said a woozy goodbye.
He released her and watched her leave his room with a twang of anxiety. Just...think about that kiss when you're dancing with Clark Kent, he told her mentally as she closed the door.
He fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. She's getting a lot better at lying, he thought uneasily. He could still tell, but he could also tell she did it a lot more often and with a lot more care. He just wished he knew what about. He knew she didn't have feelings for Clark, which he had to remind himself of daily, but it was hard to convince himself that Clark didn't have feelings for her.
"This weekend is going to suck," he muttered aloud.
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Clark picked Chloe up in a whirlwind that Chloe still wasn't used to, and 'drove' her to her father's house where she dropped off her dress. Her father had work until late in the evening, which was why she had had Clark 'pick her up from the airport for him.' He wouldn't be around to notice the lack of travel time she required. After that Clark had to head off to take care of chores for his dad, and Chloe went to visit Lana at the Talon.
"You have coffee," Chloe groaned, flopping on the counter in front of Lana in relief.
Lana laughed, completely startled by Chloe's abrupt appearance. "Chloe! What a surprise! I didn't know you'd be in town."
Chloe straightened up and grinned. "Coffee first. Gossip later."
Lana smiled back, nodding. "You got it. What do you want?"
"The largest, fanciest, most ridiculously frilly coffee you have," Chloe requested with total seriousness.
Lana raised an amused eyebrow, pulling a tall mug off a shelf. "I think I can handle that. And I'm on break in a few minutes, so we can gossip," she winked.
"Sounds great," Chloe beamed. She went to take a seat in the corner where she could people-watch, and within a few minutes, Chloe found herself coming to a startling realization. Smallville--the ever-stable--was changing. Rapidly.
The presence of the Talon alone was symbolic of that. She'd been prepared for the presence of the newly refurbished theatre turned coffee shop back at Spring Break already, when she'd seen it for the first time. Over Spring Break, though, she hadn't spent much time in town, but had instead spent a short amount of time in Metropolis with her dad. Now, sitting there, sipping the frothy, hyper-sweet concoction Lana had just dropped off, Chloe found herself noticing the dramatic changes she'd surprisingly overlooked until then.
Greg Arkin, Tina Greer, Sean Kelvin, Jodi Melville, Amy and Jeff Palmer, Eric Summer, Tyler Randall, and Sasha Woodman were all absent. Not conspicuously absent. Most people probably didn't miss the collection of oddballs and antisocial introverts, but Chloe noticed. All of these missing teens had somehow come into contact with meteor rock over the last year alone, and all of them were now dead or institutionalized as a result.
There was a new coach on the football team. Luthorcorp was having a distinct effect on the area. Someone other than her was bossing Clark Kent around at the Torch. And Clark Kent was good friends with Lana Lang.
The last one still astonished her. She had always thought Clark was just painfully shy around Lana...and technically he was to some extent, but the idea that her necklace was half his problem? That was mind-boggling.
Speaking of Lana, Chloe thought with a wry grin as the girl in question grabbed a seat across from her.
"So how's the drink?" Lana asked.
"Absolutely disgusting. And slightly delicious," Chloe joked. "What is it?"
Lana shrugged. "I made it up on the spot. Squirted about five random syrups in it without looking at what they were and then put as much whipped cream on top as the cup could hold."
Chloe laughed. "Well done. So how is everything."
Lana tucked her hair behind her ear, looking down as she talked. "Um...things are...a little crazy. The talon's doing well, but Whitney and I are in a strange place. He's...joining the marines." She looked back up as she finished.
"What?" Chloe stared at her in shock.
She nodded, hand automatically reaching for her hair again. "Yeah. He's leaving the night of prom."
"You're kidding. Wow. That's...wow. I never saw that coming."
Lana sighed. "Yeah, well, after everything that happened with his dad this year, Whitney lost his football scholarships because his academics plummeted. He wasn't left with a lot of options, and he ended up deciding to follow in his dad's footsteps."
"Wow," Chloe repeated, frowning. "I...that's...how are you handling this?"
"Off the record?" Lana joked. "I'm not really sure what to do. But I'm just taking it all in stride."
"One day at a time," Chloe nodded in understanding.
"What about you?" Lana asked. "What are you doing in town? How's the private school? How's Oliver?"
"Ollie's good. He's not overly-thrilled that I'm here. Clark's taking me to Smallville's prom."
"Oh!" Lana started in surprise, and Chloe didn't miss the slight flush that spread into her cheeks. Was it possible Lana was developing feelings for Clark? "He never mentioned that."
"Yeah. It's a bit of a surprise. Kind of. To the extent that we didn't advertise, at least. But Clark needed a date. His first choice was taken," Chloe added nonchalantly, taking a casual sip of the god-awful coffee.
Lana ignored the statement and instead eyed the cup. "Do you want me to get you a regular cappuccino?" she offered.
Chloe laughed. "Please," she said, handing over the mug so Lana could go exchange it. While her company was away, Chloe glanced out the window. The sky was turning a bit gray with clouds, and there was a strong wind picking up, judging by the way the people out on the streets had wrapped their coats tightly around them.
Clark had mentioned a storm was coming their way.
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"Pete!" Chloe exclaimed delightedly, throwing her arms around Pete's neck.
Pete grinned at Chloe. "Hey, Chlo. You look amazing."
"You cut a rather dashing figure yourself," Chloe teased, eying his red bow-tie.
The evening started off well in the long run. They saw Whitney and Lana very briefly before the couple had to head for the bus stop. Chloe couldn't get over how mature and grown up Whitney seemed.
She still remembered her once upon a time conversation with Lana about what she could possibly see in Whitney. Little had Chloe known she would end up with Oliver months later. Even littler had she known that Whitney would grow up to be a regular American hero. It was hard to believe he was off to fight a war.
Things were quick to take a downward dive, however. She was dancing with Clark to her favorite song when he suddenly had to take off on her. The next thing she knew, a tornado alarm was going off in the distance, and they were announcing to the room that they would not be allowed to exit the gym for their own safety.
I know there's a really good reason he's gone, Chloe tried to tell herself while Pete went off to get both her and his date a cup of punch, but I can't help noticing the irony of being ditched at prom by Clark Kent.
Chapter One; Chapter Two; Chapter Three; Chapter Four; Chapter Five; Chapter Six; Chapter Seven; Chapter Eight; Chapter Nine; Chapter Ten; Chapter Eleven; Chapter Twelve ; Chapter Thirteen; Chapter Fourteen; Chapter Fifteen; Chapter Sixteen; Chapter Seventeen; Chapter Eighteen; Chapter Nineteen; Chapter Twenty; Chapter Twenty-One; Chapter Twenty-Two; Chapter Twenty-Three; Epilogue