The Carnival Part 6

[the_satyr_icon]

Poster by Dolly

The Carnival Chapters 20 - 22
URL: http://the-satyr-icon.livejournal.com/19669.html#cutid1



The Carnival ~ Chapter Twenty

"YAY!" Chloe yelled when her father pulled the car into the parking lot of the fairgrounds. She bounced in her seat looking at the banners for the carnival. She looked into the rearview mirror and smiled at Clark. "I thought we'd never get here!"

"Me too," Clark said back, all scrunched up in the back seat. He grinned and squeezed her shoulder. She leaned her head into his touch.

"Hey, pipe down," Mr. Sullivan said to her, tired of hearing Chloe's complaints of how he drove. Or rather how slow he drove, which was only the speed limit. He aimed the car towards the main entrance. "I'll turn back...."

"No! I've waited so long!" Chloe pleaded. "This was like the longest day ever !"

"The whole day felt like a month." Clark agreed.

"Feels longer than that," Chloe said, leaning and looking at the rides that could been seen over the tall wooden fence.

"Really?" Mr. Sullivan said, and turned the steering wheel, away from where kids and adults were gathering in front of the ticket booth. He loved to mess with the daughter he loved so much.

"Daddy! It's over there! ITS OVER THERE !" Chloe screamed. Her father drove farther away in the parking lot.

"Look at allllllllll those pretty cars," Gabe said, pushing Chloe back in her seat. "I hope I can find parking out here in the boondocks."

"DROP US OFF HERE !" Chloe screamed. She reached for the lever on the door and Gabe hit the child-protective locks. "LEMME OUT !"

"Chloe, we can walk," Clark said, and held her shoulders. He knew he had a calming affect on her. "I'm ok with walking, Mr. Sullivan."

"We're here but not over THERE!" Chloe said and twisted in her seat and looked at Clark. "You know I hate walking!" She growled and Clark fell back, the calming effect withering in Chloe-craziness. She turned, looked at her father, growled again and he jerked the wheel; Gabe, like Clark caused many a Chloe-Growl, and the growl aimed at him was a loud guttural one. She bared her pearly white teeth, the braces she wore from 5th to 7th grade made them even and straight.

"Down girl! Down!," Gabe said fearfully to her and parked by the fence. "Here...get out...just don't bite!"

"Thank you, Daddy," Chloe said sweetly and kissed his cheek. Gabe unlocked the doors and the kids got out of the car. Chloe skipped over to the driver side window and held out her palm.

"Here." Gabe took out his wallet and pulled out a $20 dollar bill, and started to lay it on Chloe's hand.

"Its my treat, Mr Sullivan," Clark smiled, thinking of Lex's advice, leaning into Gabe's view. "Chloe's My date."

"I like the way you think, Clark," Gabe said and yanked away the bill. "Yoink!"

"DAD!" Chloe snapped. She was embarrassed that her father was acting like a cheapskate.

"Like a real gentleman. You didn't let me finish, Chloe," Gabe smiled. She rolled her eyes, falling for his one-liner. "Clark, take care of My bunny."

"DAD!" Chloe fussed, totally embarrassed. She hoped that endearment slipped past Clark.

"She's safe with me," Clark said and took her hand.

"She says that all the time, you know," Gabe smiled. Clark smiled back.

"Can we please go now?" Chloe looked at Clark and tugged on his hand; she loved her father, but he was well past her 'Daddy-is-embarrassing-me' quota.

"Sure, Snugglebunny, Clark said and actually winked at her. Gabe laughed. "Let's go."

"Grr...erk!" Chloe started to growl, but she stopped when she realized it was Clark that said her childhood nickname and not her father; she instantly forgave her father for slipping Clark that anecdote. 'That is sooo hot,' she thought, how Clark said it, meant it and she squeezed his hand and swooned. "Ok."

"I'll be back here at 11 PM," Gabe reminded. "Stay outta trouble, you two!"

"Sure thing, Dad," Chloe said and she and Clark waved bye to Gabe and walked hand in hand to the ticket booth.

"What no 'Daddy'?" Gabe said. But Chloe didn't hear him, she was too into being with Clark, leaning close, nothing between them. Gabe smiled sadly at his daughter, knowing that he was no longer the only man in her life.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"...We need to see Beppo's act, and I wanna ride 'The Hurler' and 'The Silver Banshee' and 'The Doomsday' AND 'The Eradicator' before Dad picks us up," Chloe said, counting off on her fingers her and Clark's carnival to-do list, slightly bent at the waist, peering through openings in the fence and catching some of the rides' names. She turned and looked at Clark, barely missing where his eyes were looking. "Hey...Why are all the names so menacing?"

"Well, maybe that 'Sparky-Pig-a-Doodle' ride is in the kids area again," Clark said. "You loved that name."

"Oh god, Clark," Chloe said, grabbing his forearm and started giggling. "I still think of last year," She started laughing louder, "you on a the lil' motorized piggie on a train track."

"You asked me to ride with you and you didn't get on!" Clark said and kicked aside a some ice cubes from Chloe's path.

"That's besides the point," Chloe said, smiling, noticing his show of gallantry. 'His parents taught him well,' she thought, 'for me.'

"Everyone laughed at me," Clark fussed.

"Everyone laughed with you," Chloe said and leaned her head into his arm.

"I wasn't laughing," Clark reminded. He was the only rider over 5 foot tall on the ride. Or over 6 foot tall, for that matter.

"You should have...it was hilarious." Chloe listened to the cheerful calliope music playing over the speakers at the ticket booth, and happily spun herself around while they stood in line for tickets. The strobe lights stopped and bathed Chloe in a ruby red glow. Clark gave a little gasp at the sight.

"Beautiful," Clark whispered. But it was loud enough for Chloe.

"If I remember correctly," Chloe said and held his hand, "that's twice you called me beautiful in the last 20 minutes. Before, what was I?" She gave him the Chloe-Resolve face; her jaw was set, eyes serious and she tilted her head.

"Umm," Clark said. "You were still beautiful."

"Oh really?" Chloe said and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, and pretty and cute and other stuff I was too ...dumb to say," Clark admitted.

"Aww, " Chloe said and hugged him. "I'm happy that you've smartened up to say it now."

"Me too," Clark whispered and looked down into her eyes. Maybe it was the strobe lights, or maybe it was natural, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. She pressed closer and rose up safely on her boot-clad toes. He smiled down upon her, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey." The tall skinny ticket seller with a nasally voice was REALLY annoyed that he himself was a dateless wonder. "There's a line you know."

"Oh yeah," Chloe said, looked beside her and smiled at the family next in line.

"Do I need to shield my twins' eyes?" said an older woman. She held onto her 2 blond little girls. The twins were dressed alike, of course, wearing matching green overalls and yellow shirts.

"No," Clark said and released Chloe from the embrace. She slid down and frowned; she was all for the woman to cover the kids' eyes.

"C'mon, kid," said the ticket seller. "You two together?"

Clark opened his mouth to say but...

"HELL YES!" Chloe shouted with glee and pulled on Clark's hand, and dragged him to the ticket booth. "We're a couple. Two of us. Together."

"Yes, two tickets," Clark said and Chloe looked at him expectantly. "For us," He said and she smiled blissfully.

"Just gimme $16 bucks, kid," the ticket taker said with a sigh. "Let's keep the line moving." Clark patted the left pocket and looked puzzled. He thought he put the $20 dollar bill in that pocket. Chloe simply jammed her hand into his right pocket. She found the bill but she let her hand slide around.

"CHLOE!" Clark shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Just giving you a helping hand," Chloe said and pulled the crumpled bill from his pocket. "Jeeze," she said innocently or as best she could muster up. She pressed the bill into his hand. "I might not want to next time."

"Better say sorry to her, kid," the teller said when Clark handed him the money. The guy gave Clark the tickets and the change back from the $20. ":If you don't, you'll regret it later..."

"Sorry, Chloe," Clark whispered and took Chloe's hand.

"I'll hold the tickets, Clark." Chloe snitched the tickets from Clark. "You hold onto me." Clark never let her go when they went through the turnstile, when Chloe handed the tickets over and when they got back torn ticket stubs. Clark laughed while Chloe guided him to a concessions booth.

"I take it that you want some cotton candy?" Clark asked.

"Please Clark? Pleaaaaaaaase? Strawberry with powdered sugar on top?" Chloe asked with her best bewitching smile; she had a good feeling that he really couldn't resist her charms anymore.

"What's a carnival without some?" Clark said, finding her more irresistible. "There's yellow.....white...pink..." He looked at Chloe; he knew she had a slight dislike for pink.

"Green cotton candy?" Chloe noticed and pointed it out. Clark winced. "I can't believe they are marketing 'Meteor Fluffs' cotton candy! That's way gross."

"You have no idea," Clark said and Chloe caught the sadness in his voice. It always surprised her how the talk of the meteors always brought him down.

"You know," Chloe said, pulling Clark from the depths that he seemed to be in, "I'm suddenly ok with pink. Can I have one?"

"Sure," Clark said to her. "Hey....hi, you two," he said and waved at two friends from school, Wendy Mezze and Colleen Doranwen, walking by him and Chloe. Both girls waved back getting into line for the Bizarro Fun House attraction.

"Hey Jodi!" Chloe greeted her friend standing in the line. "It's our first date," Chloe announced all smiley. She absolutely wished she could get on the P.A. system and announce it. She even wondered if she could talk Joe Young into saying something about her and Clark during Beppo's act.

"I thought you two were already going out," Jodi said, scanning the menu. She was craving something more substantial than a corn-dog.

"No...we just hung out, went to the movies, picnicked, walked around town together," Chloe said, a little tired of the dumb feeling she got explaining just how not together she and Clark have been since eighth grade.

"Yeah," Clark said, needing to quantify his own dumbness. "We just studied and did homework together."

"Yeah, thats My point," Jodi said, wondering how the hell these two were on the honor roll if they couldn't figure out their relationship. "Everyone thought you two were already a couple...always together."

"Sounds familiar," Clark and Chloe said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

Jodi popped yet another Dexatrim pill and washed it down with the large size cup of A&W root-beer she bought. She was handed a little cardboard box that held a double hamburger and large fries she also ordered. Chloe snitched a fry.

"Hi! I'm Maxine, what can I get you?" The concessions vendor smiled.

"2 pink cotton candies..." Clark began to order to the concession girl. Jodi whispered in Chloe's ear and she giggled.

"No!" Chloe shouted from the side of the queue line. "Just get one and we'll share!"

"Ok," Clark turned to the girl and smiled. She smiled and scratched out what he told her. "Make that one pink cotton candy and 2 pops..."

"One pop," Chloe said between bites of another fry. "We'll share that too!" Clark nodded to Maxine and she x'ed out the number two and wrote one.

"2 straws?" Maxine asked the tall farmboy in front of her. Clark looked over at Chloe.

"I always snitch drinks from your straws before," Chloe said. "We shared one straw at the film festival."

"Ok," Clark said and looked back at Maxine. "One pink cotton candy...1 large Pepsi...1 straw."

"Finally," Maxine said with a little exasperation and went to fill the order.

"I'll let you two share cooties," Jodi said finishing the last of the hamburger. Chloe looked at her weirdly; she thought Jodi must have swallowed the hamburger with one bite. "I'll catch up with you two later." Clark and Chloe waved bye to her.

"That will be 6 dollars," Maxine said, setting the drink and the bag of candy down.

"Oh...ok," Clark said with a hint of worry; he had only four dollars on him. Chloe reached in her her huge knapsack and felt for her coin purse. Then she remembered she used the last of her coins trying a mug of cafe con leche dulce at the Talon.

"Maybe I can get a couple bucks from Jodi," Chloe said with some disappointment.

As Chloe turned and looked around for their friend, Clark felt a lump in a pocket of his jacket. 'I must have missed it with Chloe leaning on me,' he reasoned. He reached in and pulled out the money clip. His eyes went wide at the sight of the wad of money. Then he recognized the style of the money clip from what he saw at Strayhorne's. He smiled, thinking of Lex. He slipped off a $20 bill, paid for the snacks, and stepped behind Chloe. "I got you a delicious bag of cotton candy." Chloe spun around.

"I thought you needed a couple of bucks. You're full of surprises," Chloe smiled and took the bag and opened it. She yanked off a huge pink wispy fluff and ate it. "Mmm."

"I want some," Clark said in a little voice and Chloe thought he sounded so cute. Chloe pulled off a small fluff. She slowly lifted it to Clark's lips and held there. She waited. Clark stood still and looked at it. She jabbed the fluff on his lips and nodded wide-eyed. Clark smiled and it dawned on him that she was going to feed the fluff to him, and wasn't just showing the candy to him. He opened his mouth and Chloe fed him. After she placed the fluff in his tongue, Chloe ran her finger on his bottom lip.

"You have some on the corner of your mouth...," she said whispery. Clark heard her perfectly and licked the corner slowly. Chloe watched her boyfriend's innocent act and took deep breath; in Chloe's mind mind the act was sensuous."You missed it."

"Can you get it?" Clark licked again; he hated sticky foods. He remembered the time Pete let him walk around with a piece of barbecue sauce on his cheek at the Ross Family Reunion.

"With pleasure," Chloe said and leaned in, with her mouth...

"Hey!" Pete shouted with a smile, happy to see his best friends. He was with the sought-after Erica Fox. "There you two are!"

Chloe jerked away from Clark and he stepped safely on her foot. Pete's heart stopped for a second because he received the first ever Chloe Death-Stare.

"Oh man, I'm toast," He whispered to Erica. Yet somehow he kept walking toward his doom.

"Yeah," Erica whispered back, thinking it was foolish that Pete was still walking to his friends. She took the foam container of soda; she noticed his shaky hand. "Never get between a girl and her hunny..."

"Hi Pete!" Clark's mouth formed a smile but his eyes are glaring. When he got close, Clark patted Pete's shoulder and squeezed the buff trapzezius muscles there.

"Oh god!" Pete yelped; he was shocked that Clark put the Mr. Spock Vulcan Death Grip on him. Or that he put it on so hard "Ow!"

"Hi Erica....great outfit!" He said truthfully to Pete's date.

"Thank you, Clark," Erica said, watching Pete rub his shoulder.

"Get over here," Chloe said and Pete knew he was in for more pain. Erica talked to Clark. "Peter Rodney Ross," Chloe leaned in and whispered angrily. "Your timing is like a sundial's at night: it sucks."

"You two have all night," Pete said and flinched when Chloe moved her hand fast and scratched her nose; she did it on purpose to scare him. She was satisfied. "It's not my fault you two wasted a whole year..."

"Ok, point taken," Chloe said but still jabbed her friend's shoulder. "Just don't bust up anymore kisses, ok?"

"Deal," Pete said. He and Chloe turned to their dates and went to them.

"Hey," Erica said. "Like I was telling Clark: lets go play some games...have some fun!"

"Ok!" Chloe said, suddenly bubbly and back to holding Clark's hand.

"I'm all in," Pete said, taking Erica's hand. They walked, laughing, eating their candies and drinking their pops, walking past rows of rides and attractions until Chloe spotted just the right game booth.

The Carnival ~ Chapter Twenty-One

Chloe kept moving, her eyes peeled for just the right prize that she wanted that night, other than Clark. She purposely prevented Clark from both playing the games that Pete chose: shooting basketballs at a warped rim at one booth and filling a balloon with water shot from a pistol at another one. Much to Pete's chagrin, he failed at his attempts to win a prize for Erica.

"Ooo! There!" Chloe screamed and let go of Clark's hand. Clark was amazed that she ran without a 'meteor freak' in sight. She scampered the last eight feet to the "Firestorm Toss" game booth. He saw why: the prizes were plush teddy bears, ranging in size from the smallest the size of a 'Beanie Baby' to an enormous plushie about the size of Chloe herself. "You said you'd win me a teddie bear," Chloe reminded Clark with a big grin.

"What?" Clark said and smiled; he knew full well that he wrote the night before in their AOL chatroom that he was going win her a prize. What he didn't know was that Chloe was actually referring to him as the big stuffed bear.

"Yup Bro, you did," Pete said, patted Clark on the back; he was also in the chat room.

"Ahem," Erica coughed-spoke.

"And I promised Erica, too," Pete added.

"Among other things," She said back.

"Really?" Chloe saddled close to her. "Tell!" They whispered and giggled and they walked to the booth.

"The object of this game is ta knock down a pyramid of glass bottles you see before with this mushy softball," Joe the carny droned on loudly to passer-by in a bored southern twang. He sparked up when he saw Chloe and Erica approach. He scratched where his cropped Bob Segar tour tee-shirt exposed his stomach. "Well, hellllllo, lil' ladies."

"No," Chloe said simply. "We have boyfriends."

"Daaaaang!" Joe said. "Well, get them to knock down all 3 bottles and you get a bear." He waved a little bear with "Carnival 2000" embroidered on the stomach at the girls. "It's harder than it looks. The bottles are 6 looong feet away." He shook his long mullet and wiped his scraggly mustache with one finger looking at the girls. Chloe and Erica just laughed him.

"Step on up and win your chickies a prize." Joe got serious when he saw Clark and Pete, and their muscular builds. "To get the bigger bears, you guys hafta knock them all down with every ball." Clark looked at Chloe and she smiled and pointed at the biggest bear. "The lil' lady likes the big ones."

"You know it," Chloe said.

"I guess you like the little ones," Joe said to Erica. Pete slammed his $3 dollars for 3 balls into Joe's hand. "Daaaaaang! Hit the bottles, not my hand." After Joe gave Pete a basket with 3 red balls with flames painted on them, Chloe looked at Clark and nodded. Clark bought 3 balls (Joe gave him a basket filled with blue balls), too, and lined up next to Pete and eyed the bottles.

"Win my teddie!" Chloe said, and remembered what she saw on a baseball telecast. She patted Clark on the butt.

"Eep!" Clark jumped and spilled a couple of balls from the basket. "Chloe!"

"Hey...don't distract him," Pete said. "How's he gunna get your prize?"

"Oh yeah," Chloe said and quickly hefted Clark's blue balls back into the container.

"Win me my teddie, too!" Erica said.

"Your command is my wish," Pete winked at her. He rolled his neck, wound up his arm, kicked out his leg and threw with a flourish. For all Pete's machinations, the red ball hit and knocked down just 1 bottle. Still, the girls cheered for him. Clark heard a slight metallic clank when the bottle hit the dirt. 'That didn't sound like glass,' Clark thought, stared and activated his x-ray vision. He saw that the bottles were made of metal, and seemed to be weighted more at the bottom. Clark looked at Chloe and wanted to pull her aside and tell her about the scam. But the way she looked at him, so happy, and just the way she smiled, Clark decided to just get her teddie, and to help Pete out, too.

"I think the lights got in my eyes," Pete said and Erica laughed.

"Heaven forbid you give up after just the first throw," Joe the carny chattered.

"Throw harder Pete," Clark advised. Pete nodded and threw with all his strength. He barely clipped another bottle and held his breath and watched the top bottle wobble; he prayed that the bottle would somehow collapse the bottom two bottles. Finally, the bottle fell...away from the base.

"Yes!" Erica cheered but Pete kicked the booth's wood wall because he didn't win a bear.

"Ok Hard Hat," Joe said. "One last throw."

Pete rubbed the ball in his hand, whispered 'please' to it and he flung toward the bottles. While the girls tracked the ball in flight, Clark decided to use his newly discovered heat vision. He concentrated and eye-jaculated a burst of heat energy at the bottom bottles, melting their base just when the ball struck the top bottle again. All 3 bottles fell and the girls cheered. Pete jumped with both fists in the air.

"Yes!" Pete said. Joe handed Erica a small-sized bear.

"You're up, Big Boy," Chloe said, all smiley to Clark. Clark wondered if he should miss, be Pete-like in normality. "I know you can do it, Clark," Chloe said and rubbed her palms in anticipation of getting a teddy bear. Clark shook his head; he couldn't fail her. He threw the ball and easily knocked down all 3 bottles. Chloe hugged him from behind and Pete slapped Clark on the back. Erica whooped.

"Daaaang!" Joe said to Clark and handed Chloe the teddy. "Wanna try and upgrade to a bigger teddy?"

"Yes he does!" Chloe shouted "Right?" She asked and looked expectantly at Clark. He nodded. He thought of all the times that she risked her life for him, spent her time helping him chase down 'meteor freaks', and if she wanted a teddy bear, he was going to do it. He watched the carny's helper struggle to set up another pyramid; Clark guessed correctly that they used heavier bottles for the base, making it much harder to topple them. It didn't matter: Clark rifled the mushy blue ball twice and scattered the bottles each time. Pete wondered what was Clark's secret, and lamented that he wasn't on the school's baseball team.

"Get the white fuzzy bear," Erica said when Joe offered Chloe a choice from the bigger bears.

"How many in a row to get the HUGE one?" Chloe and hugged the newest bear.

"10 groups in a row," Joe said. "No one has ever done it...I came close, tho," he sniffed. "But, of you say you're going for the big one....you forfeit all the others..."

"Clark has 3 in a row!" She spun to him. She thought the times saved her life, how he somehow stopped 'meteor freaks' and, of what she had seen of Clark, knocking down bottles was nothing to what she knew he could do...or what she had started to suspect he could do. "I know you can do it!"

Clark handed over $7 to Joe for 7 more balls. Chloe, Erica, and Pete held them for Clark. He knocked down 5 sets when he looked back and noticed a small crowd behind him. He loved the attention he was getting from the crowd and really loved how Chloe looked at him adoringly; he noticed that it wasn't any different that how she usually looks at him, and immediately called himself a big dumb alien for pushing Chloe's emotions aside for a year. He knew he had to make it seem that he was lucky on some of his throws. In actuality, the ball toss game, like any other created that he knew about, was far too easy to master.

"Four more!" Chloe yelled to one of her friends. "MY BOYFRIEND is going to go all the way!" The crowd cheered lustily, and Chloe wondered why. Pete whispered to her what the fuss was about and her mortified face made Clark laugh. "I didn't mean it that way!" She shouted. "Heathens!"

"Ok....Just a few more..." Clark said to himself after Chloe and crowd calmed down, trying to pretend he was nervous. He reared back and threw the ball over and over; the ball hit exactly where he aimed: bottom left bottle, bottom right one. Each throw was like a metronome clicking, the pitch's windup, toss, and follow-through was seamless, perfect and all Clark concentrated on was the ball, the bottles...and the racing of Chloe's heartbeat and how she counted off each time he knocked down the bottle.

"One left!" Chloe screamed. She touched Clark's jacket tenderly.

"Ball me," Clark said innocently.

"Gladly," Chloe smiled mischievously, and handed him the last one.

The crowd quieted. Erica hugged Pete. Chloe couldn't wait to kiss Clark.

Clark threw the mushy ball. Everyone held their breath. The ball was soft and a little deformed and it wobbled in mid-flight; Joe hoped the "trick ball" was the last one. Clark watched the ball wiggle and start to arc in trajectory. Chloe followed the ball and saw the new path it was taking was drifting away from the bottles; 'Why am I cursed?' Chloe thought, knowing she wouldn't get the teddy bear...or a kiss.

Clark was set to eye-jaculate when the center of the ball changed again. He smiled and watched the ball careen into the point where all three bottles met.

"DAAAAAAAAAAANG!" Joe yelled.

"YAY!" Chloe screamed and everyone started to cheer.

As the crowd mobbed around Clark, Chloe struggled with the huge teddy bear that Joe gave her; it was her height, and far heavier. She wobbled over to Clark.

"Oh Clark! Thank you so much!" Chloe gushed. She swung the bear to the side and Clark hugged her. They locked eyes. This time, Clark made the move; he leaned in and Chloe closed her eyes, and waited for their lips to touch....

The Carnival ~ Chapter Twenty-Two

"Kent and the quirky newspaper chick zeroing in on a kiss....way to finally sac it up, Kent."

Clark's eyes popped open and jerked his head back when he heard the words and the voice that produced them. Poor Chloe lost her balance and fell into Clark, and butted her nose into his chest. Her lips smacked on his chest, but that didn't count as a kiss at all. She was surprised that his muscles there felt like steel. "Ow!" She smacked Clark's arm for moving away, from her lips, but she saw what made him do what she thought was the unthinkable, what made his muscles so tense: she saw Whitney Fordman, his high school tormentor and Lana Lang, Whitney's girlfriend.

"Jeeze!" Clark whined when Whitney and Lana stood by them. Chloe rubbed her nose and gave the school's star quarterback the death stare. Whitney chuckled at it. Clark pulled away from Chloe and that upset her even more. "Do you ALWAYS have to rag on me?"
"I don't HAVE to," Whitney said with a smug smile. "I WANT to, freshman....besides...you should have been with Chloe last year..."
"Oh," Chloe said, surprised the bully made sense and downgraded her look at Whitney to merely her 'I-hope-you-get-riddled-with-acne' stare. Clark stuffed his hands into his pocket; he had so many powers, so many abilities, and yet, he was cowed by the senior before him. Or, at least, felt that he needed to, for appearances sake.

"Well?" Lana asked pulling Chloe aside, away from their posturing boyfriends. "Did you two kiss? I want details!"

"No," Chloe said, with a dramatic frown. Lana was struck by how her new friend wore her emotions so visibly. "Whitney just interrupted try #2."

"Damn, he didn't mean to, Chloe" Lana said and looked at her boyfriend. She was surprised that Clark was taller. And a bit more muscular. And better dressed. "Sorry, I'll talk to him about his 'Clark-blocking' you." They both laughed at the pun. "I know that he will try to 'Clark-block' you more now that I told him you and Clark are a couple." Chloe smiled at her friend sticking up for her, and liked the fact that someone else called her and Clark a 'couple'; Lana's comment validated it. "Tonight's the night," Lana nodded to her seriously. "I know it."

"I hope so, Lana. The suspense is killing me," Chloe confided. She looked over and saw the two boys still jawing at each other. "Whitney really gets on Clark's case..."

"Whitney actually likes Clark," Lana let Chloe know.

"What?" Chloe gave her a double take; she shook her head. Whitney liking Clark was preposterous, like her notion that Clark was a ...well, whatever THAT thought was, it was silly because it only popped up when she couldn't fully explain HOW Clark was able to be at the right place at the right time doing the right thing in a crisis. "No way."

"Way," Lana nodded, looking the boys acting very much unlike friends. "He rags on him to get on the sports teams... you’ve seen them on PE teams, Chloe... they are awesome together."

"Yeah," Chloe admitted. "But does he have to act like 'Stifler' all the time? He even rags on me."

"No... he’s just seen 'American Pie' too many damn times," Lana said. "I swear I am going to snap that DVD in half."

"Now that you got the girlfriend, Kent, drop the other one so you'll have a pair and join the football team," Whitney said to Clark. Whitney grabbed Pete. "If Pete "The Human Fumble" Ross is starting, you can start."

"Hey!" Pete yelled and shrugged off Whitney's arm. Pete felt bad already about how he mishandled the ball, but a nickname like that would ruin his dating chances.

"Quiet freshman!" The school's record holding QB snapped at Pete. Pete just stood by Erica. She hugged him and whispered that she liked his hands.

"Clark DOES have a pair!" Chloe yelled, tired of Clark just taking Whitney's verbal humiliation. She suddenly felt two inches tall: everyone but Clark turned and gave her an awkward stare. "I mean," Chloe started to say in a little, little voice, "he saves lives...that's really brave." She scrunched her shoulders and hid behind Clark. She pressed her forehead into his back. 'Mental note #847 of the day: no matter how you feel, think clearly before talking about Clark,' she lamented.

"I already told you, Whitney," Clark said, his voice stronger after Chloe called him brave. "My dad won't let me. And stop picking on Chloe."

"Oh yeah?" Whitney said and stepped up to Clark's chest; He was a bit shocked that Clark didn't step back. He locked his blue eyes with Clark's blue-green ones.

"Yeah." Clark said it low and husky. Chloe shivered, not at the thought of Clark fighting, but the simple sound of his voice; it was a powerful sound, one reserved when he was going to fight a 'meteor freak' and she really, really liked it.

"Hey!" Lana said and pushed Whitney and Clark apart. "No fighting! You two boys need to burn off that testosterone another way!"

"Yeah!" Chloe agreed, stepping in front of Clark and looking at him. "Burn it off winning stuff for your girlfriends!"

"Ok, Reporter Girl," Whitney said derisively. "Let's go to 'Thor's Hammer', Clark...now."

"Mjolnir?" Pete said, remembering the name of the mystical weapon that the Norse god used in the comics; Pete was a closet comic collector.

"No, you freshmen scrub!" Whitney said and shook his head. "Thor's Hammer...That!" Everyone looked where he pointed. "The sledgehammer game... who ever rings the bell the most times wins!"

"Wins what?" Clark said.

"If I win, Kent, you tell your daddy that you HAVE to play football," Whitney said, blue eyes intense. "Or I will make sure this year will be hard on you...and your girl."

"If I win, you be nice to Chloe." Clark didn't care what Whitney, or his jock friends could do to him. But everything changed when he mentioned the girl he loved. "...and get off my back."

"DEAL!" Whitney shouted. He couldn't wait to humiliate Clark, humiliate him in front of his date, in front of the school, and get the farm boy on HIS football team.

"DEAL!" Clark wanted to defend Chloe's honor more than beat Whitney at his own game. He looked at Chloe and she nodded her approval; she thought it was romantic that he stood up for her. He smiled at her, turned and stuck out his hand. But Whitney and Lana were already walking to the booth.

With Whitney's loud boasting and energetic gesturing, seemingly EVERYONE that went to Smallville High School headed to 'Thor's Hammer'. All the jocks, all Whitney's teammates, their dates, nerds, stoners, every clique and even some teachers huddled around the booth. Whitney nodded to the game keeper. She smiled back.

"Amanda," Whitney said, looking at the name tag, "how much to rent the game for...," Whitney said, looked at Clark, and smiled at his competition, "just a few swings?"

"20 bucks," she said, thinking that the guys in front of her were built well enough to play the game for awhile. Whitney gave her a ten dollar bill. "Kick in, Clark," Whitney said and watched the farmboy dutifully comply. Amanda struggled giving Whitney and Clark each a 40 pound sledgehammer. Whitney didn't expect the sledge to weigh so much; Clark tried to make it seem it wasn’t as light as a feather. The All-County QB's teammates and friends stood on one side. Lana, Chloe, Pete, and Erica on the other.

"Why aren't you standing with my boys?" Whitney asked his girlfriend.

"I'll cheer you on from here." Lana said easily while a few of her other girlfriends stood by her and Chloe: Shania Nahasaphon was in Lana's main clique, an immaculately dressed, beautiful preppie and head of the debate team. Also standing with Lana and Chloe were Jodi Melville, Alicia Baker, Felice Chandler, and Smallville High cheerleader Dolly 'The Energizer Bunny' De La Rosa. "I'm standing with my friends."

"OK!" Whitney knew better than to argue with her. "Rules are simple," he said to the group before him. "The first between me and Clark that can't ring the bell is the loser!" He looked at Clark. "Right, Scrub?"

"Yeah," Clark nodded with anger in his eyes; he wasn't a scrub, really.

"Since girls go first," Whitney said with a cheesy grin. "You're up, Kent."

There was a chant of "FORD-MAN! FORD-MAN! FORD-MAN!" and Whitney strolled around, basking in the sound of his name. Clark looked at the bell and the wooden block on the catapult and wished there was a chant for him. Then he heard something barely audible, faint and whispery.

"Please win Clark."

He turned and saw Chloe, eyes closed, clutching her hands to her chin, and her thumbs almost touching her lips. She opened her eyes and focused solely on him. She moved her hands and smiled, a smile that was his, and his only. Clark realized he didn't need the adoration of others. He just wanted Chloe and her whisper and the way she looked at him was better than any crowd's reaction. He smiled at his girl, turned, lifted the sledgehammer easily and let it drop on the catapult. The beaten square block shot up the 16 foot backer board.

CLANK!

"YAY! CLAAAAARK!" Chloe screamed and hugged her teddy.

"You can do it!" Pete yelled.

"You're up," Clark said with a smile to Whitney.

"Don't get cocky, Kent," Whitney said while Clark walked off to the side. The QB hefted the hammer, looked at the catapult and slammed the hammer down.

CLANK!

"WOOOOOO!" Lana whooped and did some of her favorite cheerleader moves for her boyfriend while several team members patted Whitney on the back for just making his first swing. The quarterback rolled his neck and strutted off to the side.

"Don't choke," Whitney said to Clark. The farmboy opened his mouth to speak, but...

"No pressure at all!" Chloe yelled. "None!"

"What she said," Clark replied and several football players made a whipping sound. Clark looked at the guys. "I'm..."

"He's NOT whipped!" Chloe yelled at the players; nothing riled her up more than people picking on Clark. She could do it, no one else.

"Maybe I should get Chloe on the team," Whitney said with a smirk. "She's got spunk."

Clark nailed the catapult and the block hit the ring. Chloe, Pete and Erica cheered. Whitney did the same thing with Lana and the jocks hooting and hollering and the two contestants went back and forth, dueling with the sledgehammers, pelting the metal piece of the catapult with the iron wrought heads of the hammers, making the woodblock clang against the bell.

"Getting tired?" Chloe yelled when Whitney grunted loudly, hitting the catapult for the 14th time. He took a breath of relief at the ring of the bell; his arms were starting to burn.

"No!" He snapped. He took off his letterman's jacket and tossed to Brian "Fubar" Barr, who played the center position on the team. Whitney pulled at his sweaty shirt. Clark realized that maybe he should take off his jacket too. He slipped off his new jacket, and his shirt was like a second skin covering his muscles. He wished he was sweaty, but he was dry as a bone.

"I will never complain about him doing his chores again,” Chloe said aloud to the girls around her, "if that is the end result."

"I never knew Clark was built like that," Shania gasped.

"No arguments about that," Dolly whispered.

"Wow," Lana said, and Chloe looked at her. Lana knew that possessive look. "Get his jacket," She said to distract her. Chloe scampered over, took Clark's jacket and came back smiling to the girls. Lana was happy that Chloe was soothed by an article of Clark's clothing.

"Getting a little tired there, Clark?" Whitney asked. Both the team's wide receiver and tight-end massaged his arms.

"No," Clark said and aimed at his target. "I can do this...," he smashed the hammer's head into the catapult and watched the block ring the bell again. "...all night!"

"Lucky!" Lana whispered and elbowed Chloe. "Stamina like that will come in handy."

"Huh?" Chloe said, unsure what Lana meant so Lana whispered her meaning to her. "Oh...thanks," was all Chloe could say and blushed, thinking about her and Clark. She smiled wider when the other girls congratulated her, too.

Clark and Whitney went back and forth, trading successful swings, but after the 22nd swing, Whitney started to struggle. He wasn't swinging the hammer fast or lifting it high like he was earlier in the competition. Clark knew it was a matter of time before Whitney would tire and stop. 'Fubar' started to wipe the sweat from Whitney's brow but was slapped way. The QB was mad that the freshman punk was still in the game, and maybe pulling ahead. He looked at Lana and her eyes bore down on him, nervous and afraid. Whitney walked to catapult and looked at his teammates. Their shouts and whoops steadily declined along with their leader's performance in the competition.

"C'mon guys," Whitney implored. "Have I ever let you down?" The guys shook their heads in unison. "Who's the man?"

"CLARK!" Chloe screamed before any of the team could muster a believable word and Whitney was shocked that some in the crowed cheered for the freshman than him. "HE'S ALL MAN!" The object of her affection smiled at Whitney. The star football player looked at his girlfriend, and she just gave him the thumbs up sign. Whitney groaned and dropped the hammerhead. The crowd "ooh'ed" and "ahh'ed" watching the block go up the backing board slowly and barely hit the bell.

Clark had been using his right arm to swing the sledgehammer, but he switched arms. "This one is a bit tired," he said to Whitney. The QB rubbed his own burning arms and chest. Then Clark lifted the hammer.

"Oh! Keep going, baby!" Chloe said. "He's bushed!"

"Baby?" Clark looked at her with the sledgehammer high above his head. Chloe nodded. Clark smiled and hit the catapult hard, slamming the block against the bell, causing a resounding CLANK. Clark looked at his faltering competition. "You're up." Again, Whitney barely hit the bell. He turned and saw his supporters dwindling, and Clark's group growing larger.

"I guess it’s my turn," Clark said and spun the hammer's long handle in his hands.

"Whoo! Yeah! Go, Clark!" Chloe screamed out and Clark nailed the catapult easily. He didn't hesitate or dawdle like the QB, trying to get that extra few seconds of rest; he didn't need it. '"You're up Superstar!" Chloe screamed to Whitney, not at all derisive.

tink.

That was the sound the bell made when Whitney scraped it with the block. He was sweaty, haggard, and not at all pleased that some of his teammates left to go have fun at the carnival. Clark walked softly and carried a big stick to the front of the backer board and stood before the catapult.

"Clark Kent! Come on!" Chloe yelled out; her reporter's instincts ablaze. She knew that the end was here and wanted Clark to crush his...their bully. "Give me a K! Give me an E! Give me an N! Give me a T!" Clark loved his own personal cheers and the girl that screamed them out so lustily. Clark swung the hammer and made the sound that Whitney hated more than anything in the world:

CLANK.

"You're up," Clark smiled.

"I know," Whitney said tiredly. "I know."

He dragged the sledgehammer to where Clark was standing. He looked at the catapult, the wooden block. His eyes traveled up the backer board to the bell. It seemed so high now. He hefted the hammer up...but it dropped.

"Finish it." He looked at Clark and whispered in defeat.

"One for me!" Clark yelled happily, and rang the bell. The block barely settled when he swung again when he shot it back up and slammed it into the bell. "And one for Chloe!"

Erica held the huge teddy bear for Chloe and watched the blonde run up and hug Clark. Chloe was so proud of him, so happy that he squashed their bully. 'Triumph never felt better,' she thought. 'Or so dry.'

"You didn't even break a sweat!" Chloe said, a little amazed. She tried to remember when he did break a sweat, and honestly couldn't come up with one instance.

"Umm...it’s a cold night," Clark said nervously, and compounded his lame excuse. "I paced myself ."

"I wanna pick up the pace," Chloe whispered, grabbed his shirt, licked and puckered her lips...

"Impressive display, Clark," Victoria Hardwick said, her British accent washing over Chloe and Clark. She and Lex Luthor stood uncomfortably close. "Bloody good show."

"I told you," Lex said. He smiled at the young couple. "He seems to have no end to his show-stopping abilities."

"I don't FREAKING believe it," Chloe seethed when she and Clark pulled away. She stared at Lex and his date. "We're always getting interrupted!"

"It’s the full moon I think," Clark whispered and Lex smiled at him. "Weirdness."

"I know weirdness," Chloe fussed. "This is an all-time high, even for Smallville."

"Oh," Victoria said, noticing the closeness of the two teens. "Did we interrupt something?"

"Just my kiss!" Chloe stomped. "We're always getting interrupted!"

"Well then," Victoria smiled at the pouting girl, "carry on."

Victoria and Lex just stood there and waited to see the couple kiss. Clark looked at Chloe and she smiled. But, they both looked over at the same time and saw Lex and Victoria's smiling faces. Pete and Erica stood by, too, but they knew better to look at Clark and Chloe so obviously.

"The mood is gone," Chloe said with a whimper and slid away from Clark; it was one thing to kiss in front of people to Chloe, another to be ogled. They broke apart from each other's embrace. Still holding the huge bear, Erica elbowed Pete.

"Hey, Chloe," Pete said, looking at his disappointed friend. "Erica and I will take your bear, and put it in her car. That way you two can enjoy yourselves without lugging it around."

"Thanks Pete," Chloe said. "Thanks Erica. Take care of Clarkie."

"Clarkie?" Everyone said.

"The bear," Chloe blushed. "That’s his name." Pete hit Clark's shoulder and he and Erica left. Lex walked up to Clark, while Victoria pulled Chloe aside.

"Tell me you kissed her earlier?" Lex said with a slight grin.

"You sorta blew the moment," Clark said and crushed a foam cup with his boot.

"I am honestly sorry, Clark," Lex said and patted him on the back tenderly. "Victoria thought you had already kissed her." Clark shook his head so hard." Well, just take Chloe over to the ferris wheel. When it reaches the top....kiss her."

"Ok, I'll do that," Clark said. "Thanks Lex."

"Just good advice," Lex smiled. "The kind I'd give a younger brother, if I had one."

"I found the money...," Clark said softly.

"Just have fun, Clark," Lex said. "Show Chloe a good time." He spun around, letting his black leather trench coat twirl and walked to Victoria. Clark wished he could be selfless and good of heart like Lex was when he got older.

"So you're Clark's girlfriend," Victoria said, offering her hand. "Chloe, isn't it?"

"Yes...Chloe Sullivan," she said sheepishly; beautiful women always intimidated her. Chloe shook the British woman's delicate hand. "You are?"

"Victoria Hardwick," She said, enunciating her last name perfectly. "I'm Lex's...date." Chloe noticed the hesitation, but didn't press. They both looked at their escorts. "Clark's a very lucky boy to snag a girl as beautiful as you."

"Really?" Chloe beamed. First Lana validated her couple status with Clark and now Victoria validated her looks. She was ecstatic. "Thanks!"

"Of course," Victoria said. "My advice is just snog him." Chloe translated that in her head to 'kiss him' and nodded. Victoria pulled out her business card and a pen. She scribbled her private number on the card and gave it to Chloe. "Any friend of Clark's is a friend of mine. Call me tomorrow."

"Ok," Chloe agreed. She pocketed the card; she was extremely happy to have made another friend, and an unlikely one at that.

"Victoria," Lex said, wrapped his arm around her waist. "Let’s leave these two lovebirds alone."

"Ok," she said. She gave Clark a quick hug. "Clark, you be a good bloke and treat Chloe well tonight." He nodded. She and Lex walked away, toward 'Super Space Pods', the silver shaped rocket ship ride; Clark saw the ride with Chloe when they walked around and had an odd sense of deja vu.

"Let’s go ride the ferris wheel," Clark suggested. He pretended to shiver and slipped back on his jacket. "It will be just us...I promise."

"I'd go anywhere with you, Clark..." Chloe said. He took her hand and they walked to the ride. Both waiting to kiss each other at the top of the ride.

Part Seven
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